Exam DP-201: Designing an Azure Data Solution
Designing an Azure Data Solution certification (DP-201) is designed for Azure data engineers. The exam confirms one’s skills and knowledge to design data processing solutions, create Azure data storage solutions, and design for data security and compliance. Candidates for this exam must design data solutions that use the following Azure services: Azure Cosmos DB, Azure SQL Database, Azure Synapse Analytics, Azure Data Lake Storage, Azure Data Factory, Azure Stream Analytics, Azure Databricks, and Azure Blob storage.
Microsoft DP-201 exam is getting retired on June 30, 2021. A new replacement exam Data Engineering on Microsoft Azure Beta (DP-203) is available.
Who should take this exam?
Candidates for Designing an Azure Data Solution (DP-201) Practice exam are for those who want to become Microsoft Azure data engineers who collaborate with business stakeholders to identify and meet the data requirements to design data solutions that use Azure data services.
Learning Objectives
Microsoft provides a learning path for Designing an Azure Data Solution (DP-201) exam which is specifically designed for the candidates who are seeking to build a career in Azure Data Solution. The objectives for (DP-201) exam are as follows:
- Design Azure data storage solutions (40-45%)
- Design data processing solutions (25-30%)
- Design for data security and compliance (25-30%)
Learning Path
Microsoft provides various certifications in several fields. However, Designing an Azure Data Solution (DP-201) Practice Exam and Implementing an Azure Data Solution (DP-200) are paths to become Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Engineer Associate.
Exam Details
Explaining the format of Designing an Azure Data Solution (DP-201) exam is the most important step. The exam includes 40-60 number of questions. The questions will appear in the form of multiple-choice. The candidate will get 180 minutes to complete the exam, in total, they get 210 minutes. The exam is available in various languages such as English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Korean. The candidate has to pay $165 USD as the examination fee.
Scheduling the Exam
In order to appear in Microsoft exam, the candidate has to schedule the exam and make themselves register with Microsoft. The candidate can schedule their exam with the Pearson VUE.
Detailed Course Outline
The Designing an Azure Data Solution (DP-201) exam includes its objectives and sub-topics in it. The detailed course outline is mentioned below:
Topic 1: Design Azure Data Storage Solutions (40-45%)
1.1 Recommend an Azure data storage solution based on requirements
- choose the correct data storage solution to meet the technical and business requirements (Microsoft Documentation: Choosing a big data storage technology, Understanding data store models)
- choose the partition distribution type (Microsoft Documentation: Strategies for Data partitioning, Horizontal, vertical, and functional data partitioning)
1.2 Design non-relational cloud data stores
- design data distribution and partitions (Microsoft Documentation: Global data distribution with Azure Cosmos DB, Partitioning in Azure Cosmos DB)
- design for scale (including multi-region, latency, and throughput) (Microsoft Documentation: Partitioning and horizontal scaling in Azure Cosmos DB, Throughput in Azure Cosmos DB)
- design a solution that uses Cosmos DB, Data Lake Storage Gen2, or Blob storage (Microsoft Documentation: Going social with Azure Cosmos DB, Hosting a static website in Azure Storage)
- select the appropriate Cosmos DB API (Microsoft Documentation: API for Azure Cosmos DB
- design a disaster recovery strategy (Microsoft Documentation: Restoring data from a backup in Azure Cosmos DB)
- design for high availability (Microsoft Documentation: High availability with Azure Cosmos DB)
1.3 Design relational cloud data stores
- design data distribution and partitions (Microsoft Documentation: Designing distributed tables in Synapse SQL pool)
- design for scale (including latency, and throughput) (Microsoft Documentation: Globally scale provisioned throughput, Optimize provisioned throughput cost, Consistency, availability, and performance tradeoffs)
- design a solution that uses Azure Synapse Analytics (Microsoft Documentation: Loading data from Azure Data Lake Storage for Synapse SQL)
- design a disaster recovery strategy
- design for high availability
Topic 2: Design Data Processing Solutions (25-30%)
2.1 Design batch processing solutions
- design batch processing solutions that use Data Factory and Azure Databricks
