- A
Azure SQL Database active geo-replication with auto-failover group
Active geo-replication replicates data asynchronously with an RPO of 5 seconds. The auto-failover group enables automatic failover with an RTO of 1 minute, and the secondary can be used for read-only access.
- B
Azure SQL Database geo-restore
Why wrong: Geo-restore is used to recover a database from a geo-redundant backup, which has a much higher RPO (hours) and RTO (hours), not suitable for the required RPO/RTO.
- C
Azure SQL Database copy
Why wrong: Creating a copy of the database is a manual one-time operation that does not provide continuous replication or automatic failover.
- D
Azure SQL Managed Instance failover group
Why wrong: Failover groups are available for SQL Managed Instance, but the scenario specifies Azure SQL Database, not Managed Instance.
Quick Answer
The answer is Azure SQL Database active geo-replication with auto-failover groups. This feature is the correct choice because it enables automatic, synchronous failover between paired regions, achieving a recovery point objective of 5 seconds and a recovery time objective of 1 minute, while also allowing the secondary database in East US to serve read-only queries for reporting when clients use the ApplicationIntent=ReadOnly connection string. On the Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert AZ-305 exam, this scenario tests your ability to distinguish between failover groups and standard geo-replication, with the key trap being that standard geo-replication lacks automatic failover and the read-only secondary capability. Remember that failover groups bundle multiple databases and provide a listener endpoint, making them ideal for critical applications requiring both disaster recovery and read-scale. Memory tip: think “auto-failover for RTO, read-only for reporting” to lock in the dual benefit.
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. 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 using Azure SQL Database in the West US region. They need a disaster recovery solution that automatically fails over to a secondary region (East US) with a recovery point objective (RPO) of 5 seconds and a recovery time objective (RTO) of 1 minute. The secondary region must also be able to serve read-only queries for reporting purposes. Which Azure SQL Database feature should they implement?
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 SQL Database active geo-replication with auto-failover group
Active geo-replication with auto-failover groups is the correct choice because it provides automatic, synchronous failover to a secondary region with an RPO of 5 seconds and an RTO of 1 minute. Additionally, the secondary database can be used for read-only reporting by connecting with the 'ApplicationIntent=ReadOnly' connection string, meeting both the disaster recovery and reporting requirements.
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.
- ✓
Azure SQL Database active geo-replication with auto-failover group
Why this is correct
Active geo-replication replicates data asynchronously with an RPO of 5 seconds. The auto-failover group enables automatic failover with an RTO of 1 minute, and the secondary can be used for read-only access.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Azure SQL Database geo-restore
Why it's wrong here
Geo-restore is used to recover a database from a geo-redundant backup, which has a much higher RPO (hours) and RTO (hours), not suitable for the required RPO/RTO.
- ✗
Azure SQL Database copy
Why it's wrong here
Creating a copy of the database is a manual one-time operation that does not provide continuous replication or automatic failover.
- ✗
Azure SQL Managed Instance failover group
Why it's wrong here
Failover groups are available for SQL Managed Instance, but the scenario specifies Azure SQL Database, not Managed Instance.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse geo-restore (which is manual and has high RPO/RTO) with active geo-replication, or they mistakenly think that SQL Managed Instance failover groups support read-only secondaries for Azure SQL Database, when in fact they are for Managed Instance only.
Trap categories for this question
Scenario analysis trap
Failover groups are available for SQL Managed Instance, but the scenario specifies Azure SQL Database, not Managed Instance.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Active geo-replication uses asynchronous replication by default, but when combined with a failover group, it can be configured to use synchronous replication for the primary region to achieve an RPO of 5 seconds. The failover group automatically manages the DNS changes required to redirect connections to the secondary region, and the secondary database can be used for read-only workloads by setting the connection string's ApplicationIntent to ReadOnly, which routes queries to the secondary without impacting the primary's performance.
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.
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
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.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
- →
Design business continuity solutions — study guide chapter
Learn the concepts, then practise the questions
- →
Design business continuity solutions practice questions
Targeted practice on this topic area only
- →
All AZ-305 questions
999 questions across all exam domains
- →
Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert AZ-305 study guide
Full concept coverage aligned to exam objectives
- →
AZ-305 practice test guide
How to use practice tests most effectively before exam day
Related practice questions
Related AZ-305 practice-question pages
Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.
Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions practice questions
Practise AZ-305 questions linked to Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions.
Design data storage solutions practice questions
Practise AZ-305 questions linked to Design data storage solutions.
