Plan and configure a high availability and disaster recovery environment →mediumMultiple SelectObjective-mapped
DP-300 Practice Question: Plan and configure a high availability and disaster recovery environment
You need to design a disaster recovery solution for an Azure SQL Database that uses the General Purpose service tier. The solution must have an RTO of 1 hour and an RPO of 15 minutes. Which TWO options can achieve these requirements?
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
✓
Auto-failover group with a secondary in a different region.
Options C and D can meet the RTO of 1 hour and RPO of 15 minutes. Active geo-replication (D) provides asynchronous replication to a secondary region with an RPO typically seconds to minutes, and failover can be initiated manually within minutes, meeting both targets. Auto-failover groups (C) build on active geo-replication and add automatic failover, also meeting the requirements. Option A (PITR with geo-redundant backup storage) cannot reliably meet the 1-hour RTO because restoring from backups can take several hours depending on database size and activity. Option B (LTR) is for archival and not suitable for fast recovery. Option E (zone redundancy) provides high availability within a region, not 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.
- ✗
Point-in-time restore (PITR) using geo-redundant backup storage.
Why it's wrong here
Point-in-time restore from geo-redundant backups can meet the RPO (backups are frequent) but typically has an RTO measured in hours, not minutes, so it does not satisfy the 1-hour RTO requirement.
- ✗
Long-term retention (LTR) backups.
Why it's wrong here
LTR is for archival, not for meeting RTO/RPO of 1 hour/15 minutes.
- ✓
Auto-failover group with a secondary in a different region.
Why this is correct
Auto-failover groups use active geo-replication and provide automatic failover. The RPO is the same as active geo-replication (seconds to minutes) and failover completes within minutes, meeting both targets.
- ✓
Active geo-replication to a secondary server in a paired region.
Why this is correct
Active geo-replication asynchronously replicates data to a secondary server in a different region. RPO is typically 5–15 seconds, well under 15 minutes, and failover can be initiated manually in minutes, meeting the RTO.
- ✗
Zone redundancy on the primary database.
Why it's wrong here
Zone redundancy protects against zonal failures, not regional.
Visual reference
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Related to this question
Learn chapter
Overview of Azure Data Platform Options
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 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.