DP-300 Plan and implement data platform resources Practice Question
This DP-300 practice question tests your understanding of plan and implement data platform resources. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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.
You are designing a disaster recovery plan for an Azure SQL Database that is used by a critical application. The database is currently in the West US region. You need to ensure that if a regional outage occurs, the database can be failed over to another region with minimal data loss. The solution must also minimize costs for the secondary replica. Which deployment option should you recommend?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "minimum / minimize"
Why it matters: Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.
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 in East US using a lower service tier.
Active geo-replication allows you to create a readable secondary database in a different region (East US) with a lower service tier, which reduces costs while still providing a disaster recovery target. In the event of a regional outage, you can manually initiate a failover to the secondary, and because replication is asynchronous, data loss is limited to the replication lag (typically a few seconds). This meets the requirement of minimal data loss and cost minimization.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
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 in East US using a lower service tier.
Why this is correct
Active geo-replication allows different service tiers for secondary, reducing costs.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "minimum / minimize" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Deploy an auto-failover group with a secondary in East US using the same service tier.
Why it's wrong here
Auto-failover groups enforce the same service tier on secondary, which may increase costs.
✗
Deploy a zone-redundant database in West US with a failover group to East US.
Why it's wrong here
Zone redundancy is intra-region and does not replace cross-region disaster recovery.
✗
Use a failover group with a secondary in East US and enable zone redundancy on both.
Why it's wrong here
Zone redundancy adds cost and does not allow different service tiers.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates assume auto-failover groups are always the best choice for disaster recovery, but they fail to recognize that auto-failover groups require the secondary to have the same service tier, which conflicts with the cost minimization requirement.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Active geo-replication uses asynchronous replication based on the Always On availability groups technology, where the secondary database is a readable copy that can be at a different service tier (e.g., S2 instead of S3). The replication lag is typically under 5 seconds but can vary based on workload and network latency; you can monitor it via the `replication_lag_seconds` column in `sys.dm_geo_replication_link_status`. In a real-world scenario, if the primary fails, you would initiate a manual failover using the `ALTER DATABASE ... FAILOVER` command, accepting the potential data loss of the last few transactions.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this DP-300 question in full detail.
Plan and implement data platform resources — This question tests Plan and implement data platform resources — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Configure active geo-replication to a secondary in East US using a lower service tier. — Active geo-replication allows you to create a readable secondary database in a different region (East US) with a lower service tier, which reduces costs while still providing a disaster recovery target. In the event of a regional outage, you can manually initiate a failover to the secondary, and because replication is asynchronous, data loss is limited to the replication lag (typically a few seconds). This meets the requirement of minimal data loss and cost minimization.
What should I do if I get this DP-300 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "minimum / minimize". Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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