DP-300 Configure and manage automation of tasks Practice Question
You have an Azure SQL Database that uses automatic tuning. You notice that a forced plan regression is causing performance degradation. You need to revert to the previous plan and prevent the automatic tuning from forcing the same plan again. What should you do?
⚠ Common exam trap
DP-300 often tests whether candidates choose the nuclear option (disable automatic tuning entirely) when a targeted fix (plan guide + disable recommendation for that query) is the correct, least-disruptive solution.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create a plan guide for the previous plan and then disable the automatic tuning recommendation for that query.
When automatic tuning forces a plan that causes regression, the correct remediation is to create a plan guide that pins the previous (good) plan for that specific query, then disable the automatic tuning recommendation for that query so Azure SQL doesn't re-force the bad plan. This is a targeted fix that preserves automatic tuning for other queries.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Reindex the tables involved in the query.
Why it's wrong here
Reindexing rebuilds indexes and updates statistics, which may change plan costs, but it does not revert a plan already forced by automatic tuning nor prevent that same plan from being forced again. Reindexing suits fragmentation or stale-statistics scenarios, not undoing a specific forced-plan regression.
- ✓
Create a plan guide for the previous plan and then disable the automatic tuning recommendation for that query.
Why this is correct
Creating a plan guide pins the previous execution plan, satisfying the requirement to revert the regressed query, while disabling the automatic tuning recommendation prevents the automatic tuning feature from re-forcing the same plan. Together these two actions address both the immediate regression and its recurrence.
- ✗
Disable automatic tuning for the database.
Why it's wrong here
Disabling automatic tuning stops all tuning actions database-wide, including plan correction, but it neither reverts the currently forced plan nor preserves tuning for other regressions. Automatic tuning is intended for continuous plan correction across workloads; here the requirement is to undo one specific forced plan while blocking only that plan from being forced again.
- ✗
Run DBCC FREEPROCCACHE to clear the plan cache.
Why it's wrong here
DBCC FREEPROCCACHE clears the entire plan cache, forcing recompilation of every query and causing a broad performance hit without disabling forced-plan regression correction. It suits troubleshooting stale plans generally. Reverting the specific forced plan and disabling that automatic tuning recommendation targets the regression directly.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Optimizing Database Query and Index Performance
Key term
Azure SQL Performance Tuning
Azure SQL Performance Tuning is the process of optimizing the speed and efficiency of queries and database operations in Microsoft Azure SQL Database or SQL Managed Instance to reduce latency and improve throughput.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Microsoft exam blueprint
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