The answer is a Recovery Services vault in the same region as the VMs, a grandfather-father-son (GFS) backup policy, and geo-redundant storage (GRS). This combination is correct because the GFS policy allows you to define distinct retention rules for daily (35 days), weekly (12 weeks), monthly (36 months), and yearly (10 years) backups, while the Recovery Services vault must reside in the same Azure region as the protected VMs to ensure proper backup registration and failover. Geo-redundant storage is then configured at the vault level to replicate backup data to a paired region, meeting the durability requirement. On the AZ-305 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of Azure Backup’s retention architecture and the critical distinction that the vault location must match the source VM region—not the paired region, which is a common trap. A useful memory tip: “Same region for the vault, GFS for the schedule, GRS for the safety net.”
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. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. 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. They need a backup strategy that meets the following requirements:
- Daily backups retained for 35 days
- Weekly backups retained for 12 weeks
- Monthly backups retained for 36 months
- Yearly backups retained for 10 years
- Backups must be stored in a geo-redundant storage account
Which THREE items must be configured? (Choose three.)
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
A backup policy with GFS retention
Options A, C, and E are correct. A GFS backup policy is required to specify different retention rules for daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly backups. A Recovery Services vault in the same region as the VMs is needed. Geo-redundant storage (GRS) is required. Option B is wrong because the vault must be in the same region as the VMs, not the paired region. Option D is wrong because a backup policy is needed, not just a vault.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
A simple daily backup policy
Why it's wrong here
Does not support weekly, monthly, yearly retention.
✓
A backup policy with GFS retention
Why this is correct
GFS policy can retain daily, weekly, monthly, yearly.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Geo-redundant storage (GRS) for the vault
Why this is correct
GRS provides geo-redundancy for backups.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
A Recovery Services vault in the paired region
Why it's wrong here
Vault must be in the same region as the VMs.
✓
A Recovery Services vault in the same region as the VMs
Why this is correct
Vault must be in the same region as the source.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
→Underline the problem statement mentally.
→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
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
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.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this AZ-305 question in full detail.
Identify which AZ-305 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Design business continuity solutions — This question tests Design business continuity solutions — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: A backup policy with GFS retention — Options A, C, and E are correct. A GFS backup policy is required to specify different retention rules for daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly backups. A Recovery Services vault in the same region as the VMs is needed. Geo-redundant storage (GRS) is required. Option B is wrong because the vault must be in the same region as the VMs, not the paired region. Option D is wrong because a backup policy is needed, not just a vault.
What should I do if I get this AZ-305 question wrong?
Identify which AZ-305 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
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These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company runs a critical application on Azure VMs. They want to back up the VMs using Azure Backup. The retention requirements are: daily backups for 35 days, weekly backups for 52 weeks, and yearly backups for 10 years. Which backup policy should they create?
medium
✓ A.Create a custom backup policy with a daily backup schedule and retention rules for daily (35), weekly (52), and yearly (10 years)
B.Use the default backup policy provided by Azure Backup
C.Use Azure Site Recovery (ASR) to replicate the VMs and meet the retention
D.Use Azure Backup for VMs with instant recovery enabled
Why A: Option A is correct because Azure Backup allows you to create a custom backup policy that defines a daily backup schedule and separate retention rules for daily, weekly, and yearly retention points. This directly meets the requirement of 35 days daily, 52 weeks weekly, and 10 years yearly retention, as Azure Backup supports granular retention policies with multiple tiers (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly) within a single policy.
Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026
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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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