DP-300 Plan and configure a high availability and disaster recovery environment Practice Test 10 — 15 Questions

Question 1

You have an Azure SQL Database named InventoryDB in the North Europe region. The database uses the General Purpose service tier. You need to ensure that the database is available if the North Europe region fails. The solution must provide an RPO of 15 minutes and an RTO of 4 hours. You want to minimize cost. What should you do?

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

Accepted Answer

Configure geo-redundant backup storage for InventoryDB and use geo-restore during a disaster.. Geo-restore from geo-redundant backups is the most cost-effective disaster recovery method for Azure SQL Database when a longer RTO is acceptable. It does not require a continuously running secondary. Active geo-replication and failover groups provide faster recovery but at higher cost. Zone redundancy is only regional.

Answer

Configure active geo-replication for InventoryDB to a secondary database in West Europe.

Answer

Configure a failover group for InventoryDB with a secondary server in West Europe and set the failover policy to automatic.

Answer

Enable zone redundancy for InventoryDB and rely on the built-in high availability of the General Purpose service tier.

Question 2

You have an Azure SQL Database named SalesDB that uses the Hyperscale service tier. SalesDB has a read-only workload that queries the database continuously. You need to configure a disaster recovery solution that provides a readable secondary in a different region. The solution must minimize replica lag and support failover with minimal data loss. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Configure an auto-failover group with a secondary server in a different region and enable read access on the secondary.. For Hyperscale, auto-failover groups can be used to provide a cross-region secondary. Enabling read access on the secondary allows read-only workloads to be served from the secondary region. This minimizes replica lag and supports failover with minimal data loss. Other options either do not support cross-region readable secondaries or are not available for Hyperscale.

Answer

Create a named replica in a different region and configure it for read-only workloads.

Answer

Configure an auto-failover group with a secondary server in a different region.

Answer

Configure active geo-replication with a readable secondary in a different region.

Question 3

You administer a SQL Managed Instance in the West Europe region. You need to create a disaster recovery replica in North Europe with automated failover. The replica must be readable and support backups. What should you configure?

Accepted Answer

Create a failover group with the secondary instance in North Europe.. SQL Managed Instance supports failover groups for automated failover between regions, and the secondary instance in a failover group is readable and supports backups. Option A is incorrect because log shipping is not supported for SQL Managed Instance. Option B is incorrect because active geo-replication is not supported for SQL Managed Instance; failover groups are the appropriate solution. Option C is incorrect because the secondary instance in a failover group is readable and can be used for read-only workloads.

Answer

Set up log shipping from West Europe to North Europe.

Answer

Configure active geo-replication between the instances.

Answer

Create a failover group, but note the secondary is not readable.

Question 4

Your company has an Azure SQL Database in the General Purpose tier. You need to reduce the recovery point objective (RPO) from 1 hour to less than 1 minute for disaster recovery. Which action should you take?

Accepted Answer

Upgrade the database to Business Critical tier.. None of the listed options reduce the geo-replication RPO to under 1 minute. Upgrading to Business Critical (B) improves local HA with synchronous replicas but does not affect geo-replication, which remains asynchronous with an RPO of about 1 hour. Enabling zone redundancy (C) protects against zone failures, not regional disasters. Increasing backup retention (A) or DTU/vCore (D) does not change replication mode. To achieve sub-minute RPO for geo-disaster recovery, you must configure Active Geo-Replication or a failover group, which are not among the options.

Answer

Increase the backup retention period to 35 days.

Answer

Enable zone redundancy on the database.

Answer

Increase the DTU or vCore count.

Question 5

Which THREE components are required to configure a failover group for Azure SQL Database? (Choose three.)

Accepted Answer

At least one database on the primary server.. Options B, C, and D are correct. A failover group requires a primary server, a secondary server, and at least one database on the primary server. Option A is incorrect because the failover group listener is automatically created and does not need to be separately configured. Option E is incorrect because an elastic pool is optional; failover groups can contain individual databases or elastic pools.

Answer

Failover group listener.

Answer

An elastic pool.

