The answer is that you must configure a failover group and ensure the secondary server is in a different Azure region than the primary. A failover group is the Azure feature that manages automatic failover for geo-replicated databases, coordinating the failover of the primary and all secondaries under a single endpoint with an automatic failover policy; without it, active geo-replication only supports manual failover. On the DP-300 exam, this tests your understanding of high-availability architectures, and a common trap is assuming that active geo-replication alone provides automatic failover—it does not. Remember the mnemonic “FAR” for Failover group, Automatic policy, and different Region to quickly recall the two required configurations.
DP-300 Practice Question: Plan and configure high availability and disaster recovery
This DP-300 practice question tests your understanding of plan and configure high availability and disaster recovery. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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 TWO configurations are required to enable automatic failover for an Azure SQL Database configured with active geo-replication?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Configure a failover group that includes the primary and secondary databases.
Option B is correct because a failover group is the Azure feature that manages automatic failover for geo-replicated databases. It coordinates the failover of the primary and all secondaries in the group, providing a single endpoint and automatic failover policy. Without a failover group, active geo-replication only supports manual failover.
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.
✗
Enable read-scale out on the secondary database.
Why it's wrong here
Read-scale out is optional and not required for automatic failover.
✓
Configure a failover group that includes the primary and secondary databases.
Why this is correct
Failover group is required to orchestrate automatic failover.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Set the secondary database to have the same service tier as the primary.
Why it's wrong here
Service tiers can differ; not a requirement for automatic failover.
✗
Configure zone redundancy on the primary database.
Why it's wrong here
Zone redundancy provides HA within a region, not for geo-failover.
✓
Ensure the secondary server is in a different Azure region than the primary.
Why this is correct
Geo-replication requires a secondary in a different region for disaster recovery.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse the prerequisites for automatic failover with the features of active geo-replication alone, forgetting that a failover group is the specific construct that enables automation.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Active geo-replication uses asynchronous replication to maintain a readable secondary database in a different region. A failover group builds on this by adding a listener endpoint and the ability to set a grace period (usually 1 hour) for automatic failover. In a real-world scenario, if a regional outage occurs, the failover group automatically promotes the secondary to primary within the grace period, minimizing downtime without manual intervention.
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 DP-300 question in full detail.
Plan and configure high availability and disaster recovery — This question tests Plan and configure high availability and disaster recovery — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Configure a failover group that includes the primary and secondary databases. — Option B is correct because a failover group is the Azure feature that manages automatic failover for geo-replicated databases. It coordinates the failover of the primary and all secondaries in the group, providing a single endpoint and automatic failover policy. Without a failover group, active geo-replication only supports manual failover.
What should I do if I get this DP-300 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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