📄️ Advanced Labs Overview
Production-ready, hands-on labs that go beyond the official DP-300 curriculum. Each lab deploys real Azure infrastructure, includes Bicep/PowerShell automation, and teaches skills used in actual customer engagements.
📄️ Lab: AlwaysOn HA Setup
Complete, production-ready guide — deploy a 2-node SQL Server 2022 Always On AG on Azure VMs from scratch, with automatic failover, zero data loss, Internal Load Balancer, and a real-time failover testing web app.
📄️ Lab: SQL Security Assessment
Run a 57-check security audit against any SQL Server platform — on-premises, Azure SQL Database, or Azure SQL Managed Instance. Get a scored HTML report with prioritized findings, equivalent to Oracle's DBSAT.
📄️ Lab: SQL Migration
Migrate AdventureWorks2022 from a simulated on-premises SQL Server VM to an Azure SQL Server on VM using the backup to URL → blob storage → restore pattern. A fully automated, real-world migration workflow.
📄️ Lab: Geo-Replication & Failover
Deploy an Azure SQL Database with active geo-replication across two regions, configure an auto-failover group with a grace period, trigger failover, and measure real-world RPO/RTO.
📄️ Lab: Performance Troubleshooting
Deploy an Azure SQL Database, simulate real-world performance problems (missing indexes, parameter sniffing, blocking chains), then hunt and fix them using Query Store, DMVs, wait stats, and execution plan analysis.
📄️ Lab: Cross-Region AlwaysOn AG
Extend the single-region AlwaysOn AG into a multi-region setup — deploy a 3rd SQL replica in a different Azure region with async commit, configure distributed AG or multi-subnet AG, and understand the trade-offs between same-region sync commit and cross-region async commit.
📄️ Lab: SQL MI Flavors & Replicas
Deploy both SQL MI tiers (General Purpose + Business Critical), explore read replicas, configure a cross-region MI Failover Group, and see the architecture differences firsthand. Covers every MI HA/DR pattern tested on DP-300.
📄️ Lab: Azure SQL DB Tiers & Flavors
Deploy Azure SQL Database in every purchasing model and service tier — DTU (Basic, S0-S12, P1-P15), vCore (GP, BC, Hyperscale), Serverless, and Elastic Pool. Run the same workload on each, compare performance, cost, and behavior. See what you're actually getting for your money.
📄️ Lab: Complete Migration Scenarios
Execute every major migration path to Azure SQL: backup/restore to VM, BACPAC to SQL DB, DMS online to SQL DB, Managed Instance Link, Log Replay Service, and transactional replication. Compare downtime, complexity, and when to use each.