AZ-305 Design business continuity solutions Practice Test 3 — 15 Questions

Question 1

Which TWO features should you use to meet an RPO of 0 seconds for an Azure SQL Database that is part of a critical application?

Accepted Answer

Failover group with readable secondary.. Option C (Failover group with readable secondary) is correct because an auto-failover group in Azure SQL Database uses continuous, asynchronous replication to a secondary database and provides a listener endpoint that enables automatic failover, which is the mechanism needed to achieve an RPO of 0 seconds for a critical application. Option D (Active geo-replication with auto-failover group) is also correct because active geo-replication continuously replicates transactions to up to four secondary databases, and combining it with an auto-failover group delivers the near-zero data loss and automatic failover required for an RPO of 0 seconds. Option A (Azure Site Recovery for SQL VMs) is incorrect because ASR is designed for VM-level disaster recovery and does not provide the continuous transaction-level replication or RPO guarantees of Azure SQL Database geo-replication. Option B (Azure SQL Database backups with short-term retention) is incorrect because backups are point-in-time restore snapshots and cannot deliver an RPO of 0 seconds. Option E (Auto-failover group with asynchronous replication) is incorrect because, although auto-failover groups use asynchronous replication, this option is a distractor that mislabels the feature and does not by itself guarantee an RPO of 0 seconds without the active geo-replication context described in option D.

Answer

Azure Site Recovery for SQL VMs.

Answer

Azure SQL Database backups with short-term retention.

Answer

Auto-failover group with asynchronous replication.

Question 2

Refer to the exhibit. You are testing a disaster recovery plan for three Azure VMs. The recovery plan in the exhibit is failing during a test failover. VM3 fails to start after failover. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

VM3 is in a Shutdown group, which means it is not started during failover.. In Azure Site Recovery, a recovery plan can include groups with different startup actions: 'Start' groups initiate VMs during failover, while 'Shutdown' groups are used to sequence the orderly shutdown of VMs during planned failover or to group VMs that should not be started. If VM3 is placed in a 'Shutdown' group, it will not be started during a test failover, causing it to remain off and fail to start. This is the most likely cause given the exhibit shows VM3 in a group that does not trigger startup.

Answer

VM3 is not replicated properly.

Answer

The boot order is incorrect; VM3 should be before VM1.

Answer

The primary and recovery locations are swapped.

Question 3

Refer to the exhibit. You are configuring Azure Site Recovery replication for a VM. The exhibit shows the replication policy settings. What is the RPO and RTO that can be achieved with this policy?

Accepted Answer

RPO of 5 minutes and RTO of 15 minutes.. The replication policy shown sets a recovery point retention window of 5 minutes, meaning Azure Site Recovery aims to keep all recovery points within the last 5 minutes, which directly defines the RPO as 5 minutes. The RTO is determined by the recovery time objective, which for Azure Site Recovery with crash-consistent snapshots and default failover settings is typically around 15 minutes, as the exhibit does not specify a lower RTO target. Option B correctly pairs these values.

Answer

RPO of 15 minutes and RTO of 5 minutes.

Answer

RPO of 5 minutes and RTO of 30 minutes.

Answer

RPO of 10 minutes and RTO of 15 minutes.

Question 4

A company runs a critical financial application on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) in a single region. The application uses Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL with multiple write regions. You need to design a business continuity solution that meets an RPO of 0 seconds and an RTO of less than 5 seconds for a regional outage. The solution must be cost-optimized. What should you include in the design?

Accepted Answer

Deploy AKS clusters in two regions, use Azure Front Door to route traffic, and configure Azure Cosmos DB with multiple write regions and automatic failover.. It uses Azure Front Door for fast global traffic routing and health probing, which can detect a regional outage and reroute traffic in under 5 seconds, meeting the RTO requirement. By configuring Azure Cosmos DB with a single write region and manual failover, you can maintain strong consistency, ensuring zero data loss (RPO=0) during a regional outage because you control when failover occurs and can verify data integrity. This design is cost-optimized as it avoids the complexity and potential inconsistency of multi-region writes.

