DP-300 Practice Question: Plan and configure high availability and disaster recovery
You manage an Azure SQL Database named SalesDB in the East US region, Business Critical tier. The database has a long-term retention policy that stores weekly full backups in a geo-redundant storage account. During a compliance audit, you need to prove that you can recover SalesDB to a point in time in the event of a complete East US regional outage. You must perform a geo-restore to the West US region. What is the maximum retention period for point-in-time restore that you can expect when performing this geo-restore?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that geo-restore provides the same point-in-time restore window as standard point-in-time restore.
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
✓
The most recent geo-replicated backup, which is typically within one hour of the current time.
Geo-restore for Azure SQL Database uses the most recent geo-replicated backup, which is typically within one hour. Unlike point-in-time restore, which allows restoring to any point within the retention period (up to 35 days), geo-restore does not provide a point-in-time capability; it restores to the latest geo-replicated backup. This is an important distinction when planning for disaster recovery across regions.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
The most recent geo-replicated backup, which is typically within one hour of the current time.
Why this is correct
Geo-restore uses the latest geo-replicated backup, which is typically no older than one hour. You cannot choose an arbitrary point in time; you restore to the most recent available geo-replicated backup. This is a key limitation for disaster recovery when using geo-restore for Azure SQL Database, as opposed to point-in-time restore within the same region.
- ✗
Up to 35 days, because geo-restore uses the same retention period as standard point-in-time restore.
Why it's wrong here
Geo-restore does not retain the full 35-day point-in-time restore window. The geo-replicated backups used for geo-restore are limited to the most recent backup, which is typically no older than one hour. The 35-day window applies to point-in-time restore within the same region, not to cross-region geo-restore for Azure SQL Database.
- ✗
Up to 14 days, because the long-term retention policy retains weekly full backups that can be used for geo-restore.
Why it's wrong here
Long-term retention backups are stored in a separate storage account and are not used for geo-restore. Geo-restore uses the geo-replicated automated backups, not the long-term retention backups. The long-term retention policy can retain backups for up to 10 years, but those backups are for long-term retention, not for point-in-time geo-restore.
- ✗
Up to 7 days, because geo-replicated backups are retained for 7 days by default.
Why it's wrong here
Geo-replicated backups for Azure SQL Database are not retained for 7 days. The geo-restore capability relies on the latest geo-replicated backup, which is usually within one hour of the current time. A 7-day retention is not a default for geo-restore; it may apply to other backup types but not to this cross-region recovery scenario.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Configuring Disaster Recovery for Azure SQL
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.
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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JA
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
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.