​Chapter 1: Introduction

​1.1 About the Author

iCertify Training is a New York-based Authorized Professional Certification Training Provider for Cloud, PMP®, Agile®, ITIL® and Six Sigma®. More than 325,000 persons have been enabled by our certification programs. More than 5,000 students are certified each month. We offer Classroom, Online and Webinars for professionals, business and government.

You can reach us at info@icertifytraining.com.

​1.2 About this book

Microsoft Azure is Microsoft's cloud computing platform, providing a wide variety of services you can use without purchasing and provisioning your own hardware. Azure enables the rapid development of solutions and provides the resources to accomplish tasks that may not be feasible in an on-premises environment. Azure's compute, storage, network and application services allow you to focus on building great solutions without the need to worry about how the physical infrastructure is assembled.

These Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals practice tests are patterned after the latest exam format and were crafted based on the feedback of our 30,000+ students that have enrolled in the main DP-900 preparation course. Our DP-900 Azure practice tests are TOP-NOTCH and the CLOSEST to the actual exam.

●  Each question has detailed s at the end of each set that will help you gain a deeper understanding of the Azure services.

●  The provides an overview of the topic, reference links to Azure docs and a rationale on why the option is correct or incorrect

●  You can conveniently review everywhere, anytime with your smartphone!

This DP-900 - Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals Practice Tests course offers the following features:

FULLY UPDATED TO THE NEW Nov 2020 exam version - Most practice tests out there are already obsolete and advertised as updated, but in reality, they are not! I have already integrated the Nov 2020 DP-900 exam changes.

9 sets of DP-900 Azure Practice Tests with 50 unique questions and a 60-minute time limit for each set.

DETAILED S, REFERENCE LINKS and SCREENSHOTS - the answer key at the end of each set has full and detailed s along with complete reference links so you can check and verify yourself that the answers are correct.

ACTIVE Q&A DISCUSSION BOARD - Join our Group at Quora that has an active Q&A board giving you the opportunity to know which topics recently appeared on the exam and better understand the Azure services and concepts covered in the test.

VERY RESPONSIVE INSTRUCTORS - our friendly team of Azure experts is able to address all your issues and COMPREHENSIVELY answer all your questions within 1 business days.

HAS BETTER VALUE THAN ANY OFFICIAL AZURE PRACTICE TEST - they are expensive and you get around 100 questions to practice

CLEAR AND ERROR-FREE QUESTIONS - Each item has a reference link that can validate the answer but you can also post in the course QA section

Prepared by an Azure Solutions Architect Expert who has also passed the actual DP-900 exam recently!

IMPORTANT NOTE

These DP-900 Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals Practice Exams have a passing score of 70%, but I highly encourage you to repeat taking these exams again and again until you consistently reach a score of 90% or higher on each exam.

These practice tests explore six foundational features of the Microsoft Azure platform, along with insights on getting started with Azure, management tools and common business scenarios. This questions also explore more commonly used services, such as HDInsight (Azure’s Hadoop service) and Service Bus, but there are many services in the Azure platform that are not in the scope of the certification exam, such as Azure Batch, Data Lake Analytics and Azure DNS, just to mention a few.

​Chapter 2 : Azure Data Fundamentals Certification

​2.1 Learning objectives

After completing this chapter, you'll be able to:

Understand the need of Azure Fundamentals DP-900 Certification Examination

DP 900 Examination syllabus

How to take the examination and Costs

​2.2 Microsoft Data Certifications

To enable the role of Data administrator, Engineers and Scientists on Azure Microsoft has created the following certifications

​2.3 Azure Fundamentals DP 900 Certification

Azure Data Fundamentals can be used to prepare for other Azure role-based certifications like Azure Database Administrator Associate or Azure Data Engineer Associate, but it’s not a prerequisite for any of them.

