AZ-305 Design business continuity solutions Practice Test 10 — 15 Questions

Question 1

Your company is developing an application that will store transactional data in Azure SQL Database. The application has a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of 5 seconds and a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of 30 seconds. Which TWO Azure features should you recommend? (Choose two.)

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

Accepted Answer

Create an auto-failover group with a readable secondary in another Azure region.. Auto-failover groups in Azure SQL Database provide automated failover with an RPO of 5 seconds and an RTO of 30 seconds when using a readable secondary in another region. The group manages replication and failover at the database or elastic pool level, ensuring the application can meet these strict recovery objectives without manual intervention.

Answer

Use Azure Site Recovery to replicate the SQL Database to a secondary region.

Answer

Deploy the Azure SQL Database across availability zones in the primary region.

Answer

Perform Azure SQL Database backups every 5 seconds using Azure Backup.

Question 2

Refer to the exhibit. You are reviewing the replication health of an on-premises Hyper-V VM replicated to Azure using Azure Site Recovery. The JSON output shows the properties of the replicated item. The replication health is 'Normal', but the last recovery point is from 2 hours ago. You need to ensure the Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of 15 minutes is met. What is the most likely cause of the issue?

Accepted Answer

The replication frequency is set to 30 minutes or more.. The replication frequency for Hyper-V replication to Azure using Azure Site Recovery (ASR) can be set to 30 seconds, 5 minutes, or 15 minutes. If the last recovery point is 2 hours old despite 'Normal' health, the replication frequency is likely configured to 30 minutes or more, which directly prevents meeting a 15-minute RPO. ASR's replication frequency setting controls how often changes are sent to Azure, and a value exceeding 15 minutes would cause the observed gap.

Answer

The VM's application-consistent snapshot is failing.

Answer

The target region is not correctly configured in the recovery plan.

Answer

The Hyper-V host is not registered with the Recovery Services vault.

Question 3

Your company, Contoso Ltd., runs a critical line-of-business application on Azure Virtual Machines in the West Europe region. The application uses Azure SQL Database (Business Critical tier) for data storage. The compliance team requires a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of 5 seconds and a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of 10 seconds for the database tier. For the compute tier, the RPO is 1 minute and RTO is 5 minutes. The application must remain available during planned maintenance and regional outages. You have been asked to design the business continuity solution. You need to recommend the most cost-effective solution that meets all requirements. What should you recommend?

Accepted Answer

Set up auto-failover group for Azure SQL Database with a secondary in North Europe; deploy AKS in both regions with Azure Front Door for global load balancing.. Auto-failover groups for Azure SQL Database provide an RPO of 5 seconds and an RTO of 10 seconds, meeting the database requirements. Deploying AKS in both regions with Azure Front Door ensures global load balancing and automatic failover for the compute tier, satisfying the RPO of 1 minute and RTO of 5 minutes. This combination is the most cost-effective as it uses managed services without the overhead of manual scripts or additional infrastructure.

Answer

Configure active geo-replication for Azure SQL Database; deploy AKS in two regions with Azure Traffic Manager; use manual failover scripts.

Answer

Use Azure SQL Database backup with point-in-time restore for the database; deploy AKS in West Europe and use Azure Traffic Manager for failover to a secondary cluster in North Europe.

Answer

Deploy SQL Server Always On availability groups on Azure VMs in two regions; use Azure Site Recovery for the VMs; use Azure Front Door for load balancing.

Question 4

You are the Azure architect for a financial services company. The company runs a proprietary trading application on Azure Virtual Machines in the East US region. The application stores state in Azure Cache for Redis (Standard tier) and uses Azure SQL Database (General Purpose tier) for persistent data. The business has set a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of 1 hour and a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of 2 hours for the entire application. The solution must minimize costs. You have been asked to design a disaster recovery plan. Which approach should you recommend?

Accepted Answer

Use Azure Traffic Manager to distribute traffic to both regions with active-passive configuration. Configure Azure SQL Database auto-failover groups. Deploy a second Azure Cache for Redis in the secondary region.. Option A meets both RPO and RTO. Azure Site Recovery replicates VMs to a secondary region with near-synchronous RPO and RTO within minutes. Azure SQL Database auto-failover groups provide RPO of ~5 seconds and RTO of ~1 hour, satisfying the requirements. Deploying a second Azure Cache for Redis in the secondary region allows traffic to be switched quickly, avoiding the need to reconfigure the application during failover. Although this is more costly than using backups alone, it is the only option that meets the 2-hour RTO.

