DP-300 Azure Automation Practice Question
You need to automatically scale up an Azure SQL Database to the next service tier when CPU usage exceeds 80% for 10 minutes, then scale back down when CPU drops below 30% for 30 minutes. Which Azure feature should you use?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates may assume Azure SQL Database has built-in autoscale like other services, but it does not. Custom automation using Azure Automation or Logic Apps is required.
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
✓
Azure Automation runbook with PowerShell cmdlets to modify the service objective.
Azure SQL Database does not have built-in autoscale based on CPU thresholds to change service tiers. The correct approach is to use Azure Automation runbooks, which can be triggered by Azure Monitor alerts or schedules to execute PowerShell cmdlets like Set-AzSqlDatabase to modify the service objective. Option D is incorrect because autoscale settings in the Azure portal are not available for SQL Database. Option B is for running jobs across databases, not for scaling. Option C can also work but is less direct than Azure Automation for this automation scenario.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Azure Automation runbook with PowerShell cmdlets to modify the service objective.
Why this is correct
Correct. Azure Automation runbooks can execute PowerShell cmdlets such as Set-AzSqlDatabase to scale the database up or down based on metrics like CPU percentage. This is a common pattern for automating tier changes without built-in autoscale.
- ✗
Elastic Database Jobs to run ALTER DATABASE MODIFY.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Elastic Database Jobs are designed to run scripts across multiple databases, not to manage the scaling of a single database's service tier.
- ✗
Azure Logic Apps with a recurrence trigger and SQL DB REST API.
Why it's wrong here
Not the best answer. Azure Logic Apps can scale a database via the REST API, but Azure Automation is more purpose-built for automated infrastructure management tasks.
- ✗
Configure autoscale settings in the Azure portal for the SQL database server.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Azure SQL Database does not support native autoscale settings in the portal; autoscale is available for other Azure resources like App Service, not for SQL Database service tiers.
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.
About these practice questions
This DP-300 question is part of Courseiva's 906-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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.