AZ-305 Design business continuity solutions Practice Test 9 — 15 Questions

Question 1

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?

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

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 2

Your organization runs a critical application on Azure VMs that must be highly available within a region. The application is stateful and requires shared storage. You need to design a solution that can automatically recover from a VM failure with minimal downtime. What should you include in the design?

Accepted Answer

Deploy the VMs in an availability set and use Azure Shared Disks for the stateful data.. An availability set distributes VMs across fault domains and update domains within a datacenter, providing redundancy for VM failures. Azure Shared Disks enable multiple VMs to attach and access the same managed disk, fulfilling the shared storage requirement for stateful applications. Option A is incorrect because a single VM with Azure Backup does not provide automatic failover; backup is for data recovery, not high availability. Option B is incorrect because Azure NetApp Files is a shared storage service, but deploying VMs in different Availability Zones introduces cross-zone latency and is not necessary for intra-region HA; an availability set is more suitable for stateful apps requiring shared disks. Option C is incorrect because Azure Site Recovery replicates to a secondary region for disaster recovery, not for automatic recovery within a region.

Answer

Deploy a single VM with premium storage and Azure Backup for recovery.

Answer

Deploy the VMs in different Availability Zones and use Azure NetApp Files for storage.

Answer

Use Azure Site Recovery to replicate the VM to a secondary region.

Question 3

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 4

Your company has an Azure subscription with a single virtual network. You need to design a solution to back up Azure VMs to meet a 7-day retention policy. The backup data must be stored in a separate region for compliance. What should you use?

Accepted Answer

Azure Backup with cross-region restore (CRR) enabled. Azure Backup with cross-region restore (CRR) enabled is the correct solution because it allows you to store backup data in a secondary Azure paired region, meeting the compliance requirement for separate region storage. CRR works by replicating the backup data from the default geo-redundant storage (GRS) in the primary region to the paired region, and then enabling you to restore VMs in that secondary region. With a 7-day retention policy, CRR supports restoring from the recovery point within that window, ensuring compliance without additional infrastructure.

Answer

Azure Site Recovery with replication to a secondary region

Answer

Azure File Share snapshots stored in a different region

Answer

Azure Backup with default geo-redundant storage (GRS) in the same region

Question 5

Your company has a critical application that uses Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) in a single region. You need to design a disaster recovery solution that can automatically fail over to a secondary region in the event of a regional outage. The application data is stored in Azure Cosmos DB. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Deploy a secondary AKS cluster in another region, use Azure Traffic Manager for global load balancing, and enable Cosmos DB multi-region writes.. It provides a comprehensive disaster recovery solution for both the compute and data tiers. Deploying a secondary AKS cluster in another region ensures compute capacity is available after a regional outage. Azure Traffic Manager (using priority routing) directs traffic to the primary cluster and automatically fails over to the secondary. Enabling Cosmos DB multi-region writes allows the application to write to the secondary region without conflict, ensuring data availability and consistency during failover.

Answer

Use Azure Front Door to route traffic to the primary AKS cluster and enable Cosmos DB automatic failover.

Answer

Use Azure Backup for AKS with cross-region restore and Cosmos DB geo-redundancy.

Answer

Replicate the AKS cluster to another region using Azure Site Recovery.

Question 6

A company wants to ensure that their Azure SQL Database can continue to serve read-write traffic if the primary region becomes unavailable. They require minimal data loss. What should they implement?

Accepted Answer

Configure an auto-failover group with a secondary in another region. An auto-failover group with a secondary in another region provides continuous read-write traffic capability during a regional outage with minimal data loss. The failover group uses asynchronous replication with a configurable grace period (default 1 hour) to balance performance and data loss, and upon failover, the secondary becomes the new primary with the same connection string, ensuring application transparency.

Answer

Use Azure Backup with cross-region restore

Answer

Deploy the database across two Availability Zones

Answer

Read-scale replicas in the same region

Question 7

A company wants to ensure that their Azure Storage account containing blobs is protected against accidental deletion or corruption. The solution must enable recovery of previous versions up to 30 days. Which TWO features should they enable? (Choose TWO.)

Accepted Answer

Blob versioning. Blob versioning automatically maintains previous versions of a blob when it is modified or deleted, enabling recovery of any version from the last 30 days if combined with a lifecycle management policy to retain versions for that period. Blob soft delete protects against accidental deletion by preserving deleted blobs in a soft-deleted state for a specified retention period (up to 30 days), allowing restoration within that window. Together, they provide comprehensive protection against both accidental deletion and corruption.

Answer

Change feed

Answer

Azure Backup for Azure Blobs

Answer

Point-in-time restore for Azure Files

Question 8

You are designing a disaster recovery solution for a multi-tier web application on Azure VMs. The solution must meet an RPO of 15 minutes and an RTO of 1 hour. The application includes a SQL Server database. Which THREE actions should you take? (Choose THREE.)

