The answer is to create a Recovery Services vault in the secondary region with geo-redundant storage (GRS) and configure Azure Site Recovery replication for the VM. This combination is correct because Azure Site Recovery supports an RPO as low as 30 seconds and an RTO of a few hours, easily meeting the required 1-hour RPO and 4-hour RTO, while GRS ensures data is replicated across paired regions for true geo-redundancy. On the Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert AZ-305 exam, this question tests your ability to distinguish between disaster recovery and backup services—a common trap is confusing Azure Backup (which has a higher RPO) with Site Recovery, or assuming Availability Zones provide cross-region DR when they only protect within a single region. Remember the memory tip: “Site Recovery for speed, Backup for long-term retention”—if the scenario demands low RPO and RTO, always choose Site Recovery paired with a GRS vault.
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.
You are designing a disaster recovery plan for an Azure virtual machine running a critical application. The solution must meet an RPO of 1 hour and an RTO of 4 hours. Which TWO actions should you take? (Choose TWO.)
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Enable Azure Site Recovery for the VM with replication to a secondary region.
Options B and D are correct. Azure Site Recovery can replicate VMs with an RPO as low as 30 seconds and RTO of a few hours. Using a Recovery Services vault with GRS ensures geo-redundancy. Option A is wrong because Azure Backup has a higher RPO. Option C is wrong because Availability Zones do not provide cross-region DR. Option E is wrong because Azure Front Door is for traffic distribution, not VM 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.
✗
Deploy the VM in an Availability Set and use premium storage.
Why it's wrong here
Availability Sets provide intra-region HA, not DR.
✗
Configure Azure Backup with daily snapshots stored in a Recovery Services vault.
Why it's wrong here
Daily snapshots have an RPO of 24 hours, exceeding the 1-hour requirement.
✓
Enable Azure Site Recovery for the VM with replication to a secondary region.
Why this is correct
ASR provides low RPO and meets RTO.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Create a Recovery Services vault in the secondary region with geo-redundant storage (GRS).
Why this is correct
GRS ensures data is replicated across regions.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Use Azure Front Door to distribute traffic between the primary and secondary regions.
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 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: Enable Azure Site Recovery for the VM with replication to a secondary region. — Options B and D are correct. Azure Site Recovery can replicate VMs with an RPO as low as 30 seconds and RTO of a few hours. Using a Recovery Services vault with GRS ensures geo-redundancy. Option A is wrong because Azure Backup has a higher RPO. Option C is wrong because Availability Zones do not provide cross-region DR. Option E is wrong because Azure Front Door is for traffic distribution, not VM 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.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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