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. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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.
Exhibit
Error log excerpt:
2025-03-15 14:23:45.67 Error: 406, Severity: 16, State: 0.
The database 'OrdersDB' has an automated backup frequency of 12 hours and a point-in-time restore (PITR) retention period of 7 days.
The long-term retention (LTR) policy is configured as:
- Weekly: Sunday 02:00, retention 4 weeks
- Monthly: First Sunday 02:00, retention 12 months
- Yearly: First Sunday of March 02:00, retention 3 years
Current time: 2025-03-15 14:30 (Saturday)
Last successful backup: 2025-03-15 02:00
Attempted restore to 2025-03-14 10:00 UTC failed with error 406.
Refer to the exhibit. An administrator tries to restore the database OrdersDB to a point in time 2025-03-14 10:00 UTC and receives error 406. What is the most likely reason?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
Error log excerpt:
2025-03-15 14:23:45.67 Error: 406, Severity: 16, State: 0.
The database 'OrdersDB' has an automated backup frequency of 12 hours and a point-in-time restore (PITR) retention period of 7 days.
The long-term retention (LTR) policy is configured as:
- Weekly: Sunday 02:00, retention 4 weeks
- Monthly: First Sunday 02:00, retention 12 months
- Yearly: First Sunday of March 02:00, retention 3 years
Current time: 2025-03-15 14:30 (Saturday)
Last successful backup: 2025-03-15 02:00
Attempted restore to 2025-03-14 10:00 UTC failed with error 406.
A
The database is currently in a geo-replication secondary role.
Why wrong: No indication of geo-replication in exhibit.
B
The long-term retention policy interferes with point-in-time restore.
Why wrong: LTR does not affect PITR.
C
The requested restore point is outside the 7-day retention period.
Why wrong: 2025-03-14 is within 7 days from 2025-03-15.
D
The automated backup frequency is 12 hours, so point-in-time restore is not supported.
With 12-hour backup frequency, only full/differential backups are taken; no transaction logs are available for PITR.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The automated backup frequency is 12 hours, so point-in-time restore is not supported.
Error 406 in Azure SQL Database indicates that the requested restore point is not available because it is outside the backup retention period. The automated backup frequency is 12 hours, so backups are taken every 12 hours. The last backup before 2025-03-14 10:00 would be at 2025-03-14 02:00. The next backup after that is at 2025-03-14 14:00. Since the restore point 10:00 falls between backups, the database cannot be restored to that exact time unless transaction log backups are available. However, the error suggests that the point is not within the retention window. The retention is 7 days, so 2025-03-14 is within 7 days from 2025-03-15. But the backup frequency of 12 hours means that the minimum restore point granularity is 12 hours. The requested time is not aligned with any available backup or log backup. The error 406 specifically means 'The database is not in a state that allows recovery to the specified point in time.' This can happen if the database is in a geo-replication relationship or if the point is not covered by log backups. In this case, the automated backup frequency is 12 hours, so there are no log backups for point-in-time restore. The only available restore points are the full/differential backups at 02:00 and 14:00. Therefore, the requested time 10:00 is not available.
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.
✗
The database is currently in a geo-replication secondary role.
Why it's wrong here
No indication of geo-replication in exhibit.
✗
The long-term retention policy interferes with point-in-time restore.
Why it's wrong here
LTR does not affect PITR.
✗
The requested restore point is outside the 7-day retention period.
Why it's wrong here
2025-03-14 is within 7 days from 2025-03-15.
✓
The automated backup frequency is 12 hours, so point-in-time restore is not supported.
Why this is correct
With 12-hour backup frequency, only full/differential backups are taken; no transaction logs are available for PITR.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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 company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this DP-300 question in full detail.
Identify which DP-300 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.
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: The automated backup frequency is 12 hours, so point-in-time restore is not supported. — Error 406 in Azure SQL Database indicates that the requested restore point is not available because it is outside the backup retention period. The automated backup frequency is 12 hours, so backups are taken every 12 hours. The last backup before 2025-03-14 10:00 would be at 2025-03-14 02:00. The next backup after that is at 2025-03-14 14:00. Since the restore point 10:00 falls between backups, the database cannot be restored to that exact time unless transaction log backups are available. However, the error suggests that the point is not within the retention window. The retention is 7 days, so 2025-03-14 is within 7 days from 2025-03-15. But the backup frequency of 12 hours means that the minimum restore point granularity is 12 hours. The requested time is not aligned with any available backup or log backup. The error 406 specifically means 'The database is not in a state that allows recovery to the specified point in time.' This can happen if the database is in a geo-replication relationship or if the point is not covered by log backups. In this case, the automated backup frequency is 12 hours, so there are no log backups for point-in-time restore. The only available restore points are the full/differential backups at 02:00 and 14:00. Therefore, the requested time 10:00 is not available.
What should I do if I get this DP-300 question wrong?
Identify which DP-300 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: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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