Exam Quick Facts
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Exam Code | DP-420 |
| Title | Designing and Implementing Cloud-Native Applications Using Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB |
| Level | Associate |
| Pass Score | 700 / 1000 |
| Duration | 100 minutes |
| Questions | ~40-60 |
| Cost | $165 USD (varies by region) |
| Scheduling | Pearson VUE |
| Skills Updated | April 20, 2026 |
Study Resources
| Resource | Link |
|---|---|
| Official Exam Page | Microsoft Learn — DP-420 |
| 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 |
|---|---|
| Design and implement data models | 35-40% |
| Design and implement data distribution | 5-10% |
| Integrate an Azure Cosmos DB solution | 5-10% |
| Optimize an Azure Cosmos DB solution | 15-20% |
| Maintain an Azure Cosmos DB solution | 25-30% |
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
Design and implement data models (35–40%)
This domain covers data modelling and storage design. You need to understand how to structure data effectively for performance and usability.
Design and implement a non-relational data model for Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL
- Develop a design by storing multiple entity types in the same container
- Develop a design by storing multiple related entities in the same document
- Develop a model that denormalizes data across documents
- Develop a design by referencing between documents
- Identify partition key, id, and unique keys
- Identify data and associated access patterns
- Specify a default time to live (TTL) on a container for a transactional store
- Develop a design for versioning documents
- Develop a design for document schema versioning
Design a data partitioning strategy for Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL
- Choose a partitioning strategy based on a specific workload
- Choose a partition key
- Plan for transactions when choosing a partition key
- Evaluate the cost of using a cross-partition query
- Calculate and evaluate data distribution based on partition key selection
- Calculate and evaluate throughput distribution based on partition key selection
- Construct and implement a synthetic partition key
- Design and implement a hierarchical partition key
- Design partitioning for workloads that require multiple partition keys
Plan and implement sizing and scaling for a database created with Azure Cosmos DB
- Evaluate the throughput and data storage requirements for a specific workload
- Choose between serverless, provisioned and free tier
- Choose when to use database-level provisioned throughput
- Design for granular scale units and resource governance
- Evaluate the cost of the global distribution of data
- Configure throughput for Azure Cosmos DB by using the Azure portal
Implement client connectivity options in the Azure Cosmos DB SDK
- Choose a connectivity mode (gateway versus direct)
- Implement a connectivity mode
- Create a connection to a database
- Enable offline development by using the Azure Cosmos DB emulator
- Handle connection errors
- Implement a singleton for the client
- Specify a region for global distribution
- Configure client-side threading and parallelism options
- Enable SDK logging
Implement data access by using the SQL language for Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL
- Implement queries that use arrays, nested objects, aggregation, and ordering
- Implement a correlated subquery
- Implement queries that use array and type-checking functions
- Implement queries that use mathematical, string, and date functions
- Implement queries based on variable data
Implement data access by using Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL SDKs
- Choose when to use a point operation versus a query operation
- Implement a point operation that creates, updates, and deletes items
- Implement an update by using a patch operation
- Manage multi-item transactions using SDK Transactional Batch
- Perform a multi-item load using Bulk Support in the SDK
- Implement optimistic concurrency control using ETags
- Override default consistency by using query request options
- Implement session consistency by using session tokens
- Implement a query operation that includes pagination
- Implement a query operation by using a continuation token
- Handle transient errors and 429s
- Specify TTL for an item
- Retrieve and use query metrics
Implement server-side programming in Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL by using JavaScript
- Write, deploy, and call a stored procedure
- Design stored procedures to work with multiple items within the same logical partition transactionally
- Implement and call triggers
- Implement a user-defined function
Design and implement data distribution (5–10%)
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.
Design and implement a replication strategy for Azure Cosmos DB
- Choose when to distribute data
- Define automatic failover policies for regional failure for Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL
- Perform manual failovers to move single master write regions
- Choose a consistency model
- Identify use cases for different consistency models
- Evaluate the impact of consistency model choices on availability and associated request unit (RU) cost
- Evaluate the impact of consistency model choices on performance and latency
- Specify application connections to replicated data
Design and implement multi-region writes
- Choose when to use multi-region writes
- Implement multi-region writes
- Implement a custom conflict resolution policy for Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL
Integrate an Azure Cosmos DB solution (5–10%)
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.
