How to crack the Microsoft Certification DP-300: Azure Database Administrator Associate

Are you planning to prepare for the DP-300 Azure Database Administrator Associate certification exam? Then you have arrived at the right place. Let us get into the details.

1. Introduction:

   The DP-300 exam is introduced by Microsoft for administering relational databases on Microsoft Azure. This exam is targeted towards data professionals, data architects, application developers managing data and databases who want to learn about administering the data platform technologies available on Microsoft Azure.

2. What to expect from this article?

   A curated list of material is available throughout this article, starting from the core concepts of Microsoft Azure, prerequisites for candidates, the exam pattern along with the module wise percentage of questions, and reference material. You will be seeing a lot of tips, and tricks to crack the exam. Moreover, self-learning portal links are available in the later sections. Follow them thoroughly to get an upper hand on the concepts and help the candidate emerge as a winner, with the coveted DP-300 certified badge from Microsoft.

3. Prerequisites

   There are no mandatory prerequisite certifications to be completed before taking this exam. However, general IT knowledge will be beneficial. Individuals who develop applications that deliver content from SQL based relational databases are the appropriate target audience who can take up the DP-300 Azure Database Administrator Associate Exam.

4. Key Benefits:

   • Role-based Certification for Relational Database Administrators is preferred by organizations hiring for senior-level posts.
   • Candidates will get vast knowledge on implementing relational data services on the cloud (Microsoft Azure) and how to work with it using Microsoft Azure services
   • IT market is flooded with jobs for people who work with data and use Microsoft Azure Services. Candidates having Microsoft certification badges in their CV have a huge advantage.
   • Certification is a way to let others know that your skills have been validated.

5. Exam Pattern:

   The table below summarizes all additional information about the exam.
   

6. Percentage Of Questions in each module:

   Questions are distributed across all the modules. There are seven modules and the following is the percentage of questions for respective modules.

   • Plan and implement data platform resources (15-20%)

   From this module, you can expect questions related to deploying database offerings, configuring deployment templates, recommend various database offerings based on specific requirements and online and offline migration strategy.

   • Implement a secure environment (15-20%)

   From this module, you can expect questions from security implementation solutions such as Transparent Data Encryption (TDE), object-level encryption, Dynamic Data Masking, Azure Key Vault, and disk encryption for Azure VMs, configuring server database-level firewall rules, data classification strategy, and performing vulnerability assessment.

   • Monitor and optimize operational resources (15-20%)

   Here, determining sources for performance metrics is discussed along with performance-related maintenance tasks, configuring resources for optimal performance, and other performance-related issues are discussed in detail.

   • Optimize query performance (5-10%)

   Fewer questions can be expected from this module related to Dynamic Management Views (DMVs), to gather query performance information, and review database table and index design.

   • Perform automation of tasks (10-15%)

   Questions from this module will be on creating, and scheduling tasks. Creating event notification for Azure resources, automating backups, performance tuning, patching are some topics to follow through.

   • Plan and implement a High Availability and Disaster Recovery (HADR) environment (15-20%)

   HADR strategies based on RPO/RTO solutions, deploying HADR for hybrid deployments, testing and deploying HADR strategy using the platform, OS, database tools. Configure quorum options for a Windows Server Failover Cluster. Questions based on these topics can be expected from this module.

   • Perform administration by using T-SQL (10-15%)

   From this module, questions will be based on examining the system health using DMVs, monitoring database configuration using T-SQL, manage authentication and authorization using T-SQL.

7. Study Material for Exam

   There are various ways to prepare for this certification:

   • Microsoft Official Courseware (MOC) are provided by CloudThat upon enrolment for the course 
   • Microsoft Documentation
   • Instructor lead training is available, which can help you learn the Azure Data concepts with a structured approach.
   • Course link to enroll for DP-300 certification exam.
   • CloudThat provides Test Prep for anyone attempting this course where unlimited access is provided to our library for Azure, MCQs, and performance tracker.

8.  Tips & Tricks:

   Few things to understand before attempting the final exam and to be able to sweep through smoothly.

   • Thoroughly brush Azure core concepts, Data fundamentals, etc before appearing for the exam
   • Appear for the exam right after attending the training, as the concepts are fresh in your mind.
   • While answering the questions, eliminate the wrong choices and choose the final answer.
   • If you find any complicated questions, it can be attempted later; so, mark it for later and revisit the marked questions after finishing the whole test.
   • There is no negative marking for the wrong answers, so attempt all the answers.
   • Take a deep breath before you dive in and remember everyone starts somewhere so there is provision for reattempts to the DP-300 exam.

9. Get Certified Now:

   It is always great to get the right source of learning to Move Up. At CloudThat we have a course aimed at preparing participants/candidates for DP-300 Azure Database Administrator Associate. You can register by visiting the Microsoft website. 

   If you have just begun your Microsoft Azure journey related to data in the cloud, then ‘Microsoft Azure Fundamentals AZ-900’ and ‘Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals DP-900’’ will be a great start.  As this is the associate level exam in Data Platform Series, a basic understanding of Azure core concepts is paramount.

   Feel free to drop any questions in the comment box, I will be more than happy to answer your questions. I hope you enjoyed this article. Best of luck!

WRITTEN BY Anusha Shanbhag

Anusha Shanbhag is an AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Technical Content Writer specializing in technical content strategizing with over 10+ years of professional experience in technical content writing, process documentation, tech blog writing, and end-to-end case studies publishing, catering to consulting and marketing requirements for B2B and B2C audiences. She is a public speaker and ex-president of the corporate Toastmaster club.