Question 6

Which TWO disaster recovery options are available for Azure SQL Database? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Auto-failover groups.. Active geo-replication and auto-failover groups are the two primary disaster recovery options for Azure SQL Database. Active geo-replication provides asynchronous replication of a database to a secondary region, while auto-failover groups extend this by allowing failover of multiple databases and providing read-only endpoints. Options A (database mirroring) and D (log shipping) are not supported for Azure SQL Database. Option C (Always On availability groups) is a feature for SQL Server on Azure VMs, not for Azure SQL Database.

Answer

Database mirroring.

Answer

Always On availability groups.

Answer

Log shipping.

Question 7

You are reviewing a JSON configuration for an Azure SQL Database. The exhibit shows the database properties. Which statement about this database is correct?

Accepted Answer

The database is in General Purpose tier and supports zone redundancy.. The JSON configuration shows zoneRedundant set to true and the service tier is General Purpose. As of current Azure SQL Database documentation, zone redundancy is supported for the General Purpose tier (vCore purchasing model) in many regions. Therefore, the configuration is valid. Option D correctly states that the database is in General Purpose tier and supports zone redundancy. Option A is incorrect because highAvailabilityReplicaCount is 0, not 1. Option B is incorrect because zone redundancy is available for General Purpose. Option C is incorrect because backupStorageRedundancy is Geo (geo-redundant), not locally-redundant.

Answer

The database has one high-availability replica.

Answer

The configuration is invalid because General Purpose tier cannot be zone-redundant.

Answer

The database uses locally-redundant backup storage.

Question 8

You have an Azure SQL Managed Instance in the East US region. To meet a 1-hour RPO and 2-hour RTO, you configure a failover group with a secondary in West US using automatic failover. During a test, you notice that the RTO is consistently 10 minutes longer than required. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The failover group has a grace period of 20 minutes configured.. The failover group's automatic failover includes a grace period (default 20 minutes) that delays the actual failover after detecting unavailability. This grace period directly contributes to the RTO, explaining the 10-minute exceedance of the required 2-hour RTO. Option A is incorrect because Microsoft Entra ID authentication does not add noticeable latency to the failover process; authentication occurs independently of replication and failover. Option B is incorrect because asynchronous commit is the standard replication mode for failover groups and does not inherently cause additional delay beyond the grace period; the issue is not the commit mode but the waiting period before failover. Option D is incorrect because the secondary database is automatically seeded when the failover group is created; no manual restore is needed.

Answer

The failover group uses Microsoft Entra ID authentication, which adds latency.

Answer

The secondary database is configured with asynchronous commit, causing delay.

Answer

The secondary database is not seeded and needs to be restored.

Question 9

Your Azure SQL Database is configured with a failover group between two regions. The primary database experiences a catastrophic failure that prevents any connectivity. You need to initiate a failover to the secondary region. However, the failover group status shows 'Primary is down'. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Run a forced failover accepting potential data loss.. A forced failover (also called an unplanned failover) is used when the primary database is completely unavailable, and you accept potential data loss. Option A is incorrect because a planned failover requires both the primary and secondary to be online to ensure zero data loss. Option B is incorrect because waiting for the primary to come back online is not an appropriate action when immediate failover is required due to catastrophic failure. Option C is incorrect because you cannot remove the primary database from a failover group when it is down; the failover group must be failed over as a whole.

Answer

Run a planned failover to ensure zero data loss.

Answer

Wait for the primary to come back online and then failover.

Answer

Remove the primary database from the failover group and then failover.

Question 10

You have an Azure SQL Managed Instance configured with a failover group for disaster recovery. The primary instance is in the East US region and the secondary is in West US. You need to perform a planned failover for maintenance with zero data loss. What is the correct sequence of steps?

Accepted Answer

Use the Azure portal to perform a planned failover for the failover group.. For a planned failover with zero data loss in Azure SQL Managed Instance failover groups, the correct approach is to use the Azure portal (or PowerShell/CLI) to perform a planned failover. This ensures that all pending transactions are synchronized to the secondary before switching roles, preventing data loss.

Answer

Take the primary instance offline, then failover.

Answer

Scale down the primary to reduce cost, then failover.