Data is everywhere, and companies need it to better understand their customers and competitors and to make sound business decisions. Azure is among the best options on the market. The DP-900 exam is the first certification in Microsoft’s data path. The certification attests the candidate’s capability in core data concepts, such as data processing and data analytics, understanding ways to work with relational data in Azure, including hosting options and relational database offerings in Azure along with ways to handle non-relational data, and finally analytics workloads and insights on data warehousing in Azure and Power BI.

The Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals (DP- 900) examination covers the below six areas,

Describe core data concepts (15-20%)

Describe types of core data workloads

●  Describe batch data

●  Describe streaming data

●  Describe the difference between batch and streaming data

●  Describe the characteristics of relational data

Describe data analytics core concepts

●  Describe data visualization (e.g., visualization, reporting, business intelligence (BI))

●  Describe basic chart types such as bar charts and pie charts

●  Describe analytics techniques (e.g., descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, prescriptive, cognitive)

●  Describe ELT and ETL processing

●  Describe the concepts of data processing

Describe how to work with relational data on Azure (25-30%)

Describe relational data workloads

●  Identify the right data offering for a relational workload

●  Describe relational data structures (e.g., tables, index, views)

Describe relational Azure data services

●  Describe and compare PaaS, IaaS, and SaaS solutions

●  Describe Azure SQL family of products including Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL

●  Managed Instance, and SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines

●  Describe Azure Synapse Analytics

●  Describe Azure Database for PostgreSQL, Azure Database for MariaDB, and Azure Database for MySQL

Identify basic management tasks for relational data

●  Describe provisioning and deployment of relational data services

●  Describe method for deployment including the Azure portal, Azure Resource Manager templates, Azure PowerShell, and the Azure command-line interface (CLI)

●  Identify data security components (e.g., firewall, authentication)

●  Identify basic connectivity issues (e.g., accessing from on-premises, access with Azure VNets, access from Internet, authentication, firewalls)

●  Identify query tools (e.g., Azure Data Studio, SQL Server Management Studio, SQLcmd utility, etc.)

Describe query techniques for data using SQL language

●  Compare Data Definition Language (DDL) versus Data Manipulation Language (DML)

●  Query relational data in Azure SQL Database, Azure Database for PostgreSQL, and Azure Database for MySQL

Describe how to work with non-relational data on Azure (25-30%)

Describe non-relational data workloads

●  Describe the characteristics of non-relational data

●  Describe the types of non-relational and NoSQL data

●  Recommend the correct data store

●  Determine when to use non-relational data

Describe non-relational data offerings on Azure

●  Identify Azure data services for non-relational workloads

●  Describe Azure Cosmos DB APIs

●  Describe Azure Table storage

●  Describe Azure Blob storage

●  Describe Azure File storage

Identify basic management tasks for non-relational data

●  Describe provisioning and deployment of non-relational data services

●  Describe method for deployment including the Azure portal, Azure Resource Manager templates, Azure PowerShell, and the Azure command-line interface (CLI)

●  Identify data security components (e.g., firewall, authentication, encryption)

●  Identify basic connectivity issues (e.g., accessing from on-premises, access with Azure

●  VNets, access from Internet, authentication, firewalls)

●  Identify management tools for non-relational data

Describe an analytics workload on Azure (25-30%)

Describe analytics workloads

●  Describe transactional workloads

●  Describe the difference between a transactional and an analytics workload

●  Describe the difference between batch and real time

●  Describe data warehousing workloads

●  Determine when a data warehouse solution is needed

Describe the components of a modern data warehouse

●  Describe Azure data services for modern data warehousing such as Azure Data Lake

●  Storage Gen2, Azure Synapse Analytics, Azure Databricks, and Azure HDInsight

●  Describe modern data warehousing architecture and workload

Describe data ingestion and processing on Azure

●  Describe common practices for data loading

●  Describe the components of Azure Data Factory (e.g., pipeline, activities, etc.)

