Microsoft Azure Database Administrator Associate

The Microsoft Azure Database Administrator Associate (DP-300) certification validates expertise in managing SQL Server and Azure SQL database deployments. Database administrators who earn this certification can implement operational aspects of cloud-native and hybrid data platform solutions built on Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, and SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines. The role covers performance optimization, high availability, security, and monitoring of relational databases.

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What is the Microsoft Azure Database Administrator Associate (DP-300) Certification?

Who Should Take This Course?

Database administrators managing SQL Server and Azure SQL environments
IT professionals migrating on-premises databases to Azure SQL services
Cloud DBAs responsible for Azure SQL Database and Managed Instance
Systems administrators supporting hybrid SQL Server deployments
DevOps engineers managing database infrastructure as code
Data engineers supporting relational database backends for analytics workloads

What You Will Learn in the DP-300 Course

A comprehensive curriculum covering all exam objectives with hands-on labs and real-world practice.

Plan and Implement Data Platform Resources

Deploy and configure Azure SQL services for enterprise workloads.

Azure SQL Database — DTU vs vCore models, elastic pools, and serverless
Azure SQL Managed Instance — deployment, networking, and migration
SQL Server on Azure VMs — sizing, licensing, and storage configuration
Azure Database Migration Service and offline/online migration strategies
ARM templates and Bicep for database infrastructure as code

Implement a Secure Environment

Protect Azure SQL databases with authentication, encryption, and auditing.

Azure AD authentication — logins, contained users, and managed identities
Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) and Always Encrypted
Row-Level Security (RLS) and Dynamic Data Masking
Azure SQL Auditing and Advanced Threat Protection
Private endpoints and VNet service endpoints for Azure SQL

Monitor and Optimize Operational Resources

Tune performance and automate database operations on Azure.

Query Performance Insight and Query Store analysis
Automatic tuning — index management and query plan forcing
Azure SQL Intelligent Insights and performance recommendations
Elastic jobs and SQL Agent jobs for automated maintenance
Extended Events and DMVs for workload monitoring

Optimize Query Performance

Identify and resolve query performance issues in Azure SQL.

Execution plan analysis — actual vs. estimated plans
Index strategy — clustered, non-clustered, and columnstore indexes
Statistics management and cardinality estimation
Identifying blocking, deadlocks, and wait statistics
In-Memory OLTP tables and memory-optimized objects

Implement High Availability and Disaster Recovery

Design and configure HA/DR solutions for Azure SQL workloads.

Azure SQL Database Business Critical and Hyperscale service tiers
Active Geo-Replication and Auto-Failover Groups
Azure SQL Managed Instance failover groups and zone redundancy
Point-in-time restore (PITR) and long-term retention (LTR) policies
Azure Backup for SQL Server on VMs

Course Prerequisites

Pre-requisites training is free when you purchase the course from ProSupport

2+ years of experience administering SQL Server or Azure SQL databases
Strong T-SQL knowledge — queries, stored procedures, and indexing
Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) or basic Azure platform knowledge
Understanding of database security — authentication, authorization, and encryption
Familiarity with PowerShell or Azure CLI for database automation
Azure Data Fundamentals (DP-900) recommended but not required

Exam Information

Everything you need to know about the DP-300 certification exam.

Exam Component	Details
Exam Name	Administering Relational Databases on Microsoft Azure
Exam Code	DP-300
Exam Type	Multiple Choice, Case Studies, Drag-and-Drop, Active Screen
Total Questions	40–60
Passing Score	700 (out of 1000)
Exam Duration	100 minutes
Language	English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Korean, Spanish, German, French, Portuguese (Brazil)
Exam Provider	Microsoft / Pearson VUE
Exam Focus	Planning, implementing, securing, monitoring, and optimizing Azure SQL database solutions
Exam Registration	Register at microsoft.com/en-us/learning or via Pearson VUE testing centers
Retake Policy	24 hours before first retake; 14 days before subsequent retakes; 5 attempts per year
Certification Validity	1 year — renewable via free online renewal assessment on Microsoft Learn