DP-300 Practice Question: Monitor, configure, and optimize database resources
You have an Azure SQL Managed Instance and notice that automatic tuning is not enabled. You want to automatically force a plan that performed better than the existing plan. What should you enable?
⚠ Common exam trap
DP-300 often tests the specific automatic tuning options — candidates confuse automatic index management with automatic plan correction, but only FORCE_LAST_GOOD_PLAN addresses plan regression.
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
✓
Automatic plan correction (FORCE_LAST_GOOD_PLAN)
Automatic plan correction (FORCE_LAST_GOOD_PLAN) is the automatic tuning feature that detects plan regressions and forces the last known good plan. It is designed exactly for the scenario where a plan performs worse than a previous plan. Enabling it allows Azure SQL Managed Instance to automatically correct plan choice regressions.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Automatic index management (DROP INDEX)
Why it's wrong here
Dropping indexes removes unused or duplicate indexes; it never forces a better execution plan. The scenario needs FORCE_LAST_GOOD_PLAN. Automatic index management is tempting because it is part of the same automatic-tuning family and can improve performance indirectly, but its DROP INDEX action targets index bloat, not plan regression.
- ✗
Automatic index management (CREATE INDEX)
Why it's wrong here
Automatic index management creates indexes in response to workload analysis; it does not address plan regression. FORCE_LAST_GOOD_PLAN under automatic tuning is required. Index creation is tempting because it is an automatic-tuning feature that improves query performance, but it changes index structures, not the execution plan chosen for a query.
- ✓
Automatic plan correction (FORCE_LAST_GOOD_PLAN)
Why this is correct
Automatic plan correction detects regressions where a previously good plan is replaced by a worse one, then forces the last known good plan using FORCE_LAST_GOOD_PLAN. This directly satisfies the requirement to automatically force a better-performing plan, which plain automatic tuning options such as CREATE INDEX or DROP INDEX do not provide.
- ✗
Intelligent Insights
Why it's wrong here
Intelligent Insights diagnoses performance regressions and reports root cause; it does not force a plan. Automatic tuning's FORCE_LAST_GOOD_PLAN option performs that action. Intelligent Insights is tempting because it detects the same plan-change problems, but it only surfaces findings for review rather than applying the correction automatically.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Deploying and Configuring Azure SQL Managed Instance
Key term
Azure SQL Managed Instance
Azure SQL Managed Instance is a fully managed cloud database service that gives you nearly all the features of Microsoft SQL Server on your own server, without you having to manage the hardware or operating system.
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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
This DP-300 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the DP-300 exam.