DP-900 Practice Question: Identify considerations for relational data on Azure
This DP-900 practice question tests your understanding of identify considerations for relational data on azure. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company has an Azure SQL Database that supports a critical business application in the West US region. They want to ensure that if the primary region becomes unavailable, the database can automatically fail over to a secondary replica in the East US region with minimal data loss. The secondary replica must also be readable to offload some reporting queries when the primary is healthy. Which Azure SQL Database feature should they enable?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "primary"
Why it matters: Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
Correct. Active Geo-Replication maintains a readable secondary replica in another region and enables automatic failover for disaster recovery with minimal data loss.
B
Long-term retention backups
Why wrong: Incorrect. Long-term retention is for storing backups for years, not for real-time replication or failover.
C
Transparent Data Encryption (TDE)
Why wrong: Incorrect. TDE encrypts data at rest and in transit but does not provide replication or failover capabilities.
D
Point-in-time restore
Why wrong: Incorrect. Point-in-time restore recovers a database to a previous state within the same region, not for cross-region failover.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Active Geo-Replication
Active Geo-Replication creates a readable secondary replica in a different Azure region (East US) that stays synchronized asynchronously with the primary database in West US. In the event of a regional outage, the secondary can be manually or automatically promoted to become the new primary, with minimal data loss (typically a few seconds of transactions). The secondary replica is also readable, allowing reporting queries to be offloaded from the primary while it is healthy.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✓
Active Geo-Replication
Why this is correct
Correct. Active Geo-Replication maintains a readable secondary replica in another region and enables automatic failover for disaster recovery with minimal data loss.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "primary" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Long-term retention backups
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Long-term retention is for storing backups for years, not for real-time replication or failover.
✗
Transparent Data Encryption (TDE)
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. TDE encrypts data at rest and in transit but does not provide replication or failover capabilities.
✗
Point-in-time restore
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Point-in-time restore recovers a database to a previous state within the same region, not for cross-region failover.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Active Geo-Replication with failover groups, but failover groups provide automatic failover and a single endpoint, whereas Active Geo-Replication requires manual or scripted failover and separate connection strings for the secondary.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Active Geo-Replication uses asynchronous replication based on the SQL Server Always On technology, where the primary database commits transactions and then ships log records to the secondary. The secondary replica is a fully functional read-only database that can be used for read workloads, and the replication lag is typically under 5 seconds in most regions. In a failover, the secondary becomes the primary with all previously replicated data, but any transactions that were not yet replicated at the time of the outage are lost, which is why this is an 'eventually consistent' solution.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this DP-900 question in full detail.
Identify considerations for relational data on Azure — This question tests Identify considerations for relational data on Azure — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Active Geo-Replication — Active Geo-Replication creates a readable secondary replica in a different Azure region (East US) that stays synchronized asynchronously with the primary database in West US. In the event of a regional outage, the secondary can be manually or automatically promoted to become the new primary, with minimal data loss (typically a few seconds of transactions). The secondary replica is also readable, allowing reporting queries to be offloaded from the primary while it is healthy.
What should I do if I get this DP-900 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "primary". Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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