AZ-802 Practice Question: Monitor and Troubleshoot Windows Server Environments
You are investigating a disk performance bottleneck on a Windows Server hosting a SQL database. You need to identify the physical disk latency. Which TWO counters should you monitor in Performance Monitor? (Choose two.)
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
✓
PhysicalDisk\Avg. Disk sec/Transfer
Monitoring disk latency requires looking at both the time taken for requests to complete and the queue depth. 'Avg. Disk sec/Transfer' provides the average time for each disk transfer, while 'Avg. Disk Queue Length' indicates how many requests are waiting. Together, these metrics identify whether the storage subsystem is struggling to keep up with the I/O workload generated by the SQL server applications.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
PhysicalDisk\Avg. Disk sec/Transfer
Why this is correct
This counter measures the average time, in seconds, of a data transfer from the disk. High values for this metric directly indicate slow response times from the storage hardware, which is a primary indicator of disk latency issues affecting application performance and database query execution times.
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Memory\Pages/sec
Why it's wrong here
This counter tracks the rate at which pages are read from or written to the disk to resolve hard page faults. While it relates to disk I/O, it measures memory pressure and paging behavior rather than the inherent latency or responsiveness of the physical storage disk hardware.
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PhysicalDisk\Avg. Disk Queue Length
Why this is correct
This counter shows the average number of both read and write requests that were queued for the selected disk during the sample interval. A consistently high queue length suggests the disk cannot process I/O requests as fast as they arrive, confirming a bottleneck in the storage subsystem.
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Processor\% Processor Time
Why it's wrong here
This counter measures the percentage of time the processor is executing a non-idle thread. It is used to identify CPU bottlenecks and does not provide information regarding disk I/O performance or the speed at which physical disks are handling data read and write requests from the OS.
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System\Context Switches/sec
Why it's wrong here
Context switches measure how often the processor switches from one thread to another. This is an indicator of system-wide thread management efficiency and overhead, but it provides no relevant data regarding physical disk latency or the throughput capabilities of the attached storage array or drive.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Microsoft exam blueprint
This AZ-802 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 AZ-802 exam.