Plan and configure a high availability and disaster recovery environment →hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
DP-300 Practice Question: Plan and configure a high availability and disaster recovery environment
You are a database administrator for a global e-commerce company. The company uses Azure SQL Database for its product catalog, which is a mission-critical OLTP workload. The database is currently deployed in the West US region using the Business Critical service tier with zone redundancy enabled. The database size is 200 GB and grows at 10 GB per month. The company has a disaster recovery requirement: in the event of a regional outage, the database must be failed over to a secondary region with an RPO of less than 5 seconds and an RTO of less than 1 minute. Additionally, the secondary database must be readable to support read-heavy reporting workloads. The solution must minimize additional compute costs. You need to recommend a configuration. Which option should you choose?
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
✓
Configure active geo-replication to a secondary database in a paired region using Business Critical tier with a readable secondary.
Active geo-replication to a secondary database in a paired region using Business Critical tier with a readable secondary meets all requirements: it provides cross-region DR with an RPO of less than 5 seconds (synchronous replication within the primary region, asynchronous to secondary), RTO of less than 1 minute (failover is fast), and the secondary is readable for reporting. Zone redundancy within the primary region does not provide cross-region DR, so options B and C are incorrect. Hyperscale tier (option D) is more expensive and does not inherently provide cross-region DR with the required RPO; named replicas add cost.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Configure active geo-replication to a secondary database in a paired region using Business Critical tier with a readable secondary.
Why this is correct
Active geo-replication provides low RPO and a readable secondary, meeting all requirements.
- ✗
Create a failover group within the same region using Business Critical tier with a readable secondary.
Why it's wrong here
This does not protect against regional outages.
- ✗
Add a second zone-redundant replica in the same region and configure a failover group.
Why it's wrong here
This does not provide cross-region DR.
- ✗
Upgrade to Hyperscale tier with zone redundancy and configure a named replica in a secondary region.
Why it's wrong here
Hyperscale may be more expensive and complex; the existing Business Critical tier can meet requirements with geo-replication.
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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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.