●  Describe data processing options (e.g., Azure HDInsight, Azure Databricks, Azure Synapse Analytics, Azure Data Factory)

Describe data visualization in Microsoft Power BI

●  Describe the role of paginated reporting

●  Describe the role of interactive reports

●  Describe the role of dashboards

●  Describe the workflow in Power BI

​2.4 Skills gained

The Microsoft Azure DP-900 certifies that the professional can

●  Describe core data concepts in Azure

●  Explain concepts of relational data in Azure

●  Explain concepts of non-relational data in Azure

●  Identify components of a modern data warehouse in Azure

​2.5 DP-900 Certification Examination Syllabus

The contents of this book is aligned to the *latest syllabus* setup by Microsoft on skills to evaluate as part of the DP-900 certification examination

Candidates for this exam should have foundational knowledge of cloud services and how those services are provided with Microsoft Azure. The exam is intended for candidates who are just beginning to work with cloud-based solutions and services or are new to Azure.

The Azure Fundamentals exam is an opportunity to prove knowledge of cloud concepts, Azure services, Azure workloads, security and privacy in Azure, as well as Azure pricing and support. Candidates should be familiar with the general technology concepts, including concepts of networking, storage, compute, application support, and application development.

Azure Fundamentals can be used to prepare for other Azure role-based or specialty certifications, but it is not a prerequisite for any of them

This exam includes six knowledge domain areas:

Each domain area maps to a specific chapter/ module in this book.

The percentages shown indicate the relative weight of each area on the exam. The higher the percentage, the more questions that part of the exam will contain. Be sure to read the exam page for specifics about what skills are covered in each area.

This training helps you develop a broad understanding of Azure. Having real-world experience will help reinforce the concepts so that you're more fully prepared for the exam or to apply your skills on the job.

​2.6 Prerequisites

There are no particular prerequisites for the Microsoft Azure data Fundamental exam but one should be familiar and have a basic understanding of the cloud services and the Microsoft Azure platform.

​2.7 How to take the Exam

●  Languages : English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Korean, Spanish, German, French

●  Online Proctored

●  Cost : $99

●  Questions : 45 - 50

●  Time allocated : 60 - 90 mins

●  Passing grade : 700 / 1000

●  No negative marks

This exam is targeted at people with both technical and non-technical backgrounds. So you don't have to come from a computer science degree, or are already working as a developer or administrator if you come from a business background and you're simply interested in the cloud.

This is exactly where you go to book the exam. It costs $99 USD. This price is set for default for the United States. You can change it to the country you reside in. The price will vary accordingly.

​2.8 Azure Data Fundamentals certification Roadmap

The Azure Data Fundamentals (DP 900) certification is a fundamental certification on your journey to become an Azure Administrator, Developer, DEVOPS or Architect. This exam is considered as the first step in associate level and expert level Azure certifications path.

​Microsoft has three main levels of certifications. Fundamentals, Associate and Expert. They do have a Specialty level, but it's for very specific workloads, such as IoT. So let's focus on these three main categories for now.

First, we have the Fundamentals level, with exams that generally end with 900, such as DP-900 or DP-900. You can expect the certifications to be quite entry-level and cover just general concepts without digging too much into technical details.

Then, we have the Associate certifications. The numbering here is a bit more flexible, but most of them will end with 100 or 200, such as DP-200 or AI-102. These certifications are for professionals with around two years of experience on the product. So they're far more technical than the Fundamental ones.

Finally, we have the Expert level certifications, such as Azure DevOps Engineer, exam AZ-400, and Solutions Architect, exams AZ-300 and AZ-301. These exams have the highest level of technical difficulty and the corresponding prestige.

​The prefix also matters as it defines the area of knowledge. For example, DP for data platform, AI for artificial intelligence, or AZ for Azure. The DP-900 exam pretty much matches these definitions. It's an entry-level certification, so it focuses more on what the technology can do. You shouldn't expect any coding questions or questions that require you to decide which button or option to click on. As for the data platform technologies covered, there's a high focus on the relational and non-relational databases, modern data warehouse, reporting, specifically Power BI, as well as tools for ingesting and processing the data, such as Azure Data Factory, Databricks and HDInsight

​Chapter 3 : DP-900 Practice Test 1

50 questions | 1 hour | 75% correct required to pass

Question 1:

How is data in a relational table organized?

