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
Your organization stores IoT sensor data as JSON blobs in Azure Blob Storage. You need to query this data using SQL statements without moving the data. Which Azure service should you use?
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 Synapse Serverless SQL
Azure Synapse Serverless SQL (part of Azure Synapse Analytics) can directly query JSON files stored in Azure Blob Storage using T-SQL statements via OPENROWSET, without the need to move or load the data. Option A is wrong because Azure SQL Database is a relational database service that requires data to be imported into tables. Option B is wrong because Azure Cosmos DB is a NoSQL database service, not a query engine for Blob Storage. Option C is wrong because Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 is a hierarchical storage service, not a query capability.
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 SQL Database
Why it's wrong here
Azure SQL Database is a relational database service that stores data in structured tables, not a query engine for files residing in Azure Blob Storage. To query JSON blobs with it, you would have to export/import the data into the database, which breaks the requirement to query 'in place' without moving it. While Azure SQL Database can parse JSON inside its own columns, it cannot natively read external JSON files from Blob Storage using T-SQL.
- ✗
Azure Cosmos DB
Why it's wrong here
Azure Cosmos DB is a globally distributed, multi-model NoSQL database that manages JSON documents in its own containers, not a service for querying arbitrary JSON blobs stored in Azure Blob Storage. Using it would require ingesting the IoT data into Cosmos DB first, violating the constraint of querying directly from the existing blob location. Its SQL API is designed for items inside a Cosmos DB container, not for ad-hoc queries over files in an external data lake.
- ✗
Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2
Why it's wrong here
Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 provides hierarchical namespace and POSIX-compliant access control, but it lacks a built-in SQL query engine for directly querying JSON blobs in place; it requires an external compute layer like Azure Synapse or Databricks to execute SQL. It is tempting because it is optimised for large-scale analytics workloads, and would be correct if the requirement were to store structured or semi-structured data for parallel processing via Spark or PolyBase, rather than ad-hoc SQL queries on static JSON files.
- ✓
Azure Synapse Serverless SQL
Why this is correct
Azure Synapse Serverless SQL enables direct querying of JSON blobs stored in Azure Blob Storage using T-SQL. This service allows users to create external tables or utilise `OPENROWSET` to query the data *in situ*, eliminating the need to move or ingest it into a separate database. This capability directly satisfies the constraint of querying the data using SQL statements without moving it from its current storage location, providing a flexible and cost-effective solution for ad-hoc analysis.
Quick reference
Azure Blob Storage Tier Comparison
| Tier | Storage Cost | Retrieval Cost | Latency | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hot | Highest | Lowest | Immediate | Active data, frequent reads |
| Cool | Lower | Higher | Immediate | Data accessed < once / month |
| Cold | Lower still | Higher | Immediate | Data accessed < once / quarter |
| Archive | Lowest | Highest + rehydration delay | Hours | Long-term compliance retention |
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Data Roles and Core Concepts
Key term
Azure Cosmos DB
Azure Cosmos DB is a fully managed, globally distributed NoSQL database service that offers fast reads and writes anywhere in the world with automatic scaling and multiple consistency models.
Key term
Blob storage
Blob storage is a cloud service for storing large amounts of unstructured data, such as text or binary data, like documents, images, and videos.
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Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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