Answer

Configure Azure SQL Database active geo-replication with a readable secondary. Use Azure Site Recovery for VMs. Enable Azure Cache for Redis data persistence and replicate the cache using Azure Files.

Answer

Back up the VMs using Azure Backup with a 1-hour frequency. Use Azure SQL Database backup with short-term retention. Manually recreate the Redis cache in the secondary region.

Answer

Use Azure Site Recovery to replicate the VMs to a secondary region. For Azure SQL Database, enable geo-redundant backup storage and use geo-restore during failover. For Azure Cache for Redis, document the reconfiguration steps to point to a new cache in the secondary region.

Question 5

Your organization runs a web application on Azure App Service (Standard tier) in the West US region. The application uses Azure Blob Storage for static content and Azure SQL Database (Standard tier) for dynamic data. The compliance requirements specify a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of 1 hour and a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of 4 hours. You need to design a disaster recovery solution that meets these requirements with minimal cost. Which option should you recommend?

Accepted Answer

Configure App Service backup to a geo-redundant storage account. Use geo-redundant storage (GRS) for Blob Storage. Enable geo-restore for Azure SQL Database.. Meets the RPO of 1 hour and RTO of 4 hours at minimal cost by using App Service backup to geo-redundant storage (which can be restored within the RTO), geo-redundant storage (GRS) for Blob Storage (providing automatic replication to a paired region), and geo-restore for Azure SQL Database (which restores from geo-replicated backups with an RPO of 1 hour and RTO typically under 4 hours). This approach avoids the cost and complexity of running active secondary instances.

Answer

Deploy App Service in two regions with Azure Traffic Manager. Use Azure Site Recovery to replicate the App Service and SQL Database. Enable geo-redundant storage for Blob Storage.

Answer

Deploy App Service in two regions with Azure Front Door. Use active geo-replication for Azure SQL Database. Enable read-access geo-redundant storage (RA-GRS) for Blob Storage.

Answer

Use Azure Traffic Manager to distribute traffic. Manually copy Blob Storage to a secondary region. Use Azure SQL Database export to bacpac and import in secondary region.

Question 6

Contoso is a global e-commerce company that runs its platform on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) with Istio service mesh. The application uses Azure Cosmos DB (API for MongoDB) with multi-region writes enabled. The platform also uses Azure Cache for Redis Enterprise for session caching. The business requires a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of 30 seconds and a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of 0 for all tiers. You need to design a disaster recovery solution that meets these requirements with high availability. What should you recommend?

Accepted Answer

Deploy AKS in two regions with Azure Front Door. Use Azure Cosmos DB with multi-region writes. Use Azure Cache for Redis Enterprise with active geo-replication.. It meets the RTO of 30 seconds and RPO of 0 by using Azure Front Door for global load balancing with health probes, Azure Cosmos DB with multi-region writes for zero data loss (RPO=0) and instant failover, and Azure Cache for Redis Enterprise with active geo-replication to provide a writable cache in both regions with sub-30-second failover. This combination ensures that all tiers can fail over independently and instantly without data loss.

Answer

Deploy AKS in two regions with Azure Traffic Manager. Use Azure Cosmos DB with multi-region writes. Use Azure Cache for Redis Enterprise with active geo-replication.

Answer

Deploy AKS in two regions with Azure Front Door. Use Azure Cosmos DB with a single write region and auto-failover. Use Azure Cache for Redis Standard with geo-replication.

Answer

Use Azure SQL Database with auto-failover groups for the database tier. Deploy AKS in two regions with Azure Front Door. Use Azure Cache for Redis Enterprise with active geo-replication.

Question 7

Your company is designing a disaster recovery solution for a three-tier application hosted on Azure VMs. The solution must meet the following requirements:
- RPO: 1 hour
- RTO: 4 hours
- Automated failover to a secondary region
- Cost optimization is a priority
Which TWO actions should you include in the design?

