AZ-305 Design business continuity solutions Practice Question
A company runs a critical application on Azure Virtual Machines in the North Europe region. The application uses a SQL Server database on a VM. The company wants to implement a backup solution that provides point-in-time restore for the database to any point within the last 35 days. The solution must minimize administrative effort and cost. What should you recommend?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that Azure Site Recovery can provide database-level point-in-time restore.
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
✓
Use Azure Backup to back up the SQL Server database.
Azure Backup for SQL Server on Azure VMs is a managed solution that provides application-consistent backups and supports point-in-time restore for up to 35 days. It minimizes administrative effort and cost because it is fully integrated with Azure and requires no additional infrastructure.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Create a scheduled script that copies the database backup files to Azure Blob Storage.
Why it's wrong here
A custom script requires development and maintenance effort, increasing administrative overhead. It may not provide application-consistent backups or easy point-in-time restore. Azure Backup is a managed service that handles these aspects, so a custom script is not recommended for minimizing effort and ensuring reliability.
- ✗
Configure SQL Server transaction log shipping to a secondary VM.
Why it's wrong here
Log shipping can provide point-in-time restore, but it requires significant administrative effort to configure and maintain. It also requires a secondary VM, which increases cost. The scenario asks to minimize administrative effort and cost, so log shipping is not the best choice.
- ✓
Use Azure Backup to back up the SQL Server database.
Why this is correct
Azure Backup for SQL Server on Azure VMs provides application-consistent backups and supports point-in-time restore up to 35 days. It is a fully managed solution that minimizes administrative effort and integrates with the Azure portal. It also offers long-term retention options if needed, and the cost is based on the protected instance and storage consumed.
- ✗
Use Azure Site Recovery to replicate the SQL Server VM to another region.
Why it's wrong here
Azure Site Recovery replicates the entire VM, but it does not provide database-level point-in-time restore. It is designed for disaster recovery, not for granular backup and restore. It also requires additional infrastructure and administrative effort, and it may not meet the 35-day point-in-time restore requirement.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Microsoft exam blueprint
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.