DP-900 Describe core data concepts Practice Question
Which THREE Azure services can be used to move data from on-premises SQL Server to Azure?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse Azure Analysis Services (a BI modeling tool) or Azure Synapse Serverless SQL pool (a query-only service) with data migration tools, when only services that actively move or copy data from on-premises to Azure are correct.
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 Database Migration Service
Azure Database Migration Service (A) is correct because it is purpose-built to migrate on-premises SQL Server databases to Azure targets such as Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, and SQL Server on Azure VMs, using the Data Migration Assistant for assessment and a migration project with an online or offline mode. Azure Data Factory (B) is correct because its copy activity and self-hosted integration runtime can connect to an on-premises SQL Server and move data to Azure destinations like Azure SQL Database, Blob Storage, or Azure Synapse, supporting scheduled and incremental pipelines. Azure Data Box (E) is correct because it is a physical data-transfer appliance used to ship large volumes of data (including SQL Server database backups such as BACPAC or .bak files) to Azure when network transfer is impractical. Azure Analysis Services (C) is not a data-movement service; it hosts semantic tabular models for analytics and consumes data rather than migrating it. Azure Synapse Serverless SQL pool (D) is a query engine over data in the lake and does not provide a migration mechanism from on-premises SQL Server.
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 Database Migration Service
Why this is correct
Azure Database Migration Service is a purpose-built tool for migrating entire database schema and data to Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, or SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines. It performs pre-migration assessments, generates automation scripts, and supports online migrations with minimal downtime via continuous replication. Unlike generic ETL tools, it is optimized for database-specific concerns like constraints, indexes, and transaction consistency.
- ✓
Azure Data Factory
Why this is correct
Azure Data Factory is a cloud-based ETL/ELT service that can move data from on-premises sources to Azure by installing a self-hosted integration runtime on your local network. It uses copy activities to read from file systems, SQL Server, or other databases and write to Azure Blob Storage, Azure SQL, or Data Lake Storage. While not a database migration accelerator, it is a valid service for periodic or batch data movement and orchestration.
- ✗
Azure Analysis Services
Why it's wrong here
Azure Analysis Services is an enterprise-grade semantic modeling engine that performs online analytical processing (OLAP) and provides tabular models for business intelligence. It does not contain any data ingestion, copying, or transfer mechanisms; it simply consumes data that has already been stored in sources like Azure SQL Database or Power BI datasets. Therefore, using it to move data from on-premises to Azure is impossible because it has no connectivity or pipeline components for data movement.
- ✗
Azure Synapse Serverless SQL pool
Why it's wrong here
Azure Synapse Serverless SQL pool is a query engine that lets you run T-SQL queries directly over files in Azure Data Lake Storage or other external sources on a pay-per-query basis. It is stateless and does not persist data after query execution, nor does it have any copy or ingestion commands. Since it only reads data in place and never writes or moves data to another location, it cannot be used for data transfer from on-premises.
- ✓
Azure Data Box
Why this is correct
Azure Data Box is a physical storage appliance that Microsoft ships to your site, allowing you to copy large volumes of data (tens to hundreds of terabytes) onto its disks and then return it for upload to Azure. It is designed for offline bulk data transfer when network upload is slow, unreliable, or too expensive, making it ideal for one-time initial data movement. It is not a database migration tool and does not support ongoing replication or minimal-downtime scenarios.
Visual reference
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Azure SQL Hyperscale and Serverless
Key term
Transfer Appliance
A specialized hardware or virtual device used to securely and efficiently migrate large volumes of data between storage systems, often across different environments or geographic locations, without tying up production network bandwidth.
Key term
Data
Data is raw, unprocessed information, like numbers, words, or measurements, that can be stored, processed, and analyzed by computers.
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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.