Training course
This is a free, self-paced reading course for DP-900: Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Fundamentals — the entry-level data credential in Microsoft’s 900-series, alongside AZ-900 and AI-900. DP-900 does not ask you to have run a production data platform. It asks whether you can hold the map in your head: structured against semi-structured against unstructured data, relational against non-relational stores, transactional against analytical workloads, and where each Azure data service sits on that map. Reading is how you build the map; practice questions are how you find the holes in it.
The course is organized as one module per official exam domain, in the order Microsoft publishes them, and each module carries the domain’s published weight. Core Data Concepts and Analytics Workload are the two heaviest domains and they get the two longest modules, which matches where candidates actually lose marks — the first because its vocabulary is assumed by every later question, the last because it spans the widest set of services. Every module ends with its key terms and suggested further reading, so it works as a glossary on the second pass as well as a syllabus on the first.
What the course covers
Core Data Concepts
Module 1 · 25–30%The foundation terminology the rest of the exam assumes: structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data; the file formats you are expected to place — CSV, JSON, Parquet, and Avro; transactional against analytical workloads; the ACID guarantees; and the canonical data roles — database administrator, data engineer, and data analyst — with a clear line around which part of the stack each one owns. This module is the one most worth reading slowly, because skimming it is where most wrong answers later in the exam originate.
Relational Data on Azure
Module 2 · 20–25%Relational fundamentals — primary keys, foreign keys, normalization, views, stored procedures, and indexes — mapped onto Microsoft’s Azure SQL portfolio. The module works through the choice DP-900 keeps asking about: Azure SQL Database as the most abstracted PaaS option, Azure SQL Managed Instance for near-full SQL Server feature parity as a managed service, and SQL Server on Azure VMs where you need full control of the operating system, plus the managed open-source options Azure Database for PostgreSQL and MySQL. Basic SQL literacy is covered too — SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, and which statement category CREATE TABLE belongs to.
Non-Relational Data on Azure
Module 3 · 15–20%The Azure non-relational lineup: Blob storage with its Hot, Cool, Cold, and Archive tiers; Azure Files for SMB and NFS shares; Azure Table storage as a schemaless key and attribute store; and Azure Cosmos DB across all five of its APIs — NoSQL, MongoDB, Cassandra, Table, and Gremlin. Cosmos DB gets the most room here because it gets the most questions: the multi-model design, the tunable consistency levels, and the global-distribution story come back repeatedly.
Analytics Workload
Module 4 · 25–30%The widest module, and tied for the heaviest. Azure Data Factory and its vocabulary of linked services, triggers, and pipelines; ETL against ELT; Azure Synapse Analytics with dedicated and serverless SQL pools and Spark pools; Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 and its hierarchical namespace; Azure Databricks and Delta Lake; Microsoft Fabric and OneLake; streaming through Event Hubs, IoT Hub, and Stream Analytics; and the Power BI essentials — dashboards, reports, Power BI Desktop, DAX, and star-schema modeling.
How to use it
Read a module, then take the matching portion of the DP-900 practice exam rather than waiting until you have read all four. DP-900’s difficulty is not conceptual depth, it is discrimination between neighbors — which Cosmos DB API, which SQL deployment tier, which Synapse pool type, dedicated or serverless. That distinction only surfaces when you are choosing between four plausible options, not when you are reading a paragraph that describes each of them in turn. The free sample set is a quick way to calibrate before committing to a full attempt.
Aim higher than you think you need to. The pass mark is 700 out of 1000 on Microsoft’s scaled scoring, not a raw 70%, so knowing only the easy items in each domain tends to land in the low-to-mid 600s. Deliberately learn the edge cases — the five Cosmos DB APIs, the five consistency levels, the three-tier Azure SQL spectrum, the Data Factory vocabulary, the Synapse pool types. For exam logistics — question count, timing, the $99 fee, and the free annual renewal — see the DP-900 certification guide.
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Frequently asked questions about the DP-900 training course
Is the DP-900 training course free?
Yes. The course is free to read and requires no signup or account. It is funded by the same practice-exam catalog it sits alongside.
How is the course structured?
One module per official DP-900 exam domain, in Microsoft’s published order, with each module weighted to the domain’s published percentage range. Within each module the material is broken into short lessons, followed by key terms and further reading — the key terms matter here, because much of DP-900 is knowing which service name goes with which description.
Does this replace Microsoft’s official training?
No. Microsoft Learn publishes free official learning paths for DP-900, and the exam guide on Microsoft’s credentials site is the authoritative statement of what is examinable. This course is an independent study companion, written to be read quickly and to slot alongside practice questions.
Do I need database experience before starting?
No. DP-900 has no prerequisites and no requirement for hands-on production experience. If you have written a SQL query before you will move faster through module 2, but the course introduces relational concepts from the beginning rather than assuming them.
What should I do after finishing the course?
Work the DP-900 practice exam until you are scoring consistently across all four domains rather than carrying a weak Analytics Workload result on a strong Core Data Concepts one. Because scoring is scaled, leave yourself margin above the nominal cut before you book.
Is the course current with the latest DP-900 outline?
The course is built against the exam skills outline as currently published by Microsoft, with the four domains and their weightings as Microsoft lists them. Microsoft can revise the outline at any time; confirm the current exam guide, weightings, and logistics on Microsoft’s credentials site before you schedule.
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All course content, questions, answers, and explanations on Certifym are original content created for study purposes. No Microsoft exam content, question text, or objective language is reproduced, and none of it is represented as official Microsoft training material. Studying with these materials does not guarantee a passing result on DP-900 itself. Exam requirements, format, domain weights, pricing, and renewal policies are set by Microsoft and may change; always verify current details on Microsoft’s credentials site before scheduling your exam.