Describe considerations for working with non-relational data on Azure →mediumMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
DP-900 Practice Question: Describe considerations for working with non-relational data on Azure
A media company stores video metadata in Azure Table Storage. Each video has a unique VideoID, and the application frequently queries for videos uploaded on a specific date. The current table uses PartitionKey = VideoID and RowKey = UploadDate. Queries filtering by UploadDate are slow and consume many transactions. Which design change will most optimize queries that retrieve all videos from a given date?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently assume secondary indexes (like in SQL databases) exist in Azure Table Storage, or they think changing RowKey alone is sufficient, failing to realize that PartitionKey is the only partition-level filter and must align with the query pattern.
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
✓
C. Change the PartitionKey to a date-based value (e.g., YYYY-MM-DD) and use VideoID as the RowKey.
Azure Table Storage queries are most efficient when the PartitionKey is used as the primary filter. By changing the PartitionKey to a date-based value (e.g., YYYY-MM-DD), queries for all videos uploaded on a specific date become partition scans, which are fast and consume minimal transactions. Using VideoID as the RowKey still allows unique identification of each video within that date partition.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
A. Use UploadDate as the RowKey only, but keep PartitionKey as VideoID.
Why it's wrong here
Using UploadDate as the RowKey while keeping PartitionKey as VideoID does not improve date-based queries because Azure Table Storage only indexes entities by the combination of PartitionKey and RowKey, and RowKey is ordered only within a single partition. A query that filters on UploadDate without a matching PartitionKey forces a full table scan across every VideoID partition, which is inefficient. Also, RowKey must be unique within a partition, so using UploadDate alone risks collisions if the same VideoID has multiple uploads on the same date.
- ✗
B. Create a secondary index on UploadDate.
Why it's wrong here
Azure Table Storage does not support creating secondary indexes on arbitrary properties such as UploadDate. The only automatic index is the composite PartitionKey + RowKey, and there is no built-in mechanism to add an additional index on a property. Implementing a secondary index would require manually maintaining a separate lookup table, which is not a simple design change and still wouldn't beat using a date-based PartitionKey for efficient point-partition queries.
- ✓
C. Change the PartitionKey to a date-based value (e.g., YYYY-MM-DD) and use VideoID as the RowKey.
Why this is correct
By using a date as the PartitionKey, all videos uploaded on the same date are stored in the same partition. A query filtering by date can then fetch all rows from that single partition using the PartitionKey, which is extremely fast and cost-efficient.
- ✗
D. Migrate the data to Azure Cosmos DB Table API for better indexing.
Why it's wrong here
Migrating to Cosmos DB is a valid option for better performance and indexing, but the question asks for a design change within Azure Table Storage to optimize queries. Option C solves the problem without migrating services.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 820 original DP-900 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
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.