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 options are required to configure a SQL Server Always On Availability Group on Azure Virtual Machines?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "always"
Why it matters: Absolute qualifier. An answer using 'always' is only correct if there are genuinely no exceptions — absolute statements are often wrong in networking.
Internal Load Balancer
Required for the listener.
Azure Files share for witness
Why wrong: Optional, not required.
Windows Server Failover Cluster
Required for availability group.
Azure SQL Database
Why wrong: Not relevant for SQL Server on VMs.
VPN gateway between regions
Why wrong: Not required.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Internal Load Balancer
A is correct because an Internal Load Balancer is required to route traffic to the primary replica in a SQL Server Always On Availability Group (AG) deployed on Azure Virtual Machines. The listener uses the ILB's frontend IP and health probe to direct client connections to the current primary node, as the Windows Server Failover Cluster (WSFC) does not support the cluster IP address in Azure without a load balancer.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Internal Load Balancer
Why this is correct
Required for the listener.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "always" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Azure Files share for witness
Why it's wrong here
Optional, not required.
Windows Server Failover Cluster
Why this is correct
Required for availability group.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "always" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Azure SQL Database
Why it's wrong here
Not relevant for SQL Server on VMs.
VPN gateway between regions
Why it's wrong here
Not required.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often think a VPN gateway is required for cross-region AGs, but the question asks for required options to configure the AG, and the ILB and WSFC are the only mandatory components; the VPN gateway is optional and only relevant for specific network topologies.
Detailed technical explanation
The Internal Load Balancer uses a floating IP (Direct Server Return) and a health probe on a dedicated port (e.g., 59999) to detect the primary replica. The WSFC creates a cluster name object (CNO) and virtual IP, but in Azure, the cluster IP cannot be assigned directly to a VM's NIC; the ILB provides the listener IP and forwards traffic based on the probe response. A real-world scenario: if the ILB is misconfigured with the wrong probe port or protocol, client connections will fail even if the AG is healthy.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
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.
What to study next
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FAQ
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..
The correct answer is: Internal Load Balancer — A is correct because an Internal Load Balancer is required to route traffic to the primary replica in a SQL Server Always On Availability Group (AG) deployed on Azure Virtual Machines. The listener uses the ILB's frontend IP and health probe to direct client connections to the current primary node, as the Windows Server Failover Cluster (WSFC) does not support the cluster IP address in Azure without a load balancer.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Yes — watch for: "always". Absolute qualifier. An answer using 'always' is only correct if there are genuinely no exceptions — absolute statements are often wrong in networking.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This DP-300 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the DP-300 exam.
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