DP-300 Plan and configure a high availability and disaster recovery environment Practice Test 2 — 15 Questions

Question 1

You need to ensure that an Azure SQL Managed Instance remains available in the event of a single availability zone failure in a region that supports availability zones. What should you configure?

Accepted Answer

Deploy the instance in Business Critical tier with zone-redundant configuration.. For zone redundancy in Azure SQL Managed Instance, the Business Critical tier is required. Option D is correct because it specifies deploying in Business Critical tier with zone-redundant configuration, which provides resilience within a single region across availability zones. Option A is incorrect because a failover group to another region addresses regional disasters, not zonal failures. Option B is incorrect because the General Purpose tier does not support zone redundancy. Option C is incorrect because Hyperscale is a service tier for Azure SQL Database, not for Managed Instance.

Answer

Configure a failover group to another region.

Answer

Deploy the instance in General Purpose tier with zone redundancy.

Answer

Use a Hyperscale tier instance with zone redundancy.

Question 2

Your company uses Azure SQL Database with active geo-replication for disaster recovery. During a drill, you need to verify that the secondary database is ready for failover and that data synchronization is current. Which query should you run on the secondary database?

Accepted Answer

SELECT * FROM sys.dm_geo_replication_link_status;. Sys.dm_geo_replication_link_status provides replication lag and the last replicated transaction for geo-replicated databases. Option A is wrong because sys.dm_continuous_copy_status is deprecated and no longer used for geo-replication monitoring. Option C is wrong because sys.dm_database_copies is for copy-only operations, not ongoing replication. Option D is wrong because sys.dm_replication_status is for transactional replication, not geo-replication.

Answer

SELECT * FROM sys.dm_continuous_copy_status;

Answer

SELECT * FROM sys.dm_database_copies;

Answer

SELECT * FROM sys.dm_replication_status;

Question 3

Which TWO actions should you take to minimize downtime during a planned failover of an Azure SQL Database failover group? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Ensure the failover group is configured for manual failover.. For a planned failover of an Azure SQL Database failover group, you should ensure the failover is manual (C) and then initiate a planned failover (E). This approach gives you control over the timing and ensures no data loss because the secondary is fully synchronized before the switch. Option A (scaling up) does not reduce downtime during failover; it affects performance but not failover behavior. Option B (terminating connections) is unnecessary because the failover process handles connection redirection. Option D (disabling automatic failover) is not required for a planned failover and could actually increase risk if an unplanned event occurs.

Answer

Scale up the primary database to a higher service objective.

Answer

Terminate all active connections to the primary database.

Answer

Disable automatic failover on the failover group.

Question 4

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 5

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 6

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 7

You are deploying an Azure SQL Database with the above ARM template snippet. How many readable replicas will be available for read-only queries?

Accepted Answer

2. (2). The highAvailabilityReplicaCount property in the ARM template is set to 2, which creates two readable replicas in addition to the primary. With read scale-out enabled, both replicas are available for read-only queries. Option A (3) is incorrect because it counts the primary as a readable replica, but the primary is not used for read-only queries in read scale-out. Option C (1) is incorrect because it underestimates the number of replicas. Option D (4) is incorrect because the value in the template is 2, not 4.

Answer

3

Answer

1

Answer

4

Question 8

You are examining the configuration of an Azure SQL Database in the Business Critical tier. The exhibit shows the database properties. What is the maximum number of readable replicas available for read-only queries?

Accepted Answer

3. In the Business Critical tier of Azure SQL Database, there is a fixed set of four replicas: one primary and three secondary replicas. All secondary replicas are readable and can serve read-only queries. Therefore, the maximum number of readable replicas available for read-only queries is 3. Option C (4) is incorrect because it would include the primary replica, which is not typically used for read-only queries unless read-scale is enabled, but even then the maximum readable replicas (including primary) is 4, but the question asks specifically for 'readable replicas available for read-only queries', which are the secondaries. The highAvailabilityReplicaCount property shown in the exhibit is not configurable for the Business Critical tier; it is only applicable to the Hyperscale tier. In Business Critical, the replica count is fixed at 4 total, with 3 readable secondaries.

Answer

1

Answer

4

Answer

5

Question 9

Your company has an Azure SQL Database with active geo-replication to a secondary region. During a regional outage, the secondary database becomes the primary. After the outage is resolved, you need to bring the original primary back online with minimal data loss and without creating a new secondary. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Re-establish geo-replication from the new primary to the original primary.. After a failover using active geo-replication, the original primary becomes a secondary database in the replication relationship. To bring it back online with minimal data loss, you re-establish geo-replication from the new primary to the original primary. This allows the original primary to synchronize and become a readable secondary again. Option D is correct. Option A is incorrect because geo-replication is not automatically re-established; you must manually configure it. Option B is incorrect because restoring from backup would cause data loss and require creating a new secondary. Option C is incorrect because deleting the original primary is unnecessary; it can be reused as a secondary.

Answer

Automatically re-establish geo-replication by waiting for the outage resolution.

Answer

Restore the original primary from a backup and then re-establish geo-replication.

Answer

Delete the original primary database and create a new secondary from the new primary.