Design business continuity solutions practice questions
Practise AZ-305 questions linked to Design business continuity solutions.
Design infrastructure solutions practice questions
Practise AZ-305 questions linked to Design infrastructure solutions.
SAA-C03 VPC practice questions
Practise AZ-305 questions linked to SAA-C03 VPC.
SAA-C03 S3 lifecycle policy questions
Practise AZ-305 questions linked to SAA-C03 S3 lifecycle policy questions.
SAA-C03 RDS Multi-AZ questions
Practise AZ-305 questions linked to SAA-C03 RDS Multi-AZ questions.
SAA-C03 IAM policy practice questions
Practise AZ-305 questions linked to SAA-C03 IAM policy.
SAA-C03 Route 53 failover questions
Practise AZ-305 questions linked to SAA-C03 Route 53 failover questions.
SAA-C03 CloudFront practice questions
Practise AZ-305 questions linked to SAA-C03 CloudFront.
SAA-C03 NAT gateway questions
Practise AZ-305 questions linked to SAA-C03 NAT gateway questions.
SAA-C03 VPC endpoint questions
Practise AZ-305 questions linked to SAA-C03 VPC endpoint questions.
Practice this exam
Start a free AZ-305 practice session
Short sessions build daily habit. Longer sessions build exam-day stamina. Try a timed session to simulate real conditions.
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this AZ-305 question test?
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: Azure SQL Database active geo-replication with auto-failover group — Active geo-replication with auto-failover groups is the correct choice because it provides automatic, synchronous failover to a secondary region with an RPO of 5 seconds and an RTO of 1 minute. Additionally, the secondary database can be used for read-only reporting by connecting with the 'ApplicationIntent=ReadOnly' connection string, meeting both the disaster recovery and reporting requirements.
What should I do if I get this AZ-305 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
3 more ways this is tested on AZ-305
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 has an Azure SQL Database instance that is used by a critical application. They need to ensure business continuity with an RPO of 0 (zero data loss) and an RTO of less than 1 minute in case of a regional outage. The solution must be cost-effective. What should you recommend?
easy- A.Use Azure SQL Database automatic failover groups with manual failover.
- B.Use Azure SQL Database zone-redundant configuration.
- C.Use Azure SQL Database geo-restore from geo-redundant backups.
- ✓ D.Use Azure SQL Database failover groups with active geo-replication.
Why D: Azure SQL Database failover groups with active geo-replication and automatic failover provide an RPO of 0 and an RTO of less than 1 minute. Option A is incorrect because Azure SQL Database backup and restore has an RPO of 5 minutes. Option C is incorrect because Azure SQL Database zone-redundant configuration protects only within a region. Option D is incorrect because manual failover does not meet the RTO requirement.
Variation 2. A company runs a critical OLTP application on Azure SQL Database in the West US region. They need to ensure business continuity if a regional outage occurs. The solution must have a recovery point objective (RPO) of 5 seconds and a recovery time objective (RTO) of less than 1 hour. They also want to use the secondary region for read-only query offloading. Which Azure SQL Database feature should they enable?
medium- ✓ A.Active geo-replication with automatic failover group
- B.Geo-restore
- C.Azure Site Recovery
- D.Read scale-out with manual regional failover
Why A: Active geo-replication with automatic failover groups is the correct choice because it provides continuous asynchronous data replication to a secondary Azure SQL Database in a paired region, achieving an RPO of 5 seconds and an RTO of under 1 hour. The automatic failover group enables coordinated failover of multiple databases and allows the secondary region to be used for read-only query offloading by connecting with ApplicationIntent=ReadOnly.
Variation 3. A company runs a critical application on Azure SQL Database in the West US region. They need a disaster recovery solution with an RPO of 5 seconds and an RTO of 1 hour. They also need to be able to perform patching and maintenance on the primary without downtime. Which configuration should they implement?
hard- ✓ A.Active geo-replication with auto-failover group
- B.Azure SQL Database backup to geo-redundant storage
- C.Azure SQL Database with zone-redundant configuration
- D.Azure SQL Database with failover group using manual failover
Why A: Active geo-replication with auto-failover group meets the RPO of 5 seconds (typically under 5 seconds for active geo-replication) and RTO of 1 hour (auto-failover groups can fail over in minutes). It also supports patching and maintenance on the primary without downtime by failing over to a secondary replica during planned maintenance, leveraging the continuous data synchronization between primary and secondary databases in different Azure regions.
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.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.