The answer is to use Azure Traffic Manager to distribute traffic across two AKS clusters in different regions. This approach is correct because for a stateless web application, deploying separate AKS clusters in paired regions with Traffic Manager’s priority or performance routing provides automated, DNS-based failover within your 30-minute RTO, while avoiding the complexity and cost of active geo-replication or a full Front Door implementation. On the AZ-305 exam, this scenario tests your ability to match disaster recovery patterns to workload characteristics—stateless apps favor simple, multi-region load balancing over database-centric solutions. A common trap is choosing Azure Front Door for its WAF features, but for containerized workloads requiring only regional failover, Traffic Manager is the leaner, cost-effective choice. Memory tip: “Stateless stacks use Traffic Manager tracks; Front Door is for the web app stacks.”
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 stateless web application on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS). You need to design a disaster recovery solution that ensures the application is available in another Azure region within 30 minutes of a regional failure. The solution must balance cost and complexity. What should you recommend?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Use Azure Traffic Manager to distribute traffic across two AKS clusters in different regions.
Deploying AKS clusters in two regions with Traffic Manager for global load balancing provides a cost-effective and relatively simple solution for stateless applications. Option A is incorrect because Azure Front Door is not the best fit for container workloads. Option C is incorrect because it lacks automated failover. Option D is incorrect because active geo-replication is for databases.
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.
✗
Use Azure SQL Database active geo-replication for the application's database.
Why it's wrong here
The scenario is about a stateless web application; database replication is irrelevant.
✗
Use Azure Front Door to route traffic to a single AKS cluster with pods running in multiple regions.
Why it's wrong here
AKS does not support multi-region pods natively; this approach is complex and not cost-effective.
✓
Use Azure Traffic Manager to distribute traffic across two AKS clusters in different regions.
Why this is correct
Traffic Manager with priority routing can automatically failover to the secondary region, meeting the RTO.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Deploy a single AKS cluster with nodes in multiple availability zones.
Why it's wrong here
Availability zones protect within a region, not against regional outages.
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.
Trap categories for this question
Scenario analysis trap
The scenario is about a stateless web application; database replication is irrelevant.
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.
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: Use Azure Traffic Manager to distribute traffic across two AKS clusters in different regions. — Deploying AKS clusters in two regions with Traffic Manager for global load balancing provides a cost-effective and relatively simple solution for stateless applications. Option A is incorrect because Azure Front Door is not the best fit for container workloads. Option C is incorrect because it lacks automated failover. Option D is incorrect because active geo-replication is for databases.
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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