AZ-305 - Design Data Storage Solutions (22% of the exam) - Section 2.1

Design data storage solutions for relational data including Azure SQL and managed instances.

Compare Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, and elastic pools to select the right deployment model for a given compatibility, scale, and cost requirement. Apply geo-replication and business continuity features to meet availability and recovery objectives.

Azure SQL DatabaseAzure SQL Managed Instanceelastic poolsgeo-replicationbusiness continuity for SQL

Practice question for this objective

Free sampleDesign Data Storage Solutionsmedium

An on-premises SQL Server 2019 estate relies on cross-database queries, SQL Server Agent jobs, Service Broker, and CLR modules. The team must move to a PaaS database with minimal application rewriting and a native virtual-network endpoint. Which Azure relational service should be the target?

AMigrate the workload to Azure SQL Managed Instance in a delegated subnet. Correct
BMigrate the workload to Azure SQL Database in the Business Critical tier.
CMigrate the workload to Azure SQL Database in the Hyperscale service tier.
DMigrate the workload to Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flexible Server.

Managed Instance preserves instance-level SQL Server features that Azure SQL Database does not expose. SQL Managed Instance is PaaS with close to 100 percent SQL Server feature compatibility, including SQL Server Agent, cross-database queries, Service Broker, and CLR. It also exposes a private endpoint inside a delegated subnet, matching the network requirement.

Why A is correct: Correct. SQL Managed Instance is PaaS with close to 100 percent SQL Server feature compatibility, including SQL Server Agent, cross-database queries, Service Broker, and CLR.

Why B is wrong: Azure SQL Database does not support cross-database queries, SQL Server Agent, or Service Broker, so the listed surface area would require application rewrites.

Why C is wrong: Hyperscale shares the Azure SQL Database engine surface and likewise omits Agent, Service Broker, and cross-database queries.

Why D is wrong: PostgreSQL Flexible Server is a different database engine; SQL Server T-SQL, CLR, Agent, and Service Broker are not portable to PostgreSQL without redevelopment.

See more AZ-305 practice questions, answers explained.

Exam traps in Design Data Storage Solutions

Answers that look right on this material and are not. Each one is a distractor from a different question in the AZ-305 bank for this domain.

Yes
Why it is wrong: If the goal is to seed an Azure SQL Database from Managed Instance, the team must export a `.bacpac`, use Data Migration Service, or rebuild via schema and data movement; native backup-restore does not cross into Azure SQL Database.
Long-term retention of backups for up to 10 years.
Why it is wrong: LTR is available on both DTU (Basic, Standard, Premium) and vCore models; it is not vCore-exclusive.
Provision a Business Critical database at the maximum vCore configuration.
Why it is wrong: Business Critical caps at 4 TB of data per database, well below the 60 TB target, and restore time grows with database size because storage is integrated with compute.

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