Microsoft Certified Data Analyst Associate Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which Azure service would you use to apply real-time SQL-like transformations and aggregations on streaming data from Event Hubs?
- Azure Data Factory
- Azure Stream Analytics (Correct answer)
- Azure Synapse dedicated SQL pool
- Azure Logic Apps
Correct answer: Azure Stream Analytics
Azure Stream Analytics provides a real-time analytics service that uses a SQL-like query language to process and transform streaming data from sources like Event Hubs and IoT Hub.
Question 2: In Microsoft Power BI, what is a 'measure' in DAX?
- A column imported from a source table
- A calculated aggregation formula evaluated at query time based on filter context (Correct answer)
- A static lookup table used for slicers
- A scheduled data refresh configuration
Correct answer: A calculated aggregation formula evaluated at query time based on filter context
A DAX measure is a formula that performs an aggregation (like SUM or AVERAGE) and is calculated dynamically based on the current filter context in a report.
Question 3: What is the key difference between 'structured' and 'unstructured' data?
- Structured data is stored in the cloud; unstructured data is stored on-premises
- Structured data has a predefined schema (like rows and columns); unstructured data has no fixed format (Correct answer)
- Structured data requires encryption; unstructured data does not
- Structured data can only be queried with Python; unstructured data uses SQL
Correct answer: Structured data has a predefined schema (like rows and columns); unstructured data has no fixed format
Structured data conforms to a rigid schema (e.g., relational tables), while unstructured data like images, videos, or emails has no predefined format or model.
Question 4: Which Azure Cosmos DB API would you choose if you want to use existing MongoDB drivers and queries without modifying your application code?
- Core (SQL) API
- Cassandra API
- API for MongoDB (Correct answer)
- Gremlin API
Correct answer: API for MongoDB
The Azure Cosmos DB API for MongoDB provides wire protocol compatibility with MongoDB, allowing existing MongoDB applications to connect without code changes.
Question 5: What is the purpose of 'data masking' in Azure SQL Database?
- Encrypting data at rest using customer-managed keys
- Hiding sensitive data from non-privileged users by showing obfuscated values (Correct answer)
- Compressing data to reduce storage costs
- Anonymizing data before it is deleted from the database
Correct answer: Hiding sensitive data from non-privileged users by showing obfuscated values
Dynamic Data Masking in Azure SQL Database limits sensitive data exposure by replacing it with masked values (e.g., showing 'XXXX' instead of a credit card number) for non-privileged users.
Question 6: In Azure, what does 'geo-redundant storage (GRS)' provide that 'locally redundant storage (LRS)' does not?
- Higher IOPS performance for block storage
- Replication of data to a secondary region hundreds of miles away (Correct answer)
- Automatic indexing of blob metadata
- Encryption of data in transit between availability zones
Correct answer: Replication of data to a secondary region hundreds of miles away
GRS replicates data asynchronously to a paired secondary Azure region, protecting against a full regional outage, whereas LRS only replicates within a single data center.
Question 7: Which component of Azure Synapse Analytics allows you to query files directly in Azure Data Lake without loading data into a database?
- Dedicated SQL pool
- Synapse Link
- Serverless SQL pool (Correct answer)
- Synapse Pipelines
Correct answer: Serverless SQL pool
The serverless SQL pool in Azure Synapse lets you run T-SQL queries directly against files (CSV, Parquet, JSON) in Azure Data Lake Storage without provisioning or managing any infrastructure.
Microsoft Certified Data Analyst Associate Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals 5
Which Azure service would you use to apply real-time SQL-like transformations and aggregations on streaming data from Event Hubs?