The correct answers are zone-redundant availability and active geo-replication, as both are core features of Azure SQL Database that ensure high availability. Zone-redundant availability uses Azure Availability Zones within a single region, automatically replicating database copies across physically separate data centers to protect against a zone-level failure, offering an RPO of zero and an RTO of near zero. Active geo-replication, on the other hand, creates readable secondary replicas in a paired Azure region, enabling disaster recovery during a regional outage with an RPO of up to 5 seconds and an RTO of under one hour when using failover groups. On the AZ-305 exam, this distinction tests your ability to match high availability solutions to specific business continuity requirements: zone redundancy handles local disasters within a region, while geo-replication handles region-wide outages. A common trap is confusing zone redundancy with geo-redundancy—remember that zone redundancy is intra-region, while geo-replication is inter-region. Memory tip: think “Zones for local, Geo for global.”
AZ-305 Design data storage solutions Practice Question
This AZ-305 practice question tests your understanding of design data storage solutions. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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.
Which TWO of the following are features of Azure SQL Database that help ensure high availability? (Select two.)
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Active geo-replication
Active geo-replication (Option A) creates readable secondary replicas of an Azure SQL Database in a paired Azure region, enabling manual or automatic failover to maintain availability during a regional outage. This feature ensures high availability by providing disaster recovery capabilities with a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of up to 5 seconds and a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of less than 1 hour, depending on the failover group configuration.
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
Why this is correct
Replicates data to a secondary region for disaster recovery.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Long-term retention (LTR) backups
Why it's wrong here
LTR is for backup retention, not high availability.
✗
Automatic tuning
Why it's wrong here
Automatic tuning is for performance optimization, not high availability.
✓
Zone-redundant availability
Why this is correct
Places replicas across availability zones for high availability within a region.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Transparent Data Encryption (TDE)
Why it's wrong here
TDE is for encryption at rest, not high availability.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse backup features (like LTR) or security features (like TDE) with high availability mechanisms, but only replication-based solutions (geo-replication and zone-redundancy) directly address availability during failures.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Zone-redundant availability (Option D) leverages Azure Availability Zones within the same region, placing replicas in physically separate datacenters with independent power, cooling, and networking. Under the hood, Azure SQL Database uses a quorum-based commit model with a primary replica and up to three secondary replicas; zone-redundant configuration ensures that if one zone fails, the database automatically fails over to a replica in another zone with no data loss (RPO=0) and minimal downtime (RTO typically under 30 seconds).
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 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.
Design data storage solutions — This question tests Design data storage solutions — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Active geo-replication — Active geo-replication (Option A) creates readable secondary replicas of an Azure SQL Database in a paired Azure region, enabling manual or automatic failover to maintain availability during a regional outage. This feature ensures high availability by providing disaster recovery capabilities with a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of up to 5 seconds and a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of less than 1 hour, depending on the failover group configuration.
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.
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Question Discussion
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