The answer is Azure Site Recovery with 15-minute replication. This configuration directly satisfies the required Recovery Point Objective of 15 minutes by replicating virtual machine changes at that exact frequency, while the orchestrated failover and recovery plans within Site Recovery ensure the Recovery Time Objective of 1 hour is met through automated, coordinated failover across Azure regions. On the AZ-305 exam, this scenario tests your ability to match native disaster recovery services to specific RPO and RTO thresholds, often trapping candidates who confuse Azure Backup’s longer RTO or active geo-replication’s database-only scope with a general-purpose DR solution. Remember that Site Recovery is the only Azure-native service offering granular replication frequency control for heterogeneous workloads, making it the cost-effective choice when you need both low RPO and fast RTO. Memory tip: think “15/60” — 15 minutes for data loss (RPO), 60 minutes for downtime (RTO) — and you’ll always pick Site Recovery.
AZ-305 Design infrastructure solutions Practice Question
This AZ-305 practice question tests your understanding of design infrastructure 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.
Your company has a global application deployed across multiple Azure regions. You need to design a disaster recovery solution that meets a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of 15 minutes and a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of 1 hour. The solution should use Azure-native services and minimize costs. Which option should you choose?
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 the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Azure Site Recovery with 15-minute replication
Azure Site Recovery with replication frequency of 15 minutes meets the RPO, and the orchestrated failover meets the RTO. Option A (Active geo-replication for Azure SQL Database) is not applicable to all workloads. Option B (Azure Backup) has a longer RTO. Option D (Traffic Manager with health probes) is for load balancing, not disaster recovery.
Key principle: NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Azure Traffic Manager with priority routing
Why it's wrong here
Traffic Manager provides load balancing, not data replication or failover orchestration.
✓
Azure Site Recovery with 15-minute replication
Why this is correct
Azure Site Recovery supports replication frequencies as low as 15 minutes and orchestrated failover within minutes.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "minimum / minimize" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
✗
Active geo-replication for Azure SQL Database
Why it's wrong here
Only applies to Azure SQL Database, not to all application components.
✗
Azure Backup with cross-region restore
Why it's wrong here
Azure Backup typically has higher RTO due to restore time.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: NAT rules depend on direction and matching traffic
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
PAT allows many inside hosts to share one public address using ports.
Inside local and inside global describe the private and translated addresses.
NAT ACLs identify traffic for translation, not always security filtering.
TExam Day Tips
→Identify inside and outside interfaces first.
→Check whether the scenario needs static NAT, dynamic NAT or PAT.
→Do not confuse NAT matching ACLs with normal packet-filtering intent.
Key takeaway
NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this AZ-305 question in full detail.
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related AZ-305 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
Design infrastructure solutions — This question tests Design infrastructure solutions — Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Azure Site Recovery with 15-minute replication — Azure Site Recovery with replication frequency of 15 minutes meets the RPO, and the orchestrated failover meets the RTO. Option A (Active geo-replication for Azure SQL Database) is not applicable to all workloads. Option B (Azure Backup) has a longer RTO. Option D (Traffic Manager with health probes) is for load balancing, not disaster recovery.
What should I do if I get this AZ-305 question wrong?
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related AZ-305 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
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?
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
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