Question 1mediummultiple choice
Full question →mediummultiple choiceObjective-mapped
A company runs a critical application that uses Azure SQL Managed Instance in the West Europe region. They need to ensure that the database remains available if a regional failure occurs. The solution must provide automatic failover with an RPO of less than 5 seconds and an RTO of less than 1 minute. The secondary region must also be able to serve read-only queries for reporting purposes. Which Azure service should they use?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
A
Best answer
Configure Azure SQL Managed Instance with an auto-failover group to a secondary instance in North Europe.
Auto-failover groups provide synchronous replication with automatic failover, low RPO/RTO, and allow read-only queries on the secondary.
B
Distractor review
Enable read-access geo-redundant storage (RA-GRS) on the storage account hosting the database files.
RA-GRS is for Azure Blob Storage, not for SQL Managed Instance database files. It does not provide automatic failover for SQL workloads.
C
Distractor review
Deploy SQL Server Always On Availability Groups with a synchronous replica in North Europe.
Always On Availability Groups can be configured on SQL Server VMs, but SQL Managed Instance already has built-in high availability. This option adds unnecessary management overhead and does not integrate with the PaaS service.
D
Distractor review
Use Azure Site Recovery to replicate the SQL Managed Instance to a secondary region as a virtual machine.
Azure Site Recovery is for replicating IaaS workloads, not PaaS databases like SQL Managed Instance. It would require deploying SQL Server on VMs, which is not the same service.
Common exam trap
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.
Technical deep dive
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.
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More questions from this exam
Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
Question 1
A company is designing hub-and-spoke networking. Spoke VNets must use a central Azure Firewall for outbound internet traffic. Which two configurations are required?
Question 2
A company is designing private access to a PaaS database from workloads in a VNet. The database should not be reachable over its public endpoint. What should be recommended?
Question 3
A data platform must support analytical queries over petabytes of files in a data lake, while preserving hierarchical namespaces and fine-grained ACLs. Which storage service should you design around?
Question 4
A database workload has an RPO of 15 minutes and an RTO of 4 hours. Cost is more important than near-zero data loss. Which design is usually more appropriate than synchronous multi-region replication?
Question 5
A hub-and-spoke Azure network must centralize outbound inspection and still allow spokes to resolve private endpoint DNS names. Which two components are commonly required? (Choose 2.)
Question 6
A multinational company uses Microsoft Entra ID and several Azure subscriptions. Security administrators need to review privileged role assignments every month and require justification for continued access. Which design should be recommended?
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this AZ-305 question test?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Configure Azure SQL Managed Instance with an auto-failover group to a secondary instance in North Europe. — Azure SQL Managed Instance supports Auto-failover groups that replicate data to a secondary region synchronously within a performance-optimized setup, achieving an RPO of 0 seconds and RTO of ~1 minute. The secondary instance can be used for read-only workloads via connection string redirection. Read-access geo-redundant storage (RA-GRS) is for blob storage, not SQL. Hyper-V Replica is an on-premises solution. Always On Availability Groups require manual configuration and licensing.
What should I do if I get this AZ-305 question wrong?
Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.
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