DP-900 Describe core data concepts Practice Question
Your organization wants to run SQL queries on data stored in Azure Blob Storage without moving the data. Which Azure service supports this?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 (a storage service) with a query engine, or assume Azure SQL Database can query external blobs natively, when in fact only Synapse Serverless SQL pool provides serverless T-SQL querying over Blob Storage without data movement.
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 pool
Azure Synapse Serverless SQL pool allows you to query data directly from Azure Blob Storage using T-SQL without moving the data. It uses a distributed query engine that reads files in place, supporting formats like Parquet, CSV, and JSON, making it ideal for ad-hoc analytics on stored data.
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 managed relational database service that stores data in its own logical database. To run SQL queries against data sitting in a data lake or blob storage, you would first need to copy or import that data into Azure SQL Database using tools like Azure Data Factory or SQL Server Integration Services. It cannot directly query external blob files with T-SQL, so despite supporting SQL, it does not meet the requirement of querying data in its original storage location.
- ✗
Azure Analysis Services
Why it's wrong here
Azure Analysis Services is an analytical engine used for building and serving enterprise semantic models, not for running ad-hoc T-SQL queries against raw files. It connects to multiple data sources but then composes an in-memory tabular model that is queried using DAX, MDX, or XMLA, rather than direct T-SQL against storage. Adding Analysis Services would introduce an extra modeling and caching layer, and it still would not query the data files directly.
- ✓
Azure Synapse Serverless SQL pool
Why this is correct
Azure Synapse Serverless SQL pool is a serverless query service that lets you run T-SQL queries directly against files stored in Azure Blob Storage or Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2. Using OPENROWSET or external tables, you can query CSV, JSON, or Parquet files without loading them into a database first. It scales on demand and charges by the amount of data processed, making it the correct choice for running SQL directly on stored data.
- ✗
Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2
Why it's wrong here
Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 is a highly scalable, secure file storage service built on Azure Blob Storage with a hierarchical namespace. It provides only storage and data access through SDKs, APIs, or other engines, and has no built-in SQL query execution capability. To run T-SQL queries against the data it holds, you still need a separate query engine such as Azure Synapse Serverless SQL pool.
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
Data
Data is raw, unprocessed information, like numbers, words, or measurements, that can be stored, processed, and analyzed by computers.
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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