How Should You Design Disaster Recovery for Data Lake Storage Gen2?
You have an Azure subscription that contains an Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 account named storage1 and an Azure Synapse Analytics workspace named Workspace1. Workspace1 contains a serverless SQL pool and an Apache Spark pool. You need to recommend a disaster recovery solution for storage1. What should you include in the recommendation?
Community Insight
The question tests whether you can separate storage-account geo-replication from blob backup and Synapse SQL geo-backup; the trap is choosing a backup feature that protects against deletion in the primary region but does not provide cross-region DR.
Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 disaster recovery relies on storage-account redundancy such as geo-redundant storage, which asynchronously replicates data to a secondary region. This page establishes asynchronous replication as the correct recommendation for storage1.
Choosing operational backup of Azure blobs because it sounds like a backup solution, even though operational backup is regional and does not provide the secondary-region copy needed for ADLS Gen2 disaster recovery.
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Expert Analysis
Why the Answer Is Correct
Asynchronous replication is the right recommendation because Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 is built on Azure Blob storage, and its cross-region DR capability comes from storage-account redundancy options such as GRS, RA-GRS, GZRS, or RA-GZRS. These options replicate data asynchronously to a secondary Azure region, so a copy exists if the primary region fails. The Synapse serverless SQL pool and Apache Spark pool consume the data through storage endpoints, so protecting the underlying ADLS Gen2 account is the correct layer to address. In the community discussion, gpais made the same point: ADLS Gen2 is "built directly on top of Azure Blob storage infrastructure," and full DR depends on storage-account redundancy tiers. The option wording "asynchronous replication" maps to that storage-account geo-replication behavior.Why the Other Options Are Wrong
Vaulted backup of Azure blobs is not the right mechanism here: it is a backup feature for blob data protection and restore, not the continuous cross-region replication model used for ADLS Gen2 disaster recovery. Operational backup of Azure blobs is also wrong because operational backups are regional and do not create a secondary-region copy for a regional outage. Geo-backup in Azure Synapse Analytics applies to dedicated SQL pool data, not to the ADLS Gen2 storage account named storage1. The presence of serverless SQL and Spark pools in Workspace1 is a distractor; neither pool changes the DR recommendation for the storage account itself.Community Comment Notes
The useful comment from gpais supports the storage-account layer of the solution by noting that ADLS Gen2 is "built directly on top of Azure Blob storage infrastructure." It further explains that geographic DR relies on storage-account redundancy tiers such as GRS or GZRS. That aligns with choosing asynchronous replication rather than a Synapse-specific backup option or a blob backup option. No commenter defended vaulted or operational blob backup as the cross-region DR answer.Official Reference
Exam Strategy
When an AZ-305 question asks for disaster recovery of a storage account, first identify the layer each option protects: storage-account redundancy, blob backup, or Synapse database backup. Eliminate options that only cover dedicated SQL pools or same-region operational recovery, then choose the option that creates a secondary-region copy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why isn't vaulted backup of Azure blobs the DR choice for ADLS Gen2?
Vaulted blob backup protects against deletion or corruption; it is not the continuous cross-region replication mechanism that ADLS Gen2 disaster recovery requires.
Does Synapse geo-backup protect the ADLS Gen2 account storage1?
No. Geo-backup in Azure Synapse applies to dedicated SQL pool data, not to the external Data Lake Storage Gen2 account.
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