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.
Which TWO of the following are valid options to achieve high availability for Azure SQL Database? (Choose two.)
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Deploy a zone-redundant Azure SQL Database
Options B and D are correct. Zone-redundant deployment (B) provides high availability within a region by replicating across availability zones. Active geo-replication (D) provides cross-region high availability and disaster recovery. Option A is wrong because a single database with locally redundant storage offers no high availability. Option C is wrong because Azure SQL Database does not support manual failover to a replica without geo-replication. Option E is wrong because always on availability groups are for SQL Server on VMs, not Azure SQL Database.
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 a single database with locally redundant storage (LRS)
Why it's wrong here
LRS provides no high availability within a region.
✓
Deploy a zone-redundant Azure SQL Database
Why this is correct
Zone-redundancy provides intra-region HA.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Configure manual failover to a secondary replica in the same region
Why it's wrong here
Manual failover is not supported for single database without geo-replication.
✗
Configure SQL Server Always On availability groups
Why it's wrong here
Always On is for SQL Server on VMs, not Azure SQL Database.
✓
Configure active geo-replication to a secondary database in a different region
Why this is correct
Active geo-replication provides cross-region HA and DR.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
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: Deploy a zone-redundant Azure SQL Database — Options B and D are correct. Zone-redundant deployment (B) provides high availability within a region by replicating across availability zones. Active geo-replication (D) provides cross-region high availability and disaster recovery. Option A is wrong because a single database with locally redundant storage offers no high availability. Option C is wrong because Azure SQL Database does not support manual failover to a replica without geo-replication. Option E is wrong because always on availability groups are for SQL Server on VMs, not Azure SQL Database.
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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