DP-300 Practice Question: Plan and configure a high availability and disaster recovery environment
You have an Azure SQL Managed Instance named MI1 in the West Europe region. The instance hosts a mission-critical database that must be recoverable within 30 minutes in the event of a regional outage. You need to implement a disaster recovery solution that minimizes data loss and administrative effort. The solution must support read-only access to the secondary during normal operations. What should you configure?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse Azure SQL Database features like active geo-replication with SQL Managed Instance capabilities; managed instances do not support active geo-replication.
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
✓
Create an auto-failover group with MI1 as the primary and a secondary managed instance in North Europe.
Auto-failover groups for Azure SQL Managed Instance are the correct choice because they provide automatic failover, a read-only listener for the secondary, and low RPO/RTO. They are specifically designed for cross-region disaster recovery for managed instances. Geo-replication is not available for managed instances, log shipping is not native, and omitting the read-only listener fails the read-only access requirement.
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 geo-replication for the database to a secondary managed instance in North Europe.
Why it's wrong here
Geo-replication for SQL Managed Instance is not a native feature; it is only available for Azure SQL Database. SQL Managed Instance uses auto-failover groups for cross-region disaster recovery. Therefore, this option is not technically feasible and would not meet the requirements.
- ✗
Set up a failover group with a secondary managed instance, but do not enable the read-only listener.
Why it's wrong here
While an auto-failover group can be configured without a read-only listener, the requirement explicitly states that read-only access to the secondary is needed during normal operations. Without the read-only listener, applications cannot connect to the secondary for read-only workloads, so this does not meet the requirement.
- ✗
Use log shipping to a secondary managed instance in North Europe.
Why it's wrong here
Log shipping is not a native Azure SQL Managed Instance feature; it would require manual configuration and management, increasing administrative effort. It also typically has a higher RPO and RTO than auto-failover groups, and does not provide a built-in read-only listener for seamless access.
- ✓
Create an auto-failover group with MI1 as the primary and a secondary managed instance in North Europe.
Why this is correct
Auto-failover groups for Azure SQL Managed Instance support automatic failover and provide a read-only listener endpoint for the secondary. This allows read-only access during normal operations. The RPO is typically less than 5 seconds, and the RTO is typically under 30 minutes, meeting the requirement. It also minimizes administrative effort because failover is automatic.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Overview of Azure Data Platform Options
Key term
Azure SQL Managed Instance
Azure SQL Managed Instance is a fully managed cloud database service that gives you nearly all the features of Microsoft SQL Server on your own server, without you having to manage the hardware or operating system.
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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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