Hotspot Question You have an Azure subscription. You need to deploy a relational database. The solution must meet the following requirements: - Support multiple read-only replicas. - Automatically…

This question tests knowledge of Azure database services that support multiple read-only replicas with automatic load balancing of read traffic, while minimizing administrative overhead.

Submitted by asante_acc· Mar 6, 2026Design data storage solutions

Question

Hotspot Question You have an Azure subscription. You need to deploy a relational database. The solution must meet the following requirements: - Support multiple read-only replicas. - Automatically load balance read-only requests across all the read- only replicas. - Minimize administrative effort What should you use? To answer, select the appropriate options in the answer area. NOTE: Each correct selection is worth one point. Answer:

Exhibit

Answer Area

Service
A single Azure SQL databaseAn Azure SQL Database elastic poolAzure SQL Managed Instances
Service tier
Business CriticalHyperscalePremium

Explanation

This question tests knowledge of Azure database services that support multiple read-only replicas with automatic load balancing of read traffic, while minimizing administrative overhead.

Approach. The correct answer is Azure SQL Database Hyperscale tier with the Read Scale-Out feature. Hyperscale supports up to 30 named read-only replicas and automatically load balances read-only connections across all available replicas when you connect using ApplicationIntent=ReadOnly in the connection string. This is a fully managed PaaS service, which minimizes administrative effort compared to IaaS solutions. No manual configuration of a load balancer is required - Azure handles the distribution of read-only workloads automatically across all replicas.

Concept tested. Azure SQL Database Hyperscale tier with automatic read-only replica load balancing, distinguishing it from other Azure database offerings like General Purpose or Business Critical tiers (which support only one HA replica for read scale-out) and IaaS solutions like SQL Server on Azure VMs (which require manual configuration of Always On Availability Groups and listeners).

Reference. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/service-tier-hyperscale?view=azuresql#read-scale-out

Topics

#Azure SQL Database#Hyperscale#Read replicas#Database scalability

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