Plan and configure a high availability and disaster recovery environment →mediumMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
DP-300 Practice Question: Plan and configure a high availability and disaster recovery environment
You manage a critical SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machine running SQL Server 2019. The VM is in a single availability set. You need to ensure automatic failover in case of a zone-level failure. What should you implement?
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
✓
Deploy the VM in an availability zone and configure an Always On availability group with a secondary replica in another zone.
Deploying the VM in an availability zone and configuring an Always On availability group with a secondary replica in another zone ensures automatic failover if the primary zone fails. Option B is incorrect because an availability set only protects against failures within a datacenter, not zone-level failures. Option C is incorrect because geo-replication is designed for regional failure recovery, not zonal failover. Option D is incorrect because automated backups with long-term retention do not provide failover capabilities.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Deploy the VM in an availability zone and configure an Always On availability group with a secondary replica in another zone.
Why this is correct
Zone-redundant deployment provides automatic failover for zone failures.
- ✗
Place the VM in an availability set.
Why it's wrong here
Availability sets protect against rack failures, not zone failures.
- ✗
Enable geo-replication to another Azure region.
Why it's wrong here
Geo-replication protects against region failure, not zone failure.
- ✗
Configure automated backups with long-term retention.
Why it's wrong here
Backups do not provide automatic failover.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Overview of Azure Data Platform Options
Key term
Azure SQL Database Backup
Azure SQL Database Backup is a fully managed, automated service that creates and stores copies of your SQL database data and transaction logs in Azure storage, enabling point-in-time recovery and long-term retention for data protection and business continuity.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.