Study guide · Exam overview
The format, passing score, and four content domains of Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Fundamentals, plus the distinctions worth practicing before you book DP-900.
Exam version notice: This overview follows the Microsoft study guide for Exam DP-900, skills measured as of July 21, 2026. Pricing, languages, and delivery options can change. Confirm them on the Microsoft certification site before you register. Items tagged Extra are useful context that the study guide does not name as a measured skill. General Azure vocabulary is on the AZ-900 overview.
Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Fundamentals checks whether you can describe core data concepts and related Azure data services. It is aimed at people beginning to work with data in the cloud. You should already know the difference between relational and non-relational data, and between transactional and analytical workloads.
The exam stays conceptual. You match a need to a store, a SQL product, a Cosmos API, or an analytics path—not design a production lakehouse from scratch. AZ-900 helps with shared Azure vocabulary. It is not a required prerequisite. DP-900 can prepare you for role-based credentials such as Azure Database Administrator Associate or Azure Data Engineer Associate, but it is not a prerequisite for them.
Figures below come from the DP-900 certification page, the study guide, and Microsoft’s fundamentals exam-duration guidance, reviewed in October 2026.
| Specification | DP-900 |
|---|---|
| Level | Beginner fundamentals for cloud data concepts. No prerequisite certification is required. |
| Length of test | 45 minutes to complete the assessment for fundamentals exams. Plan about 65 minutes of seat time including instructions and the candidate agreement. Confirm the time shown when you schedule. |
| Number of questions | Microsoft does not publish a fixed count on the certification page. Do not treat a practice length as the live exam length. |
| Passing score | 700 or greater on a scale of 1 to 1,000. A scaled score is not the percentage of questions you answered correctly. |
| Recommended experience | Familiarity with relational and non-relational data, and with transactional or analytical workloads. Hands-on portal exploration helps. |
| Exam price | Price depends on the country or region where the exam is proctored. Confirm the current fee when you schedule. |
| Validity | Microsoft fundamentals certifications do not expire. Confirm the current policy with Microsoft. |
| Delivery | Schedule through Pearson VUE. English is updated first. Other languages follow later. |
A blank answer earns no credit. Microsoft exams do not subtract extra points for a wrong answer, so answer every question. If the exam is not offered in your preferred language, you can request an additional 30 minutes. Request accommodations before you sit if you need them.
These ranges are the share of scored content in the study guide dated July 21, 2026. Our 80-question bank uses an editorial allocation of 22, 18, 16, and 24 questions (27.5%, 22.5%, 20%, and 30%). Each share falls within its published range; these are not the mathematical midpoints or a prediction of your exam.
Name the data shape and the workload before you name a product.
SQL concepts and the Azure SQL family.
Storage services and Cosmos DB.
A large share. Match ingestion, store, and visualization.
The study guide names distinctions more often than slogans. Learn the paired choices first. The same map is in the core notes and flashcards.
| Need | Choose | Remember |
|---|---|---|
| Rows and columns with a fixed schema | Structured data | Semi-structured has flexible schema tags or keys; unstructured has no tabular model. |
| Orders that must stay consistent now | Transactional workload | Analytical workloads favor scans, history, and aggregates over many rows. |
| Managed SQL with near-full SQL Server surface | Azure SQL Managed Instance | Azure SQL Database is PaaS for new cloud apps; SQL on VMs is IaaS you patch. |
| Unstructured objects such as images or backups | Azure Blob storage | Azure Files is SMB/NFS shares; Table storage is key-attribute NoSQL. |
| Globally distributed multi-model NoSQL | Azure Cosmos DB | Pick the API that matches the client model: NoSQL, MongoDB, Cassandra, Gremlin, Table. |
| Lakehouse and unified analytics on Microsoft cloud | Microsoft Fabric | Azure Databricks is the Apache Spark-centric analytics workspace path. |
| Events that must be analyzed as they arrive | Streaming / real-time analytics | Batch processes bounded data at scheduled or on-demand intervals. |
| Interactive reports and visuals for business users | Power BI | Choose a visual that matches the question: trend, comparison, composition, or distribution. |
| Extra Deep Synapse dedicated-pool tuning | Out of the DP-900 fundamentals scope | Useful background for role-based exams; July 21, 2026 skills stay at fundamentals service recognition. |
Microsoft points candidates to an exam sandbox so you can try the interface. This site’s practice questions are single-answer multiple choice. They practice the distinctions in the study guide. They are not a claim about the live item mix.
