Exam Quick Facts
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Exam Code | DP-300 |
| Title | Administering Microsoft Azure SQL Solutions |
| Level | Associate |
| Pass Score | 700 / 1000 |
| Duration | 100 minutes |
| Questions | ~40-60 |
| Cost | $165 USD (varies by region) |
| Scheduling | Pearson VUE |
| Skills Updated | April 24, 2026 |
Study Resources
| Resource | Link |
|---|---|
| Official Exam Page | Microsoft Learn — DP-300 |
| Official Study Guide | Microsoft Study Guide |
| Free Practice Assessment | Start Practice Assessment |
| Exam Sandbox | Try the exam interface |
Skills at a Glance
| Skill Area | Weight |
|---|---|
| Plan and implement data platform resources | 15-20% |
| Implement a secure environment | 20-25% |
| 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% |
Who is this exam for?
This Microsoft Data certification covers data concepts and Azure data services. It tests your ability to work with relational and non-relational databases, analytics workloads, and data platforms on Azure. This is an associate-level exam that expects hands-on experience. You should have practical knowledge of the technologies covered.
Skills Measured
Plan and implement data platform resources (15–20%)
This domain covers the skills needed to work with the topics described below. Study each objective carefully and use the linked resources to deepen your understanding.
Plan and deploy Azure SQL solutions
- Recommend a database offering based on specific requirements
- Choose an automated deployment method
- Identify use cases for Azure Arc-enabled SQL services
- Identify use cases for Azure SQL Database in Microsoft Fabric
- Plan for table partitioning
- Recommend a database sharding solution
- Deploy database offerings on selected platforms
- Deploy hybrid SQL Server solutions
- Apply patches and updates for hybrid and infrastructure as a service (IaaS) deployment
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 a migration
- Evaluate offline or online migration strategies
- Implement an online migration strategy
- Implement an offline migration strategy
- Implement a migration to Azure
- Implement a migration between Azure SQL services
- Implement Azure SQL Managed Instance database copy and move
- Troubleshoot a migration
Implement a secure environment (20–25%)
This domain covers the skills needed to work with the topics described below. Study each objective carefully and use the linked resources to deepen your understanding.
Configure database authentication and authorization
- Configure Microsoft Entra ID authentication for Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, and SQL Server
- Configure authentication for SQL on Azure VMs and Azure SQL Managed Instance
- Configure security principals
- Create users from Microsoft Entra identities
- 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 private links and service endpoints
Implement compliance controls for sensitive data
- Apply a data classification strategy
- Configure server and database audits
- Implement change data tracking
- Implement dynamic data masking
- Implement ledger in Azure SQL
- Implement row-level security
Monitor, configure, and optimize database resources (20–25%)
This domain covers monitoring and maintenance. You need to know how to use monitoring tools, configure alerts, and implement backup and recovery solutions.
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 database watcher
- Monitor by using Extended Events
Monitor and optimize query performance
- Configure Query Store
- Monitor by using Query Store
- Identify and resolve session blocking
- Identify performance issues using dynamic management views (DMVs)
- Identify and implement index changes for queries
- Recommend query construct modifications based on resource usage
- 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
- Identify use cases for intelligent query processing (IQP) features
Configure and manage automation of tasks (15–20%)
This domain covers the skills needed to work with the topics described below. Study each objective carefully and use the linked resources to deepen your understanding.
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 Azure 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%)
This domain covers business continuity, backup, and disaster recovery. You need to understand how to design solutions that keep services running when things go wrong.
Plan 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
- Plan 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 native tools
- Perform a database restore by using native 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 to and restore from cloud storage
Configure HA/DR for database solutions
- Configure active geo-replication
- Configure Always On availability groups on SQL Managed Instance and Azure virtual machines
- Configure failover groups
- Configure Always On Failover Cluster Instances on Azure virtual machines
- Configure log shipping
- Monitor an HA/DR solution
- Troubleshoot an HA/DR solution
What to Study Next
Based on this exam, here are related certifications to consider:
- DP-900: Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals — Fundamentals
- AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator — Associate
- DP-420: Designing and Implementing Cloud-Native Applications Using Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB — Associate