Plan and migrate
Pick the right Azure SQL offering, configure it for scale, and plan and run online or offline migrations.
Partners and press
Overview
Anyone can create a database. This exam asks if you can keep it fast, safe and up.
DP-300 is an Associate exam for database administrators who run Azure SQL Database, SQL Managed Instance and SQL Server. It covers planning, migration and operation, with security, performance, and HA and DR each about a fifth to a quarter. Expect Entra authentication, Always Encrypted, Query Store and failover groups; the outline is dated 27 October 2026.
14Modules
100Minutes
1Year valid
8Roles
What it tests
Learn all the way down.
Learn all the way down.
Perform when it matters.
Secure the data
Configure Entra authentication, encryption, Always Encrypted, auditing, masking, ledger and row-level security.
Tune and automate
Read execution plans and Query Store, resolve blocking, and automate with SQL Agent, elastic jobs, Bicep and the CLI.
Plan for failure
Choose an HA/DR design from RPO and RTO targets, then configure geo-replication, failover groups and backups.
Course outline
Plan, secure, tune and recover
Plan, secure, tune and recover
SQL in Azure.
We design this course ourselves. Microsoft runs the exam and issues the credential, and LUNARTECH is independent of Microsoft.
The platform choice shapes every later task. You compare Azure SQL Database, SQL Managed Instance and SQL Server on virtual machines on features, control, cost and migration effort.
- Azure SQL Database, Managed Instance and SQL Server on VMs compared
- Feature and compatibility differences
- Service tiers, purchasing models and serverless
- Elastic pools and Hyperscale
- Licensing options and cost
- Matching an offering to a requirement set
You build A platform recommendation for four workloads, with the deciding factors written down.
A deployed database needs the right size and settings. You deploy with the portal and the CLI, scale compute and storage, configure compression, and set the options that govern performance.
- Deploying Azure SQL resources
- Scaling compute and storage up and out
- Row, page and columnstore compression
- Database configuration and compatibility levels
- Resource limits and what hits them
- Cost management for databases
You build A deployed database that is scaled and compressed, with the effect on size and cost measured.
Migrations succeed on assessment and rehearsal. You assess readiness, choose online or offline methods, run the migration, and validate the result before you cut over.
- Assessing compatibility and readiness
- Online compared with offline migration
- Azure Database Migration Service
- Backup and restore, and log replay for Managed Instance
- Validating data and performance after migration
- Cutover planning and rollback
You build A migration of a sample database to Azure SQL, with assessment results and validation checks.
Identity is the first control on a database. You configure Microsoft Entra authentication, retire shared logins, and design database roles and permissions with least privilege.
- Microsoft Entra authentication for SQL
- Managed identities connecting to databases
- Contained users and logins
- Database roles and custom permissions
- Separation of duties
- Reviewing permissions
You build A permission model for administrators, developers and applications, built on Entra identities.
Data must be protected at rest and from administrators. You configure transparent data encryption, Always Encrypted, and ledger tables for tamper evidence, and manage the keys behind them.
- Transparent data encryption and key options
- Always Encrypted with secure enclaves
- Column encryption keys and key rotation
- Ledger tables and digest storage
- Encryption in transit
- Performance and operational effects
You build A database with TDE using a customer-managed key, an Always Encrypted column and a ledger table.
Controls need evidence that they work. You turn on auditing, mask and filter data for different users, and use vulnerability assessment and threat detection to find gaps.
- Auditing destinations and what is captured
- Dynamic data masking
- Row-level security
- Vulnerability assessment and Defender for SQL
- Data discovery and classification
- Meeting compliance requirements
You build Auditing, masking and row-level security configured and tested, with a vulnerability assessment report.
Monitoring answers whether a database is healthy now and how it got that way. You use Azure Monitor, Database watcher and dynamic management views to track resources, waits and sessions.
- Metrics, logs and alerts for Azure SQL
- Database watcher setup and dashboards
- Dynamic management views for sessions and waits
- Intelligent Insights and recommendations
- Baselines and capacity trends
- Setting actionable alerts
You build A monitoring setup with baselines and alerts for a production-style database.
Slow queries have causes you can read. You interpret execution plans, use Query Store to find regressions and compare plans, and apply automatic tuning where it is safe.
- Estimated and actual execution plans
- Common plan problems: scans, lookups and spills
- Query Store capture and reports
- Forcing plans and automatic plan correction
- Parameter sensitivity
- Query hints and when to avoid them
You build A regression investigation using Query Store, ending in a verified fix.
Indexes and statistics decide whether plans are good. You design and maintain indexes, keep statistics current, and use missing-index and usage data without adding indexes blindly.
- Clustered, nonclustered and columnstore indexes
- Missing index recommendations and their limits
- Index usage and removing the unused
- Statistics and update strategies
- Fragmentation and maintenance windows
- Resumable and online index operations
You build An index strategy for a workload, with maintenance scheduled and its effect measured.
Concurrency problems appear under load. You find the cause of blocking and deadlocks, read wait statistics, and choose isolation levels and settings that reduce contention.
- Locking and blocking basics
- Isolation levels and row versioning
- Finding blockers with DMVs and extended events
- Deadlock graphs and how to prevent them
- Wait statistics and what they point to
- Resource governance and limits
You build A reproduced blocking and deadlock scenario, diagnosed and resolved.
Routine work should not depend on someone remembering it. You schedule tasks with SQL Server Agent and elastic jobs, and deploy and update databases through Bicep, ARM templates and the CLI.
- SQL Server Agent jobs, steps and schedules
- Alerts and operators
- Elastic jobs across many databases
- Bicep and ARM templates for databases
- Azure CLI and PowerShell for repeated tasks
- Maintenance automation and error handling
You build A set of automated maintenance jobs and a Bicep template that deploys a database with its settings.