Answer

Deploy AKS clusters in two regions, use Azure Traffic Manager with priority routing, and configure Azure Cosmos DB with a single write region and a readable secondary.

Answer

Deploy AKS clusters across availability zones in one region, use Azure Load Balancer, and configure Azure SQL Database with active geo-replication.

Answer

Deploy AKS clusters in two regions, use Azure Front Door, and configure Azure Cosmos DB with a single write region and manual failover.

Question 5

Your company has an on-premises database running SQL Server 2019. You plan to migrate to Azure SQL Managed Instance. The business requires a recovery point objective (RPO) of 15 minutes and a recovery time objective (RTO) of 4 hours for a regional disaster. You need to design the disaster recovery solution. What should you use?

Accepted Answer

Configure a failover group between two Azure SQL Managed Instances in different regions with manual failover.. Azure SQL Managed Instance failover groups support manual failover, which allows you to control the timing of the failover to meet a 4-hour RTO. Automatic failover is not available for SQL Managed Instance failover groups; only manual failover is supported, and this design meets the RPO of 15 minutes using synchronous replication within the failover group.

Answer

Configure a failover group between two Azure SQL Managed Instances in different regions with automatic failover.

Answer

Use SQL Server log shipping from on-premises to Azure SQL Managed Instance in a secondary region.

Answer

Configure geo-restore of Azure SQL Managed Instance backups to a secondary region.

Question 6

A company runs a containerized application on Azure Container Instances (ACI) in a single region. The application uses Azure Cosmos DB (SQL API) with a single write region. You need to design a disaster recovery solution that meets an RPO of 0 seconds and RTO of 10 minutes for a regional outage. The solution must be cost-optimized. What should you include in the design?

Accepted Answer

Migrate the application to Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) deployed in two regions, use Azure Front Door, and configure Cosmos DB with multi-region writes.. Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) with multi-region deployment, combined with Azure Front Door for global load balancing and Cosmos DB multi-region writes, achieves an RPO of 0 seconds (no data loss) and an RTO of 10 minutes. AKS enables rapid failover of containerized workloads across regions, while Cosmos DB multi-region writes ensure continuous write availability without failover delay, meeting the strict RPO/RTO requirements. This design is cost-optimized compared to always-on active-passive approaches because it uses active-active resources that can scale down during normal operations.

Answer

Use Azure Container Instances with container groups across availability zones, and configure Cosmos DB geo-replication with manual failover.

Answer

Deploy ACI containers in two regions, use Azure Traffic Manager, and configure Cosmos DB with automatic failover.

Answer

Deploy ACI containers in two regions, use Azure Front Door, and configure Cosmos DB with multi-region writes.

Question 7

Which TWO of the following are valid strategies for achieving high availability for Azure SQL Database?

Accepted Answer

Deploy Azure SQL Database in a zone-redundant configuration within a single region.. Option A is correct because a zone-redundant Azure SQL Database deployment spreads replicas across multiple availability zones within a single region, so a zone-level failure does not cause an outage and the database remains available. Option C is correct because active geo-replication creates a readable secondary replica in the same region, providing a failover target that can be promoted if the primary becomes unavailable, which is a valid high-availability strategy. Option B is not correct because read scale-out only offloads read-only workloads to a secondary replica and does not provide failover or protection against an outage. Option D is not correct because Azure Backup copies backups to another region for disaster recovery and long-term retention, not for automatic high availability or failover. Option E is not correct because auto-failover groups with a secondary in another region are a disaster-recovery strategy across regions, not a high-availability strategy within a region.

Answer

Enable read scale-out to distribute read queries to a secondary replica.

Answer

Use Azure Backup to copy database backups to another region.

Answer

Configure auto-failover groups with a secondary in another region.

Question 8

A company wants to protect its Azure Files shares from accidental deletion or ransomware. They need to be able to recover files from up to 30 days ago. What solution should they implement?

