Microsoft · AZ-305
Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305) Practice Tests
Measures the ability to design cloud and hybrid Azure solutions across identity, governance, monitoring, storage, continuity, compute, applications, migration, and networking.
Exam Details
Practice Questions
530
≈ 10 practice exams
Duration
120 minutes
Passing Score
700/1000
Difficulty
ExpertLast Updated
Oct 2026
Topics Covered
Identity, governance, and monitoring solutionsData storage solutionsBusiness continuity solutionsInfrastructure solutions
Microsoft AZ-305 Azure Solutions Architect Practice Exam
AZ-305 tests architecture decisions across Azure rather than step-by-step administration. Microsoft's April 17, 2026 blueprint weights infrastructure design highest at 30-35%, followed by identity, governance, and monitoring at 25-30%, data storage at 20-25%, and business continuity at 15-20%. Expect trade-offs involving availability, security, operations, cost, and migration, not isolated product definitions.
The exam allows 120 minutes, may contain interactive components, and requires a scaled score of 700 or greater; Microsoft does not publish a fixed question count. You may sit AZ-305 without another exam, but Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate is a separate requirement for earning the Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification.
Use this 530-question AZ-305 bank to practise mapping business requirements to a defensible design. Start with the 30 free questions, then review why each rejected option fails a stated requirement and cross-check service limits and current capabilities in Microsoft Learn and the Azure Architecture Center.
Exam Domain Breakdown
Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions28%
Design data storage solutions23%
Design business continuity solutions18%
Design infrastructure solutions33%
Exam Overview
AZ-305, Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions, validates architecture decisions for cloud and hybrid solutions across compute, network, storage, monitoring, and security. The English exam was updated on April 17, 2026.
Candidates are expected to translate business requirements into designs aligned with the Azure Well-Architected Framework and Cloud Adoption Framework and to understand how decisions in one area affect the complete solution.
Who Should Take This Exam
The exam is aimed at experienced Azure solutions architects and senior cloud practitioners who advise stakeholders and work with administrators, developers, security engineers, and data engineers. Microsoft expects advanced IT operations knowledge plus experience with Azure administration, development, and DevOps processes.
Prerequisites
There is no prerequisite to sit AZ-305. To earn Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert, however, a candidate must also hold Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate; the two requirements can be completed in either order.
Exam Format
Microsoft allows 120 minutes, may include interactive components, and requires a scaled score of 700 or greater. It does not publish a fixed question count and currently lists no retirement date.
Skills Measured
- 1.Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions (25-30%): logging, authentication, authorization, secrets, governance, and compliance.
- 2.Design data storage solutions (20-25%): relational, semi-structured, and unstructured stores plus integration and analysis.
- 3.Design business continuity solutions (15-20%): backup, disaster recovery, high availability, and recovery-objective trade-offs.
- 4.Design infrastructure solutions (30-35%): compute, application architecture, migration, networking, connectivity, security, routing, and load balancing.
Study Tips
- Use the April 17, 2026 Microsoft study guide as the definitive objective list.
- Practise turning stated business and technical constraints into an architecture rather than recalling isolated services.
- Work through Azure Architecture Center reference designs and explain each availability, security, cost, and operations trade-off.
- Take Microsoft's free Practice Assessment and use the Exam Sandbox before scheduling.
- Confirm current service capabilities and limits in Microsoft Learn when reviewing every missed question.
Career Benefits
AZ-305 contributes the architecture-exam requirement for Azure Solutions Architect Expert. Together with the Azure Administrator Associate requirement, it demonstrates Microsoft-validated capability to design Azure solutions; it does not replace the hands-on experience expected for an architecture role.
Sample Questions
5 sample questions with answers and explanations. The full bank has 530 questions, enough for 10 full-length practice exams.
Preview — answers shown1. A stateless web app that requires full OS access and regional redundancy is deployed to an Azure virtual machine scale set (VMSS) that uses autoscaling. Does this solution meet all the goals?
AYes
BNo
Explanation
No, this solution does not meet all the goals. A standard virtual machine scale set is a regional resource. While it provides high availability within a region (if configured across zones) and autoscaling, it does not, by itself, provide redundancy if the entire Azure region fails. To achieve regional redundancy, you would need to deploy at least two separate scale sets in two different regions and use a global load balancer like Azure Traffic Manager or Azure Front Door to manage the traffic between them. A: This is incorrect because a single VMSS cannot provide protection against a regional failure.
2. An auditor needs a monthly report that shows all new Azure resource deployments. Which service should they use to query this data?
AAzure Arc
BAzure Monitor metrics
CApplication Insights
DAzure Log Analytics
Explanation
Azure Log Analytics is the correct service to use. The Azure Activity Log, which captures all resource deployments, sends its data to a Log Analytics workspace. This workspace provides the powerful Kusto Query Language (KQL), which the auditor can use to write precise queries to filter and aggregate the deployment data for the last month to create the required report.
3. An auditor needs a monthly report showing all new Azure resource deployments. Which service is the definitive source of this audit data?
AAzure Advisor
BApplication Insights
CAzure Activity Log
DAzure Analysis Services
Explanation
The Azure Activity Log is the definitive source of this information. It is the platform-level log for a subscription that records every management plane action, including every resource creation ('write') operation. The auditor can filter this log by date and operation type to get the exact data required for their report.
4. Given that 'MegaCart' has chosen Azure SQL Database for its 75 TB product catalog, which specific service tier must they select to accommodate this massive database size?
AGeneral Purpose
BHyperscale
CStandard
DBusiness Critical
Explanation
They must select the Hyperscale service tier. Hyperscale is a unique architecture within Azure SQL Database designed specifically for very large databases (VLDBs). It is the only service tier that supports databases up to 100 TB in size. It also provides rapid scaling, fast database restores, and high performance regardless of the data volume. The other tiers, like Business Critical and General Purpose, have much lower size limits and would not be able to host a 75 TB database.
5. An Azure SQL Server named 'sqlserver2' is in the West US region. A storage account named 'storage2' is in the East US region. Can you configure auditing for a database on 'sqlserver2' to send its logs to 'storage2'?
AYes
BNo
Explanation
Yes, you can configure this. The auditing destination for an Azure SQL database does not have to be in the same region as the database itself. You can point the audit logs to a storage account in any Azure region. However, doing so will incur data egress charges for the traffic leaving the West US region to be written to the East US region. While it is technically possible, it is generally recommended to keep the audit destination in the same region as the source to minimize costs. B. This is incorrect because the configuration is technically allowed, even if it's not always the most cost-effective design.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the current AZ-305 domains?
Identity, governance, and monitoring is 25-30%; data storage 20-25%; business continuity 15-20%; and infrastructure solutions 30-35%.
How long is AZ-305 and what score passes?
Microsoft allows 120 minutes and requires a scaled score of 700 or greater. The exam may contain interactive components.
How many questions are on AZ-305?
Microsoft does not publish a fixed count. It says most certification exams typically have 40-60 questions, but the number can vary.
Is AZ-104 required before taking AZ-305?
No exam prerequisite is listed for sitting AZ-305. However, an active Azure Administrator Associate certification is also required to earn Azure Solutions Architect Expert.
When was AZ-305 last updated?
Microsoft updated the English exam on April 17, 2026. Localized versions generally follow later, so check the dated study guide for your exam language.
Is AZ-305 scheduled for retirement?
No. Microsoft currently lists no retirement date for AZ-305.
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