- A
Azure Backup with geo-redundant storage (GRS) in a Recovery Services vault
Azure Backup offers VM-level application-consistent backups, supports GRS for cross-region durability, and allows file-level restore from recovery points.
- B
Azure Site Recovery
Why wrong: Azure Site Recovery replicates VMs for disaster recovery failover, not for backup with long-term retention or file-level restore.
- C
Azure Snapshot of managed disks stored in a different region
Why wrong: Snapshots are crash-consistent by default, not application-consistent, and do not natively support file-level restore or automatic cross-region replication.
- D
Azure Managed Disk with incremental snapshots and manual cross-region copy
Why wrong: Incremental snapshots are not automatically application-consistent and require manual scripting for cross-region transfer; file-level restore is not supported.
Quick Answer
The correct solution is Azure Backup with geo-redundant storage (GRS) in a Recovery Services vault. This choice directly addresses the need for cross-region and application-consistent backups because Azure Backup leverages the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) on Windows Server VMs to create crash-consistent snapshots that ensure data integrity for critical applications, while GRS automatically replicates backup data to a paired secondary region for disaster recovery. On the AZ-305 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of how to combine backup policies with storage redundancy options—a common trap is selecting locally redundant storage (LRS) or read-access geo-redundant storage (RA-GRS) for the wrong reasons; remember that GRS alone meets the regional failover requirement without needing read access. For file-level restore, Azure Backup allows you to mount the VM backup as a drive directly from the Recovery Services vault, enabling granular recovery without restoring the entire VM. Memory tip: think “GRS for geo, VSS for consistency” to pair the storage tier with the application-aware snapshot requirement.
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 has several Azure Virtual Machines running Windows Server with critical applications. They need to back up these VMs to a secondary Azure region to protect against regional disasters. The backup must be application-consistent and support file-level restore. Which solution 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 Backup with geo-redundant storage (GRS) in a Recovery Services vault
Azure Backup with geo-redundant storage (GRS) in a Recovery Services vault is the correct solution because it provides application-consistent backups of Windows Server VMs using the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) to ensure data integrity, and it supports file-level restore by allowing you to mount the backup as a drive to recover individual files. The GRS option replicates backup data to a paired secondary region, meeting the disaster recovery requirement without additional manual steps.
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 Backup with geo-redundant storage (GRS) in a Recovery Services vault
Why this is correct
Azure Backup offers VM-level application-consistent backups, supports GRS for cross-region durability, and allows file-level restore from recovery points.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Azure Site Recovery
Why it's wrong here
Azure Site Recovery replicates VMs for disaster recovery failover, not for backup with long-term retention or file-level restore.
- ✗
Azure Snapshot of managed disks stored in a different region
Why it's wrong here
Snapshots are crash-consistent by default, not application-consistent, and do not natively support file-level restore or automatic cross-region replication.
- ✗
Azure Managed Disk with incremental snapshots and manual cross-region copy
Why it's wrong here
Incremental snapshots are not automatically application-consistent and require manual scripting for cross-region transfer; file-level restore is not supported.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse Azure Site Recovery (a replication/failover tool) with Azure Backup (a backup/restore tool), or assume that crash-consistent snapshots (Options C and D) are sufficient for application consistency and file-level restore, which they are not.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Azure Backup uses the VSS writer on Windows Server to quiesce I/O and flush buffers before taking the snapshot, ensuring application-consistent backups for critical applications like SQL Server or Exchange. The backup data is stored in a Recovery Services vault, and when GRS is enabled, the vault automatically replicates data to the paired region using Azure Storage's asynchronous replication, providing a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of typically less than 15 minutes. For file-level restore, Azure Backup mounts the VM's disk from the recovery point as an iSCSI target on a temporary VM, allowing you to browse and copy individual files without restoring the entire VM.
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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Design business continuity solutions — study guide chapter
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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 Backup with geo-redundant storage (GRS) in a Recovery Services vault — Azure Backup with geo-redundant storage (GRS) in a Recovery Services vault is the correct solution because it provides application-consistent backups of Windows Server VMs using the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) to ensure data integrity, and it supports file-level restore by allowing you to mount the backup as a drive to recover individual files. The GRS option replicates backup data to a paired secondary region, meeting the disaster recovery requirement without additional manual steps.
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
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 file server on Azure VMs using Windows Server. The server stores business-critical documents. You need to design a backup strategy that meets a recovery point objective (RPO) of 1 hour and recovery time objective (RTO) of 4 hours. The solution must be cost-effective. Which backup solution should you use?
medium- A.Azure Site Recovery
- B.Azure Backup for Azure Blobs
- ✓ C.Azure Backup for Azure VMs
- D.Azure File Sync
Why C: Option D is correct because Azure Backup for Azure VMs provides application-consistent backups with a frequency of up to every hour, meeting RPO of 1 hour, and RTO of a few hours for file-level restore. Option A (Azure Site Recovery) is for replication, more costly. Option B (Azure File Sync) syncs files, not backup. Option C (Azure Backup for blobs) is for blobs, not VMs.
Variation 2. Your company has an Azure subscription with a single virtual network. You need to design a solution to back up Azure VMs to meet a 7-day retention policy. The backup data must be stored in a separate region for compliance. What should you use?
easy- ✓ A.Azure Backup with cross-region restore (CRR) enabled
- B.Azure Site Recovery with replication to a secondary region
- C.Azure File Share snapshots stored in a different region
- D.Azure Backup with default geo-redundant storage (GRS) in the same region
Why A: Option D is correct because Azure Backup can be configured with cross-region restore (CRR) to store backup data in a paired region. Option A is wrong because Azure Site Recovery is for replication, not backup. Option B is wrong because Azure Backup's default is geo-redundant storage (GRS) which replicates to a paired region. Option C is wrong because Azure Files snapshots are for file shares, not VMs.
Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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