An e-commerce company has 20 SQL Server databases that each range from 10 GB to 50 GB and experience unpredictable usage patterns with occasional spikes in user activity. The company wants to migrate to Azure SQL Database to reduce management overhead and minimize costs by allowing databases to share resources. Which Azure SQL Database deployment 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.
Distractor review
A: Single database with provisioned throughput
This option provisions resources per database individually, which can lead to over-provisioning for peak loads and higher costs compared to a shared pool.
Best answer
B: Elastic pool
Elastic pools allow multiple databases to share resources, offering cost efficiency and handling unpredictable usage spikes without over-provisioning each database.
Distractor review
C: Managed Instance
Managed Instance provides near 100% compatibility with on-premises SQL Server but is more suitable for databases that need instance-scoped features and higher isolation, not for sharing resources across many small databases.
Distractor review
D: SQL Server on Azure VM
This IaaS option requires manual management of the VM and SQL Server, increasing administrative overhead, and does not provide built-in resource sharing across multiple databases.
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
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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
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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: B: Elastic pool — An elastic pool allows multiple databases to share a fixed pool of resources (eDTUs or vCores), which is ideal for databases with variable and unpredictable usage patterns. It provides cost savings by pooling resources rather than provisioning each database individually. Single database is for isolated resources, Managed Instance is for instance-scoped features with higher isolation, and SQL Server on Azure VM is an IaaS option that does not minimize management overhead as it requires manual patching and administration.
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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