DP-300 Practice Question: Monitor, configure, and optimize database resources
Your Azure SQL Database is experiencing a sudden increase in wait time due to PAGEIOLATCH_SH waits. What should you do to reduce these waits?
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
✓
Add appropriate indexes to reduce table scans
PAGEIOLATCH_SH waits indicate I/O bottlenecks caused by excessive page reads from disk. Adding appropriate indexes reduces the number of pages read by enabling more efficient data access (e.g., index seeks instead of table scans), directly reducing I/O. Option A is incorrect because increasing max memory does not address the underlying query inefficiency driving I/O. Option C is incorrect because page compression reduces storage but may increase CPU and does not primarily reduce I/O waits. Option D is incorrect because forcing parameterization improves plan reuse but does not target I/O reduction.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Increase the database max memory
Why it's wrong here
PAGEIOLATCH_SH waits indicate physical page reads from storage, not memory pressure, so raising max memory cannot reduce them. Max memory tuning suits scenarios where buffer pool pressure or memory grants cause waits; here the fix targets I/O, such as increasing IOPS or tuning queries.
- ✓
Add appropriate indexes to reduce table scans
Why this is correct
PAGEIOLATCH_SH waits indicate sessions waiting on data pages read from storage, typically caused by scans. Adding appropriate indexes reduces table scans, cutting physical I/O and shortening those waits at their source rather than masking symptoms through scaling.
- ✗
Enable page compression on large tables
Why it's wrong here
Page compression reduces storage footprint and I/O volume, but PAGEIOLATCH_SH waits stem from physical reads occurring now; compression does not eliminate the reads causing the current contention. It is the right choice when storage capacity or scan cost is the constraint, not latency-driven page reads.
- ✗
Force parameterization of queries
Why it's wrong here
Forced parameterization reduces compilation overhead for ad hoc workloads, but PAGEIOLATCH_SH waits are physical page-read waits, unaffected by plan reuse. It suits OLTP systems dominated by single-use ad hoc queries causing CPU-heavy compilations, not I/O-bound page latch contention.
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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