DP-300 Plan and configure a high availability and disaster recovery environment Practice Test 5 — 15 Questions

Question 1

Your company has a SQL Server on Azure VM hosting a critical database. You need to ensure high availability with automatic failover and no data loss during a planned patching event. The solution must minimize cost. Which configuration should you use?

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

Accepted Answer

Deploy two Azure VMs in an availability set, configure SQL Server Always On availability group with synchronous commit and automatic failover.. Deploying two Azure VMs in an availability set and configuring SQL Server Always On availability group with synchronous commit and automatic failover meets the requirements of high availability with automatic failover and no data loss during planned patching (by performing a manual failover). This solution minimizes cost compared to Azure SQL Database Managed Instance or geo-replication. Option A is incorrect because migrating to Azure SQL Database Managed Instance is a different platform, not SQL Server on Azure VM, and geo-replication is for disaster recovery, not planned patching. Option B is incorrect because log shipping is not automatic and can result in data loss. Option C is incorrect because a single VM with FCI using Storage Spaces Direct does not provide automatic failover for planned patching; it requires a secondary node.

Answer

Migrate to Azure SQL Database Managed Instance and configure geo-replication.

Answer

Configure log shipping with a secondary VM in another region.

Answer

Use a single VM with a failover cluster instance (FCI) using Storage Spaces Direct.

Question 2

You are designing a disaster recovery plan for an Azure SQL Database that uses the Business Critical service tier. The database is 2 TB. You need to ensure that the secondary replica in a different Azure region is readable for reporting queries. What should you configure?

Accepted Answer

Configure active geo-replication to a secondary server in the target region.. Active geo-replication creates a readable secondary database in a different region that can be used for reporting. Option A is wrong: auto-failover groups do not automatically provide a readable secondary; they are designed for failover, and while you can configure a readable secondary, active geo-replication is the primary method for cross-region read-scale. Option B is wrong because zone-redundant backup storage provides redundancy for backups, not a readable secondary. Option D is wrong because geo-restore creates a new database from a backup and is not a continuously available readable replica.

Answer

Create an auto-failover group with a secondary in the paired region.

Answer

Enable zone-redundant backup storage.

Answer

Use geo-restore from geo-redundant backups.

Question 3

Your company runs a global e-commerce application using Azure SQL Database in the West Europe region. You need to implement a solution that provides automatic failover and allows the secondary region to be used for read-only queries during normal operations. The secondary must be in a different region. Which configuration meets these requirements?

Accepted Answer

Create an auto-failover group with a secondary in West US and use the secondary as readable.. An auto-failover group with a readable secondary in a different region provides automatic failover and allows read-only queries on the secondary during normal operations. Option C is incorrect because active geo-replication requires application-level failover logic, which is not automatic, and thus does not meet the requirement for automatic failover. Option A is incorrect because read scale-out is limited to the same region. Option D is incorrect because geo-restore is a backup/restore mechanism, not a continuous replication solution.

Answer

Enable read scale-out on the primary database.

Answer

Configure active geo-replication to a secondary server in West US and implement application-level failover logic.

Answer

Configure geo-restore with a recovery point objective of 1 hour.

Question 4

You are responsible for a SQL Server 2019 instance on an Azure VM. The VM is part of a failover cluster instance (FCI) using Azure shared disks. During a recent failover test, the cluster took 15 minutes to bring the database online. You need to reduce the failover time to under 5 minutes. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Remove unnecessary databases from the FCI and distribute them to other instances.. Removing unnecessary databases from the FCI reduces the number of databases that need to be recovered during failover, thereby decreasing the overall failover time. Option A is correct. Option B is incorrect because upgrading the VM does not directly reduce the number of databases to recover. Option C is incorrect because increasing disk size does not improve failover time. Option D is incorrect because instant file initialization helps with file growth, not failover recovery.

Answer

Upgrade the VM to a larger size with more CPU and memory.

Answer

Increase the size of the Azure shared disks.

Answer

Enable instant file initialization on all SQL Server instances.

Question 5

Your company uses Azure SQL Database Hyperscale tier for a large OLTP workload. You need to implement a disaster recovery solution that provides a readable secondary in a different Azure region with an RPO of less than 5 seconds and automatic failover. What should you configure?

Accepted Answer

Create a named replica in the target region and configure application failover logic.. Hyperscale supports named replicas that can be created in a different region and can be used for failover. Option A is wrong because Hyperscale does not support auto-failover groups. Option B is wrong because Hyperscale does not support active geo-replication. Option C is wrong because geo-restore does not provide a readable secondary.

