The answer is the auto-failover group with read-scale. This feature meets the requirements because it provides a fully managed disaster recovery solution with an RPO of 1 minute and RTO of 1 hour, while also allowing the secondary database in East US to serve read-only workloads during normal operations through the read-scale listener endpoint. On the Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert AZ-305 exam, this scenario tests your ability to distinguish between active geo-replication and auto-failover groups, specifically when read-scale is needed—a common trap is choosing standard active geo-replication alone, which lacks the automatic failover and read-scale listener. Remember the key differentiator: if the question mentions both DR and read-only offloading, the read-scale option is the correct choice. A helpful memory tip is "Failover for failover, read-scale for reads"—the listener endpoints are the secret sauce.
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 database on Azure SQL Database in the West US region. They need to implement disaster recovery to East US with an RPO of 1 minute and RTO of 1 hour. They also want to use the secondary database for read-only workloads during normal operations. The solution must be fully managed. Which Azure SQL Database feature should they enable?
Why wrong: While active geo-replication provides readable secondaries, auto-failover group is the managed feature that simplifies failover and supports read-scale.
B
Auto-failover group with read-scale
Auto-failover groups manage failover for one or more databases, support read-only access to the secondary, and meet the RPO/RTO requirements.
C
Geo-restore
Why wrong: Geo-restore recovers from a backup and has an RPO of 1 hour or more, not 1 minute.
D
Zone-redundant configuration
Why wrong: Zone redundancy protects against datacenter failures within a region, not across regions.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Auto-failover group with read-scale
Active geo-replication with a failover group (Option B) provides a fully managed disaster recovery solution with an RPO of 1 minute and RTO of 1 hour. It allows the secondary database in East US to be used for read-only workloads during normal operations via the read-scale listener endpoint. This meets all requirements: fully managed, low RPO/RTO, and read-only access to the secondary.
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.
✗
Active geo-replication with failover group
Why it's wrong here
While active geo-replication provides readable secondaries, auto-failover group is the managed feature that simplifies failover and supports read-scale.
✓
Auto-failover group with read-scale
Why this is correct
Auto-failover groups manage failover for one or more databases, support read-only access to the secondary, and meet the RPO/RTO requirements.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Geo-restore
Why it's wrong here
Geo-restore recovers from a backup and has an RPO of 1 hour or more, not 1 minute.
✗
Zone-redundant configuration
Why it's wrong here
Zone redundancy protects against datacenter failures within a region, not across regions.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is confusing Active geo-replication (manual failover, no read-scale) with Auto-failover groups (automatic failover, read-scale), leading candidates to pick Option A even though it lacks the read-scale capability and automatic RTO guarantee.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Auto-failover groups use the same underlying geo-replication technology but add automatic failover orchestration and a read-scale listener endpoint (secondary.failovergroup.database.windows.net) that routes read-only queries to the secondary replica. The RPO is guaranteed by synchronous replication within the primary region and asynchronous replication across regions, with a maximum lag of 1 minute. In real-world scenarios, the read-scale listener can offload reporting or analytics workloads from the primary, reducing contention.
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 company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
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: Auto-failover group with read-scale — Active geo-replication with a failover group (Option B) provides a fully managed disaster recovery solution with an RPO of 1 minute and RTO of 1 hour. It allows the secondary database in East US to be used for read-only workloads during normal operations via the read-scale listener endpoint. This meets all requirements: fully managed, low RPO/RTO, and read-only access to the secondary.
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
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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 runs a production Azure SQL Database. They need a business continuity solution that allows point-in-time restore to any time within the last 7 days and provides geo-failover capability with RTO of 1 hour. What is the MOST COST-EFFECTIVE option?
medium
A.Use Azure SQL Database long-term retention (LTR) for backups
B.Deploy a zone-redundant Azure SQL Database
✓ C.Configure active geo-replication with a readable secondary in another region
D.Deploy auto-failover groups with a secondary in another region
Why C: Option B is correct because Active Geo-Replication provides geo-failover with RTO of 1 hour and supports point-in-time restore. It is more cost-effective than Auto-failover groups for a single database. Option A is wrong because auto-failover groups are designed for multiple databases and have higher cost due to additional listener. Option C is wrong because long-term retention is for backups, not failover. Option D is wrong because zone-redundant databases protect within a region, not cross-region.
Variation 2. A company wants to ensure that their Azure SQL Database can continue to serve read-write traffic if the primary region becomes unavailable. They require minimal data loss. What should they implement?
easy
A.Use Azure Backup with cross-region restore
B.Deploy the database across two Availability Zones
✓ C.Configure an auto-failover group with a secondary in another region
D.Read-scale replicas in the same region
Why C: Option C is correct because an auto-failover group with active geo-replication provides automated failover with minimal data loss. Option A is wrong because read-scale replicas are for read-only. Option B is wrong because Azure SQL Database does not use Availability Zones for cross-region DR. Option D is wrong because Azure Backup does not provide failover.
Variation 3. A company runs a critical SQL Server database on an Azure VM. The database is used by a line-of-business application that requires minimal data loss (RPO of 5 seconds) and fast recovery (RTO of 15 minutes). The VM is in a single region. What should you recommend to meet the RPO and RTO requirements?
medium
A.Use Azure Storage geo-redundant storage (GRS) for the VM's managed disks.
✓ B.Migrate the database to Azure SQL Managed Instance and configure a failover group with a secondary in another region.
C.Deploy the VM in an Availability Set and use SQL Server Always On Availability Groups.
D.Configure Azure Backup for the VM with application-consistent backups every 5 minutes.
Why B: Option D (Azure SQL Managed Instance with failover group) provides automated replication with RPO of seconds and RTO of minutes. Option A (backup to Azure Blob) has higher RPO/RTO. Option B (Availability Set) protects against host failure but not region failure. Option C (geo-redundant storage) does not protect against database corruption.
Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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