DP-300 Configure and manage automation of tasks Practice Question
Your company has a critical Azure SQL Database named SalesDB in the West US region. To meet disaster recovery requirements, you configured active geo-replication with a readable secondary replica in East US. You need to automate failover in the event of a regional outage. The solution must ensure that the failover is initiated automatically based on health metrics and that the application connection string is updated to point to the new primary. Currently, the application uses a connection string with the primary server name. You have the following requirements: minimize manual intervention, use built-in Azure features, and ensure that failover is tested regularly. You consider the following options: A) Use Azure Traffic Manager with endpoint monitoring to route traffic to the primary and automatically failover. B) Configure auto-failover group with read-write failover policy and grace period. C) Create an Azure Logic App that queries the database health and runs a PowerShell script to perform failover and update DNS. D) Use Azure Automation with a runbook that checks the database status and initiates failover via REST API. Which option best meets the requirements?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often think custom automation (Logic App or Automation runbook) is needed for automatic failover, but they overlook that auto-failover groups already provide built-in, policy-driven automatic failover with connection string transparency, which is the simplest and most reliable solution for this scenario.
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
✓
Configure auto-failover group with read-write failover policy and grace period.
Auto-failover groups are the built-in Azure feature designed specifically for automating failover of Azure SQL Database geo-replication. They support a read-write failover policy with a configurable grace period that automatically triggers failover based on health metrics, and they automatically update the connection string endpoint for applications using the failover group listener name, not the individual server name. This minimizes manual intervention and allows regular testing via manual failover without affecting the production environment.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use Azure Traffic Manager with endpoint monitoring to route traffic to the primary and automatically failover.
Why it's wrong here
Traffic Manager does not perform database failover; it only routes traffic. The database itself must be failed over separately.
- ✗
Create an Azure Logic App that queries the database health and runs a PowerShell script to perform failover and update DNS.
Why it's wrong here
Adds complexity and relies on custom health checks; not a built-in feature.
- ✓
Configure auto-failover group with read-write failover policy and grace period.
Why this is correct
Auto-failover groups automatically fail over based on health metrics and provide a listener endpoint that updates automatically.
- ✗
Use Azure Automation with a runbook that checks the database status and initiates failover via REST API.
Why it's wrong here
Requires custom scripting and does not provide automated health monitoring.
Go deeper
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
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