Accepted Answer

Use Azure Premium SSD managed disks for the VMs to ensure low latency replication.. Azure Premium SSD managed disks provide low-latency, high-throughput storage that is essential for synchronous replication in SQL Server Always On Availability Groups. The synchronous commit mode requires fast disk I/O to avoid transaction delays, and Premium SSDs meet the sub-millisecond latency needed to achieve an RPO of 15 minutes and RTO of 1 hour across regions.

Answer

Use Azure Backup for the SQL Server database with 1-hour backup frequency.

Answer

Deploy read-scale replicas of the SQL Server in the secondary region.

Question 9

Refer to the exhibit. An administrator configured Azure Site Recovery replication for a VM using the policy shown. The VM workload is a critical database that requires application-consistent snapshots every 30 minutes to meet compliance. What is the issue with the current configuration?

Accepted Answer

The application-consistent snapshot frequency is 60 minutes, which is too high (should be 30 minutes).. The current policy sets the application-consistent snapshot frequency to 60 minutes, but the compliance requirement demands a snapshot every 30 minutes. Application-consistent snapshots are taken by the Azure Site Recovery mobility service using VSS (Volume Shadow Copy Service) on Windows, and the frequency is configured in the replication policy. Since the requirement is 30 minutes, the policy must be adjusted to match that interval.

Answer

The recovery point retention is set too low (1440 minutes).

Answer

The target region eastus2 is not a valid paired region for the source.

Answer

The storage account type is Standard_LRS; it should be Premium_LRS.

Question 10

Fabrikam Inc. runs a file-sharing service used by 500 employees globally. The service is deployed on Azure VMs in the North Europe region. The VMs store data on Azure Files shares (Standard performance tier) mounted via SMB. The company's business continuity policy requires:
- RPO: 1 hour for any data loss.
- RTO: 4 hours to restore service after a regional disaster.
- All data must be backed up and recoverable in a different region.
- Budget is a concern; prefer cost-effective solutions.

Currently, there is no backup in place. You need to design a solution. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Set up Azure Site Recovery (ASR) for the VMs and Azure Files. Replicate to a secondary region (West Europe). Use ASR recovery plans to orchestrate failover.. Azure Site Recovery (ASR) can replicate the VMs to a secondary region (West Europe), meeting the RPO (near-synchronous) and RTO (4 hours achievable). For the Azure Files data, the storage account hosting the file shares should be configured with geo-redundant storage (GRS), which automatically replicates data to a paired region, satisfying the cross-region recoverability requirement. This combination is cost-effective as it uses built-in replication without additional backup infrastructure. Option B is incorrect because Azure Backup for Azure Files does not support a 1-hour backup frequency (minimum is 4 hours), and Azure Backup for Azure VMs also has a minimum 4-hour frequency, so it cannot meet the 1-hour RPO. Option C fails cross-region requirement as snapshots are stored in the same region, and VM backup frequency is daily. Option D requires an on-premises server and does not provide failover to a different Azure region.

Answer

Configure Azure Backup for the Azure Files shares with a backup policy of 1-hour frequency. Also back up the VMs using Azure Backup with a 1-hour policy. Store backups in a Recovery Services vault with geo-redundant storage (GRS). Enable cross-region restore.

Answer

Use Azure Files share snapshots taken every hour and store them in a separate storage account in the same region. For VM backup, use Azure Backup with daily frequency. In a disaster, deploy new VMs and restore from snapshots.

Answer

Implement Azure File Sync between the Azure Files share and an on-premises file server. For disaster recovery, failover to the on-premises server.

Question 11

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 12

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 13

Your company has a hybrid infrastructure with on-premises servers and Azure virtual machines. You need to design a backup strategy that includes on-premises file servers and Azure VMs. The solution must support long-term retention for compliance (7 years) and provide immediate recovery for recent versions. What should you include in the design?

Accepted Answer

Deploy Azure Backup with the Microsoft Azure Recovery Services (MARS) agent for on-premises and the Azure Backup extension for VMs.. Azure Backup with the MARS agent provides long-term retention (up to 99 years) and supports on-premises file servers, while the Azure Backup extension for Azure VMs offers application-consistent snapshots and instant recovery for recent versions. This combination meets the 7-year compliance requirement and immediate recovery needs without additional infrastructure.

Answer

Use Azure Storage account snapshots for on-premises files and Azure VM snapshots for VMs.

Answer

Set up Azure File Sync to sync on-premises files to Azure Files, then back up the Azure file shares.

Answer

Use Azure Site Recovery for both on-premises servers and Azure VMs.

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 organization has a critical application running on Azure Virtual Machines. You need to design a backup and disaster recovery strategy. Which TWO options should you include in your design to meet a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of 15 minutes and a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of 1 hour? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Implement Azure Site Recovery with replication to a secondary region.. Azure Site Recovery (ASR) replicates Azure VMs to a secondary region with configurable recovery points. By enabling application-consistent snapshots within the replication policy, you can achieve an RPO of 15 minutes (snapshot frequency) and an RTO of 1 hour (failover time), meeting the stated requirements.

Answer

Store data in Azure Files and use Azure File Sync for replication.

Answer

Use Azure Traffic Manager to distribute traffic between regions.

Answer

Configure Azure Backup for daily backups with geo-redundant storage.