Exam AZ-104 topic 1 question 30 discussion

The load balancing rules configure how the load balancer routes traffic to the SQL Server instances. For this load balancer, you enable direct server return because only one of the two SQL Server instances owns the availability group listener resource at a time. >> Floating IP (direct server return) Enabled

If you want to reuse the backend port across multiple rules, you must enable Floating IP in the rule definition. When Floating IP is enabled, Azure changes the IP address mapping to the Frontend IP address of the Load Balancer frontend instead of backend instance's IP. Without Floating IP, Azure exposes the VM instances' IP. Enabling Floating IP changes the IP address mapping to the Frontend IP of the load Balancer to allow for additional flexibility. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/load-balancer-floating-ip

Since enabling Floating IP is required for the ILB to act as a listener for SQL Server Always On availability groups, the solution meets the goal.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/availability-group-load-balancer-portal-configure?view=azuresql#step-4-set-the-load-balancing-rules

A is correct

The solution provided, enabling Floating IP, does not meet the goal of configuring an Azure internal load balancer as a listener for the availability group. Enabling Floating IP is not the correct configuration option for an Azure internal load balancer listener for SQL Server Always On availability groups. Floating IP is only used for outbound traffic from the virtual machine, and not for inbound traffic from the Azure internal load balancer. To configure an Azure internal load balancer as a listener for the availability group, you need to create an internal load balancer and configure the listener for the availability group. You will then add the IP address of the internal load balancer as the listener IP address for the availability group. Therefore, the correct answer is B. No.

A is corerct

Answer: B. No Explanation: Enabling Floating IP is not the correct solution for configuring an Azure internal load balancer as a listener for the availability group. In Azure, for an internal load balancer to act as a listener for the availability group, you should configure the load balancer with a Standard SKU and a Basic SKU public IP address. The internal load balancer should be associated with the back-end pool of the availability group nodes. Therefore, enabling Floating IP does not meet the goal of configuring an Azure internal load balancer as a listener for the availability group.

In the context of SQL Server Always On AG, the Floating IP is crucial because it provides a consistent endpoint for the AG listener. To support failover Handling, Azure VNets do not support broadcasting, so the Floating IP and the internal load balancer’s probe setup help determine which node is the primary replica and direct application traffic to it without the need for broadcasting.

Yes is right

worksThe load balancing rules configure how the load balancer routes traffic to the SQL Server instances. For this load balancer, you enable direct server return because only one of the two SQL Server instances owns the availability group listener resource at a time.

Azure Load Balancer Floating IP configuration explanation: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/load-balancer-floating-ip

A correct

A

No, the solution does not meet the goal. Enabling Floating IP is not a required step when configuring an Azure internal load balancer as a listener for a SQL Server Always On availability group. There are several steps involved in configuring an Azure internal load balancer for a SQL Server Always On availability group, including creating the load balancer, configuring the backend pool, creating a probe, and setting the load balancing rules. Enabling Floating IP is not one of these steps.

The floating IP concept is explained in below video

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/load-balancer-floating-ip