Accepted Answer

Enable soft delete for Azure Files shares and configure share snapshots. Soft delete for Azure Files shares protects shares and their contents from accidental deletion or ransomware by retaining deleted data for a specified retention period. When combined with share snapshots, which provide point-in-time read-only copies, this solution enables recovery of files from up to 30 days ago. This directly meets the requirement for both protection and recovery within the specified timeframe.

Answer

Sync the Azure Files share to an on-premises server using Azure File Sync

Answer

Use Azure Backup for Azure Files with a 30-day retention policy

Answer

Configure geo-redundant storage (GRS) for the storage account

Question 9

A company runs a critical application on Azure VMs. They want to ensure high availability within a region using Azure Site Recovery. What is the correct configuration?

Accepted Answer

Deploy VMs across multiple availability zones and use a load balancer. Deploying VMs across multiple availability zones and using a load balancer provides high availability within a region by distributing traffic across VMs in separate fault and update domains. Azure Site Recovery is a disaster recovery tool designed for cross-region replication, not for intra-region high availability, which is achieved through native availability zones and load balancing.

Answer

Configure Azure Site Recovery to replicate VMs to a paired region

Answer

Use Azure Site Recovery to replicate VMs across availability sets

Answer

Configure Azure Site Recovery to replicate VMs to different availability zones within the same region

Question 10

A company uses Azure Backup to protect on-premises file servers via the Azure Backup Server (MABS). They want to ensure backups are retained for 10 years for compliance. What backup tier should they use?

Accepted Answer

Azure Backup with GFS retention policy for monthly and yearly points. Azure Backup with a GFS (Grandfather-Father-Son) retention policy allows you to retain monthly and yearly recovery points for up to 99 years, which satisfies the 10-year compliance requirement. Azure Backup Server (MABS) supports GFS retention, enabling long-term archival of on-premises file server backups directly to the Azure Backup vault.

Answer

Azure Backup using the warm storage tier

Answer

Azure Files share snapshots

Answer

Azure Site Recovery

Question 11

You are designing a business continuity plan for a financial services company that uses Azure SQL Database for its transactional workloads. The solution must meet an RPO of 5 seconds and an RTO of 30 seconds during a regional outage. What should you use?

Accepted Answer

Azure SQL Database auto-failover group with a secondary in a paired region. Auto-failover groups for Azure SQL Database use asynchronous replication, achieving an RPO of 5 seconds, and automatic failover typically completes within 30 seconds, meeting the RTO requirement. Active geo-replication (Option C) requires manual failover and thus does not satisfy the automatic failover condition.

Answer

Azure Database for PostgreSQL with read replicas in another region

Answer

Azure SQL Database with active geo-replication and automatic failover

Answer

Azure SQL Managed Instance with failover group

Question 12

Adatum Corporation runs a customer-facing API on Azure API Management (Developer tier) in the East US region. The backend is an Azure Function app (Premium plan) also in East US. The data is stored in Azure Cosmos DB (Core SQL API) with a single write region in East US. The company requires:
- RPO: 0 (zero data loss).
- RTO: 1 minute for the API to be available after a region failure.
- The solution must be fully automated.
- Cost is not a primary concern.

What DR strategy should you recommend?

Accepted Answer

Deploy a passive standby in West US with a second API Management instance, a second Functions app, and a second Cosmos DB write region (multi-region writes). Use Azure Front Door with health probes to automatically route traffic. Manually failover Cosmos DB during disaster.. It uses an active-active approach with multi-region writes for Cosmos DB, which provides automatic failover and zero data loss (since writes are accepted in both regions and conflict resolution ensures no writes are lost). Azure Front Door provides automatic traffic routing to the healthy region, meeting the RTO of 1 minute. The deployment is fully automated through Azure Front Door health probes. Although the option mentions manual failover for Cosmos DB, with multi-region writes configured, failover is automatic. Option B is invalid because multi-region writes with strong consistency is not a supported configuration; multi-region writes require eventual consistency, which cannot guarantee zero data loss.

Answer

Deploy the API Management, Functions, and Cosmos DB across two Availability Zones in East US. Use zone-redundant services. For Cosmos DB, use multi-region writes within the same region (not possible).

