DP-900 study plan

Week 1chapters 1–4 · about 7 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 1. Representing and storing data
  • 2. Data workloads and data roles
  • 3. Relational concepts, SQL and database objects
  • 4. Azure relational database services
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: ACID transactions explained: atomicity, consistency, isolation and durability, ETL vs ELT: when data is transformed before or after loading, Transactional vs analytical workloads compared, Database normalisation: primary keys, foreign keys and why it is used, Azure SQL Database vs SQL Managed Instance vs SQL Server on Azure VMs, Choosing an Azure relational database service.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the DP-900 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Describe core data concepts · 25–30%Identify considerations for relational data on Azure · 20–25%

Week 2chapters 5–9 · about 8 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 5. Azure Storage: Blob, Data Lake Storage, Files and Tables
  • 6. Azure Cosmos DB
  • 7. Large-scale analytics: Microsoft Fabric and Azure Databricks
  • 8. Real-time analytics
  • 9. Data visualisation with Power BI
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: Azure Blob Storage access tiers: Hot, Cool, Cold and Archive, What Azure Cosmos DB is: a globally distributed NoSQL database.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the DP-900 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Describe considerations for working with non-relational data on Azure · 15–20%Describe an analytics workload · 25–30%

Week 3review Done

• Go back through every chapter’s key takeaways. Anything you can’t explain without looking, re-read that section.
• Re-read the common-trap callouts: they mark the answers that look right but aren’t.
• Check the exam coverage map against Microsoft’s own outline, in case it has changed since the book was checked.
• Take Microsoft’s free practice assessment, if your exam has one, from the official DP-900 study guide page. Revisit the chapters behind any weak area.
• Try the exam sandbox to get used to the exam’s screens and question formats.
• Get the free exam-day checklist and work through it a few days before your exam.

Week 1chapters 1–2 · about 3 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 1. Representing and storing data
  • 2. Data workloads and data roles
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: ACID transactions explained: atomicity, consistency, isolation and durability, ETL vs ELT: when data is transformed before or after loading, Transactional vs analytical workloads compared.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the DP-900 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Describe core data concepts · 25–30%

Week 2chapters 3–4 · about 3 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 3. Relational concepts, SQL and database objects
  • 4. Azure relational database services
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: Database normalisation: primary keys, foreign keys and why it is used, Azure SQL Database vs SQL Managed Instance vs SQL Server on Azure VMs, Choosing an Azure relational database service.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the DP-900 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Identify considerations for relational data on Azure · 20–25%

Week 3chapter 5 · about 2 hours Done

• Read chapter:
  • 5. Azure Storage: Blob, Data Lake Storage, Files and Tables
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: Azure Blob Storage access tiers: Hot, Cool, Cold and Archive.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the DP-900 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Describe considerations for working with non-relational data on Azure · 15–20%

Week 4chapters 6–7 · about 3 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 6. Azure Cosmos DB
  • 7. Large-scale analytics: Microsoft Fabric and Azure Databricks
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: What Azure Cosmos DB is: a globally distributed NoSQL database.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the DP-900 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Describe considerations for working with non-relational data on Azure · 15–20%Describe an analytics workload · 25–30%

Week 5chapters 8–9 · about 3 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 8. Real-time analytics
  • 9. Data visualisation with Power BI
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the DP-900 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Describe an analytics workload · 25–30%

Week 6review Done

• Go back through every chapter’s key takeaways. Anything you can’t explain without looking, re-read that section.
• Re-read the common-trap callouts: they mark the answers that look right but aren’t.
• Check the exam coverage map against Microsoft’s own outline, in case it has changed since the book was checked.
• Take Microsoft’s free practice assessment, if your exam has one, from the official DP-900 study guide page. Revisit the chapters behind any weak area.
• Try the exam sandbox to get used to the exam’s screens and question formats.
• Get the free exam-day checklist and work through it a few days before your exam.