DP-300 Plan and implement data platform resources Practice Question
You are configuring an Azure SQL Database to support a mission-critical application. The database is in the Business Critical service tier and uses zone redundancy. You need to ensure that the database remains available even if an entire Azure region becomes unavailable. The solution must minimize data loss and provide automatic failover. What should you do?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse active geo-replication, which requires manual failover, with auto-failover groups, which automate the failover process.
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 with a secondary database in a paired Azure region.
Auto-failover groups provide automatic failover to a secondary region, minimizing downtime and data loss. They support multiple databases and provide listener endpoints for seamless connection redirection. This is the appropriate solution for regional disaster recovery with automatic failover.
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 an auto-failover group with a secondary database in a paired Azure region.
Why this is correct
Auto-failover groups provide automatic failover to a secondary region and allow you to group multiple databases for failover. They support read-write and read-only listener endpoints, and you can set a grace period. This meets the requirement for automatic failover and minimal data loss, as replication is asynchronous but typically low latency. It is the recommended solution for regional disaster recovery.
- ✗
Enable active geo-replication for the database to a secondary region.
Why it's wrong here
Active geo-replication allows you to create readable secondary databases in different regions, but it does not provide automatic failover. You must manually initiate a failover, which may not meet the requirement for automatic failover. While it minimizes data loss, the lack of automation makes it unsuitable for mission-critical applications requiring automatic failover.
- ✗
Enable geo-backup and configure a long-term retention policy.
Why it's wrong here
Geo-backup and long-term retention are for backup and restore purposes, not for automatic failover. They provide data protection but do not offer a live secondary database or automatic failover. Restoring from a geo-backup would result in significant downtime and data loss, failing the requirements for availability and minimal data loss.
- ✗
Configure a failover group with a secondary database in the same region but in a different availability zone.
Why it's wrong here
Failover groups require the secondary database to be in a different Azure region. Placing the secondary in the same region does not protect against a regional outage. Zone redundancy already provides protection within a region, but the requirement is to survive a region-wide failure. This option does not meet the requirement.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Configuring Disaster Recovery for Azure SQL
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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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Microsoft exam blueprint
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.