Designing Database Solutions for Microsoft SQL Server — Question 12

You are the administrator for a SQL Server 2014 instance that stores the data for an online transaction processing sales system.
The company takes full backups every week; differential backups on the days with no full backups; and hourly transaction backups. These backups are stored on a backup server in the company's data center.
Every week, the company places the full backup on a tape and sends it to a third-party backup storage system.
The company is worried that a disaster might occur that could destroy their computer center and cause them to lose orders.
You need to determine the best method for providing the smallest amount of data loss and downtime without leasing or purchasing additional physical locations.
What should you do? More than one answer choice may achieve the goal. Select the BEST answer.

Answer options

• A. Set up SQL Server Always On with a SQL Azure database as a replica.
• B. Set up SQL Server Always On by using a SQL Server on a Windows Azure Virtual Machine.
• C. Put the differential backup on tape and send it to the third-party backup storage system.
• D. Use the Microsoft SQL Server Backup to Microsoft Windows Azure Tool to direct all backups to a different geographical location.

Correct answer: D

Explanation

The correct answer is D because using the Microsoft SQL Server Backup to Microsoft Windows Azure Tool allows backups to be stored in a geographically separate location, reducing the risk of total data loss due to a disaster at the primary site. Options A and B involve setting up Always On availability groups, which may not address the immediate goal of minimizing data loss without additional resources. Option C, while it enhances backup security, does not provide the same level of geographical redundancy as option D.