The answer is Azure Site Recovery. This service is the correct choice because it provides orchestrated cross-region replication for Azure VMs with managed disks, enabling recovery point objectives as low as a few seconds to ensure minimal data loss for critical workloads like SQL Server Always On availability groups. Unlike Azure Backup, which focuses on point-in-time backups, or Azure Storage Geo-Redundant Storage, which replicates at the blob level without VM failover orchestration, Azure Site Recovery handles the full replication and automatic failover process, including disk consistency and network mapping. On the AZ-305 exam, this question tests your ability to distinguish between disaster recovery services and backup services—a common trap is confusing Azure Backup’s long-term retention with Site Recovery’s near-synchronous replication. Remember the memory tip: “Backup is for yesterday, replication is for right now.”
AZ-305 Design infrastructure solutions Practice Question
This AZ-305 practice question tests your understanding of design infrastructure 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.
You are designing a disaster recovery strategy for an Azure virtual machine running a SQL Server Always On availability group. The primary region is East US, and the secondary region is West US. You need to ensure minimal data loss and automatic failover. Which Azure service should you use for cross-region replication of the managed disks?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "primary"
Why it matters: Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
Clue: "always"
Why it matters: Absolute qualifier. An answer using 'always' is only correct if there are genuinely no exceptions — absolute statements are often wrong in networking.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Azure Site Recovery
Option A is correct because Azure Site Recovery provides orchestrated replication and failover for Azure VMs, including managed disks, with recovery point objectives (RPO) as low as a few seconds. Option B (Azure Backup) is for backup, not replication. Option C (Azure Storage Geo-Redundant Storage) replicates at the storage level but does not handle VM failover orchestration. Option D (Azure Traffic Manager) is for DNS-level traffic distribution, not disk replication.
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 Traffic Manager
Why it's wrong here
Traffic Manager is for DNS-based traffic routing, not disk replication.
✓
Azure Site Recovery
Why this is correct
Azure Site Recovery replicates Azure VMs and supports automatic failover with low RPO.
Clue confirmation
The clue words "primary", "always" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Azure Backup
Why it's wrong here
Azure Backup is for backup and restore, not continuous replication and automatic failover.
✗
Azure Storage Geo-Redundant Storage (GRS)
Why it's wrong here
GRS provides storage-level replication but does not orchestrate VM failover.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
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.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
→Underline the problem statement mentally.
→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.
Identify which AZ-305 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Design infrastructure solutions — This question tests Design infrastructure solutions — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Azure Site Recovery — Option A is correct because Azure Site Recovery provides orchestrated replication and failover for Azure VMs, including managed disks, with recovery point objectives (RPO) as low as a few seconds. Option B (Azure Backup) is for backup, not replication. Option C (Azure Storage Geo-Redundant Storage) replicates at the storage level but does not handle VM failover orchestration. Option D (Azure Traffic Manager) is for DNS-level traffic distribution, not disk replication.
What should I do if I get this AZ-305 question wrong?
Identify which AZ-305 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "primary", "always". Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
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 →
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. You are designing a disaster recovery strategy for an Azure virtual machine running a critical application. The VM is in the East US region. Your recovery point objective (RPO) is 15 minutes, and your recovery time objective (RTO) is 1 hour. Which Azure service should you use to replicate the VM to the West US region?
easy
✓ A.Azure Site Recovery
B.Azure Traffic Manager
C.Azure Backup
D.Azure Migrate
Why A: Option A is correct because Azure Site Recovery provides automated replication with RPO as low as 30 seconds and RTO of minutes to hours. Option B is wrong because Azure Backup is for backup, not replication for DR. Option C is wrong because Azure Migrate is for assessment and migration. Option D is wrong because Azure Traffic Manager is for traffic routing.
Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026
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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.
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