- A
Deploy App Service in a single region with Azure Backup for the app and database.
Why wrong: Backup does not provide rapid failover; regional outage would still cause downtime.
- B
Deploy App Service in two regions with Azure Front Door for global load balancing and Azure SQL Database active geo-replication.
Active geo-replication with auto-failover enables fast failover; Front Door routes traffic away from failed region.
- C
Deploy App Service across availability zones in one region and use Azure SQL Database zone-redundant configuration.
Why wrong: Availability zones protect against datacenter failure, not regional outage.
- D
Deploy App Service in two regions with Azure Traffic Manager and use manual database restore.
Why wrong: Manual restore takes hours, not suitable for minimal downtime.
Quick Answer
The correct approach is to deploy App Service in two regions with Azure Front Door for global load balancing and Azure SQL Database active geo-replication. This configuration ensures an active-passive failover model where Front Door routes traffic to the primary region and automatically shifts to the secondary region during an outage, while geo-replication continuously synchronizes the SQL Database to the paired region, minimizing downtime to seconds. On the AZ-305 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of multi-region resilience patterns versus intra-region solutions like Availability Zones, which only protect against datacenter failures, not a full regional outage. A common trap is choosing Availability Zones because they sound similar, but remember: zones are within one region, so they fail together if the entire region goes down. For a memory tip, think “Front Door for traffic, Geo-Replication for data”—two regions, two services, one seamless failover.
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 a web application hosted on Azure App Service. The application uses Azure SQL Database. The company wants to minimize downtime during a regional outage. Which approach should you recommend?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"minimum / minimize"Why it matters: Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.
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
Deploy App Service in two regions with Azure Front Door for global load balancing and Azure SQL Database active geo-replication.
Option A is correct because deploying App Service in two regions with Azure Front Door and SQL Database geo-replication provides active-passive failover with minimal downtime. Option B (single region with backup) does not protect against region failure. Option C (manual failover) increases downtime. Option D (availability zones) protects only within a region.
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 App Service in a single region with Azure Backup for the app and database.
Why it's wrong here
Backup does not provide rapid failover; regional outage would still cause downtime.
- ✓
Deploy App Service in two regions with Azure Front Door for global load balancing and Azure SQL Database active geo-replication.
Why this is correct
Active geo-replication with auto-failover enables fast failover; Front Door routes traffic away from failed region.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "minimum / minimize" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Deploy App Service across availability zones in one region and use Azure SQL Database zone-redundant configuration.
Why it's wrong here
Availability zones protect against datacenter failure, not regional outage.
- ✗
Deploy App Service in two regions with Azure Traffic Manager and use manual database restore.
Why it's wrong here
Manual restore takes hours, not suitable for minimal downtime.
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
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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 — study guide chapter
Learn the concepts, then practise the questions
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Design business continuity solutions practice questions
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Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert AZ-305 study guide
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this AZ-305 question test?
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 App Service in two regions with Azure Front Door for global load balancing and Azure SQL Database active geo-replication. — Option A is correct because deploying App Service in two regions with Azure Front Door and SQL Database geo-replication provides active-passive failover with minimal downtime. Option B (single region with backup) does not protect against region failure. Option C (manual failover) increases downtime. Option D (availability zones) protects only within a region.
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.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "minimum / minimize". Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
2 more ways this is tested on AZ-305
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. Your company runs a web application on Azure App Service (Standard tier) in a single region. You need to design a disaster recovery solution that can fail over to another region within 30 minutes. The application uses Azure SQL Database (General Purpose tier) and Azure Blob Storage. What should you implement?
medium- A.Use Azure Traffic Manager with priority routing to a second App Service instance, use Azure SQL Database backup to a secondary region, and use Azure Storage zone-redundant storage (ZRS).
- B.Configure App Service auto-scaling, use Azure SQL Database geo-replication with readable secondary, and use Azure Storage read-access geo-redundant storage (RA-GRS).
- ✓ C.Configure App Service backup to a secondary region, use Azure SQL Database active geo-replication with auto-failover group, and use geo-redundant storage (GRS) for Blob Storage.
- D.Configure App Service deployment slots, use Azure SQL Database geo-restore, and use Azure Storage locally-redundant storage (LRS).
Why C: Option B is correct because App Service backup/restore to a secondary region, Azure SQL Database active geo-replication with failover group, and Azure Storage geo-redundant storage (GRS) together meet the RTO of 30 minutes and provide data protection. Option A uses geo-restore for SQL which has longer RPO. Option C uses read-only failover which may not allow writes. Option D uses traffic manager but does not address database failover.
Variation 2. Your organization runs a web application on Azure App Service (Standard tier) in the West US region. The application uses Azure Blob Storage for static content and Azure SQL Database (Standard tier) for dynamic data. The compliance requirements specify a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of 1 hour and a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of 4 hours. You need to design a disaster recovery solution that meets these requirements with minimal cost. Which option should you recommend?
easy- A.Deploy App Service in two regions with Azure Traffic Manager. Use Azure Site Recovery to replicate the App Service and SQL Database. Enable geo-redundant storage for Blob Storage.
- B.Deploy App Service in two regions with Azure Front Door. Use active geo-replication for Azure SQL Database. Enable read-access geo-redundant storage (RA-GRS) for Blob Storage.
- C.Use Azure Traffic Manager to distribute traffic. Manually copy Blob Storage to a secondary region. Use Azure SQL Database export to bacpac and import in secondary region.
- ✓ D.Configure App Service backup to a geo-redundant storage account. Use geo-redundant storage (GRS) for Blob Storage. Enable geo-restore for Azure SQL Database.
Why D: Option B is correct because geo-redundant storage for Blob Storage is cost-effective and meets RPO; geo-restore for SQL Database meets RPO and RTO; App Service backup and restore in a secondary region meets RTO. Option A is wrong because Azure Site Recovery is for VMs, not App Service. Option C is wrong because active geo-replication for SQL Database is more expensive than needed. Option D is wrong because Azure Traffic Manager alone does not provide data replication.
Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026
This AZ-305 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the AZ-305 exam.
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