DP-900 Practice Question: Identify considerations for relational data on Azure
A company runs a global e-commerce application on Azure SQL Database. The application has a read-intensive workload with millions of users querying product details simultaneously. The database is experiencing high read latency during peak hours due to the volume of concurrent read requests. The company wants to scale read performance without changing the application code and without affecting write operations. Which Azure SQL Database feature should they implement?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse Active geo-replication with failover groups or assume that In-memory OLTP can solve read latency, but the key requirement is scaling read performance without code changes, which only readable secondaries can achieve.
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
✓
Active geo-replication
Active geo-replication creates readable secondary replicas of the Azure SQL Database in different Azure regions. By configuring read-only routing to these secondaries, the application can offload read queries from the primary database, scaling read performance without any code changes and without impacting write operations on the primary.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Active geo-replication
Why this is correct
Active geo-replication allows you to create up to four readable secondary databases in the same or different regions. Application read queries can be directed to these secondaries, distributing the read load and improving performance without modifying application logic.
- ✗
Elastic pools
Why it's wrong here
Elastic pools are used for managing and scaling multiple databases that have unpredictable usage patterns, sharing a fixed set of resources. They do not provide isolated read replicas to offload read queries from a single primary database.
- ✗
In-memory OLTP
Why it's wrong here
In-memory OLTP is a performance feature in Azure SQL Database that compiles stored procedures and places frequently accessed data in memory to reduce locks, latches, and disk I/O for OLTP transactions. It is designed to accelerate write-heavy transactional workloads, not to provide additional database copies for read scaling. Since all read queries still target the same primary replica, In-memory OLTP does not distribute read load or offer a separate endpoint for reporting/analytics traffic. Therefore, it is incorrect for adding read capacity to a global e-commerce application.
- ✗
Columnstore indexes
Why it's wrong here
Columnstore indexes are designed for analytical queries that scan large amounts of data. They can improve read performance for aggregations but do not offload the primary database from concurrent read requests like a separate read replica would.
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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.