Replica Disconnected After Outage: Network Connectivity Issue
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
Availability group configuration:
AG1 (Synchronous commit)
- Primary replica: SQL1 (automatic failover)
- Secondary replica: SQL2 (automatic failover, readable secondary)
- Secondary replica: SQL3 (synchronous commit, manual failover, readable secondary)
Listener: listener1, port 1433
Error log on SQL1:
2025-03-15 15:00:00.00 spid31s The availability group 'AG1' is being restarted due to a failure. Error: 35201. A connection timeout has occurred.
2025-03-15 15:00:05.00 spid31s The local availability replica of availability group 'AG1' has transitioned from resolving role to primary role.
2025-03-15 15:00:10.00 spid31s The availability group 'AG1' is online.
Query on SQL1:
SELECT replica_server_name, role_desc, synchronization_health_desc, connected_state_desc FROM sys.dm_hadr_availability_replica_states
WHERE group_id = '...'
Results:
SQL1 | PRIMARY | HEALTHY | CONNECTED
SQL2 | SECONDARY | NOT_HEALTHY | DISCONNECTED
SQL3 | SECONDARY | HEALTHY | CONNECTED
Refer to the exhibit. After a brief outage, the availability group recovered. However, SQL2 shows NOT_HEALTHY and DISCONNECTED. What is the most likely cause?
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.
Exhibit
Availability group configuration:
AG1 (Synchronous commit)
- Primary replica: SQL1 (automatic failover)
- Secondary replica: SQL2 (automatic failover, readable secondary)
- Secondary replica: SQL3 (synchronous commit, manual failover, readable secondary)
Listener: listener1, port 1433
Error log on SQL1:
2025-03-15 15:00:00.00 spid31s The availability group 'AG1' is being restarted due to a failure. Error: 35201. A connection timeout has occurred.
2025-03-15 15:00:05.00 spid31s The local availability replica of availability group 'AG1' has transitioned from resolving role to primary role.
2025-03-15 15:00:10.00 spid31s The availability group 'AG1' is online.
Query on SQL1:
SELECT replica_server_name, role_desc, synchronization_health_desc, connected_state_desc FROM sys.dm_hadr_availability_replica_states
WHERE group_id = '...'
Results:
SQL1 | PRIMARY | HEALTHY | CONNECTED
SQL2 | SECONDARY | NOT_HEALTHY | DISCONNECTED
SQL3 | SECONDARY | HEALTHY | CONNECTED
A
The automatic failover policy requires a quorum that is not met.
Why wrong: Quorum issues would affect all replicas, not just SQL2.
B
The listener is not configured correctly for SQL2.
Why wrong: Listener configuration does not affect replica synchronization.
C
The secondary replica SQL2 has an incompatible database version.
Why wrong: Version incompatibility would prevent the replica from joining, but the error indicates a connection timeout.
D
The network connection between SQL1 and SQL2 is still down after the outage.
The connection timeout error and the DISCONNECTED state suggest network issues.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The network connection between SQL1 and SQL2 is still down after the outage.
The error 35201 indicates a connection timeout. SQL2 is configured for automatic failover and synchronous commit. After the restart, SQL2 remains disconnected and not healthy. This is likely because the network connectivity between SQL1 and SQL2 is still interrupted or there is a persistent issue. Since SQL3 is connected and healthy, the issue is specific to SQL2.
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 automatic failover policy requires a quorum that is not met.
Why it's wrong here
Quorum issues would affect all replicas, not just SQL2.
✗
The listener is not configured correctly for SQL2.
Why it's wrong here
Listener configuration does not affect replica synchronization.
✗
The secondary replica SQL2 has an incompatible database version.
Why it's wrong here
Version incompatibility would prevent the replica from joining, but the error indicates a connection timeout.
✓
The network connection between SQL1 and SQL2 is still down after the outage.
Why this is correct
The connection timeout error and the DISCONNECTED state suggest network issues.
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
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
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 network connection between SQL1 and SQL2 is still down after the outage. — The error 35201 indicates a connection timeout. SQL2 is configured for automatic failover and synchronous commit. After the restart, SQL2 remains disconnected and not healthy. This is likely because the network connectivity between SQL1 and SQL2 is still interrupted or there is a persistent issue. Since SQL3 is connected and healthy, the issue is specific to SQL2.
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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