DP-900 Practice Question: Identify considerations for relational data on Azure
A healthcare organization is designing a new patient records system on Azure. They require a relational database that supports full SQL Server compatibility, including cross-database queries and SQL Server Agent jobs, and they want to minimize administrative overhead while retaining the ability to manage logins and server-level permissions. Which Azure SQL deployment option best meets these requirements?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that any fully managed Azure SQL service supports all SQL Server features, when in fact Azure SQL Database single database omits cross-database queries and SQL Server Agent.
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 Managed Instance
Azure SQL Managed Instance is the only Azure SQL deployment option that provides near-full SQL Server compatibility while minimizing administrative overhead. It supports cross-database queries, SQL Server Agent, and server-level logins, which are essential for the healthcare organization's requirements. Single database lacks these features, SQL Server on VMs requires more management, and PostgreSQL is a different engine.
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 offers full SQL Server compatibility but requires the organization to manage the operating system, patching, backups, and high availability. This increases administrative overhead, which contradicts the goal of minimizing overhead. Therefore, it is not the best choice despite meeting the compatibility requirements.
- ✗
Azure Database for PostgreSQL
Why it's wrong here
Azure Database for PostgreSQL is a managed relational database service, but it is based on PostgreSQL, not SQL Server. It does not support SQL Server-specific features like cross-database queries or SQL Server Agent jobs. Thus, it cannot meet the compatibility requirements of the healthcare organization's existing SQL Server workloads.
- ✗
Azure SQL Database single database
Why it's wrong here
Azure SQL Database single database is a fully managed PaaS offering but does not support cross-database queries or SQL Server Agent jobs. It also abstracts away server-level logins and permissions, which the organization explicitly requires. While it minimizes administrative overhead, it fails to provide the SQL Server compatibility features needed for this scenario, making it unsuitable.
- ✓
Azure SQL Managed Instance
Why this is correct
Azure SQL Managed Instance provides near-full SQL Server compatibility, including cross-database queries, SQL Server Agent, and server-level logins. It is a PaaS offering that reduces administrative overhead compared to IaaS while still supporting these features. This makes it the best fit for the healthcare organization's requirements.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Full-Text Search in Azure SQL
Key term
SQL Managed Instance
SQL Managed Instance is a cloud database service from Azure that gives you most of the features of a full SQL Server instance without you having to manage the underlying hardware or software patches.
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.
About these practice questions
This DP-900 question is part of Courseiva's 851-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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-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.