Exam guide for cloud switchers · Associate

DP-300 for AWS engineers: Administering Microsoft Azure SQL Solutions

DP-300 is the Azure Database Administrator Associate exam.

It covers deep SQL Server administration across Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance and SQL Server on Azure VMs: deployment, security, performance tuning, automation and HA/DR. An AWS engineer who has run RDS for SQL Server will recognize the platform layer. Most of the exam is T-SQL and SQL Server engine depth.

Last verified: Oct 27, 2026 against the official DP-300 study guide · Edit on GitHub · Report an error

Exam at a glance

Exam	DP-300: Administering Microsoft Azure SQL Solutions
Certification	Microsoft Certified – Azure Database Administrator Associate (Associate)
Status	current English version will be updated on Oct 27, 2026.
Skills measured as of	Oct 27, 2026
Passing score	700 or greater (per the study guide)
Closest AWS cert	None current

Exam prices vary by country and are set on the exam page, so none are quoted here. Microsoft doesn't publish pass rates.

Who it's for

DBAs and engineers who run RDS for SQL Server, RDS Custom or SQL Server on EC2.
Teams migrating SQL Server estates from AWS to Azure.
AWS engineers looking for a data credential. AWS no longer offers a database-specific certification.

Domains and how they map to AWS

Domain (official)	Weight	Compare pages
Plan and implement data platform resources	15–20%	6
Implement a secure environment	20–25%	4
Monitor, configure, and optimize database resources	20–25%	1
Configure and manage automation of tasks	15–20%	2
Plan and configure a high availability and disaster recovery (HA/DR) environment	20–25%	4

1. Plan and implement data platform resources 15–20%

Official skill areas: Plan and deploy Azure SQL solutions · Configure resources for scale and performance · Plan and implement a migration strategy

From AWS: RDS for SQL Server, RDS Custom and SQL on EC2 map to Azure SQL Database, Managed Instance and SQL Server on VMs. DMS maps to Azure Database Migration Service. Outposts maps to Arc-enabled SQL.

Compare pages to study (6):

2. Implement a secure environment 20–25%

Official skill areas: Configure database authentication and authorization · Implement security for data at rest and data in transit · Implement compliance controls for sensitive data

From AWS: IAM database authentication maps to Microsoft Entra authentication. KMS-backed encryption maps to TDE with service- or customer-managed keys. Security groups map to server and database firewall rules and Private Link. Also covered: Always Encrypted, auditing, ledger, masking and row-level security.

Compare pages to study (4):

3. Monitor, configure, and optimize database resources 20–25%

Official skill areas: Monitor resource activity and performance · Monitor and optimize query performance · Configure database solutions for optimal performance

From AWS: Performance Insights maps to Query Store, DMVs, database watcher, Intelligent Insights and automatic tuning. This is engine-level SQL Server depth.

Compare pages to study (1):

4. Configure and manage automation of tasks 15–20%

Official skill areas: Create and manage SQL Server Agent jobs · Automate deployment of database resources · Create and manage database tasks in Azure

From AWS: Without SQL Server Agent in Azure SQL Database you use elastic jobs, plus ARM/Bicep, PowerShell and CLI deployment. SQL Agent is available in Managed Instance and on VMs.

Compare pages to study (2):

5. Plan and configure a high availability and disaster recovery (HA/DR) environment 20–25%

Official skill areas: Plan an HA/DR strategy for database solutions · Plan and perform backup and restore of a database · Configure HA/DR for database solutions

From AWS: Multi-AZ, read replicas and cross-region replicas map to zone redundancy, active geo-replication, failover groups, Always On availability groups and FCIs on VMs. Automated backups map to point-in-time restore and long-term retention.

Compare pages to study (4):

Concepts that trip AWS engineers up

DTU vs vCore

Azure SQL Database offers two purchasing models: DTU (bundled compute, memory and IO) and vCore (independent compute and storage, with General Purpose, Business Critical and Hyperscale tiers, plus serverless). RDS has only instance classes.

Elastic pools

Many databases can share a pool of resources. RDS has no equivalent. The closest is consolidating several databases on one instance.

Failover groups vs active geo-replication

Active geo-replication works per database with readable secondaries. Failover groups add a listener endpoint and group failover. Know which one supports Managed Instance (failover groups).

TDE is on by default

New Azure SQL databases have transparent data encryption enabled with a service-managed key. Customer-managed keys in Key Vault are the configurable part.

No AWS database certification

AWS no longer offers a Database Specialty certification, so there's no direct AWS counterpart to compare against.

Closest AWS certification

None current. The AWS Certified Database – Specialty URL now redirects to the AWS Certification home page, which lists no database certification. Data Engineer – Associate (DEA-C01) covers data pipelines, not database administration.

FAQ

What does DP-300 cover, and how is it weighted?

DP-300 (Administering Microsoft Azure SQL Solutions) has 5 domains: Plan and implement data platform resources (15–20%); Implement a secure environment (20–25%); Monitor, configure, and optimize database resources (20–25%); Configure and manage automation of tasks (15–20%); Plan and configure a high availability and disaster recovery (HA/DR) environment (20–25%). Weights are from the official Microsoft Learn study guide (skills measured as of Oct 27, 2026).

What is the closest AWS certification to DP-300?

Is DP-300 a current exam?

As of Oct 27, 2026, Microsoft Learn lists DP-300 as current. English version will be updated on Oct 27, 2026.