Azure Backup Cross-Region Restore (CRR) for Regional Failures
A company uses Azure Backup to protect on-premises Windows servers. The backup data is stored in a Recovery Services vault. They want to ensure that backup data is protected even if the entire Azure region fails. What should they configure?
Quick Answer
The correct answer is to enable Cross-region restore (CRR) for the Recovery Services vault. This feature is specifically designed for Azure Backup cross-region restore disaster recovery scenarios, allowing you to restore backup data in a paired Azure region if the entire primary region fails. While Geo-Redundant Storage (GRS) replicates data to a paired region for durability, CRR is the active feature that actually grants you the ability to initiate a restore from that replicated copy during a regional outage. On the AZ-305 exam, this question tests your understanding of the distinction between storage redundancy options and the operational restore features that leverage them—a common trap is confusing GRS (a storage property) with CRR (a configurable restore capability). Remember the memory tip: "GRS stores it, CRR restores it."
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse geo-redundant storage (GRS) with the ability to restore from the secondary region, but GRS alone does not enable cross-region restore; you must explicitly enable the Cross-region restore (CRR) feature on the Recovery Services vault.
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
✓
Enable Cross-region restore (CRR) for the Recovery Services vault.
Cross-region restore (CRR) is the correct feature to protect backup data against an entire Azure region failure. When enabled on a Recovery Services vault with geo-redundant storage (GRS), CRR allows you to restore backup data to a paired secondary Azure region even if the primary region is unavailable. This ensures business continuity by providing a secondary restore point in a different region.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Configure backup replication across two Recovery Services vaults in different regions.
Why it's wrong here
Azure Backup does not support replication across vaults natively.
- ✗
Enable geo-redundant storage (GRS) for the Recovery Services vault.
Why it's wrong here
GRS stores data in a paired region but does not automatically enable restore; Cross-region restore must be enabled.
- ✗
Use zone-redundant storage (ZRS) for the Recovery Services vault.
Why it's wrong here
ZRS protects against zone failure within a region, not region failure.
- ✓
Enable Cross-region restore (CRR) for the Recovery Services vault.
Why this is correct
Cross-region restore allows restoring backup data in a paired region during a regional outage.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Designing Azure Storage Solutions
Key term
Azure Backup Design
Azure Backup Design is the process of planning and configuring a reliable, cost-effective, and secure backup and recovery solution for workloads hosted in Microsoft Azure.
Key term
Data Replication Strategy
A data replication strategy is a plan for copying and synchronizing data across multiple locations to ensure availability, durability, and performance.
About these practice questions
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Same concept, more angles
1 more way 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. Your company uses Azure Backup to protect on-premises file servers and Azure VMs. The compliance team requires that backup data be stored in a secondary region to protect against regional disasters. Which Azure Backup feature should you enable?
easy- ✓ A.Enable geo-redundant storage (GRS) for the Recovery Services vault
- B.Use Azure Site Recovery to replicate the backup data
- C.Configure backup policies to back up directly to the secondary region
- D.Use a Recovery Services vault in the secondary region
Why A: Azure Backup uses the Recovery Services vault as its management and storage container. By enabling geo-redundant storage (GRS) on the vault, backup data is automatically replicated to a paired secondary Azure region, meeting the compliance requirement for off-site disaster recovery without any additional configuration or separate vault.
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This AZ-305 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the AZ-305 exam.