A company has several Azure Virtual Machines running Windows Server with critical applications. They need to back up these VMs to a secondary Azure region to protect against regional disasters. The backup must be application-consistent and support file-level restore. Which solution should they implement?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
Best answer
Azure Backup with geo-redundant storage (GRS) in a Recovery Services vault
Azure Backup offers VM-level application-consistent backups, supports GRS for cross-region durability, and allows file-level restore from recovery points.
Distractor review
Azure Site Recovery
Azure Site Recovery replicates VMs for disaster recovery failover, not for backup with long-term retention or file-level restore.
Distractor review
Azure Snapshot of managed disks stored in a different region
Snapshots are crash-consistent by default, not application-consistent, and do not natively support file-level restore or automatic cross-region replication.
Distractor review
Azure Managed Disk with incremental snapshots and manual cross-region copy
Incremental snapshots are not automatically application-consistent and require manual scripting for cross-region transfer; file-level restore is not supported.
Common exam trap
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.
Technical deep dive
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.
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More questions from this exam
Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
Question 1
A company is designing hub-and-spoke networking. Spoke VNets must use a central Azure Firewall for outbound internet traffic. Which two configurations are required?
Question 2
A company is designing private access to a PaaS database from workloads in a VNet. The database should not be reachable over its public endpoint. What should be recommended?
Question 3
A data platform must support analytical queries over petabytes of files in a data lake, while preserving hierarchical namespaces and fine-grained ACLs. Which storage service should you design around?
Question 4
A database workload has an RPO of 15 minutes and an RTO of 4 hours. Cost is more important than near-zero data loss. Which design is usually more appropriate than synchronous multi-region replication?
Question 5
A hub-and-spoke Azure network must centralize outbound inspection and still allow spokes to resolve private endpoint DNS names. Which two components are commonly required? (Choose 2.)
Question 6
A multinational company uses Microsoft Entra ID and several Azure subscriptions. Security administrators need to review privileged role assignments every month and require justification for continued access. Which design should be recommended?
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this AZ-305 question test?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Azure Backup with geo-redundant storage (GRS) in a Recovery Services vault — Azure Backup with a Recovery Services vault configured for geo-redundant storage (GRS) provides cross-region backup of Azure VMs. It uses VSS for application-consistent backups and supports file-level restore (e.g., browsing and recovering individual files from a VM backup). Azure Site Recovery is for disaster recovery replication, not backup. Snapshots are not inherently cross-region or application-consistent without additional tooling.
What should I do if I get this AZ-305 question wrong?
Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.
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