DP-900 Practice Question: Describe considerations for working with non-relational data on Azure
This DP-900 practice question tests your understanding of describe considerations for working with non-relational data on azure. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A healthcare application stores patient medical records as JSON documents. Each document contains a variable set of fields depending on the patient's conditions. The application needs to query records by any field and support high write throughput. Which Azure data store is most appropriate?
Why wrong: Incorrect because Blob Storage is for unstructured binary data, not for querying JSON documents by arbitrary fields with high throughput.
B
Azure Synapse Analytics
Why wrong: Incorrect because Synapse Analytics is a big data analytics service, not optimized for transactional workloads with high write throughput on JSON documents.
C
Azure Cosmos DB with SQL API
Correct because Cosmos DB supports schema-agnostic JSON documents, automatic indexing, and high throughput, ideal for this use case.
D
Azure Table Storage
Why wrong: Incorrect because Table Storage is a key-value store for simple semi-structured data, not designed for querying deeply nested JSON fields with varying schemas.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Azure Cosmos DB with SQL API
Azure Cosmos DB with SQL API is the most appropriate choice because it natively supports storing and querying JSON documents with variable schemas, enabling efficient queries on any field. Its multi-model architecture and configurable indexing policies allow high write throughput while maintaining low-latency queries, which is critical for healthcare applications with dynamic patient records.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
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 Blob Storage
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect because Blob Storage is for unstructured binary data, not for querying JSON documents by arbitrary fields with high throughput.
✗
Azure Synapse Analytics
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect because Synapse Analytics is a big data analytics service, not optimized for transactional workloads with high write throughput on JSON documents.
✓
Azure Cosmos DB with SQL API
Why this is correct
Correct because Cosmos DB supports schema-agnostic JSON documents, automatic indexing, and high throughput, ideal for this use case.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Azure Table Storage
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect because Table Storage is a key-value store for simple semi-structured data, not designed for querying deeply nested JSON fields with varying schemas.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Azure Table Storage's key-value capabilities with JSON document support, but Table Storage does not allow querying on arbitrary fields within a JSON document—it only supports queries on the partition key and row key, making it unsuitable for variable-schema medical records.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Cosmos DB uses a resource-governed, multi-tenant architecture with automatic indexing of all JSON properties by default, enabling point reads and queries on any field without manual index management. Its request unit (RU) model allows precise throughput provisioning, and for write-heavy workloads, you can partition data using a logical partition key to distribute writes across physical partitions, achieving up to 10,000 RU/s per partition. In a real-world healthcare scenario, this means you can ingest thousands of patient record updates per second while still querying by patient ID, condition code, or timestamp with consistent single-digit millisecond latency.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this DP-900 question in full detail.
Describe considerations for working with non-relational data on Azure — This question tests Describe considerations for working with non-relational data on Azure — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Azure Cosmos DB with SQL API — Azure Cosmos DB with SQL API is the most appropriate choice because it natively supports storing and querying JSON documents with variable schemas, enabling efficient queries on any field. Its multi-model architecture and configurable indexing policies allow high write throughput while maintaining low-latency queries, which is critical for healthcare applications with dynamic patient records.
What should I do if I get this DP-900 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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