Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect ExpertDesign business continuity solutionsEasy
A small online retail company uses Azure SQL Database for its primary product catalog and customer order information. The company has a strict Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of 1 hour and a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of 4 hours. They need a cost-effective solution that provides automated backups and the ability to restore the database to a specific point in time within the last 7 days. Which Azure SQL Database feature should be implemented?
- AActive Geo-Replication
- BLong-Term Retention (LTR)
- CPoint-in-Time Restore (PITR)
- DFailover Groups
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: C. Point-in-Time Restore (PITR)
Point-in-Time Restore (PITR) for Azure SQL Database allows restoring a database to any point in time within its retention period, which by default is 7 days for basic tiers and up to 35 days for standard/premium. This natively provided feature meets the RPO, RTO, and cost-effectiveness requirements for automated backups and specific point-in-time recovery.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Active Geo-Replication is for high availability and disaster recovery across regions, not primarily for point-in-time recovery from accidental data loss.
- B. LTR is for retaining backups for up to 10 years, which exceeds the 7-day requirement and is typically for compliance, not for immediate operational recovery to a specific point within a week.
- D. Failover Groups provide automatic failover for a group of databases across regions, focused on high availability, not specific point-in-time restores.
Azure SQL DB Point-in-Time Restore (PITR)
A built-in feature of Azure SQL Database that allows restoring a database to an earlier point in time, typically within its automated backup retention period.
- Uses automated full, differential, and transaction log backups.
- Default retention is 7 days (can be extended up to 35 days).
- Ideal for recovering from accidental data deletion or corruption.
Memory trick: PITR is like a time machine for your database, going back to a specific moment.