DP-300 Long-term retention (LTR) policy Practice Question
You need to automate the backup of an Azure SQL Database to a storage account. Which built-in feature should you configure?
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
✓
Configure a long-term retention policy for the database.
Azure SQL Database has automated backups enabled by default, which are managed by Microsoft. To retain backups beyond the default retention period (7-35 days), you can configure a long-term retention (LTR) policy to store backups for up to 10 years. Option A is incorrect because elastic jobs are used for performing administrative tasks across multiple databases, not for scheduling backups (backups are automatic and cannot be scheduled via elastic jobs). Option B is incorrect because Azure Backup is designed for IaaS VMs and Azure Files, not for Azure SQL Database, which has its own built-in backup mechanism. Option C is incorrect because SQL Server Agent is not available in Azure SQL Database (it is a feature of SQL Server on-premises or on IaaS VMs); therefore, you cannot use SQL Server Agent jobs for backup automation. Option D is correct because a long-term retention policy is the built-in feature that allows you to keep automated backups for extended periods.
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 elastic jobs to schedule backups.
Why it's wrong here
Elastic jobs are used for scheduling tasks (e.g., index maintenance) across multiple databases, not for backup automation. Backups are automatically managed by Azure SQL Database and cannot be scheduled via elastic jobs.
- ✗
Use Azure Backup to create a backup policy.
Why it's wrong here
Azure Backup is a service for backing up IaaS VMs, Azure Files, and other workloads, but not for Azure SQL Database. Azure SQL Database has its own built-in automated backups.
- ✗
Configure a SQL Server Agent job to perform backups.
Why it's wrong here
SQL Server Agent is not available in Azure SQL Database (it is a feature of SQL Server on-premises or on Azure VMs). Therefore, you cannot configure a SQL Server Agent job to perform backups in Azure SQL Database.
- ✓
Configure a long-term retention policy for the database.
Why this is correct
Configuring a long-term retention policy is the correct built-in feature to retain automatic backups for longer periods, up to 10 years.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Overview of Azure Data Platform Options
Key term
Azure SQL Database Backup
Azure SQL Database Backup is a fully managed, automated service that creates and stores copies of your SQL database data and transaction logs in Azure storage, enabling point-in-time recovery and long-term retention for data protection and business continuity.
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 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.