DP-300 Plan and implement data platform resources Practice Question
You manage an Azure SQL Database that supports a critical web application. The database is currently configured with the General Purpose service tier and locally redundant backup storage. The compliance team requires that all backups be stored in a paired Azure region to ensure availability during a regional outage. You need to change the backup storage redundancy without affecting the database availability. What should you do?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse disaster recovery features like active geo-replication with backup storage redundancy, which are separate mechanisms.
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
✓
Modify the database's backup storage redundancy setting to geo-redundant backup storage.
Changing the backup storage redundancy setting to geo-redundant backup storage replicates backups to a paired Azure region. This operation is performed at the database or server level and does not require downtime. It directly fulfills the compliance requirement without adding unnecessary replication or migration steps.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Modify the database's backup storage redundancy setting to geo-redundant backup storage.
Why this is correct
Azure SQL Database allows you to change the backup storage redundancy setting for a database to geo-redundant storage, which replicates backups to a paired region. This change can be made without taking the database offline and directly meets the compliance requirement. It is the supported method to alter where backups are stored.
- ✗
Configure active geo-replication to a secondary region and fail over the database.
Why it's wrong here
Active geo-replication creates readable secondary databases in other regions for disaster recovery and read offloading, but it does not change the storage redundancy of the backups. The backups remain in the original region's storage account. This action would add cost and complexity without satisfying the compliance requirement for backup storage location.
- ✗
Enable long-term retention (LTR) policies to copy backups to a separate storage account in the paired region.
Why it's wrong here
Long-term retention allows you to retain full backups beyond the default retention period, but it does not automatically copy them to a different region. LTR backups are stored in the same region as the database unless geo-redundant backup storage is configured. Enabling LTR alone does not satisfy the requirement for backups in a paired region.
- ✗
Create a new database in the paired region and migrate all data by using transactional replication.
Why it's wrong here
Creating a new database in another region and using transactional replication would not change the backup storage redundancy of the original database. It would introduce a separate database that requires management and does not ensure that the original database's backups are stored in the paired region. This approach is overly complex and does not address the requirement.
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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