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DP-300 Practice Question: Plan and configure a high availability and disaster recovery environment

You are designing a disaster recovery plan for an Azure SQL Database that uses the Business Critical service tier. The database is 2 TB. You need to ensure that the secondary replica in a different Azure region is readable for reporting queries. What should you configure?

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 server in the target region.

Active geo-replication creates a readable secondary database in a different region that can be used for reporting. Option A is wrong: auto-failover groups do not automatically provide a readable secondary; they are designed for failover, and while you can configure a readable secondary, active geo-replication is the primary method for cross-region read-scale. Option B is wrong because zone-redundant backup storage provides redundancy for backups, not a readable secondary. Option D is wrong because geo-restore creates a new database from a backup and is not a continuously available readable replica.

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

  • Create an auto-failover group with a secondary in the paired region.

    Why it's wrong here

    Auto-failover groups do provide a readable secondary replica, even in a different region. However, active geo-replication is the recommended method for creating a readable secondary specifically for reporting and read-scale workloads, as it allows multiple readable secondaries and provides more flexibility. Failover groups are primarily designed for orchestrated failover, not for read-scale.

  • Enable zone-redundant backup storage.

    Why it's wrong here

    Zone-redundant backup does not provide a readable replica.

  • Configure active geo-replication to a secondary server in the target region.

    Why this is correct

    Active geo-replication provides a readable secondary database.

  • Use geo-restore from geo-redundant backups.

    Why it's wrong here

    Geo-restore is not a continuous readable replica.

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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security

Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva

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