DP-900 Practice Question: Identify considerations for relational data on Azure
A company needs to create a relational database in Azure that is compatible with existing SQL Server applications and provides built-in high availability without requiring configuration. Which service should they choose?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse IaaS (SQL Server on VMs) with PaaS (Azure SQL Database) and assume both require manual HA setup, or they mistakenly think MariaDB or Cosmos DB can be used as drop-in replacements for SQL Server applications.
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 SQL Database
Azure SQL Database is a fully managed Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) relational database that is built on the latest stable version of the Microsoft SQL Server engine, ensuring compatibility with existing SQL Server applications. It provides built-in high availability with a 99.99% SLA through automatic failover groups and zone-redundant configurations, requiring no manual setup or configuration from the user.
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 Server on Azure Virtual Machines
Why it's wrong here
SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines is an IaaS offering, giving you full control over the OS and SQL Server instance, but that means you must handle patching, backups, and, critically, high availability yourself—typically by configuring Always On Availability Groups or Failover Cluster Instances. While it is a relational database, it does not offer the built-in, managed high availability that Azure SQL Database provides, and manual HA setup adds operational overhead and complexity.
- ✗
Azure Database for MariaDB
Why it's wrong here
Azure Database for MariaDB is a fully managed PaaS relational database, but it uses the MariaDB/MySQL engine rather than the SQL Server engine. This means it cannot natively run T-SQL code, stored procedures, or SQL Server-specific features, so it is incompatible with applications expecting SQL Server semantics. Even though it is relational, the wrong engine makes it an incorrect choice when SQL Server compatibility is an implied requirement.
- ✗
Azure Cosmos DB
Why it's wrong here
Azure Cosmos DB is a multi-model NoSQL database service that supports document, graph, key-value, and wide-column APIs, and while it offers a "SQL API" for querying JSON documents, it is not a relational database. It does not enforce relational schema constraints, joins, or ACID transactions in the same way as SQL Server, and it is decidedly not SQL Server compatible. Therefore, it cannot serve a relational database requirement that expects SQL Server functionality.
- ✓
Azure SQL Database
Why this is correct
Azure SQL Database is a PaaS offering that is built on the SQL Server engine, so it is directly compatible with SQL Server features like T-SQL, stored procedures, and transparent data encryption. It provides built-in high availability with a 99.99% SLA, automated backups, patching, and monitoring, removing the need for manual infrastructure management. This matches the requirement for a relational database in Azure that is both managed and SQL Server-compatible.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Relational Data Concepts
Key term
Azure SQL Database
Azure SQL Database is a fully managed relational database-as-a-service (DBaaS) in Microsoft Azure, based on the SQL Server engine, that handles scaling, backups, patching, and high availability automatically.
Key term
Relational database
A relational database organizes data into tables with rows and columns, where each table relates to others using unique keys, allowing efficient storage, retrieval, and manipulation of structured information.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This DP-900 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-900 exam.