AZ-305 Practice Question 24: Instance Scoped Migration Target
Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305) · Test 3 · question 4 of 10
An insurer is retiring the SQL Server 2016 cluster that hosts 140 databases for a claims platform. The platform uses SQL Server Agent jobs, cross-database queries, Service Broker, linked servers, and a handful of CLR assemblies. The target design must:
- avoid any application rewrite, and keep these instance-scoped features working, - remove the operating system and database engine patching burden from the DBA team, - expose the database endpoint only on a private IP address inside the company's virtual network, - use the insurer's existing SQL Server licenses with Software Assurance to reduce cost.
Which target should you recommend?
Show answer and explanation
Answer:
SQL Managed Instance is a PaaS service with near 100% compatibility with the latest Enterprise Edition database engine, and Microsoft positions it as the destination for customers who want to lift and shift existing applications with minimal application and database changes. Its supported feature list covers every item the platform depends on: SQL Server Agent, cross-database queries and transactions, Service Broker, linked servers, and CLR modules. It is deployed with a native virtual network implementation whose SQL endpoint is exposed only through a private IP address in a default deployment, and Software Assurance licenses can be applied through Azure Hybrid Benefit. Patching and version updates remain Microsoft's job.
Options A and B fail on the same point: Azure SQL Database is a *database*-scoped service. It has no SQL Server Agent, no Service Broker, and no cross-database queries or linked servers across databases, so each of those features would have to be redesigned, the rewrite the insurer ruled out. Hyperscale additionally solves a storage-growth problem that this scenario never states.
Option D would preserve every feature, but it hands the patching burden straight back to the DBA team. Infrastructure as a service means the insurer owns the operating system, the SQL Server binaries, the patch cycle, and the high-availability configuration, the opposite of the second requirement.
Reference: What is Azure SQL Managed Instance?