Study guide for Exam DP-300: Administering Microsoft Azure SQL Solutions

Purpose of this document

This study guide should help you understand what to expect on the exam and includes a summary of the topics the exam might cover and links to additional resources. The information and materials in this document should help you focus your studies as you prepare for the exam.

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Updates to the exam

We always update the English language version of the exam first. Some exams are localized into other languages, and those are updated approximately eight weeks after the English version is updated. Although Microsoft makes every effort to update localized versions as noted, there may be times when the localized versions of an exam are not updated on this schedule. Other available languages are listed in the Schedule Exam section of the Exam Details webpage. If the exam isn't available in your preferred language, you can request an additional 30 minutes to complete the exam.

Note

The bullets that follow each of the skills measured are intended to illustrate how we are assessing that skill. Related topics may be covered in the exam.

Note

Most questions cover features that are general availability (GA). The exam may contain questions on Preview features if those features are commonly used.

Skills measured as of October 25, 2024

Audience profile

As a candidate for this exam, you should have subject matter expertise in building database solutions that are designed to support multiple workloads built with:

• SQL Server on-premises

• Azure SQL services

You’re a database administrator who manages on-premises and cloud databases built with SQL Server and Azure SQL services.

As the Azure database administrator, you implement and manage the operational aspects of cloud-native and hybrid data platform solutions built on SQL Server and Azure SQL services. You use a variety of methods and tools to perform and automate day-to-day operations, including applying knowledge of using Transact-SQL (T-SQL) and other tools for administrative management purposes.

You’re responsible for the following concerning database solutions:

• Management

• Availability

• Security

• Performance monitoring and optimization

You evaluate and implement migration strategies for moving databases between Azure and on-premises. Plus, you work with Azure data engineers, Azure solution architects, Azure developers, data scientists, and other professionals to manage operational aspects of data platform solutions.

As a candidate for this exam, you should have knowledge of and experience with:

• Azure SQL Database

• Azure SQL Managed Instance

• SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines (Windows and Linux)

Skills at a glance

• Plan and implement data platform resources (20–25%)

• Implement a secure environment (15–20%)

• Monitor, configure, and optimize database resources (20–25%)

• Configure and manage automation of tasks (15–20%)

• Plan and configure a high availability and disaster recovery (HA/DR) environment (20–25%)

Plan and implement data platform resources (20–25%)

Plan and deploy Azure SQL solutions

• Deploy database offerings on selected platforms

• Understand automated deployment

• Apply patches and updates for hybrid and infrastructure as a service (IaaS) deployment

• Deploy hybrid SQL Server solutions

• Recommend an appropriate database offering based on specific requirements

• Evaluate the security aspects of the possible database offering

• Recommend a table partitioning solution

• Recommend a database sharding solution

Configure resources for scale and performance

• Configure Azure SQL Database for scale and performance

• Configure Azure SQL Managed Instance for scale and performance

• Configure SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines for scale and performance

• Configure table partitioning

• Configure data compression

Plan and implement a migration strategy

• Evaluate requirements for the migration

• Evaluate offline or online migration strategies

• Implement an online migration strategy

• Implement an offline migration strategy

• Perform post migration validations

• Troubleshoot a migration

• Set up SQL Data Sync for Azure

• Implement a migration to Azure

• Implement a migration between Azure SQL services

• Implement Azure SQL Managed Instance database copy and move

Implement a secure environment (15–20%)

Configure database authentication and authorization

• Configure authentication by using Active Directory and Microsoft Entra ID

• Create users from Microsoft Entra identities

• Configure security principals

• Configure database and object-level permissions using graphical tools

• Apply the principle of least privilege for all securables

• Troubleshoot authentication and authorization issues

• Manage authentication and authorization by using T-SQL

Implement security for data at rest and data in transit

• Implement transparent data encryption (TDE)

• Implement object-level encryption

• Configure server- and database-level firewall rules

• Implement Always Encrypted

• Implement Always Encrypted with VBS enclaves

• Configure secure access

• Configure Transport Layer Security (TLS)

