DP-900 Exam Guide: Azure Data Fundamentals Explained
DP-900 is Microsoft's entry-level data certification — the data-track equivalent of AZ-900. It validates that you understand core data concepts and can place workloads on the right Azure data service: relational databases, Cosmos DB, storage services, and the analytics stack (Synapse, Fabric, Power BI).
No database administration experience is required — this is a concepts-and-service-recognition exam, not a hands-on SQL test.
Exam basics
- Cost: $99 USD
- Questions: ~40–60, single-choice + multiple-response
- Duration: ~60 minutes
- Passing score: 700/1000
- Format: entirely knowledge-based — no labs
The four domains
- Describe core data concepts (~30%) — data types, transactional vs analytical workloads, batch vs streaming, roles
- Identify considerations for relational data on Azure (~22%) — relational model basics, SQL, Azure SQL/PostgreSQL/MySQL services
- Describe considerations for non-relational data (~18%) — Cosmos DB, Blob/ADLS/Table/Files storage
- Describe an analytics workload (~30%) — warehouses, lakes, ETL/ELT, Synapse, Fabric, Power BI, real-time
What the exam actually tests
DP-900 is mostly service-selection questions: 'a company needs X — which service?' You need to know what each Azure data service DOES and when it's the right fit — not how to configure it. The heaviest memorization is the analytics stack: Synapse vs Fabric vs Databricks vs Power BI, and Event Hubs vs Stream Analytics for real-time.
Cosmos DB gets outsized attention for an 18% domain — consistency levels, APIs, and partition keys are all fair game.
DP-900 vs AWS equivalents
AWS doesn't have a direct DP-900 equivalent — the closest is the data portion of CLF-C02 (Cloud Practitioner) or the specialty-level Database Specialty (retired). If you know AWS data services, the concepts transfer: RDS ≈ Azure SQL Database, DynamoDB ≈ Cosmos DB (multi-model aside), S3 ≈ Blob/ADLS, Redshift ≈ Synapse dedicated SQL pools, Kinesis ≈ Event Hubs, QuickSight ≈ Power BI.
How to prepare
- Work through our DP-900 question bank — every question maps to one of the four domains with per-option explanations.
- Read the DP-900 cheat sheet — the service-selection decision tables cover most of what the exam asks.
- Follow the how-to-pass guide — a 2-week plan is realistic for this exam.
- If you're coming from AWS, review the concept translation table in the study plan — the vocabulary mapping is the fastest ramp.