DP-300 Practice Question: Plan and configure a high availability and disaster recovery environment
Which TWO disaster recovery options are available for Azure SQL Database? (Choose two.)
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Auto-failover groups.
Active geo-replication and auto-failover groups are the two primary disaster recovery options for Azure SQL Database. Active geo-replication provides asynchronous replication of a database to a secondary region, while auto-failover groups extend this by allowing failover of multiple databases and providing read-only endpoints. Options A (database mirroring) and D (log shipping) are not supported for Azure SQL Database. Option C (Always On availability groups) is a feature for SQL Server on Azure VMs, not for Azure SQL Database.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Database mirroring.
Why it's wrong here
Database mirroring is a deprecated SQL Server engine feature requiring principal and mirror instances; Azure SQL Database is a platform service with no mirror endpoint to configure. It is correct for legacy on-premises SQL Server deployments still running mirroring before migrating to availability groups.
- ✓
Auto-failover groups.
Why this is correct
Auto-failover groups provide automated geo-replication across Azure regions, enabling a secondary server to take over if the primary fails. This satisfies the disaster recovery requirement by delivering cross-region failover for Azure SQL Database, including read-write listener endpoints that redirect connections without manual intervention.
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Always On availability groups.
Why it's wrong here
Always On availability groups require Windows Server Failover Clustering and SQL Server instances; Azure SQL Database abstracts the engine and offers auto-failover groups instead. Availability groups are correct for SQL Server on Azure VMs or on-premises, where you manage the cluster and replicas.
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Log shipping.
Why it's wrong here
Log shipping is a SQL Server on-premises or IaaS technique using backup, copy and restore jobs; Azure SQL Database exposes no transaction log access for it. It is correct for SQL Server instances you fully manage, where you control log backups and secondary servers.
- ✓
Active geo-replication.
Why this is correct
Active geo-replication continuously replicates a database to up to four secondary servers in different Azure regions, providing a readable secondary and a manually initiated failover. This satisfies the disaster recovery requirement by enabling recovery from a region-wide outage without restoring from backup.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Overview of Azure Data Platform Options
Key term
Azure SQL Performance Tuning
Azure SQL Performance Tuning is the process of optimizing the speed and efficiency of queries and database operations in Microsoft Azure SQL Database or SQL Managed Instance to reduce latency and improve throughput.
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