AZ-500 Microsoft Azure Security Technologies Exam
Are you a guardian of your domain? Lean how to leverage your aptitude in security to protect Microsoft Azure technologies, with a goal of earning the Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate certification!
Practice Test
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Practice Test
Expert
Enable database auditing
Implement and Tune Azure SQL Auditing
Azure SQL auditing captures and logs critical database events to help meet security and compliance requirements. You can enable auditing at both the server-level and database-level to record activities like logins, schema changes, and data modifications. Audit events are securely written to an Azure Storage container where you can review them for suspicious activity or generate compliance reports. This process also supports operational monitoring by tracking key events over time.
Configuring auditing is straightforward through the Azure portal, PowerShell, CLI, or ARM templates. In the Azure portal, navigate to your SQL server or database, select Auditing, switch it to On, and choose your storage target. You can also use T-SQL or SSMS by specifying the container URL with a SAS token or by assigning a managed identity for secure writes. These methods ensure that audit logs remain protected without exposing your storage account to public access.
When selecting a storage target, underlines matter: ensure the account is in the same region to avoid cross-region latency and extra costs. Create a private blob container with no public access, and consider configuring an immutable storage policy for tamper-proof logs. If your storage account is behind a Virtual Network or firewall, enable the Allow trusted Microsoft services setting and assign the Storage Blob Data Contributor role to the server’s managed identity. This setup keeps data private while still allowing Azure SQL to write audit logs.
Before turning on auditing, verify these prerequisites:
- General-purpose v2 storage account (premium BlockBlobStorage supported)
- Storage account in the same tenant and region as the SQL server
Microsoft.Authorization/roleAssignments/write
permission on the storage account- Firewall/VNet settings that allow trusted Microsoft services
After enabling auditing, you can tune your configuration to balance performance and compliance:
- Select specific audit action groups and categories to record only relevant events
- Define a retention period that meets your compliance needs without overconsuming storage
- Apply log-filtering rules to exclude low-value statements and reduce storage usage
Conclusion
Enabling database auditing in Azure SQL involves turning on server-level or database-level auditing and choosing a secure, region-aligned blob storage target. You must meet key prerequisites—including storage account type, permissions, and network settings—before you begin. Once enabled, fine-tune your audit settings by defining action groups, setting retention periods, and applying log-filtering to balance compliance with performance. By following these steps, you ensure a robust audit trail that supports both operational monitoring and regulatory requirements.