- identify the optimal data ingestion method for a batch processing solution (Microsoft Documentation: Azure Data Explorer data ingestion, Batch processing)
- identify where processing should take place, such as at the source, at the destination, or in transit
2.2 Design real-time processing solutions
- design for real-time processing by using Stream Analytics and Azure Databricks (Microsoft Documentation: Streaming data into Azure Databricks using Event Hubs, Stream processing pipeline with Azure Databricks)
- design and provision compute resources (Microsoft Documentation: Selecting a VM size for compute nodes in an Azure Batch pool)
Topic 3: Design for Data Security and Compliance (25-30%)
3.1 Design security for source data access
- plan for secure endpoints (private/public) (Microsoft Documentation: Using private endpoints for Azure Storage)
- choose the appropriate authentication mechanism, such as access keys, shared access signatures (SAS), and Azure Active Directory (Azure AD)
3.2 Design security for data policies and standards
- design data encryption for data at rest and in transit (Microsoft Documentation: Encryption of data at rest, encryption of data in transit)
- design for data auditing and data masking (Microsoft Documentation: Auditing for Azure SQL Database and Azure Synapse Analytics, Dynamic data masking)
- design for data privacy and data classification (Microsoft Documentation: Azure customer data protection, Azure Information Protection unified labeling scanner)
- design a data retention policy (Microsoft Documentation: Manage Azure SQL Database long-term backup retention)
- plan an archiving strategy (Microsoft Documentation: Archive on-premises data to cloud, Archive Access Tier)
- plan to purge data based on business requirements (Microsoft Documentation: Manage the Azure Blob storage lifecycle)
Check: DP-201 Interview Questions
Learn and prepare for Exam DP-201: Designing an Azure Data Solution latest and expert-revised interview questions
Exam Policies
While preparing for Microsoft exam, the candidate should visit the Microsoft official site and refer o the Microsoft exam policies and try to understand them. The Microsoft policies provide information regarding basic information such as policies about retaking the exam, scheduling the exam, candidate appeal process, etc.
Designing an Azure Data Solution (DP-201) FAQ
Step-by-step Preparation Guide
Here is a step-by-step preparation guide for successfully passing the Designing an Azure Data Solution (DP-201) exam.
STEP 1: Microsoft Learning Platform
Microsoft offers various learning paths, the candidate should visit the official website of Microsoft. For this exam, the candidate will find many learning paths and documentations. Finding the relatable content on the Microsoft website is quite an easy task.
STEP 2: Microsoft Documentation
Documentations are an important learning resource while preparing for Designing an Azure Data Solution (DP-201). The candidate will find documentation on every topic relating to the particular exam. This step is very valuable in preparing for Implementing an Azure Data Solution exam.
STEP 3: Instructor-Led Training
The training programs that the Micorosft provide itself is available on their website. The instructor-led training is an essential resource in order to prepare for the exam like DP-201. The candidate can find the instructor-led training on the page of the particular exam on the Microsoft website. There are various training courses available prior to one exam. The following is the training program offered by Microsoft.
Course DP-201T01-A: Designing an Azure Data Solution
- Module 1: Data Platform Architecture Considerations
- Module 2: Azure Batch Processing Reference Architectures
- Module 3: Azure Real-Time Reference Architectures
- Module 4: Data Platform Security Design Considerations
- Module 5: Designing for Resiliency and Scale
- Module 6: Design for Efficiency and Operations
STEP 4: Join a Study Group
For passing the exam like Designing an Azure Data Solution (DP-201), the candidate needs to get and share knowledge. So, we are suggesting you join some study where you can discuss the concepts with the people who have the same goal. This will lead the candidate throughout their preparation.
STEP 5: Practice Test
The most important step is to try your hands on the practice test. Practice tests are the one which ensures the candidate about their preparation. There are many practice tests are available on the internet nowadays, the candidate can choose whichever they want. The practice test is very beneficial in preparing the exam like DP-201.
