SC-100 Certification Practice Question #154

Question

Your company has on-premises Microsoft SQL Server databases.
The company plans to move the databases to Azure.
You need to recommend a secure architecture for the databases that will minimize operational requirements for patching and protect sensitive data by using dynamic data masking. The solution must minimize costs.
What should you include in the recommendation?

Accepted Answer

The question's two hard constraints are "minimize operational requirements for patching" and "minimize costs," with dynamic data masking required. MS Learn states Azure SQL Database is a fully managed PaaS engine where Microsoft handles all patching/upgrading with no overhead, and that it supports dynamic data masking — so it satisfies every requirement at the lowest cost and lowest operational footprint. The official Suggested Answer and a unanimous 100-vote community Most Voted both land on C. The notable A (SQL Managed Instance) faction argues MI is better for lift-and-shift migrations and that the word "move" implies MI; however, MI is materially more expensive and carries a heavier operational footprint, which directly conflicts with the stated cost/operational constraints, so MS Learn breaks the tie in favor of C. Confidence is held at 88 rather than higher because of the sizeable, well-reasoned A dissent (29 👍).

More SC-100 practice questions