Availability goals translate into architecture. You turn recovery point and recovery time objectives into designs using zone redundancy, geo-replication and failover groups, and know what each costs.
- RPO and RTO as design inputs
- Built-in availability in each Azure SQL offering
- Zone redundancy
- Active geo-replication
- Failover groups
- Always On availability groups on VMs
- Testing a failover
You build An HA and DR design that meets stated RPO and RTO, with a failover group and a rehearsed failover.
A backup is only proven by a restore. You configure automated backups and long-term retention, restore to a point in time, and plan for the cases where a restore is the only way out.
- Automated backups and retention
- Long-term retention
- Point-in-time restore
- Restoring deleted databases
- Native backup and restore for Managed Instance and VMs
- Backup verification and runbooks
You build A backup and restore plan with a point-in-time restore completed and timed.
Operate one database platform end to end. You choose and deploy it, migrate data, secure and tune it, automate its upkeep, and design its recovery.
- Choosing and deploying the platform
- Migrating and validating data
- Securing and monitoring it
- Tuning and automating
- Designing and testing recovery
You build A deployed, secured, monitored and recoverable SQL environment with a runbook.
Issued by
Certifying body · Independent of LUNARTECH
Microsoft
Microsoft publishes its exam outlines and runs its certification program through Microsoft Learn. Exams are delivered through Pearson VUE, and Associate, Expert and Specialty credentials renew each year through a free, unproctored online assessment. LUNARTECH is independent of Microsoft.
How you get there
Top-tier roles go to people who can do the work.
Top-tier roles go to people who can do the work.
Here’s how you get there.
Know where you start.
Microsoft expects experience with Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines and SQL Server on premises, plus T-SQL for administration.
Work through the course.
Fourteen modules, designed by LUNARTECH, at your own pace.
Sit it with Microsoft.
Microsoft runs the exam and issues the credential, so you register and book directly with them.
Support
Support at every stage.
Support at every stage.
You won’t be working through this alone.
Before you start
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While you learn
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One-on-one sessions.
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Any time
A team behind you.
Write to info@lunartech.ai at any point, from your trial onwards. If your employer is funding you, we’ll set it up with them directly.
All the way through
A schedule that fits around your life.
Your own paceFrom anywhereAt any hour
After the last lesson
Stay in the network.
Your alumni network stays with you: ongoing support, opportunities and industry insight.
Career support
Career support, past the last lesson. Coaching, a sharper resume, real interview preparation and the people to know.
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Tailored coaching helps you decide where to aim and how to get there.
Strong portfolio
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Personalized refinement, so what you send says what you can actually do.
Interview preparation
Preparation for the questions that decide it, so you walk in ready.
Network and search
Connections with industry leaders, and an alumni network that stays with you.
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Certificate of completion
Your Name
DP-300 course
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Pricing
This course comes with the membership.
This course comes with the membership.
So does everything else.
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In practice
Eight roles.
Eight roles.
One credential across them all.
No single job owns it. Here’s where each role leans hardest, and where its work ends up.
- 01Platform
- 02Security
- 03Performance
- 04Automation
- 05HA and DR
-
Slow queries often come down to indexes or plans. Query Store shows which one.
Security, Performance, HA and DR
Enterprise IT, Financial services, Healthcare
-
A backup is only proven by a restore. Test failover before you need it.
HA and DR, Automation
SaaS companies, Managed service providers
-
Offline and online migrations trade downtime for effort. Pick one from the requirements.
Platform
Enterprise IT, Managed service providers
-
Jobs and alerts keep maintenance honest. Automate them as code.
Performance, Automation
SaaS companies, Financial services
-
Databases hold the data attackers actually want. Always Encrypted and Entra auth narrow what they can reach.
Security
Financial services, Healthcare
-
Slow queries are usually a design problem. Execution plans show you which part of it.
Performance
SaaS companies, Enterprise IT
-
Provisioning databases by script beats clicking through a portal. Automation keeps every environment the same.
Automation, Platform
Enterprise IT, Managed service providers
-
Recovery targets are a design input, not an afterthought. Failover groups put them into practice.
HA and DR, Platform
Financial services, Managed service providers
- Enterprise IT
- Financial services
- Healthcare
- Managed service providers
- SaaS companies
Database Administrator
Slow queries often come down to indexes or plans. Query Store shows which one.
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Updated November 2026.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions.
Need help? These answers cover most of what people ask before they start.
No. Microsoft issues it. LUNARTECH is independent of Microsoft, and its names and marks belong to it. When you finish a course of ours, you earn a LUNARTECH certificate of completion for that course.
No. We design this course ourselves, around what the exam covers. Microsoft has no part in it, and you still register and book the exam directly with Microsoft.
100 minutes, proctored, pearson vue, in English and 9 other languages. The passing score is 700 of 1000.
Microsoft expects experience with Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines and SQL Server on premises, plus T-SQL for administration.
1 year. Pass a free online assessment on Microsoft Learn.
We last reviewed it on 5 November 2026, from Microsoft’s own pages. Details change, so check the official page before you book.
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The course
Build the skills behind DP-300.
Prove you can run SQL databases on Azure and on premises. Start with a free trial, or enroll in a plan and work through the course at your own pace. Microsoft runs the exam and issues the credential.
LUNARTECH is independent of the vendors and certifying bodies listed here. Their names, exam titles and marks belong to them, exams are run by them, and credentials are issued by them. Reviewed 5 November 2026. Catalogues change often, so confirm the details on the official page before you book.