Accepted Answer

Deploy an Azure Load Balancer in the secondary region with health probes to automatically route traffic after failover.. Options A and E are correct. Azure Site Recovery (E) provides replication and automated failover for VMs to a secondary region, meeting the RPO of 1 hour and RTO of 4 hours. Deploying an Azure Load Balancer (A) with health probes in the secondary region allows automatic traffic routing after failover, supporting cost optimization by using the same load balancer for both regions. Option B is wrong because Azure Backup is not designed for automated failover and has higher RTO than required. Option C is wrong because read-only replicas using Availability Zones are for high availability within a region, not for cross-region failover, and cannot be used for write workloads. Option D is wrong because Azure Front Door is for global load balancing and application acceleration, not for regional VM failover; it would not meet the automated failover requirement for the three-tier application.

Answer

Use Azure Backup to take hourly backups of the VMs and restore them in the secondary region.

Answer

Configure a read-only replica of the application tier in the secondary region using Availability Zones.

Answer

Deploy Azure Front Door with a backend pool containing both primary and secondary regions.

Question 8

Refer to the exhibit. You are reviewing a backup policy for an Azure VM. The policy is defined using the Azure Backup REST API. What is the maximum number of recovery points that can be retained according to this policy?

Accepted Answer

24. The weekly retention keeps 12 weekly points (count=12, durationType=Weeks). The monthly retention keeps 12 monthly points (count=12, durationType=Months). Instant RP retention adds up to 5 days, but those are additional recovery points not counted in the long-term retention. So total long-term recovery points = 12 (weekly) + 12 (monthly) = 24. Option A is correct.

Answer

17

Answer

29

Answer

12

Question 9

You are a Solutions Architect for an e-commerce company that runs its online store on Azure. The application consists of:
- Azure App Service (Windows) hosting the web frontend
- Azure SQL Database (General Purpose, serverless) for product catalog and orders
- Azure Cache for Redis for session state
- Azure Blob Storage for product images
The application is deployed in the East US region. The company wants to implement a disaster recovery (DR) plan that can fail over to a secondary region (West US) with minimal data loss. The requirements are:
- RPO: 5 minutes for the database
- RTO: 30 minutes for the entire application
- The solution must be cost-effective and not require manual intervention during failover.
Which of the following is the BEST course of action to meet these requirements?

Accepted Answer

Configure Azure SQL Database active geo-replication with auto-failover group, deploy App Service in West US with a separate App Service plan, enable geo-replication for Cache for Redis, and use RA-GRS for Blob Storage. Use Azure Traffic Manager with priority routing for the web app.. It meets all requirements: Azure SQL Database active geo-replication with auto-failover groups provides an RPO of 5 seconds (well within the 5-minute requirement) and automated failover without manual intervention. Deploying App Service in West US with a separate App Service plan ensures capacity for failover, and geo-replication for Cache for Redis preserves session state to avoid data loss. RA-GRS for Blob Storage provides read access in the secondary region, and Azure Traffic Manager with priority routing enables automatic failover of the web frontend within the 30-minute RTO.

Answer

Use Azure Backup for the SQL database with 5-minute backup frequency, deploy App Service in West US with staging slots, and use Azure Traffic Manager with priority routing.

Answer

Configure Azure SQL Database geo-replication with readable secondary, deploy App Service in West US with deployment slots, and use Azure Front Door with health probes. Cache for Redis is not critical and can be rebuilt.

Answer

Deploy the entire application in an active-active configuration using Azure Front Door, with Azure SQL Database using failover groups and manual failover. Use Azure Backup for the database with 1-hour backup frequency.

Question 10

A financial services company runs a critical SQL Server database on Azure Virtual Machines. They require a disaster recovery solution with an RPO of less than 15 seconds and an RTO of less than 1 hour. Which technology should they implement?

Accepted Answer

SQL Server Always On Availability Groups. SQL Server Always On Availability Groups provide synchronous data replication at the database level, enabling an RPO of less than 15 seconds by committing transactions on both primary and secondary replicas simultaneously. With automatic failover and a secondary replica in a different Azure region, the RTO can be under 1 hour, meeting the critical requirements for a SQL Server workload on Azure VMs.