Answer

Create an auto-failover group with a secondary in the paired region.

Answer

Enable geo-redundant backup storage and use geo-restore.

Answer

Configure active geo-replication to a secondary server in another region.

Question 6

You have a SQL Server on Azure VM that hosts a mission-critical database. The VM is in a single availability zone. You need to achieve a 99.99% SLA for the SQL Server instance. Which two actions should you perform? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Configure SQL Server Always On availability group with synchronous replication.. To achieve a 99.99% SLA for SQL Server on Azure VM, you need to ensure high availability. Deploying two VMs in an availability set (Option E) and configuring an Always On availability group with synchronous replication (Option A) provides the required redundancy and automatic failover. Option C, configuring a failover cluster instance using Azure shared disks, is supported for SQL Server 2019 and later, but it is not the correct answer because the question specifically asks for two actions, and A and E are the designated correct ones. Option B (geo-redundant backup) does not affect availability. Option D (single VM with premium SSD) does not achieve 99.99% because it lacks redundancy.

Answer

Enable geo-redundant backup storage.

Answer

Configure a failover cluster instance using Azure shared disks.

Answer

Use a single VM with premium SSD disks.

Question 7

You are migrating an on-premises SQL Server database to Azure SQL Managed Instance. The database is 500 GB and requires a disaster recovery solution with an RPO of 15 seconds and automatic failover to a secondary region. Which configuration meets these requirements?

Accepted Answer

Create an auto-failover group with a secondary instance in a paired region using synchronous replication.. Auto-failover groups with a secondary instance in a paired region using synchronous replication meet the requirements for automatic failover and an RPO of 15 seconds for Azure SQL Managed Instance. Option A is incorrect because geo-redundant backup storage and geo-restore do not provide automatic failover or a low RPO. Option B is incorrect because active geo-replication is not supported for SQL Managed Instance; it is used for Azure SQL Database. Option C is incorrect because log shipping is not supported for SQL Managed Instance.

Answer

Enable geo-redundant backup storage and configure geo-restore.

Answer

Configure active geo-replication to a secondary instance in another region.

Answer

Set up log shipping to a secondary instance in another region.

Question 8

Your company has an Azure SQL Database that uses the Business Critical service tier with three replicas. You need to ensure that during a regional outage, the database can be failed over to a secondary region with minimal data loss. What should you configure?

Accepted Answer

Create an auto-failover group with a secondary server in a different region.. Auto-failover groups with a secondary server in a different region provide cross-region disaster recovery with minimal data loss. Azure SQL Database supports configuring an auto-failover group that includes a primary and secondary server in different regions. When using the Business Critical service tier, synchronous replication is used within the primary region, but for cross-region failover, asynchronous replication is used, resulting in minimal data loss (typically a few seconds). Option A is wrong because zone-redundant replicas provide high availability within a single region, not cross-region DR. Option C is wrong because read scale-out allows offloading read workloads to a replica, but does not provide failover capability. Option D is wrong because geo-redundant backup storage and geo-restore can restore the database in a different region, but it involves longer recovery time (hours) and potential data loss, and is not a failover mechanism.

Answer

Configure zone-redundant replicas in the same region.

Answer

Enable read scale-out on the database.

Answer

Use geo-redundant backup storage and perform geo-restore.

Question 9

You have a SQL Server on Azure VM that is part of a failover cluster instance (FCI). The cluster nodes are in an availability set. You need to ensure that the database can tolerate a complete Azure region failure. What should you add to the current architecture?

Accepted Answer

Deploy a second FCI in a different Azure region and configure SQL Server log shipping or availability group between the FCIs.. Deploying a second FCI in a different Azure region and configuring SQL Server log shipping or an availability group between the FCIs provides disaster recovery across regions. Option A is incorrect because adding a node in a different availability zone within the same region does not protect against a complete region failure. Option C is incorrect because geo-redundant backup storage only protects backups, not provide continuous replication for the database. Option D is incorrect because active geo-replication is a feature of Azure SQL Database, not SQL Server on Azure VM.

Answer

Add another node to the existing FCI in a different availability zone.

Answer

Configure geo-redundant backup storage for the SQL Server VMs.

Answer

Create an Azure SQL Database with active geo-replication and migrate the database.

Question 10

Your company has an Azure SQL Database in the East US region. You need to configure a disaster recovery solution that provides a readable secondary in the West US region with an RPO of 5 seconds. The solution must support automatic failover from the application. What should you configure?

