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AZ-305 Design business continuity solutions Practice Question

Exhibit

{
  "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
  "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
  "resources": [
    {
      "type": "Microsoft.Sql/servers/databases",
      "apiVersion": "2021-11-01",
      "name": "server1/contosodb",
      "location": "[parameters('location1')]",
      "properties": {
        "createMode": "Default",
        "readScaleOut": "Enabled",
        "zoneRedundant": false
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "Microsoft.Sql/servers/databases",
      "apiVersion": "2021-11-01",
      "name": "server2/contosodb-dr",
      "location": "[parameters('location2')]",
      "properties": {
        "createMode": "Secondary",
        "sourceDatabaseId": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Sql/servers/databases', 'server1', 'contosodb')]"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Refer to the exhibit. You deploy an Azure SQL Database with a secondary replica in another region using the ARM template shown. You need to ensure that the database can fail over automatically with zero data loss. What is missing?

⚠ Common exam trap

Test-takers frequently confuse a geo-replicated secondary replica (which only provides readable standby) with a failover group (which adds automatic failover and a listener endpoint), leading them to think the secondary replica alone is sufficient for automatic failover.

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

✓

Create a failover group that includes both databases.

A failover group is required to enable automatic failover between the primary and secondary replicas in Azure SQL Database. Without a failover group, the secondary replica exists as a readable copy but cannot automatically take over during a disaster. The failover group also supports the ability to achieve zero data loss by using the 'GracePeriodWithDataLoss' setting or by ensuring synchronous replication is configured, which is part of the failover group's properties.

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 long-term backup retention.
Why it's wrong here
Long-term backup retention (LTR) is designed for compliance and point-in-time restores, allowing stores of database backups for up to 10 years. It does not create a live secondary replica or continuously replicate transactions to another region. Therefore, while it protects against data corruption and accidental deletion, it cannot automatically route connections to a standby database if the primary fails, making it an incorrect choice for automatic failover.
✗
Disable readScaleOut on the primary database.
Why it's wrong here
The readScaleOut property controls whether the read-only listener endpoint is enabled for a database; disabling it only removes this endpoint, which is optional and primarily used for read-heavy workloads to offload reports. It has no bearing on write availability or the failover relationship. Automatic failover is governed by a failover group or active geo-replication, not by this property, so turning it off cannot create or activate any standby instance.
✓
Create a failover group that includes both databases.
Why this is correct
Creating a failover group that includes both the primary and secondary databases establishes an active geo-replication relationship and exposes a single read-write listener endpoint plus a read-only endpoint. When the primary database experiences an outage, the group automatically initiates failover to the secondary, and applications can reconnect using the same group-level FQDN (or the FailoverPartner modifier) without code changes. This is the correct Azure SQL Database feature for managing automatic, cross-region failover with near-zero data loss based on the configured grace period.
✗
Set zoneRedundant to true on the primary database.
Why it's wrong here
Setting zoneRedundant to true configures synchronous replicas across availability zones within the same Azure region, protecting the database from zone-level failures like a datacenter failure in that zone. However, it does not replicate data to a different geographic region, so it cannot provide automatic failover if the entire region goes down. Cross-region disaster recovery requires a failover group or active geo-replication, making this option incorrect for the stated requirement.

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AZ-305 Design business continuity solutions Practice Question

Exhibit

Why each option matters

Option-by-option breakdown

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