Answer

Azure Site Recovery

Answer

Azure Backup for SQL Server

Answer

Geo-redundant backups

Question 11

A company runs a critical SQL Server database on Azure Virtual Machines in a single region. They need a disaster recovery solution across regions with a recovery point objective (RPO) of zero. The database is update-intensive with frequent writes. Which configuration should they implement?

Accepted Answer

SQL Server Always On Availability Group with synchronous commit across regions.. SQL Server Always On Availability Group with synchronous commit across regions ensures zero data loss because transactions are committed on both the primary and secondary replicas before the primary acknowledges the commit. This meets the RPO of zero, even though it introduces latency due to cross-region synchronization. For an update-intensive workload, synchronous commit is the only option that guarantees no data loss at the cost of increased write latency.

Answer

SQL Server Always On Availability Group with asynchronous commit.

Answer

Azure Site Recovery to another region.

Answer

Deploy the VMs in a different availability zone within the same region.

Question 12

A company runs a critical application on Azure Virtual Machines in a single availability set. They want to protect against an entire Azure region failure. They need a recovery time objective (RTO) of 30 minutes and a recovery point objective (RPO) of 15 minutes. Which solution should they use?

Accepted Answer

Azure Site Recovery to another region.. Azure Site Recovery (ASR) provides orchestrated replication, failover, and failback of Azure VMs to a secondary region, enabling a recovery time objective (RTO) of 30 minutes and a recovery point objective (RPO) of 15 minutes as required. ASR replicates VM disks continuously to the target region, and in a regional failure, you can initiate a planned or unplanned failover to bring up the application within the specified RTO/RPO. This is the only option that offers both cross-region disaster recovery and the granular recovery objectives stated.

Answer

Azure Backup for VMs with geo-redundant backup storage.

Answer

Deploy VMs in an availability zone within the same region.

Answer

Use Azure managed disks with geo-replication (LRS to GRS).

Question 13

A company has several Azure Virtual Machines running Windows Server with critical applications. They need to back up these VMs to a secondary Azure region to protect against regional disasters. The backup must be application-consistent and support file-level restore. Which solution should they implement?

Accepted Answer

Azure Backup with geo-redundant storage (GRS) in a Recovery Services vault. Azure Backup with geo-redundant storage (GRS) in a Recovery Services vault is the correct solution because it provides application-consistent backups of Windows Server VMs using the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) to ensure data integrity, and it supports file-level restore by allowing you to mount the backup as a drive to recover individual files. The GRS option replicates backup data to a paired secondary region, meeting the disaster recovery requirement without additional manual steps.

Answer

Azure Site Recovery

Answer

Azure Snapshot of managed disks stored in a different region

Answer

Azure Managed Disk with incremental snapshots and manual cross-region copy

Question 14

A company runs a SQL Server database on an Azure VM in West Europe. They need to back up the database daily and retain backups for 7 years for compliance. They also require the ability to restore the database to a secondary Azure region (North Europe) if the primary region fails. They want to minimize operational overhead and costs. Which Azure Backup configuration should they use?

Accepted Answer

A. Azure Backup's built-in cross-region restore (CRR) for Azure VMs allows you to restore SQL Server databases hosted on Azure VMs to a paired secondary region (North Europe) in the event of a disaster, while retaining backups for up to 10 years (covering the 7-year compliance requirement). This configuration minimizes operational overhead by using Azure Backup's native policy-based scheduling and storage management, and it is cost-effective as it uses geo-redundant storage (GRS) for the Recovery Services vault without needing a separate backup infrastructure.

Answer

B

Answer

C

Answer

D

Question 15

A company runs a stateless web application on Azure VMs. They need to ensure the application remains available in the event of an entire Azure datacenter failure. They want to achieve a 99.99% SLA. Which deployment option should they recommend?

Accepted Answer

B. To survive an entire Azure datacenter failure and achieve a 99.99% SLA, the stateless web application must be deployed across at least two Azure Availability Zones within a region. Availability Zones are physically separate datacenters within the same region, each with independent power, cooling, and networking. Deploying VMs in a zone-redundant configuration ensures that if one datacenter fails, the application continues running in another zone, meeting the 99.99% SLA (which requires a minimum of two zones).

Answer

A

Answer

C

Answer

D