Enable Azure Cosmos DB analytical workloads
- Configure Azure Cosmos DB Mirroring for Microsoft Fabric
- Choose between Azure Cosmos DB Mirroring and the Azure Cosmos DB Spark connector
- Enable the analytical store on a container
- Enable a connection to an analytical store and query from Azure Synapse Spark or Azure Synapse SQL
- Perform a query against the transactional store from Spark
- Write data back to the transactional store from Spark
- Implement Change Data Capture in the Azure Cosmos DB analytical store
- Implement time travel in Warehouse in Microsoft Fabric
Implement solutions across services
- Integrate events with other applications by using Azure Functions and Azure Event Hubs
- Denormalize data by using Change Feed and Azure Functions
- Enforce referential integrity by using Change Feed and Azure Functions
- Aggregate data by using Change Feed and Azure Functions, including reporting
- Archive data by using Change Feed and Azure Functions
- Implement Azure AI Search for an Azure Cosmos DB solution
Optimize an Azure Cosmos DB solution (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.
Optimize query performance when using the API for Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL
- Adjust indexes on the database
- Calculate the cost of the query
- Retrieve request unit cost of a point operation or query
- Implement Azure Cosmos DB integrated cache
Design and implement change feeds for Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL
- Develop an Azure Functions trigger to process a change feed
- Consume a change feed from within an application by using the SDK
- Manage the number of change feed instances by using the change feed estimator
- Implement denormalization by using a change feed
- Implement referential enforcement by using a change feed
- Implement aggregation persistence by using a change feed
- Implement data archiving by using a change feed
Define and implement an indexing strategy for Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL
- Choose when to use a read-heavy versus write-heavy index strategy
- Choose an appropriate index type
- Configure a custom indexing policy by using the Azure portal
- Implement a composite index
- Optimize index performance
Maintain an Azure Cosmos DB solution (25–30%)
This domain covers monitoring and maintenance. You need to know how to use monitoring tools, configure alerts, and implement backup and recovery solutions.
Monitor and troubleshoot an Azure Cosmos DB solution
- Evaluate response status code and failure metrics
- Monitor the Normalized RU Consumption metric by using Azure Monitor
- Monitor server-side latency metrics by using Azure Monitor
- Monitor data replication in relation to latency and availability
- Configure Azure Monitor alerts for Azure Cosmos DB
- Implement and query Azure Monitor resource logs for Azure Cosmos DB
- Monitor throughput across partitions
- Monitor distribution of data across partitions
- Monitor security by using logging and auditing
Implement backup and restore for an Azure Cosmos DB solution
- Choose between periodic and continuous backup
- Configure periodic backup
- Configure continuous backup and point-in-time restore
- Locate a restore point for a point-in-time restore
- Restore a database or container from a restore point
Implement security for an Azure Cosmos DB solution
- Choose between service-managed and customer-managed encryption keys
- Configure network-level access control for Azure Cosmos DB
- Configure data encryption for Azure Cosmos DB
- Manage control plane access to Azure Cosmos DB by using Azure role-based access control (RBAC)
- Manage control plane access to Azure Cosmos DB Data Explorer by using Azure role-based access control (RBAC)
- Manage data plane access to Azure Cosmos DB by using Microsoft Entra ID
- Configure cross-origin resource sharing (CORS) settings
- Manage account keys by using Azure Key Vault
- Implement customer-managed keys for encryption
- Implement Always Encrypted
Implement data movement for an Azure Cosmos DB solution
- Choose a data movement strategy
- Move data by using client SDK bulk operations
- Move data by using Azure Data Factory and Azure Synapse pipelines
- Move data by using a Kafka connector
- Move data by using Azure Stream Analytics
- Move data by using the Azure Cosmos DB Spark connector
- Configure Azure Cosmos DB as a custom endpoint for an Azure IoT Hub
Implement a DevOps process for an Azure Cosmos DB solution
- Choose when to use declarative versus imperative operations
- Provision and manage Azure Cosmos DB resources by using Azure Resource Manager templates
- Migrate between standard and autoscale throughput by using PowerShell or Azure CLI
- Initiate a regional failover by using PowerShell or Azure CLI
- Maintain indexing policies in production by using Azure Resource Manager templates
What to Study Next
Based on this exam, here are related certifications to consider:
- DP-300: Administering Microsoft Azure SQL Solutions — Associate
- AZ-204: Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure — Associate ⚠️ Retiring
- DP-900: Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals — Fundamentals