Implement compliance controls for sensitive data

• Apply a data classification strategy

• Configure server and database audits

• Implement data change tracking

• Implement dynamic data masking

• Manage database resources by using Microsoft Purview

• Implement database ledger in Azure SQL

• Implement row-level security

• Configure Microsoft Defender for Azure SQL

Monitor, configure, and optimize database resources (20–25%)

Monitor resource activity and performance

• Prepare an operational performance baseline

• Determine sources for performance metrics

• Interpret performance metrics

• Configure and monitor activity and performance

• Monitor by using SQL Insights

• Monitor by using database watcher

• Monitor by using Extended Events

Monitor and optimize query performance

• Configure Query Store

• Monitor by using Query Store

• Identify sessions that cause blocking

• Identify performance issues using dynamic management views (DMVs)

• Identify and implement index changes for queries

• Recommend query construct modifications based on resource usage

• Assess the use of query hints for query performance

• Review execution plans

• Monitor by using Intelligent Insights

Configure database solutions for optimal performance

• Implement index maintenance tasks

• Implement statistics maintenance tasks

• Implement database integrity checks

• Configure database automatic tuning

• Configure server settings for performance

• Configure Resource Governor for performance

• Implement database-scoped configuration

• Configure compute and storage resources for scaling

• Configure intelligent query processing (IQP)

Configure and manage automation of tasks (15–20%)

Create and manage SQL Server Agent jobs

• Manage schedules for regular maintenance jobs

• Configure job alerts and notifications

• Troubleshoot SQL Server Agent jobs

Automate deployment of database resources

• Automate deployment by using Azure Resource Manager (ARM) and Bicep templates

• Automate deployment by using PowerShell

• Automate deployment by using Azure CLI

• Monitor and troubleshoot deployments

Create and manage database tasks in Azure

• Create and configure elastic jobs

• Create and configure database tasks by using automation

• Configure alerts and notifications on database tasks

• Troubleshoot automated database tasks

Plan and configure a high availability and disaster recovery (HA/DR) environment (20–25%)

Recommend an HA/DR strategy for database solutions

• Recommend HA/DR strategy based on Recovery Point Objective/Recovery Time Objective (RPO/RTO) requirements

• Evaluate HA/DR for hybrid deployments

• Evaluate Azure-specific HA/DR solutions

• Recommend a testing procedure for an HA/DR solution

Plan and perform backup and restore of a database

• Recommend a database backup and restore strategy

• Perform a database backup by using database tools

• Perform a database restore by using database tools

• Perform a database restore to a point in time

• Configure long-term backup retention

• Backup and restore a database by using T-SQL

• Backup and restore to and from cloud storage

Configure HA/DR for database solutions

• Configure active geo-replication

• Configure an Always On availability group on Azure virtual machines

• Configure failover groups

• Configure quorum options for a Windows Server Failover Cluster

• Configure Always On Failover Cluster Instances on Azure virtual machines

• Configure log shipping

• Monitor an HA/DR solution

• Troubleshoot an HA/DR solution

Study resources

We recommend that you train and get hands-on experience before you take the exam. We offer self-study options and classroom training as well as links to documentation, community sites, and videos.

Study resources	Links to learning and documentation
Get trained	Choose from self-paced learning paths and modules or take an instructor-led course
Find documentation	Azure SQL documentation Azure SQL Database documentation Azure documentation
Ask a question	Microsoft Q&A | Microsoft Docs
Get community support	Azure Data - Microsoft Tech Community
Follow Microsoft Learn	Microsoft Learn - Microsoft Tech Community
Find a video	Exam Readiness Zone Data Exposed Browse other Microsoft Learn shows

Change log

The table below summarizes the changes between the current and previous version of the skills measured. The functional groups are in bold typeface followed by the objectives within each group. The table is a comparison between the previous and current version of the exam skills measured and the third column describes the extent of the changes.

Skill area prior to October 25, 2024	Skill area as of October 25, 2024	Change
Implement a secure environment	Implement a secure environment	No change
Implement compliance controls for sensitive data	Implement compliance controls for sensitive data	Minor
Monitor, configure, and optimize database resources	Monitor, configure, and optimize database resources	No change
Monitor resource activity and performance	Monitor resource activity and performance	Minor