A typical stem gives a constraint and asks for the best store or workload. Orders must commit together. Images need cheap object storage. A team already runs PostgreSQL. Distractors are nearby Azure features that solve a different problem. Blob is not Files. Managed Instance is not SQL Database. Batch is not streaming. Power BI is not the ingestion pipeline.
There is no published extra penalty for a wrong guess. A blank answer earns nothing. On a timed practice exam, answer every item, then use the review to see which domain actually needs work.
A practical sequence if you already know tables versus documents but not Azure product names.
Structured, semi-structured, unstructured; transactional versus analytical; DBA, engineer, analyst.
Normalization and SQL objects, then SQL Database versus Managed Instance versus SQL on VMs, plus open-source PaaS.
Blob, Files, and Table for what they hold; Cosmos DB for use cases and APIs.
Ingestion and stores, Fabric and Databricks, batch versus streaming, then Power BI models and visuals.
Use the four decks until you can answer before the card flips. Revisit misses the next day.
Work through original questions, review every explanation, and return to the notes on domains below 75 percent. Before booking, check every objective; a repeated-bank percentage is not evidence of exam readiness. Use 45 minutes as the pace of the live fundamentals exam.
The overview, core notes, flashcards, and practice exams are all published.
Exam format, the 700 passing score, domain weights, and a study plan.
Reference notes for data concepts, Azure SQL, Cosmos DB, Fabric, and Power BI.
40 recall cards in four decks, plus memory notes for stores, SQL, Cosmos, and analytics.
80 original questions with custom exams, explanations, and a score report by domain.
A score of 700 or greater is required to pass. Microsoft reports scores on a scale of 1 to 1,000. A scaled score is not the percentage of questions you answered correctly.
DP-900 is a fundamentals exam. Microsoft fundamentals exams give you 45 minutes to complete the assessment, with about 65 minutes of seat time including instructions and the candidate agreement. Confirm the time shown when you schedule.
The study guide dated July 21, 2026 measures four areas: core data concepts (25–30%), relational data on Azure (20–25%), non-relational data on Azure (15–20%), and an analytics workload on Azure (25–30%).
There is no required prerequisite certification. Candidates should be familiar with relational and non-relational data concepts and with transactional versus analytical workloads. DP-900 can help prepare for role-based Azure data certifications but is not a prerequisite for them.
Microsoft fundamentals certifications do not expire. Confirm the current policy with Microsoft before you rely on it.
No. The practice questions on this site are original. They are not Microsoft exam items, and a practice score does not predict a result.
Service names and portal labels change. Use the current Microsoft study guide as the authority when it differs from these notes.
Useful companions while you study.
Convert structured data between JSON and YAML with formatting and validation.
Encode text and files to Base64 or decode Base64 data with UTF-8 support.
Compare two text blocks and highlight added, removed, and changed content.
Convert CSV spreadsheet data to JSON or turn JSON arrays into downloadable CSV files.
Content reviewed October 23, 2026. Older study resources may still recommend Azure Database for MariaDB, which retired on September 19, 2025. The retirement applies to that Azure managed service, not the MariaDB engine itself. For a new managed open-source relational deployment, study MySQL Flexible Server and PostgreSQL Flexible Server, and check application compatibility before selecting an engine. See the official retirement notice.
The SQL worked example lets you trace joins and totals without provisioning Azure resources. Follow it with the four reasoning exercises. During practice, record why the nearest alternative is wrong, rather than memorizing the answer position. The question bank contains independent single-answer exercises; it does not reproduce the full range of official exam interactions or predict your scaled score.
Exam versions, objectives, prices, languages, and retirement dates can change. Verify the details on the Microsoft Learn certification page before you register. The DP-900 study guide lists the skills measured as of July 21, 2026.
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