- A
Active geo-replication with failover groups
Failover groups provide automatic failover to a readable secondary database. Active geo-replication synchronizes data with an RPO of 5 seconds and supports readable secondaries. The failover group ensures automatic failover with an RTO of typically less than 1 hour.
- B
Point-in-time restore
Why wrong: Point-in-time restore is for recovering to a specific point in time within a single region; it does not provide automatic failover or a readable secondary.
- C
Long-term backup retention
Why wrong: Long-term retention retains backups for years but does not provide automatic failover or a readable secondary.
- D
Always On availability groups (self-managed)
Why wrong: Always On availability groups are for SQL Server on VMs or Managed Instance, not for Azure SQL Database, and they require manual configuration.
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 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 less than 1 hour. Additionally, they want to offload read-only workloads to the secondary database during normal operations. Which Azure SQL Database feature should they enable?
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
Active geo-replication with failover groups
Active geo-replication with failover groups is the correct choice because it provides automatic, asynchronous replication of an Azure SQL Database to a secondary region (East US) with an RPO of up to 5 seconds and an RTO of less than 1 hour. Additionally, it supports readable secondary replicas, allowing read-only workloads to be offloaded to the secondary database during normal operations, meeting all stated 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.
- ✓
Active geo-replication with failover groups
Why this is correct
Failover groups provide automatic failover to a readable secondary database. Active geo-replication synchronizes data with an RPO of 5 seconds and supports readable secondaries. The failover group ensures automatic failover with an RTO of typically less than 1 hour.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Point-in-time restore
Why it's wrong here
Point-in-time restore is for recovering to a specific point in time within a single region; it does not provide automatic failover or a readable secondary.
- ✗
Long-term backup retention
Why it's wrong here
Long-term retention retains backups for years but does not provide automatic failover or a readable secondary.
- ✗
Always On availability groups (self-managed)
Why it's wrong here
Always On availability groups are for SQL Server on VMs or Managed Instance, not for Azure SQL Database, and they require manual configuration.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse active geo-replication with failover groups (which supports readable secondaries and automatic failover) with standard active geo-replication (which requires manual failover and does not provide a single endpoint), or they mistakenly think Always On availability groups applies to Azure SQL Database instead of SQL Server on VMs.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Active geo-replication uses asynchronous replication with a configurable secondary that is continuously updated; failover groups add automatic failover and a single endpoint for the application. The RPO of 5 seconds is achievable because the replication lag is typically sub-second in optimal network conditions, but it can increase under heavy write loads. In a real-world scenario, if the primary region suffers a catastrophic failure, the failover group automatically promotes the readable secondary to primary, and the application reconnects via the same listener endpoint, meeting the RTO of under 1 hour.
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.
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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 — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Active geo-replication with failover groups — Active geo-replication with failover groups is the correct choice because it provides automatic, asynchronous replication of an Azure SQL Database to a secondary region (East US) with an RPO of up to 5 seconds and an RTO of less than 1 hour. Additionally, it supports readable secondary replicas, allowing read-only workloads to be offloaded to the secondary database during normal operations, meeting all stated 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
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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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