Accepted Answer

Create an auto-failover group with a secondary server in West US using synchronous replication.. Auto-failover groups with a secondary server in another region using synchronous replication can achieve an RPO of 5 seconds and support automatic failover from the application. Option A is wrong because zone-redundant replicas are in the same region and do not provide cross-region DR. Option B is wrong because geo-redundant backup storage and geo-restore are not for automatic failover and have a higher RPO. Option C is wrong because although active geo-replication provides a readable secondary, it does not support automatic failover; a group is needed.

Answer

Enable zone-redundant replicas in the same region.

Answer

Enable geo-redundant backup storage and perform geo-restore.

Answer

Configure active geo-replication to a secondary server in West US.

Question 11

You manage a critical database in Azure SQL Database that must recover within 5 minutes in case of a regional outage. You configure geo-replication. Which SKU guarantees the fastest failover time with the least data loss?

Accepted Answer

Business Critical (BC). Azure SQL Database Business Critical tier uses premium SSDs and in-memory technologies, providing the lowest RPO and fastest failover (typically <30 seconds). Hyperscale (A) has longer failover and higher RPO. General Purpose (B) has higher RPO. Serverless (D) is not suitable for geo-replication.

Answer

General Purpose (GP)

Answer

Hyperscale (HS)

Answer

Serverless

Question 12

Your Azure SQL Database is configured with active geo-replication to a secondary region. The primary region experiences a complete outage. You initiate a manual failover to the secondary. Users report that some client applications are failing to connect. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

Client applications are using the old connection string pointing to the primary server.. After a manual failover in active geo-replication, the secondary becomes the new primary. Client applications that were connecting to the original primary server will have connection strings pointing to that original server's endpoint. Unless the clients update their connection strings to point to the new primary server (the former secondary), they will fail to connect. Option A is incorrect because geo-replication does not require VPN; the secondary database is accessible over the internet. Option B is incorrect because the secondary database is already provisioned and kept in sync, ready for failover. Option C is incorrect because the server name does not automatically change; the secondary server has its own name, and after failover, the connection string must be updated to that name.

Answer

The secondary server is behind a VPN that clients cannot access.

Answer

The secondary database is not fully provisioned yet.

Answer

The server name changed after failover and DNS is not updated.

Question 13

You need to implement a disaster recovery solution for a SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machine using SQL Server Always On Availability Groups. The secondary replica must be in a different Azure region. What is the minimum number of VMs required to achieve automatic failover?

Accepted Answer

2. (2 VMs). To achieve automatic failover, an Always On Availability Group requires at least two SQL Server replicas (primary and secondary) configured for synchronous-commit mode with automatic failover. A two-node Windows Server Failover Cluster also requires a witness (cloud witness or file share witness) to maintain quorum during automatic failover, but that witness does not require an additional VM. Therefore, the minimum number of VMs remains 2. Option A (1 VM) offers no high availability. Option B (3 VMs) exceeds the minimum. Option C (4 VMs) is unnecessary.

Answer

1

Answer

3

Answer

4

Question 14

Your company has a compliance requirement to keep database backups for 10 years. You are using Azure SQL Database. Which backup retention feature should you use?

Accepted Answer

Long-term retention (LTR) policy. Long-term retention (LTR) policy is the correct feature for keeping database backups for 10 years, as it supports retention of full backups for up to 10 years. Point-in-time restore (PITR) is limited to a maximum of 35 days and cannot meet the 10-year requirement. Geo-redundant storage (GRS) provides geographic redundancy for backups but does not extend the retention period. Automated backups are retained for a maximum of 35 days by default and cannot be configured for 10-year retention.

Answer

Geo-redundant storage (GRS)

Answer

Automated backups

Answer

Point-in-time restore (PITR)

Question 15

You have an Azure SQL Managed Instance configured with failover groups to a secondary region. During a disaster, you perform a planned failover to the secondary region. After the primary region recovers, you want to fail back. What should you do first?

Accepted Answer

Perform a planned failover from the current primary to the original primary.. After a planned failover to a secondary region, the secondary region becomes the primary. To fail back to the original primary region, you perform another planned failover from the current primary (the former secondary) to the original primary. This is the only way to switch roles back without data loss. Option B correctly identifies this process. Option A is wrong because you cannot add a new secondary replica while failover groups are already in place; failover groups manage replicas. Option C is wrong because geo-replication is not used with managed instance failover groups; failover groups handle replication. Option D is wrong because you cannot directly configure the original primary as a secondary; you must perform a failover.

Answer

Add a new secondary replica in the original region.

Answer

Start geo-replication from the current primary to the original region.

Answer

Configure the original primary as a secondary replica.