DP-300 Configure and manage automation of tasks Practice Question
You have an Azure SQL Database that uses a failover group for high availability. You need to automate the failover to the secondary region during a planned maintenance window. What is the best approach?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap is confusing traffic routing (Traffic Manager) or generic job scheduling (Elastic Jobs) with the actual database failover operation; candidates must recognize that planned failover requires a direct database control-plane command, not a DNS or job-based workaround.
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
✓
Use Azure CLI or PowerShell to invoke planned failover
Using Azure CLI or PowerShell to invoke a planned failover is the best approach because it provides a direct, scriptable, and auditable method to trigger failover during a planned maintenance window. Planned failover ensures no data loss by synchronizing all pending changes before switching, and it can be automated via scripts in Azure DevOps or other orchestration tools. This meets the requirement for automation during a planned window with minimal complexity.
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 CLI or PowerShell to invoke planned failover
Why this is correct
Planned failover via Azure CLI or PowerShell performs a controlled switchover with zero data loss, letting you schedule it inside the maintenance window. It gracefully drains the primary before promoting the secondary, unlike an unplanned forced failover.
- ✗
Create an Azure Automation runbook that uses REST API
Why it's wrong here
Using REST API calls from an Azure Automation runbook lacks the built-in coordinated data loss handling and automatic DNS update that a planned failover via the failover group’s `failover` command provides. It is tempting because REST APIs offer granular control over individual database operations, and would be correct for orchestrating custom recovery workflows not covered by the failover group’s native mechanisms.
- ✗
Schedule an Elastic Database Job to execute a failover script
Why it's wrong here
Elastic Database Jobs run T-SQL against databases, but failover groups are managed through Azure Resource Manager or the failover group endpoint, not a job script. It tempts because jobs automate scheduled database tasks, which suits index maintenance or cross-database queries, not control-plane failover.
- ✗
Configure Azure Traffic Manager to route traffic to secondary
Why it's wrong here
Traffic Manager only redirects client DNS or HTTP connections; it cannot trigger the SQL failover group's role change, so the secondary database stays read-only. It tempts as a regional routing tool, which suits distributing application traffic, not automating planned database failover.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Implementing High Availability for Azure SQL Databases
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 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
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