DP-900 Describe core data concepts Practice Question
You are designing a batch processing pipeline that runs nightly to transform CSV files from an FTP server into Parquet files in Azure Data Lake Storage. Which Azure service should you use to orchestrate the pipeline?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse Azure Data Factory with Azure Logic Apps or Azure Functions, assuming any 'automation' or 'serverless' service can orchestrate a batch ETL pipeline, but only ADF provides the native data movement, transformation, and scheduling capabilities required for this specific scenario.
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 Data Factory
Azure Data Factory (ADF) is the correct choice because it is a cloud-based ETL and data integration service designed specifically for orchestrating and automating data pipelines. It supports scheduled triggers (e.g., nightly runs), native connectors for FTP and Azure Data Lake Storage, and built-in data transformation activities like Copy Data and Mapping Data Flows to convert CSV to Parquet. ADF's control flow and dependency management make it ideal for batch processing pipelines.
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 Functions
Why it's wrong here
Azure Functions is a serverless compute service designed for event-driven, short-lived workloads. It executes code in response to triggers like HTTP requests or queue messages, but it does not provide native scheduling, dependency management, or data movement and transformation engines needed to orchestrate a nightly batch pipeline that parses CSV files into Parquet. While you could technically chain Functions to simulate orchestration, that would require custom code and maintenance, making it an inappropriate tool for this pipeline.
- ✓
Azure Data Factory
Why this is correct
Azure Data Factory (ADF) is the correct choice because it is a fully managed cloud ETL/ELT service purpose-built for orchestrating and automating batch pipelines. It offers a visual control flow to schedule nightly triggers, manage dependencies, and execute copy activities or mapping data flows that can read CSV files and transform them into Parquet format. ADF also integrates seamlessly with Azure Data Lake Storage, Azure Databricks, and other compute services, providing the necessary data movement and transformation capabilities for the nightly pipeline.
- ✗
Azure Logic Apps
Why it's wrong here
Logic Apps lacks the native data movement and transformation engines required to parse CSV structures into Parquet formats. It functions as a low-code workflow orchestrator for event-driven integration, making it the correct choice for automating business processes like sending notifications via Microsoft Entra ID-secured webhooks when an FTP file arrives. However, it cannot perform the heavy lifting of data engineering tasks required in this batch pipeline.
- ✗
Azure Batch
Why it's wrong here
Azure Batch is a compute service for running large-scale parallel and high-performance computing (HPC) jobs, not a pipeline orchestration service. It provisions and manages a pool of virtual machines to execute custom applications, but it lacks the built-in data connectors, scheduling triggers, and metadata tracking required to coordinate a recurring nightly pipeline that parses CSV structures. In fact, Azure Batch would typically be used as a compute target underneath an orchestrator like ADF, not as the orchestrator itself.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Data Roles and Core Concepts
Key term
Data
Data is raw, unprocessed information, like numbers, words, or measurements, that can be stored, processed, and analyzed by computers.
Key term
Service
A service is a software component or system that performs a specific function and is available to be used by other programs or users over a network.
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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.