Plan and configure a high availability and disaster recovery environment →easyMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
DP-300 Practice Question: Plan and configure a high availability and disaster recovery environment
You need to implement a disaster recovery solution for a SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machine using SQL Server Always On Availability Groups. The secondary replica must be in a different Azure region. What is the minimum number of VMs required to achieve automatic failover?
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
✓
2
(2 VMs). To achieve automatic failover, an Always On Availability Group requires at least two SQL Server replicas (primary and secondary) configured for synchronous-commit mode with automatic failover. A two-node Windows Server Failover Cluster also requires a witness (cloud witness or file share witness) to maintain quorum during automatic failover, but that witness does not require an additional VM. Therefore, the minimum number of VMs remains 2. Option A (1 VM) offers no high availability. Option B (3 VMs) exceeds the minimum. Option C (4 VMs) is unnecessary.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
1
Why it's wrong here
Single VM provides no HA.
- ✗
3
Why it's wrong here
Three replicas are needed only if you want a witness for automatic failover without shared storage.
- ✗
4
Why it's wrong here
Unnecessary.
- ✓
2
Why this is correct
Two replicas are the minimum for automatic failover.
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