Question 1easymultiple choice
Full question →easymultiple choiceObjective-mapped
A startup has an application with unpredictable usage patterns on Azure SQL Database. They want to minimize cost by paying only for the compute they use and the database should automatically pause during idle periods. Which Azure SQL Database option should they choose?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
A
Best answer
Serverless
Correct. Serverless pricing charges for compute per second used and auto-pauses during inactivity, making it ideal for sporadic workloads.
B
Distractor review
Provisioned (DTU or vCore)
Incorrect. Provisioned tiers charge for allocated compute resources continuously, even when the database is not being used, leading to higher cost for unpredictable workloads.
C
Distractor review
Hyperscale
Incorrect. Hyperscale is optimized for very large databases and high transaction throughput, not for minimizing cost on idle or low-usage patterns.
D
Distractor review
Business Critical
Incorrect. Business Critical provides high availability and low latency but at a premium cost, and does not offer auto-pause or consumption-based pricing.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: NAT rules depend on direction and matching traffic
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
- PAT allows many inside hosts to share one public address using ports.
- Inside local and inside global describe the private and translated addresses.
- NAT ACLs identify traffic for translation, not always security filtering.
TExam Day Tips
- Identify inside and outside interfaces first.
- Check whether the scenario needs static NAT, dynamic NAT or PAT.
- Do not confuse NAT matching ACLs with normal packet-filtering intent.
Related practice questions
Related DP-900 practice-question pages
Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.
More questions from this exam
Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
Question 1
A data engineer needs to process streaming data from IoT devices and store the results in Azure Data Lake Storage for long-term analytics. The data must be processed in near real-time to detect anomalies and trigger alerts. Which Azure service should the engineer use for stream processing?
Question 2
A data engineer needs to query data stored in CSV files in Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 using T-SQL in Azure Synapse Analytics, without loading the data into the database. Which feature should they use?
Question 3
A data engineer needs to process raw clickstream data from multiple websites that is stored in Azure Blob Storage as JSON files. The processing must run automatically every hour, transform the data into a structured format for reporting, and handle schema changes in the source data without manual intervention. Which Azure service should be used?
Question 4
A data engineer is designing a data lake architecture in Azure. They plan to first ingest raw data from various sources into a landing zone in Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2. Then they will clean, validate, and deduplicate that data in a second zone. Finally, they will create aggregated, business-ready datasets in a third zone for analysts. This layered approach is known as which architecture?
Question 5
A data engineer needs to transform large datasets stored in Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 using Python and Apache Spark. They want a serverless compute option that automatically scales and requires no cluster management. Which Azure service should they use?
Question 6
A company collects customer feedback forms. Each form contains always-present fields like CustomerID and SubmissionDate, but also a free-text Comments field and optional fields like Rating or ProductCategory that vary between forms. How should this data be classified?
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this DP-900 question test?
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Serverless — Azure SQL Database serverless is designed for intermittent, unpredictable usage. It automatically scales compute based on workload demand and pauses the database during inactivity (configurable auto-pause delay), charging only for used compute and storage. Provisioned compute (DTU or vCore) charges for allocated resources even when idle. Hyperscale is for large databases with high scalability needs, not for cost-saving on idle. Business Critical is a premium tier with high availability and low latency, but higher cost.
What should I do if I get this DP-900 question wrong?
Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.
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