AZ-305 Design infrastructure solutions Practice Question
A company is designing a backup strategy for Azure resources. They have the following resources: Azure VMs, Azure SQL Database, and Azure Files shares. They need to meet the following requirements: 1) Backup of VMs must be application-consistent. 2) SQL Database backups must be retained for 10 years. 3) Azure Files backups must support soft delete. Which THREE services or features should they use?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse Azure Site Recovery (disaster recovery) with Azure Backup (backup), or assume Azure Policy can enforce backup configurations, but only the specific services listed (Azure Backup, soft delete for Azure Files, and LTR for SQL Database) directly address the stated requirements.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Azure Backup
Azure Backup is the correct service for VM backups because it supports application-consistent backups for Windows VMs via Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) and for Linux VMs via file-system-consistent snapshots with pre/post-scripts, ensuring that applications are in a consistent state at the time of backup. This directly meets requirement 1.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Azure Backup
Why this is correct
Azure Backup is the native backup service that creates application-consistent recovery points for Azure VMs using VSS for Windows and file-system-consistent snapshots for Linux. Recovery points are stored in a Recovery Services vault or Backup vault, and you can define backup policies for schedule and retention, enabling point-in-time restores across disks or the entire VM. This is a true backup solution because it preserves historical versions of data independent of live replication.
- ✓
Soft delete for Azure Files
Why this is correct
Soft delete for Azure Files protects against accidental deletion by retaining a deleted file share for a configurable period (default 7 days up to 365 days). During that window, the share and its data can be recovered without any prior configuration, making it a lightweight backup/restore mechanism specifically for Azure Files. It is correct as part of a backup strategy because it provides a safety net for deleted data, though it does not replace full backup policies or long-term archival.
- ✓
Long-term retention (LTR) for Azure SQL Database
Why this is correct
Long-term retention (LTR) for Azure SQL Database lets you keep full and differential automated backups for up to 10 years by defining policies based on weekly, monthly, or yearly backup points. LTR complements point-in-time restore (PITR) by preserving backups for compliance and auditing far beyond the default retention limit. This is a valid backup strategy for Azure SQL because it provides recoverability to a chosen historical moment across long periods.
- ✗
Azure Site Recovery
Why it's wrong here
Azure Site Recovery replicates Azure VMs to a secondary region for disaster recovery, enabling failover and failback to meet recovery time objectives (RTO) and recovery point objectives (RPO). It continuously replicates ongoing changes and maintains a running replica, but it does not keep multiple point-in-time snapshots or allow granular file-level recovery from an arbitrary past date. Consequently, ASR is not a backup service; it is designed to keep the workload available during a regional outage, not to restore corrupted or accidentally deleted data.
- ✗
Azure Policy
Why it's wrong here
Azure Policy is a governance and compliance service that enforces rules using effects like Deny, Audit, or DeployIfNotExists to evaluate resource properties. It cannot create recovery points, copy data, or store backups; it only ensures resources comply with organizational standards, such as requiring a backup policy to be configured. Therefore, it is not a backup strategy, though it may be used to audit or automate the deployment of actual backup solutions.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This AZ-305 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the AZ-305 exam.