A company runs a critical SQL Server database on Azure Virtual Machines in a single region. They need a disaster recovery solution across regions with a recovery point objective (RPO) of zero. The database is update-intensive with frequent writes. Which configuration should they implement?
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.
Distractor review
SQL Server Always On Availability Group with asynchronous commit.
Asynchronous commit ensures no impact on primary performance but can result in data loss if a failover occurs before the secondary is synchronized. This option does not guarantee zero RPO.
Best answer
SQL Server Always On Availability Group with synchronous commit across regions.
Synchronous commit ensures all transactions are committed on both the primary and secondary replicas before acknowledging the commit to the application. If configured across regions, this provides zero data loss (RPO=0). But network latency can affect write performance.
Distractor review
Azure Site Recovery to another region.
Azure Site Recovery typically provides RPO of a few minutes (asynchronous replication). It cannot guarantee zero data loss because replication is not synchronous.
Distractor review
Deploy the VMs in a different availability zone within the same region.
Availability zones protect against datacenter failures within a region, not against a full regional outage. This does not meet the cross-region requirement.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: NAT rules depend on direction and matching traffic
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
- PAT allows many inside hosts to share one public address using ports.
- Inside local and inside global describe the private and translated addresses.
- NAT ACLs identify traffic for translation, not always security filtering.
TExam Day Tips
- Identify inside and outside interfaces first.
- Check whether the scenario needs static NAT, dynamic NAT or PAT.
- Do not confuse NAT matching ACLs with normal packet-filtering intent.
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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?
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: SQL Server Always On Availability Group with synchronous commit across regions. — To achieve zero RPO across regions, you must use synchronous data replication. SQL Server Always On Availability Groups with synchronous commit can guarantee zero data loss if the secondary replica is in a different region. However, synchronous commit over long distances may impact performance due to network latency. Alternatives like Azure Site Recovery or asynchronous availability groups would have some data loss. Zone-redundant storage provides high availability within a region, not cross-region DR.
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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