- A
Active Geo-Replication
Why wrong: Active Geo-Replication creates readable secondary replicas but failover must be initiated manually or through custom automation, which does not meet the 'automatic' requirement.
- B
Elastic pools
Why wrong: Elastic pools are a cost-management feature for managing multiple databases with shared resources. They do not provide cross-region replication or failover capabilities.
- C
Failover groups
Failover groups enable automatic asynchronous replication and automatic failover across regions. The application connects to a listener endpoint that remains unchanged after failover, requiring no code changes.
- D
SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machine with Always On Availability Groups
Why wrong: While this solution can achieve cross-region failover, it requires manual configuration of a listener and more administrative overhead. Additionally, the scenario specifies Azure SQL Database, not IaaS.
Quick Answer
The answer is failover groups. This is the correct choice because failover groups for disaster recovery in Azure SQL Database provide an automatic, geo-redundant failover mechanism across two Azure regions while exposing a single read-write listener endpoint. After a regional outage triggers the auto-failover, the listener endpoint’s connection string remains unchanged, so the e-commerce application can reconnect without any code modifications—meeting the exact requirement of zero application changes. On the Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals DP-900 exam, this question tests your understanding of high-availability features, and a common trap is confusing failover groups with active geo-replication, which requires manual failover and a different connection string. Remember the memory tip: “Failover groups fix the string—geo-replication makes you flip the link.”
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 runs an e-commerce application backed by an on-premises SQL Server database. They plan to migrate to Azure SQL Database and require automatic failover across two Azure regions for disaster recovery. The application must continue to connect using the same connection string after a failover, with no code changes. Which feature should they implement?
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
Failover groups
Failover groups (Option C) enable automatic, geo-redundant failover across two Azure regions while providing a single read-write listener endpoint that remains unchanged after failover. This ensures the application can continue using the same connection string without any code modifications, meeting the stated requirement for disaster recovery with zero application changes.
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 it's wrong here
Active Geo-Replication creates readable secondary replicas but failover must be initiated manually or through custom automation, which does not meet the 'automatic' requirement.
- ✗
Elastic pools
Why it's wrong here
Elastic pools are a cost-management feature for managing multiple databases with shared resources. They do not provide cross-region replication or failover capabilities.
- ✓
Failover groups
Why this is correct
Failover groups enable automatic asynchronous replication and automatic failover across regions. The application connects to a listener endpoint that remains unchanged after failover, requiring no code changes.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machine with Always On Availability Groups
Why it's wrong here
While this solution can achieve cross-region failover, it requires manual configuration of a listener and more administrative overhead. Additionally, the scenario specifies Azure SQL Database, not IaaS.
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, not realizing that only Failover groups provide a single, unchanged connection string endpoint for automatic failover, while Active Geo-Replication requires manual connection string updates.
Trap categories for this question
Scenario analysis trap
While this solution can achieve cross-region failover, it requires manual configuration of a listener and more administrative overhead. Additionally, the scenario specifies Azure SQL Database, not IaaS.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Failover groups use a logical server-level listener (e.g., `server.database.windows.net`) that automatically redirects connections to the current primary region after a failover event. Under the hood, Azure SQL Database leverages a distributed transaction coordinator and automatic health monitoring to trigger failover based on region-level outages, with a default grace period of 1 hour for automatic failover. In a real-world scenario, if the primary region experiences a full outage, the failover group promotes the secondary to primary and updates DNS records, ensuring the same connection string works without application changes.
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
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this DP-900 question test?
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: Failover groups — Failover groups (Option C) enable automatic, geo-redundant failover across two Azure regions while providing a single read-write listener endpoint that remains unchanged after failover. This ensures the application can continue using the same connection string without any code modifications, meeting the stated requirement for disaster recovery with zero application changes.
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.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This DP-900 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-900 exam.
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