DP-300 Plan and implement data platform resources Practice Question
You are a database administrator for a global SaaS provider. You have multiple Azure SQL Databases in a single logical server. You need to implement a disaster recovery strategy that provides automatic failover across Azure regions with the lowest possible RPO and RTO for critical databases. The solution must not require any application code changes. What should you implement?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse active geo-replication (which requires manual or custom failover logic and code changes) with auto-failover groups (which provide automatic failover without code changes), and they mistakenly think a zero grace period is always better for RPO, ignoring the risk of flapping and unnecessary failovers.
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 an auto-failover group across two Azure regions with a grace period of 1 hour and include all critical databases in the group.
Auto-failover groups provide automatic failover across Azure regions with the lowest possible RPO (typically 5 seconds) and RTO (around 1 minute) for critical databases, without requiring any application code changes. By setting the grace period to 1 hour, you allow the system to tolerate transient outages before triggering failover, which balances availability and data loss tolerance. Including all critical databases in the group ensures consistent failover behavior and prevents split-brain scenarios.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use Azure SQL Database backup and restore across regions with a recovery point objective (RPO) of 1 hour.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect: Backup restore has higher RTO (hours) and RPO (up to 1 hour) and is not automatic.
- ✗
Configure an auto-failover group across two Azure regions with a grace period of 0 and include only the most critical database.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect: Grace period of 0 may cause unnecessary failovers; including only one database does not cover all critical databases.
- ✗
Use active geo-replication for each critical database and configure a custom health check to trigger failover.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect: Active geo-replication requires manual failover or custom logic; does not provide automatic failover without application changes.
- ✓
Configure an auto-failover group across two Azure regions with a grace period of 1 hour and include all critical databases in the group.
Why this is correct
Correct: Auto-failover groups provide automatic failover, low RPO (as low as 5 seconds), and application-transparent connection string.
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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.