The answer is a recovery plan with automation runbooks and order groups. This is correct because Azure Site Recovery recovery plans allow you to define order groups to enforce a precise startup sequence—such as bringing front-end VMs online before back-end VMs—while also integrating automation runbooks to execute custom PowerShell scripts, like updating DNS records after failover. On the Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert AZ-305 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of how to orchestrate multi-tier application failover with both sequencing and post-failover automation, often appearing as a distractor where candidates mistakenly choose manual scripting or separate Azure Automation accounts without linking them to the recovery plan. A common trap is forgetting that order groups alone cannot run scripts; you must pair them with runbooks. Memory tip: think of a recovery plan as a stage director—order groups set the curtain call for each VM tier, and runbooks handle the backstage cleanup like DNS updates.
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 multi-tier application on Azure VMs. The application has front-end and back-end VMs that must be started in a specific order during failover (front-end first, then back-end). The company uses Azure Site Recovery to replicate to a secondary region. After failover, they also need to run custom PowerShell scripts to update DNS records. Which Azure Site Recovery feature 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.
Why wrong: Manual steps would require human intervention and would not run scripts automatically, increasing RTO and risking errors.
B
Recovery plan with automation runbooks and order groups
Recovery plans support grouping VMs and running automation runbooks (scripts) before or after failover of each group, satisfying both the startup order and custom script requirements.
C
Failover with network mapping
Why wrong: Network mapping defines target networks for failover but does not control startup order or run custom scripts.
D
Test failover with isolation
Why wrong: Test failover is used for drills and does not provide startup ordering or script execution for actual failover.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Recovery plan with automation runbooks and order groups
Option B is correct because Azure Site Recovery recovery plans support order groups to enforce the startup sequence of VMs (front-end first, then back-end) and can include automation runbooks to execute custom PowerShell scripts, such as updating DNS records after failover. This provides a structured, automated failover workflow that meets both the sequencing and scripting 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.
✗
Recovery plan with manual steps
Why it's wrong here
Manual steps would require human intervention and would not run scripts automatically, increasing RTO and risking errors.
✓
Recovery plan with automation runbooks and order groups
Why this is correct
Recovery plans support grouping VMs and running automation runbooks (scripts) before or after failover of each group, satisfying both the startup order and custom script requirements.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "first" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Failover with network mapping
Why it's wrong here
Network mapping defines target networks for failover but does not control startup order or run custom scripts.
✗
Test failover with isolation
Why it's wrong here
Test failover is used for drills and does not provide startup ordering or script execution for actual failover.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may confuse recovery plans with simple failover options, overlooking that recovery plans uniquely combine order groups and runbook automation to address both sequencing and custom scripting requirements in a single feature.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Recovery plans in Azure Site Recovery allow grouping VMs into order groups (e.g., Group 1 for front-end, Group 2 for back-end) with configurable delays between groups to ensure dependencies are met. Automation runbooks, based on Azure Automation, can execute PowerShell scripts that interact with Azure DNS APIs to update A records or CNAMEs, enabling dynamic DNS updates post-failover. This approach is critical in multi-tier applications where back-end services fail if front-end is not ready, and manual DNS updates would introduce latency and error risk.
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.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this AZ-305 question in full detail.
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: Recovery plan with automation runbooks and order groups — Option B is correct because Azure Site Recovery recovery plans support order groups to enforce the startup sequence of VMs (front-end first, then back-end) and can include automation runbooks to execute custom PowerShell scripts, such as updating DNS records after failover. This provides a structured, automated failover workflow that meets both the sequencing and scripting 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.
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
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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 deploys a critical multi-tier application on Azure VMs. The application includes a database tier that must be recovered to the same point in time as the application tier after a disaster. They use Azure Site Recovery (ASR) for disaster recovery to a secondary region. They also need to run a custom script after failover to update connection strings. Which ASR feature should they use?
easy
✓ A.Recovery plans with pre-actions and post-actions
B.Replication policies with application-consistent snapshots
C.Multi-VM consistency groups
D.Azure Backup with cross-region restore
Why A: Recovery plans in Azure Site Recovery allow you to define pre-actions and post-actions, which can run custom scripts (e.g., PowerShell) after failover to update connection strings. This ensures the application tier can connect to the recovered database tier, meeting the requirement for a custom script execution after failover. The other options do not provide the ability to run custom scripts as part of the failover sequence.
Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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