Rows and Columns

Header and Footer

Pages and Paragraphs

Answer: A. Rows and Columns

Structured data is typically tabular data that is represented by rows and columns in a database. Databases that hold tables in this form are called relational databases (the mathematical term relation refers to an organized set of data held as a table). Each row in a table has the same set of columns.

Reference: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/modules/explore-core-data-concepts/2-identify-need-data-solutions

Incorrect answers:

All the other options are incorrect as we don't associate Header and Footer and Pages and Paragraphs with relational tables

Question 2:

Which of the following is an example of unstructured data?

An Employee table with columns Employee ID, Employee Name, and Employee Designation

Audio and Video files

A table within SQL Server database

Answer: B. Audio and Video files

An Employee table with columns Employee ID, Employee Name, and Employee Designation - Structured

Audio and Video files -Unstructured

A table within SQL Server database - Structured

Reference:

Structured data is typically tabular data that is represented by rows and columns in a database. Databases that hold tables in this form are called relational databases (the mathematical term relation refers to an organized set of data held as a table). Each row in a table has the same set of columns.

Not all data is structured or even semi-structured. For example, audio and video files, and binary data files might not have a specific structure. They're referred to as unstructured data.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/modules/explore-core-data-concepts/2-identify-need-data-solutions

Question 3:

What of the following is an example of a streaming dataset?

Data from sensors and devices

Sales data for the past month

List of employees working for a company

Answer: A. Data from sensors and devices

Data from sensors and devices - Streaming

Sales data for the past month - Batch

List of employees working for a company - Batch

Data processing is simply the conversion of raw data to meaningful information through a process. Depending on how the data is ingested into your system, you could process each data item as it arrives, or buffer the raw data and process it in groups. Processing data as it arrives is called streaming. Buffering and processing the data in groups is called batch processing.

Sensors and data feeds are examples of streaming datasets as they are published continuously.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/modules/explore-core-data-concepts/4-describe-difference

Question 4:

Which one of the following tasks is a role of a database administrator?

Backing up and restoring databases

Creating dashboards and reports

Identifying data quality issues

Answer: A. Backing up and restoring databases

Backing up and restoring databases - Database Administrator

Creating dashboards and reports - Data Analyst

Identifying data quality issues - Data Analyst

References:

A data analyst enables businesses to maximize the value of their data assets. They're responsible for designing and building scalable models, cleaning and transforming data, and enabling advanced analytics capabilities through reports and visualizations.

Database Administrators will back up the database and will restore the database when data is lost or corrupted.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/modules/explore-roles-responsibilities-world-of-data/2-explore-job-roles

Question 5:

Which of the following tools is a visualization and reporting tool?

SQL Server Management Studio

Power BI

SQL

Answer: B. Power BI

SQL Server Management Studio - Administrative tool for managing databases

Power BI - Visualization tool by Microsoft

SQL - Structured Query Language

Power BI is a standard tool for creating rich graphical dashboards and reports.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/modules/explore-concepts-of-data-analytics/3-explore-data-visualization

Question 6:

Which one of the following roles is not a data job role?

Systems Administrator

Data Analyst

Database Administrator

Answer: A. Systems Administrator

Data roles are : Database Administrator, Data Analyst, Data Engineer

Systems administrators deal with infrastructure components such as networks, virtual machines and other physical devices in a data center.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/modules/explore-roles-responsibilities-world-of-data/2-explore-job-roles

Question 7:

Which one of the following statements is a characteristic of a relational database?

All data must be stored as character strings

A row in a table represents a single entity

Different rows in the same table can contain different columns

Answer: B. All data must be stored as character strings

We can store numbers also

A row in a table represents a single entity - True for reasons in the reference section

Different rows