DP-300 SQL auditing Practice Question
You need to configure monitoring for an Azure SQL Database to meet the following requirements: - Alert when average DTU consumption exceeds 90% for 10 minutes. - Track failed logins. - Analyze query performance over the last 30 days. Which THREE Azure services or features should you use? (Choose three.)
⚠ Common exam trap
DP-300 often tests the mapping of requirements to the correct feature — candidates confuse remediation features (Automatic tuning, Assessment) with monitoring features (metric alerts, Query Store, auditing) and pick the wrong three.
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
✓
SQL auditing
Azure Monitor metric alerts (D) are the correct mechanism to trigger on a metric threshold such as average DTU consumption exceeding 90% over a 10-minute window, since DTU percentage is exposed as a platform metric and metric alerts support aggregation and time-window conditions. SQL auditing (A) records login events including failed logins to an audit log or Log Analytics, which directly satisfies the requirement to track failed logins. Query Store (C) is the built-in feature that persists query execution statistics and plans, allowing analysis of query performance over a retention period such as the last 30 days. Automatic tuning (B) is a feature that applies index and plan corrections, not a monitoring or alerting tool, so it does not meet any of the stated requirements. Azure SQL Assessment (E) evaluates configuration best practices and migration readiness, not runtime DTU alerting, login tracking, or query performance history.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
SQL auditing
Why this is correct
SQL auditing records authentication events, including failed logins, into Azure Storage, Log Analytics, or Event Hubs, satisfying the failed-login tracking requirement. It captures the security-relevant activity the stem demands, complementing metric alerts for DTU and Query Store for query performance analysis.
- ✗
Automatic tuning
Why it's wrong here
Automatic tuning applies index and plan corrections automatically; it neither raises DTU threshold alerts, records failed logins, nor retains 30 days of query performance data. It is tempting because it responds to workload signals, but it acts on performance rather than monitoring it, so it cannot satisfy the stated requirements.
- ✓
Query Store
Why this is correct
Query Store persistently captures query plans, runtime statistics and wait categories inside the database, retaining history across restarts. This satisfies the requirement to analyse query performance over the last 30 days, which the shorter default retention of dynamic management views cannot cover.
- ✓
Azure Monitor metric alerts
Why this is correct
Azure Monitor metric alerts evaluate platform metrics such as DTU percentage against a threshold over a defined window, firing when the average exceeds 90% for 10 minutes. This satisfies the alerting requirement directly, without needing log ingestion.
- ✗
Azure SQL Assessment
Why it's wrong here
Azure SQL Assessment evaluates configuration and best-practise adherence for migration or health reviews, producing recommendations rather than live DTU alerts, failed-login tracking or query-store history. It is tempting because it analyses SQL estates, but it is a periodic advisory tool, not a monitoring service.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Monitoring Database Performance with Azure Tools
Key term
Query Store
Query Store is a built-in SQL Server feature that captures and stores a history of query execution plans and performance data for easy monitoring and troubleshooting.
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 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.