AZ-900 Describe Azure architecture and services Practice Question
This AZ-900 practice question tests your understanding of describe azure architecture and services. 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 Azure service replicates on-premises virtual machines and physical servers to Azure for disaster recovery?
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
Azure Site Recovery (ASR) is the correct service because it is specifically designed for disaster recovery (DR) by orchestrating replication, failover, and failback of on-premises virtual machines and physical servers to Azure. It uses continuous replication to maintain data consistency and supports planned/unplanned failover, ensuring business continuity during outages.
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.
✗
Azure Backup
Why it's wrong here
Azure Backup creates and stores backups; Site Recovery provides continuous replication for disaster recovery failover.
✓
Azure Site Recovery
Why this is correct
Site Recovery continuously replicates on-premises VMs to Azure for disaster recovery with automated failover.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Azure Migrate
Why it's wrong here
Azure Migrate is for permanently migrating workloads to Azure; Site Recovery is for disaster recovery.
✗
Azure Archive Storage
Why it's wrong here
Archive Storage is for long-term data retention; Site Recovery handles active disaster recovery.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse Azure Backup (point-in-time backups) with Azure Site Recovery (continuous replication and failover), as both involve data protection but serve fundamentally different purposes in the Azure resilience portfolio.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Azure Site Recovery replicates workloads using the Azure Site Recovery Mobility Service, which is installed on each on-premises VM or physical server to capture disk writes and send them to a cache storage account in Azure. Replication can be configured with recovery point objectives (RPO) as low as 30 seconds using change-based replication, and failover can be tested with isolated networks to validate DR plans without impacting production. In a real-world scenario, ASR is critical for meeting compliance requirements like ISO 22301 for business continuity management.
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.
TExam Day Tips
→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-900 question in full detail.
Describe Azure architecture and services — This question tests Describe Azure architecture and services — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Azure Site Recovery — Azure Site Recovery (ASR) is the correct service because it is specifically designed for disaster recovery (DR) by orchestrating replication, failover, and failback of on-premises virtual machines and physical servers to Azure. It uses continuous replication to maintain data consistency and supports planned/unplanned failover, ensuring business continuity during outages.
What should I do if I get this AZ-900 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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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