Answer

Deploy an active-active architecture in East US and West US. Deploy API Management in both regions and use Azure Front Door with health probes for automatic failover. Deploy Azure Functions in both regions (Premium plan supports multi-region). Configure Cosmos DB with multi-region writes (single write region with automatic failover) and strong consistency. All traffic is active-active, with automatic failover.

Answer

Deploy a passive standby in West US using Azure Site Recovery to replicate the Azure Functions and API Management. For Cosmos DB, enable a secondary read region and manual failover. Use Azure Traffic Manager to switch traffic during a disaster.

Question 13

You are designing a business continuity plan for a global e-commerce platform that runs on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) in the West US region. The platform uses Azure SQL Database for transactional data and Azure Cache for Redis for session state. The Recovery Time Objective (RTO) for the entire platform is 10 minutes, and the Recovery Point Objective (RPO) is 5 minutes. Which combination of technologies would meet these requirements with the least operational overhead?

Accepted Answer

Deploy AKS clusters in two regions with Azure Front Door; configure Azure SQL Database active geo-replication; enable Azure Cache for Redis geo-replication.. This combination meets the RTO of 10 minutes and RPO of 5 minutes with the least operational overhead among the options. Azure Front Door provides global load balancing and automatic failover for the AKS clusters in two regions, achieving near-instant RTO. Azure SQL Database active geo-replication maintains a readable secondary replica with an RPO of 5 seconds, well within the 5-minute requirement. Note that active geo-replication by itself requires manual failover, which can still be performed within the 10-minute RTO; to achieve automatic failover, you would use auto-failover groups (which do not contradict the option). Azure Cache for Redis geo-replication asynchronously replicates session state with minimal latency, avoiding manual backup and restore operations.

Answer

Back up AKS cluster state and Azure SQL Database using Azure Backup; restore in a secondary region during failover.

Answer

Use Azure Site Recovery to replicate the AKS cluster and Azure SQL Database to a secondary region; use Azure Redis Cache with data persistence.

Answer

Migrate the database to Azure Cosmos DB for multi-region writes; use Traffic Manager for AKS failover.

Question 14

You are designing a disaster recovery solution for a tier-1 application that runs on Azure SQL Managed Instance. The application has a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of 30 seconds and a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of 10 seconds. The solution must also support failover during planned maintenance. What should you recommend?

Accepted Answer

Set up a failover group for Azure SQL Managed Instance between two regions with a secondary replica.. Failover groups for Azure SQL Managed Instance provide the required RTO of 30 seconds and RPO of 10 seconds by enabling automatic, continuous replication of data to a secondary replica in another region. They also support planned maintenance failover, allowing you to manually initiate a failover during maintenance windows without data loss. This is the only option that meets all stated requirements for SQL Managed Instance.

Answer

Configure auto-failover groups with a readable secondary in another region for Azure SQL Database.

Answer

Implement Azure Site Recovery to replicate the SQL Managed Instance to a secondary region.

Answer

Use active geo-replication for Azure SQL Managed Instance with a secondary in another region.

Question 15

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.)

Accepted Answer

Create an auto-failover group with a readable secondary in another Azure region.. Option B is correct because an auto-failover group provides automatic, policy-driven failover to a secondary Azure SQL Database in another region, with RPO typically around 5 seconds and RTO well under 30 seconds, meeting both objectives. Option E is correct because active geo-replication continuously replicates the Azure SQL Database to up to four readable secondaries in other regions with an RPO of about 5 seconds, and it supports fast, manual failover that can satisfy a 30-second RTO. Option A is not appropriate because Azure Site Recovery is an IaaS/VM-level disaster recovery service and does not natively replicate PaaS Azure SQL Database. Option C is not sufficient because availability zones provide high availability within a single region, not the cross-region disaster recovery implied by the RPO/RTO targets. Option D is not valid because Azure Backup for Azure SQL Database does not support a 5-second backup frequency, and backup-based restore cannot meet a 30-second RTO.

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.