Answer

Remove the failover group, perform maintenance, then recreate the failover group.

Question 11

Which TWO of the following are benefits of using Azure SQL Database failover groups compared to active geo-replication alone?

Accepted Answer

Failover of multiple databases in a single group.. Failover groups extend active geo-replication by allowing you to manage failover for a group of databases as a single unit. This simplifies the failover process when you have multiple databases that must be failed over together to maintain application consistency. Option B is correct because failover groups support the coordinated failover of multiple databases, which active geo-replication alone does not.

Answer

Support for manual failover.

Answer

Readable secondary replicas for read-scale workloads.

Answer

Synchronous data replication to the secondary.

Question 12

Your company has an Azure SQL Managed Instance in the General Purpose tier. You need to configure a failover group for disaster recovery. The secondary managed instance must be in a different region and must also be used for read-only workloads. During a failover, you want to minimize data loss. Which configuration should you use?

Accepted Answer

Create a failover group and configure the secondary instance to allow read-only connections.. Failover groups for Azure SQL Managed Instance allow you to configure the secondary instance to allow read-only connections, enabling it to serve read-only workloads. This minimizes data loss by using automatic replication with a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of less than 1 second. Option A (zone redundancy) provides high availability within a region, not disaster recovery across regions. Option C (log shipping) is not a built-in feature for managed instances and does not support automatic failover. Option D (active geo-replication) is not supported for managed instances; failover groups are the recommended solution.

Answer

Enable zone redundancy on the primary and secondary instances.

Answer

Configure log shipping between the primary and secondary instances.

Answer

Use active geo-replication instead of a failover group.

Question 13

You have an Azure SQL Database in the Hyperscale service tier. You need to ensure that the database remains available during a single Azure zone failure. The solution must not require manual intervention. What should you configure?

Accepted Answer

Enable zone redundancy on the Hyperscale database.. Hyperscale databases support zone redundancy, which automatically places database replicas in different availability zones, ensuring availability during a single zone failure without manual intervention. Option A is incorrect because failover groups with a secondary in a different zone are used for SQL Managed Instance or other service tiers, not for Hyperscale zone redundancy. Option C is incorrect because active geo-replication is for disaster recovery across regions, not for zone-level failures. Option D is incorrect because auto-failover groups are for SQL Managed Instance or other tiers, and zone redundancy is the native solution for Hyperscale.

Answer

Create a failover group with a secondary in a different zone.

Answer

Configure active geo-replication to a secondary server in a different zone.

Answer

Configure an auto-failover group with a secondary in a different zone.

Question 14

Refer to the exhibit. You run the Azure CLI command to check the configuration of an Azure SQL Database named db1. The output shows zoneRedundant is true and replicationRole is Primary. Which statement is true about this database?

Accepted Answer

The database is zone-redundant and is the primary database in its replication relationship.. The output shows zoneRedundant is true, meaning the database is deployed across multiple availability zones within its region for high availability, and replicationRole is Primary, meaning it is the primary in a replication relationship (such as a failover group or active geo-replication). Option B correctly combines both facts. The zoneRedundant flag has nothing to do with cross-region replication, so options A and D are incorrect, and Hyperscale is a separate service tier not indicated by these properties.

Answer

The database is configured with active geo-replication to a secondary region.

Answer

The database is a Hyperscale database with zone redundancy enabled.

Answer

The database has a readable secondary replica in a different Azure availability zone.

Question 15

You manage an Azure SQL Database that uses the General Purpose tier. The database has a failover group with a secondary in a paired region. During a regional outage, you initiate a forced failover. After the outage is resolved, you want to bring the original primary region back online without data loss. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Wait for data synchronization, then initiate a planned failover.. After a forced failover, the original primary becomes the secondary and enters a state where it may have diverged data. To restore it as primary without data loss, you must wait for geo-replication to catch up and re-synchronize, then perform a planned (graceful) failover. A planned failover ensures no data loss by confirming the secondary is fully synchronized before switching roles.

Answer

Initiate a forced failover from the new primary to the old primary.

Answer

Perform a forced failover again to switch back.

Answer

Delete the failover group and recreate it with the original primary as primary.