- A
Use crash-consistent replication, recovery plans with manual ordering, and target network with same IP address range
Why wrong: Crash-consistent replication may not provide the 5-minute RPO for database consistency, and manual ordering is not reliable for automated DR.
- B
Use app-consistent replication, recovery plans with pre/post scripts for ordering, and static IP address assignment in failover settings
App-consistent replication ensures data integrity. Recovery plans with scripts automate the ordering. Static IP assignment retains private IPs.
- C
Use multi-VM consistency groups, recovery plans with automation runbooks, and Azure Traffic Manager to redirect traffic
Why wrong: Multi-VM consistency groups help with cross-VM consistency but do not handle IP retention. Traffic Manager is for DNS-based traffic routing, not IP retention.
- D
Use application-consistent replication, recovery plans with pre/post scripts for ordering, and target network with different IP address range and DNS updates
Why wrong: Using a different IP address range would require DNS updates and break the requirement to retain IP addresses.
Quick Answer
The answer is to configure application-consistent replication, recovery plans with pre/post scripts, and static IP address assignment in failover settings. Application-consistent replication is essential here because it guarantees that the 5-minute RPO is met by flushing memory and completing pending I/O operations, ensuring the database and application VMs are crash-consistent at the file system and application level. The recovery plan with pre/post scripts enforces the required startup order—database first, then application, then web—by executing custom PowerShell or Azure Automation runbooks between VM groups. Static IP assignment in the failover settings preserves private IP addresses after the failover to East US, eliminating the need for DNS updates. On the AZ-305 exam, this scenario tests your ability to map specific business requirements—RPO, RTO, ordering, and IP retention—to the correct Azure Site Recovery features. A common trap is confusing crash-consistent with app-consistent replication; remember that app-consistent snapshots use the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) for Windows or pre/post scripts for Linux to achieve database integrity. Memory tip: “Order, IP, and app-consistent snap” covers the three pillars of a robust recovery plan.
AZ-305 Design business continuity solutions Practice Question
This AZ-305 practice question tests your understanding of design business continuity solutions. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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 mission-critical application on Azure virtual machines (VMs) in the West US region. The application consists of multiple VMs that must be recovered in a specific order during a disaster: database VM first, then application VMs, then web VMs. They also require that after failover to East US, the VMs retain their private IP addresses to avoid DNS updates. The recovery point objective (RPO) is 5 minutes and recovery time objective (RTO) is 30 minutes. The company needs to perform quarterly disaster recovery tests without impacting production. Which combination of Azure Site Recovery features should they configure?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"first"Why it matters: Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.
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
Use app-consistent replication, recovery plans with pre/post scripts for ordering, and static IP address assignment in failover settings
Option B is correct because the requirement for an RPO of 5 minutes and RTO of 30 minutes necessitates application-consistent replication, which ensures database and application integrity. The need to recover VMs in a specific order is met by recovery plans with pre/post scripts, which allow custom actions (e.g., starting the database VM first, then application, then web). Static IP address assignment in failover settings ensures that VMs retain their private IP addresses after failover to East US, avoiding DNS updates.
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.
- ✗
Use crash-consistent replication, recovery plans with manual ordering, and target network with same IP address range
Why it's wrong here
Crash-consistent replication may not provide the 5-minute RPO for database consistency, and manual ordering is not reliable for automated DR.
- ✓
Use app-consistent replication, recovery plans with pre/post scripts for ordering, and static IP address assignment in failover settings
Why this is correct
App-consistent replication ensures data integrity. Recovery plans with scripts automate the ordering. Static IP assignment retains private IPs.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "first" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Use multi-VM consistency groups, recovery plans with automation runbooks, and Azure Traffic Manager to redirect traffic
- ✗
Use application-consistent replication, recovery plans with pre/post scripts for ordering, and target network with different IP address range and DNS updates
Why it's wrong here
Using a different IP address range would require DNS updates and break the requirement to retain IP addresses.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse crash-consistent replication (which is faster but not application-safe) with application-consistent replication, or they assume that manual ordering in recovery plans is sufficient without realizing that pre/post scripts are required for complex multi-tier dependencies and that static IP assignment is needed to retain IP addresses across regions.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Application-consistent replication in Azure Site Recovery uses the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) on Windows or file-system consistent snapshots on Linux to quiesce applications before taking a snapshot, ensuring that database transactions are committed and logs are flushed. Recovery plans with pre/post scripts leverage Azure Automation runbooks or custom scripts to execute PowerShell or CLI commands that control the startup order, such as waiting for a database VM to report healthy before starting application VMs. Static IP assignment in failover settings maps the source VM's private IP to the target network, using Azure's ability to reserve IP addresses in the target region's virtual network, which is critical for applications that rely on hardcoded IP addresses or have strict DNS caching policies.
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.
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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: Use app-consistent replication, recovery plans with pre/post scripts for ordering, and static IP address assignment in failover settings — Option B is correct because the requirement for an RPO of 5 minutes and RTO of 30 minutes necessitates application-consistent replication, which ensures database and application integrity. The need to recover VMs in a specific order is met by recovery plans with pre/post scripts, which allow custom actions (e.g., starting the database VM first, then application, then web). Static IP address assignment in failover settings ensures that VMs retain their private IP addresses after failover to East US, avoiding DNS updates.
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.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "first". Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.
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
2 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 runs a critical application on Azure VMs. They need to ensure that if an entire Azure region fails, the application can be recovered in another region with minimal data loss. They have a recovery point objective (RPO) of 1 hour and a recovery time objective (RTO) of 4 hours. What should they implement?
easy- A.Azure Traffic Manager
- B.Azure Front Door
- ✓ C.Azure Site Recovery
- D.Azure Backup
Why C: Option A is correct because Azure Site Recovery provides VM replication to a secondary region with an RPO of as low as 5 minutes and RTO of a few hours, meeting the 1-hour RPO and 4-hour RTO. Option B is wrong because Azure Backup has an RPO of at least 12 hours. Option C is wrong because Azure Traffic Manager does not replicate data. Option D is wrong because Azure Front Door is for global load balancing, not VM replication.
Variation 2. A company runs a critical application on an Azure virtual machine in the West US region. They want to enable disaster recovery to East US with the ability to perform non-disruptive DR drills. They need an RPO of a few minutes. Which Azure service should they use?
medium- ✓ A.Azure Site Recovery
- B.Azure Backup
- C.Azure Traffic Manager
- D.Azure Blueprints
Why A: Azure Site Recovery (ASR) is the correct service because it provides continuous replication of Azure VMs from a primary region (West US) to a secondary region (East US) with a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of a few minutes. It also supports non-disruptive disaster recovery drills by allowing you to perform test failovers in an isolated network without impacting the production workload.
Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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