- A
Azure Site Recovery
Azure Site Recovery replicates the entire VM to the secondary region, supports test failovers for drilling, and can meet the RPO/RTO requirements when configured with appropriate frequency. It works with SQL Server Standard Edition.
- B
SQL Server Always On Availability Groups
Why wrong: Always On Availability Groups require SQL Server Enterprise Edition for the number of replicas needed and do not provide built-in non-disruptive test failover capabilities.
- C
Azure Backup with cross-region restore
Why wrong: Azure Backup is for backup and restore, which typically has higher RTO (hours to days) and does not support automated failover or non-disruptive drills.
- D
Azure SQL Database geo-replication
Why wrong: Geo-replication is for Azure SQL Database, not for SQL Server on Azure VMs. The database is on a VM, so this service does not apply.
AZ-305 Design business continuity solutions Practice Question
This AZ-305 practice question tests your understanding of design business continuity solutions. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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 SQL Server database on an Azure virtual machine in the West US region. They need a disaster recovery solution that replicates the database to a secondary region (East US) with a recovery point objective (RPO) of 15 minutes and a recovery time objective (RTO) of 2 hours. The solution must also support non-disruptive disaster recovery drills. The company currently uses SQL Server Standard Edition. Which Azure service 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 Site Recovery
Azure Site Recovery (ASR) replicates the entire VM, including the SQL Server database, to the secondary region with an RPO as low as 15 minutes and an RTO of 2 hours when using a recovery plan. It supports non-disruptive disaster recovery drills by allowing test failovers that run in an isolated network without impacting the production environment. This makes ASR the correct choice for a SQL Server Standard Edition VM requiring cross-region DR with drills.
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 Site Recovery
Why this is correct
Azure Site Recovery replicates the entire VM to the secondary region, supports test failovers for drilling, and can meet the RPO/RTO requirements when configured with appropriate frequency. It works with SQL Server Standard Edition.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
SQL Server Always On Availability Groups
Why it's wrong here
Always On Availability Groups require SQL Server Enterprise Edition for the number of replicas needed and do not provide built-in non-disruptive test failover capabilities.
- ✗
Azure Backup with cross-region restore
Why it's wrong here
Azure Backup is for backup and restore, which typically has higher RTO (hours to days) and does not support automated failover or non-disruptive drills.
- ✗
Azure SQL Database geo-replication
Why it's wrong here
Geo-replication is for Azure SQL Database, not for SQL Server on Azure VMs. The database is on a VM, so this service does not apply.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often choose SQL Server Always On Availability Groups without realizing that Standard Edition lacks the necessary features (e.g., readable secondaries, multi-database support) to meet the RPO/RTO and drill requirements, or they mistakenly think Azure SQL Database geo-replication can be applied to a SQL Server VM.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Azure Site Recovery uses continuous replication at the VM disk level via the Mobility Service, which captures writes and sends them to the target region with a replication policy that can be set to 15 seconds for crash-consistent or 5 minutes for app-consistent snapshots, easily meeting the 15-minute RPO. The RTO of 2 hours is achieved by pre-staging the recovery plan with manual actions or automation scripts, and test failovers create isolated copies in the target VNet to validate DR readiness without affecting production.
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: Azure Site Recovery — Azure Site Recovery (ASR) replicates the entire VM, including the SQL Server database, to the secondary region with an RPO as low as 15 minutes and an RTO of 2 hours when using a recovery plan. It supports non-disruptive disaster recovery drills by allowing test failovers that run in an isolated network without impacting the production environment. This makes ASR the correct choice for a SQL Server Standard Edition VM requiring cross-region DR with drills.
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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