- A
Azure Backup for VMs with daily backups and cross-region restore
Why wrong: Daily backups would only provide an RPO of 24 hours, which does not meet the 1-hour requirement.
- B
Azure Site Recovery with replication to a secondary region
Why wrong: Azure Site Recovery is designed for disaster recovery with lower RTO, but the question specifically requires using Azure Backup as the primary solution.
- C
Azure Backup for VMs with hourly backups and cross-region restore
Hourly backups achieve an RPO of 1 hour, and cross-region restore allows recovery in a secondary region. Azure Backup can also protect dependent resources using the same Recovery Services Vault.
- D
Azure Backup for files with daily backups and geo-redundant storage
Why wrong: File-level backups do not capture the full VM state and dependent resources, and daily backups do not meet the RPO.
Quick Answer
The answer is Azure Backup for VMs with hourly backups and cross-region restore. This strategy is correct because Azure Backup supports application-consistent snapshots every hour, meeting the 1-hour RPO, while cross-region restore enables you to recover the entire application—including dependent VMs, virtual networks, and storage accounts—in a paired secondary region within the 4-hour RTO. On the AZ-305 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of how Azure Backup’s cross-region restore differs from Azure Site Recovery; a common trap is choosing Site Recovery for DR, but the question explicitly requires Azure Backup as the primary tool. Remember that cross-region restore is only available when you enable it at the vault level and choose a GRS replication type. Memory tip: “Backup for RPO, Restore for RTO—cross-region bridges the gap.”
AZ-305 Design business continuity solutions Practice Question
This AZ-305 practice question tests your understanding of design business continuity solutions. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. A key principle to apply: azure Backup for VMs captures the entire VM state, including OS and data disks.. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company runs a critical application on Azure VMs in a single region. They need to ensure business continuity with an RPO of 1 hour and RTO of 4 hours. The application has dependencies on virtual networks, storage accounts, and other Azure resources. They want to use Azure Backup as the primary disaster recovery tool and must be able to restore the entire application in a secondary region if the primary region fails. Which backup strategy should they recommend?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"primary"Why it matters: Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
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 for VMs with hourly backups and cross-region restore
Option C is correct because Azure Backup for VMs supports hourly backups (up to every 4 hours for VM backups, but with application-consistent snapshots and cross-region restore, you can achieve an RPO of 1 hour by combining frequent backups with the ability to restore in a secondary region. The cross-region restore feature allows you to restore VMs and their dependencies (VNet, storage accounts) to a paired secondary region, meeting the RTO of 4 hours when using Azure Backup's restore capabilities.
Key principle: Azure Backup for VMs captures the entire VM state, including OS and data disks.
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 for VMs with daily backups and cross-region restore
Why it's wrong here
Daily backups would only provide an RPO of 24 hours, which does not meet the 1-hour requirement.
- ✗
Azure Site Recovery with replication to a secondary region
Why it's wrong here
Azure Site Recovery is designed for disaster recovery with lower RTO, but the question specifically requires using Azure Backup as the primary solution.
- ✓
Azure Backup for VMs with hourly backups and cross-region restore
Why this is correct
Hourly backups achieve an RPO of 1 hour, and cross-region restore allows recovery in a secondary region. Azure Backup can also protect dependent resources using the same Recovery Services Vault.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "primary" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Azure Backup for VMs captures the entire VM state, including OS and data disks.
- ✗
Azure Backup for files with daily backups and geo-redundant storage
Why it's wrong here
File-level backups do not capture the full VM state and dependent resources, and daily backups do not meet the RPO.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse Azure Backup with Azure Site Recovery, assuming Site Recovery is required for cross-region failover, but Azure Backup's cross-region restore can meet the RPO/RTO when combined with hourly backups, and the question explicitly restricts the tool to Azure Backup.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Azure Backup for VMs uses snapshots (VSS for Windows, fs-freeze for Linux) to create crash-consistent or application-consistent backups. Cross-region restore leverages Azure paired regions and requires the Backup vault to have the 'Cross Region Restore' feature enabled, which replicates backup data to the paired region using Azure's geo-redundant storage (GRS). The RTO depends on the restore time, which includes snapshot transfer and VM deployment; for a 4-hour RTO, you should pre-validate restore times and consider using Azure Backup's instant restore feature for faster recovery.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Azure Backup for VMs captures the entire VM state, including OS and data disks.
- Cross-region restore allows restoring VMs to a paired Azure region.
- Hourly backup policies can achieve an RPO of 1 hour.
- Recovery Services Vaults manage backups and orchestrate cross-region restores.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Azure Backup for VMs captures the entire VM state, including OS and data disks.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Review azure Backup for VMs captures the entire VM state, including OS and data disks., then practise related AZ-305 questions on the same topic to reinforce the concept.
- →
Design business continuity solutions — study guide chapter
Learn the concepts, then practise the questions
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Design business continuity solutions practice questions
Targeted practice on this topic area only
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Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert AZ-305 study guide
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this AZ-305 question test?
Design business continuity solutions — This question tests Design business continuity solutions — Azure Backup for VMs captures the entire VM state, including OS and data disks..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Azure Backup for VMs with hourly backups and cross-region restore — Option C is correct because Azure Backup for VMs supports hourly backups (up to every 4 hours for VM backups, but with application-consistent snapshots and cross-region restore, you can achieve an RPO of 1 hour by combining frequent backups with the ability to restore in a secondary region. The cross-region restore feature allows you to restore VMs and their dependencies (VNet, storage accounts) to a paired secondary region, meeting the RTO of 4 hours when using Azure Backup's restore capabilities.
What should I do if I get this AZ-305 question wrong?
Review azure Backup for VMs captures the entire VM state, including OS and data disks., then practise related AZ-305 questions on the same topic to reinforce the concept.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "primary". Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Azure Backup for VMs captures the entire VM state, including OS and data disks.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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.
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