- A
Deploy App Service in two regions with Azure Traffic Manager. Use Azure SQL Database failover groups with active geo-replication.
Failover groups provide an RTO of less than 1 minute, meeting the requirement.
- B
Deploy App Service in one region with multiple instances. Use Azure SQL Database failover groups with manual failover.
Why wrong: Manual failover does not meet the 5-minute RTO.
- C
Deploy App Service in two regions with Azure Front Door. Use Azure SQL Database with zone-redundant configuration.
Why wrong: Zone-redundant configuration does not protect against regional outages.
- D
Deploy App Service in two regions with Azure Traffic Manager. Use Azure SQL Database geo-restore for the database.
Why wrong: Geo-restore has an RTO of several hours, exceeding the 5-minute requirement.
Quick Answer
The correct recommendation is to deploy App Service in two regions with Azure Traffic Manager and use Azure SQL Database failover groups with active geo-replication. This design meets the 5-minute RTO by enabling automatic, fast failover of both the web tier and the database tier, while active geo-replication minimizes data loss by continuously syncing transactions to a readable secondary region. On the AZ-305 exam, this scenario tests your ability to balance cost, RTO, and data loss requirements for a PaaS solution—Traffic Manager is the cost-effective routing choice here because it avoids the higher premium of Azure Front Door, and failover groups handle SQL failover automatically without manual intervention. A common trap is choosing manual database failover, which cannot guarantee a 5-minute RTO, or selecting Front Door when Traffic Manager suffices for simple regional routing. Remember the pairing: Traffic Manager for stateless web failover, failover groups for stateful database 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.
Your company runs a critical application on Azure App Service. You need to design a disaster recovery solution that ensures the application is available in another region within 5 minutes of a regional failure. The application uses Azure SQL Database as its backend. The solution must minimize data loss and cost. What 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 Traffic Manager. Use Azure SQL Database failover groups with active geo-replication.
Deploying App Service in two regions with Traffic Manager for routing and Azure SQL Database failover groups with active geo-replication provides the best balance of cost and performance. Option A is incorrect because it does not include database replication. Option C is incorrect because it uses Azure Front Door which is more expensive. Option D is incorrect because manual failover does not meet the 5-minute RTO.
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 two regions with Azure Traffic Manager. Use Azure SQL Database failover groups with active geo-replication.
Why this is correct
Failover groups provide an RTO of less than 1 minute, meeting the requirement.
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 in one region with multiple instances. Use Azure SQL Database failover groups with manual failover.
Why it's wrong here
Manual failover does not meet the 5-minute RTO.
- ✗
Deploy App Service in two regions with Azure Front Door. Use Azure SQL Database with zone-redundant configuration.
Why it's wrong here
Zone-redundant configuration does not protect against regional outages.
- ✗
Deploy App Service in two regions with Azure Traffic Manager. Use Azure SQL Database geo-restore for the database.
Why it's wrong here
Geo-restore has an RTO of several hours, exceeding the 5-minute requirement.
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 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.
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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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 Traffic Manager. Use Azure SQL Database failover groups with active geo-replication. — Deploying App Service in two regions with Traffic Manager for routing and Azure SQL Database failover groups with active geo-replication provides the best balance of cost and performance. Option A is incorrect because it does not include database replication. Option C is incorrect because it uses Azure Front Door which is more expensive. Option D is incorrect because manual failover does not meet the 5-minute RTO.
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
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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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