The answer is to create an auto-failover group with a secondary instance in a paired region. This is the most cost-effective solution because auto-failover groups for Azure SQL Managed Instance are designed to meet an RTO of approximately one hour and an RPO of between five seconds and five minutes, comfortably satisfying your requirement of a 1-hour RTO and 15-minute RPO without incurring the overhead of more complex or unsupported methods. On the Microsoft Azure Database Administrator Associate DP-300 exam, this question tests your understanding of native DR options for Managed Instance, where active geo-replication is not supported and log shipping is not natively available, making auto-failover groups the only viable choice. A common trap is to confuse this with point-in-time restore, which has a much longer RTO. Remember the memory tip: “Failover groups for MI hit the RTO/RPO sweet spot—paired regions keep costs low and recovery fast.”
DP-300 Practice Question: Plan and configure a high availability and disaster recovery environment
This DP-300 practice question tests your understanding of plan and configure a high availability and disaster recovery environment. 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 need to design a disaster recovery plan for an Azure SQL Managed Instance. The recovery time objective (RTO) is 1 hour, and the recovery point objective (RPO) is 15 minutes. What is the most cost-effective solution?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create an auto-failover group with a secondary instance in a paired region.
Option D is correct because auto-failover groups with a secondary in a paired region provide RTO of ~1 hour and RPO of 5 seconds to 5 minutes, meeting the requirements cost-effectively. Option A is incorrect because active geo-replication is not supported for Managed Instance. Option B is incorrect because log shipping is not natively supported. Option C is incorrect because point-in-time restore has longer RTO.
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.
✗
Configure active geo-replication between instances in different regions.
Why it's wrong here
Active geo-replication is not available for Managed Instance.
✗
Set up log shipping to a secondary instance.
Why it's wrong here
Log shipping is not a native feature for Managed Instance.
✓
Create an auto-failover group with a secondary instance in a paired region.
Why this is correct
Auto-failover groups provide low RTO and RPO for Managed Instance.
Related concept
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
✗
Use point-in-time restore to a secondary region.
Why it's wrong here
Restore can take longer than 1 hour RTO.
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 DP-300 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 DP-300 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
Plan and configure a high availability and disaster recovery environment — This question tests Plan and configure a high availability and disaster recovery environment — Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create an auto-failover group with a secondary instance in a paired region. — Option D is correct because auto-failover groups with a secondary in a paired region provide RTO of ~1 hour and RPO of 5 seconds to 5 minutes, meeting the requirements cost-effectively. Option A is incorrect because active geo-replication is not supported for Managed Instance. Option B is incorrect because log shipping is not natively supported. Option C is incorrect because point-in-time restore has longer RTO.
What should I do if I get this DP-300 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 DP-300 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
About these practice questions
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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. You are designing a disaster recovery plan for an Azure SQL Managed Instance in the East US region. The plan must meet an RPO of 15 minutes and an RTO of 1 hour. You need to minimize costs while meeting these requirements. Which solution should you recommend?
hard
A.Use a zone-redundant Business Critical instance.
B.Deploy a second instance in the same region with zone redundancy.
✓ C.Configure a failover group between two General Purpose instances in different regions.
D.Configure a failover group between two Business Critical instances in different regions.
Why C: Option D is correct because geo-replication with a secondary in another region provides RPO of seconds and RTO of minutes, and using General Purpose tier minimizes cost. Option A is wrong because it doesn't cover regional DR. Option B is wrong because Managed Instance zones are not available in all regions. Option C is wrong because it's expensive and might not meet RTO.
Last reviewed: Jun 21, 2026
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