DP-700 Ingest and Transform Data Practice Question
A data engineer needs to provide access to data stored in an external Azure Data Lake Storage (ADLS) Gen2 account without moving the data into the Fabric Lakehouse. Which feature of Microsoft Fabric should be used?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often suggest creating a new Dataflow or using an external connector, failing to recognize that 'Shortcuts' is the purpose-built Fabric feature for virtualizing external data access.
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
✓
Shortcuts
Shortcuts in Microsoft Fabric allow users to virtualize data by creating a pointer to an external storage location. This enables the data to appear as if it is stored locally in the Lakehouse, allowing Spark and SQL engines to query it directly. This minimizes data duplication, reduces storage costs, and simplifies data management across different environments.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Data Factory Mirroring
Why it's wrong here
Mirroring is designed for continuous, near real-time replication of databases like SQL Server or Cosmos DB into Fabric. It actually moves and transforms the data into Delta format. Since the requirement is to access data without moving it, Mirroring is the incorrect tool for this specific ADLS Gen2 scenario.
- ✓
Shortcuts
Why this is correct
Shortcuts are the primary mechanism in Fabric for data virtualization. They allow you to map external folders from ADLS Gen2, S3, or other Fabric workspaces into your Lakehouse. The data remains in the source location, but it is treated as a local table or file within the Fabric environment.
- ✗
Pipeline Copy Activity
Why it's wrong here
The Copy Activity is a data movement tool that physically transfers data from a source to a destination. Using this activity would result in a duplicate copy of the data within the Fabric Lakehouse, which directly contradicts the requirement to provide access without moving the data from the external account.
- ✗
Eventstreams
Why it's wrong here
Eventstreams are used for capturing, transforming, and routing real-time streaming data to various destinations. They are not intended for virtualizing static or batch data stored in ADLS Gen2. Using Eventstreams would involve ingesting the data, which involves movement and storage, failing the 'no-move' requirement of the scenario.
About these practice questions
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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 DP-700 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-700 exam.