Question 10

You have an Azure SQL Managed Instance configured with a failover group across two regions. The primary region experiences a complete outage. You perform a manual failover to the secondary region. After the primary region is restored, you need to bring the original primary back into the failover group. What is the correct order of actions?

Accepted Answer

Remove the original primary from the failover group and then add it back as a secondary.. After a manual failover in an Azure SQL Managed Instance failover group, the original primary becomes a secondary. To restore it to the failover group, you must first remove the original primary from the group if it is still listed, then add it back as a secondary. This allows the original primary to rejoin as a readable secondary and resync data. Option B is incorrect because a planned failover can only be initiated when the primary is healthy, which it may not be after an outage. Option C is incorrect because creating a new instance is unnecessary and wasteful. Option D is incorrect because a forced failover is not appropriate for restoring a previously failed instance; forced failover is used for urgent failover scenarios and may cause data loss.

Answer

Perform a planned failover back to the original primary region.

Answer

Create a new SQL Managed Instance in the original region and add it to the failover group.

Answer

Perform a forced failover to the original primary region.

Question 11

Your company uses Azure SQL Database with active geo-replication. You need to ensure that in the event of a regional disaster, the failover to the secondary region occurs automatically with minimal downtime. The secondary region must be in a different Azure geography for compliance. What should you configure?

Accepted Answer

Create a failover group with automatic failover policy.. Failover groups with automatic failover policy enable automatic failover to a secondary region in the same or paired region, meeting the requirement for minimal downtime. Option B is incorrect because auto-failover groups are not a separate concept; failover groups already support automatic failover. Option C is incorrect because active geo-replication alone requires manual failover, not automatic. Option D is incorrect because 'always failover groups' is not a valid Azure SQL Database feature, and Microsoft Entra ID authentication is unrelated to failover.

Answer

Create an auto-failover group using Azure CLI and set cross-geography replication.

Answer

Configure active geo-replication and set auto-failover policy.

Answer

Configure an always failover group with Microsoft Entra ID authentication.

Question 12

You are designing a disaster recovery plan for an Azure SQL Database that stores critical financial data. The RPO must be 5 seconds, and the RTO must be 30 seconds. Which solution should you recommend?

Accepted Answer

Failover groups with automatic failover policy.. Failover groups with automatic failover policy can achieve an RPO of 5 seconds and an RTO of 30 seconds for Azure SQL Database. Active geo-replication also achieves an RPO of 5 seconds but requires manual failover, increasing RTO beyond 30 seconds. Zone-redundant configuration only protects within a region and does not provide disaster recovery across regions. Automated backups with geo-restore have much higher RPO and RTO (typically hours).

Answer

Zone-redundant configuration within the primary region.

Answer

Active geo-replication with manual failover.

Answer

Automated backups with geo-restore.

Question 13

Your company has an Azure SQL Database configured with active geo-replication to a secondary region. You need to perform a planned failover for disaster recovery testing with zero data loss. The primary database is under heavy write load. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Set the primary database to read-only, perform a planned failover, then switch the new primary to read-write.. To achieve zero data loss during a planned failover under heavy write load, you should set the primary database to read-only to block any new writes. This allows the geo-replication to catch up and synchronize all committed transactions to the secondary. Then perform the planned failover (which switches the secondary to become the new primary). After failover, set the new primary to read-write mode to resume writes. Option B is incorrect: switching the secondary to read-write only enables read workloads on the secondary; it does not trigger a failover. The failover must be explicitly initiated, and the write-heavy primary still has pending transactions. Option C is incorrect: a full backup and restore would cause data loss because any transactions after the backup would be lost. Geo-replication provides near-real-time synchronization. Option D is incorrect: scaling up the primary does not affect the failover process or guarantee zero data loss. The only way to ensure zero data loss is to prevent writes and synchronize before failover.

Answer

Switch the secondary to read-write mode and then failover.

Answer

Take a full backup of the primary, restore it to the secondary, and then failover.

Answer

Scale up the primary database to the highest performance tier to handle writes during failover.

Question 14

You have Azure SQL Database elastic pools in the primary region. You need to configure disaster recovery using a failover group. The secondary pool must be in a different region. Which PowerShell cmdlet should you use to create the secondary pool?

Accepted Answer

New-AzSqlDatabaseSecondary. The correct cmdlet is New-AzSqlDatabaseSecondary (Option C). When the primary database is in an elastic pool, using the -SecondaryElasticPoolName parameter creates a new elastic pool on the secondary server in a different region if it does not already exist. This makes it suitable for creating the secondary pool as part of failover group setup. Option A (Set-AzSqlDatabaseSecondary) modifies an existing geo-replication relationship, not create a new one. Option B (Add-AzSqlDatabaseToFailoverGroup) adds an existing database to a failover group, but the secondary pool must already be provisioned. Option D (New-AzSqlDatabaseFailoverGroup) creates the failover group itself, not the secondary elastic pool.

Answer

Set-AzSqlDatabaseSecondary

Answer

Add-AzSqlDatabaseToFailoverGroup

Answer

New-AzSqlDatabaseFailoverGroup

Question 15

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.