DP-300 Implement a secure environment Practice Question
You manage an Azure SQL Database that is part of a business-critical application. You need to ensure that network traffic between the application hosted on Azure VMs and the database is encrypted and does not traverse the public internet. What should you configure?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse encryption (TLS) with network isolation, assuming that encrypting traffic alone prevents it from traversing the public internet, or they mistakenly believe that IP-based firewall rules create a private network path.
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 private endpoint for Azure SQL Database in the same virtual network as the application VMs.
Creating a private endpoint for Azure SQL Database places the database service on a private IP address within the same virtual network as the application VMs. This ensures that all traffic between the VMs and the database stays entirely within the Microsoft Azure backbone network, never traversing the public internet, while also providing encryption in transit via TLS by default.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use TLS 1.2 for all connections to the database.
Why it's wrong here
TLS encrypts data in transit but traffic still traverses the public internet unless a private endpoint is used.
- ✗
Configure server-level firewall rules to allow only the application VM IP addresses.
Why it's wrong here
Firewall rules allow traffic but still go over the public endpoint unless combined with service endpoints or private endpoints.
- ✗
Enable forced tunneling on the application VMs to route all traffic through the on-premises network.
Why it's wrong here
Forced tunneling forces traffic to on-premises but does not ensure private connectivity to Azure SQL.
- ✓
Create a private endpoint for Azure SQL Database in the same virtual network as the application VMs.
Why this is correct
Private endpoints provide a private IP address within the VNet, keeping traffic off the public internet.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Overview of Azure Data Platform Options
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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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.