- A
Configure a recovery plan that includes the VMs and specifies the target availability set and failover order
A recovery plan allows you to group VMs into logical groups, specify the order of failover, and set target settings like availability sets. It also supports automation to minimize downtime during planned failover.
- B
Set the target availability set in each VM's replication settings individually without a recovery plan
Why wrong: While you can configure target availability set per VM in replication settings, this does not provide the orchestration needed to ensure correct boot order or minimize downtime during planned failover. A recovery plan is more effective.
- C
Use Azure Traffic Manager to route traffic to the secondary region after manual failover
Why wrong: Azure Traffic Manager manages traffic distribution, not VM replication or failover configuration. It does not control target availability sets or failover sequencing.
- D
Enable consistency groups across the VMs using a replication policy
Why wrong: Consistency groups (multi-VM consistency) ensure crash-consistent or app-consistent recovery points across VMs, but they do not control target availability sets or failover order.
AZ-305 Design business continuity solutions Practice Question
This AZ-305 practice question tests your understanding of design business continuity solutions. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. A key principle to apply: azure Site Recovery recovery plans orchestrate failover for multiple VMs.. 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 the West US region. They want to protect against a regional disaster by replicating VMs to East US using Azure Site Recovery. They have both managed and unmanaged disks. They need to ensure that after failover, the recovery VMs are automatically placed in a specific availability set to support the application's multi-tier architecture. Additionally, they want to minimize downtime during planned failover. Which configuration should they use?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"minimum / minimize"Why it matters: Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.
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
Configure a recovery plan that includes the VMs and specifies the target availability set and failover order
Option A is correct because a recovery plan in Azure Site Recovery allows you to group VMs, specify the target availability set, and define the failover order. This ensures that after failover, the recovery VMs are automatically placed in the specified availability set, supporting the application's multi-tier architecture. Additionally, recovery plans enable you to automate and sequence failover steps, minimizing downtime during planned failover by orchestrating the process efficiently.
Key principle: Azure Site Recovery recovery plans orchestrate failover for multiple VMs.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Configure a recovery plan that includes the VMs and specifies the target availability set and failover order
Why this is correct
A recovery plan allows you to group VMs into logical groups, specify the order of failover, and set target settings like availability sets. It also supports automation to minimize downtime during planned failover.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "minimum / minimize" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Azure Site Recovery recovery plans orchestrate failover for multiple VMs.
- ✗
Set the target availability set in each VM's replication settings individually without a recovery plan
Why it's wrong here
While you can configure target availability set per VM in replication settings, this does not provide the orchestration needed to ensure correct boot order or minimize downtime during planned failover. A recovery plan is more effective.
- ✗
Use Azure Traffic Manager to route traffic to the secondary region after manual failover
Why it's wrong here
Azure Traffic Manager manages traffic distribution, not VM replication or failover configuration. It does not control target availability sets or failover sequencing.
- ✗
Enable consistency groups across the VMs using a replication policy
Why it's wrong here
Consistency groups (multi-VM consistency) ensure crash-consistent or app-consistent recovery points across VMs, but they do not control target availability sets or failover order.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse replication settings (like target availability set per VM) with recovery plans, not realizing that only recovery plans can enforce failover order and group-level placement, which is critical for multi-tier applications.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Azure Site Recovery recovery plans are PowerShell/ARM objects that can include up to 100 VMs and support custom scripts, manual actions, and failover sequencing via groups. Under the hood, the target availability set is specified in the recovery plan's group properties, and during failover, ASR uses Azure Resource Manager to place each VM into the specified availability set, ensuring fault domain and update domain distribution. In a real-world scenario, if you have a web tier and a database tier, you can use a recovery plan to fail over the database tier first, then the web tier, and automatically place each tier into its own availability set, reducing RTO.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Azure Site Recovery recovery plans orchestrate failover for multiple VMs.
- Recovery plans define the boot order of VMs during failover.
- They allow configuration of target availability sets for recovered VMs.
- Recovery plans support pre and post-failover automation scripts.
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 Site Recovery recovery plans orchestrate failover for multiple VMs.
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 Site Recovery recovery plans orchestrate failover for multiple VMs., then practise related AZ-305 questions on the same topic to reinforce the concept.
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Design business continuity solutions — study guide chapter
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Design business continuity solutions practice questions
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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 Site Recovery recovery plans orchestrate failover for multiple VMs..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Configure a recovery plan that includes the VMs and specifies the target availability set and failover order — Option A is correct because a recovery plan in Azure Site Recovery allows you to group VMs, specify the target availability set, and define the failover order. This ensures that after failover, the recovery VMs are automatically placed in the specified availability set, supporting the application's multi-tier architecture. Additionally, recovery plans enable you to automate and sequence failover steps, minimizing downtime during planned failover by orchestrating the process efficiently.
What should I do if I get this AZ-305 question wrong?
Review azure Site Recovery recovery plans orchestrate failover for multiple VMs., 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: "minimum / minimize". Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Azure Site Recovery recovery plans orchestrate failover for multiple VMs.
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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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