- A
Deploy the VMs across multiple availability zones
Availability zones provide datacenter-level redundancy within a region. By placing VMs in different zones, the application can survive a single datacenter failure. This also allows low latency within the same zone for the database tier.
- B
Deploy the VMs in an availability set
Why wrong: Availability sets protect against hardware failures within a single datacenter (by spreading VMs across update and fault domains) but do not protect against an entire datacenter failure.
- C
Use Azure Site Recovery to replicate VMs to a paired region
Why wrong: Site Recovery replicates to a different region, which adds latency and complexity. The requirement is to protect against a datacenter failure within the same region, not a regional failure.
- D
Use Azure Proximity Placement Groups
Why wrong: Proximity Placement Groups reduce network latency between VMs but do not provide redundancy against a datacenter failure.
Quick Answer
The answer is to deploy the VMs across multiple availability zones. This is correct because availability zones are physically separate datacenters within a single Azure region, each with independent power, cooling, and networking, which directly protects against an entire datacenter failure. By placing the application tier VMs across different zones, you achieve high availability at the zone level, while keeping the application and database tiers in the same zone ensures the lowest possible latency between them. On the AZ-305 exam, this scenario tests your ability to distinguish between availability zones and availability sets; a common trap is choosing availability sets, which only protect against hardware failures within a single datacenter, not a full datacenter outage. Remember the key differentiator: zones are for datacenter-level failures, sets are for rack-level failures. A useful memory tip is "Zones for zones—datacenter zones for datacenter failures."
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 line-of-business application on Azure VMs within a single region. The application tier is deployed across multiple VMs. They need to protect against a failure of an entire Azure datacenter within that region. The solution should automatically distribute the VMs across physically separate locations with independent power, cooling, and networking. The company also requires the lowest possible latency between application and database tiers within the same location. Which deployment strategy should they use?
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
Deploy the VMs across multiple availability zones
Availability zones are physically separate datacenters within an Azure region, each with independent power, cooling, and networking. Deploying the application tier VMs across multiple zones protects against an entire datacenter failure while keeping all resources within the same region, ensuring the lowest possible latency between application and database tiers when they are placed in the same zone.
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.
- ✓
Deploy the VMs across multiple availability zones
Why this is correct
Availability zones provide datacenter-level redundancy within a region. By placing VMs in different zones, the application can survive a single datacenter failure. This also allows low latency within the same zone for the database tier.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Deploy the VMs in an availability set
Why it's wrong here
Availability sets protect against hardware failures within a single datacenter (by spreading VMs across update and fault domains) but do not protect against an entire datacenter failure.
- ✗
Use Azure Site Recovery to replicate VMs to a paired region
Why it's wrong here
Site Recovery replicates to a different region, which adds latency and complexity. The requirement is to protect against a datacenter failure within the same region, not a regional failure.
- ✗
Use Azure Proximity Placement Groups
Why it's wrong here
Proximity Placement Groups reduce network latency between VMs but do not provide redundancy against a datacenter failure.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse availability sets (which protect against rack failures) with availability zones (which protect against datacenter failures), or they incorrectly assume that cross-region replication via Site Recovery is the only way to achieve datacenter fault tolerance, ignoring the lower-latency option of multiple zones within the same region.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Availability zones in Azure are unique physical locations within a region, each with its own independent power, cooling, and networking infrastructure. When you deploy VMs across zones, Azure automatically distributes them to ensure that if one zone fails, the other zones continue to operate. For the lowest latency between application and database tiers, you can place both in the same availability zone, while still distributing the application tier across multiple zones for high availability.
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: Deploy the VMs across multiple availability zones — Availability zones are physically separate datacenters within an Azure region, each with independent power, cooling, and networking. Deploying the application tier VMs across multiple zones protects against an entire datacenter failure while keeping all resources within the same region, ensuring the lowest possible latency between application and database tiers when they are placed in the same zone.
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.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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