DP-300: Administering Microsoft Azure SQL Solutions Exam

Microsoft DP-300 course, also known as "Administering Relational Databases on Microsoft Azure," is a certification course that teaches students how to administer and manage relational databases on the Microsoft Azure platform. This course is designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to manage and maintain databases in Azure, as well as prepare for the DP-300 certification exam.

Candidates for this exam should have knowledge of and experience with Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, and SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines (Windows and Linux).

• 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 a secure environment (15–20%)

Configure database authentication and authorization

• Configure authentication by using Active Directory and Microsoft Azure Active Directory (Azure AD), part of Microsoft Entra

• Create users from Azure AD identities

• Configure security principals

• Configure database and object-level permissions using graphical tools

• Apply 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

• 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 Azure Purview

• Implement Azure SQL Database ledger

• Implement row-level security

• Configure Microsoft Defender for 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 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

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 templates (ARM templates) and Bicep

• 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

• Automate database workflows by using Azure Logic Apps

• 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

• Configure auto-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

The Microsoft DP-300 exam, "Administering Relational Databases on Microsoft Azure," typically takes around 120 minutes to complete. The exact duration of the exam can vary and may be subject to change as Microsoft updates its certification exams.

The exam is designed to test a candidate's knowledge and skills in administering and managing relational databases on the Microsoft Azure platform. It covers topics such as creating and configuring Azure SQL databases, managing and monitoring Azure SQL databases, and troubleshooting and optimizing performance of Azure SQL databases.

The passing score for the Microsoft DP-300 exam, "Administering Relational Databases on Microsoft Azure," is not publicly disclosed by Microsoft. The company uses a scaled scoring method, which means that the passing score is determined based on the level of difficulty of the exam and the performance of the candidates who take the exam.

Microsoft uses a unique algorithm that takes into account the difficulty of the exam, the performance of all test-takers, and other statistical data to determine the passing score. The passing score is set to ensure that only individuals who have demonstrated a certain level of proficiency in the exam material are able to pass the exam.