Conquer AZ-305: Architecting Azure Like a Pro

Conquer AZ-305: Architecting Azure Like a Pro

First Edition

Preface

Welcome to the first edition of Conquer AZ-305: Architecting Azure Like a Pro . This book is designed for cloud professionals and aspiring Azure Solutions Architects who are preparing for the Microsoft AZ-305 certification exam: Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions . The AZ-305 is a capstone certification in the Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert track, and it tests a candidate's ability to design cloud and hybrid solutions that run on Microsoft Azure.

As cloud architecture becomes a critical role in modern IT strategy, professionals must go beyond simply deploying services. They must understand how to design secure, scalable, high-performing, and cost-optimized architectures that meet complex business requirements. This book is built to bridge the gap between theory and implementation, combining exam-focused study material with deep architectural insights and practical guidance.

Each chapter is aligned with the skills measured in the AZ-305 exam blueprint, offering comprehensive coverage of identity, governance, storage, networking, compute, application design, and business continuity. Additionally, you’ll find discussions on decision-making trade-offs, architectural patterns, and best practices—providing real-world context for the certification content.

Whether you're an experienced cloud architect looking to validate your skills or a seasoned IT pro transitioning to cloud-native design, this book is structured to help you succeed:

●  Chapters 1 through 6 provide technical depth, architectural patterns, and real-world examples for each AZ-305 domain.

●  Chapter 7 is your exam preparation hub with question walkthroughs, time management strategies, and study plans.

●  Chapter 8 offers reference material including glossaries, API samples, and project scenarios to reinforce practical learning.

Throughout the book, examples and sample architectures are inspired by enterprise scenarios across industries such as finance, healthcare, retail, and SaaS. As Azure continues to evolve rapidly, we’ve made sure to focus on enduring architectural principles and Azure-native services that are core to Microsoft’s cloud ecosystem.

Your journey to becoming a Microsoft Certified Azure Solutions Architect begins here. Let’s conquer AZ-305 together.

​Table of Contents

Preface

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction to AZ-305 and the Azure Architect Role

Understanding the AZ-305 Certification Path

Certification Prerequisites

Candidate Profile

Exam Focus Areas

Study Path Recommendations

Sample Learning Plan (8 Weeks)

Tips for Success

Real-World Example: Design Trade-off

Resources for Further Study

Summary

Overview of Azure Solutions Architect Responsibilities

Requirement Gathering and Solution Planning

Designing End-to-End Azure Architectures

Governance, Security, and Compliance

Operational and Cost Optimization Planning

Stakeholder Communication and Documentation

Summary

Key Skills and Knowledge Areas for Exam Success

Foundational Azure Knowledge

Solution Design Skills

Security, Governance, and Identity

Networking and Infrastructure

Storage and Data Solutions

Monitoring and Business Continuity

Integration and Application Design

Cost Management and Optimization

Hands-On Technical Proficiency

Summary

How to Use This Book Effectively

Understand the Book's Structure

Recommended Reading Paths

Effective Study Practices

Exam Alignment Markers

Repetition and Retrieval: The Study Multiplier

How to Approach Practice Questions (Chapter 7.2)

Using the Appendices Strategically

Integrating With Other Resources

Study Plan Template

Summary

Chapter 2: Designing Identity, Governance, and Monitoring Solutions

Architecting Azure Active Directory (Azure AD)

Core Concepts of Azure Active Directory

Designing Identity Architecture with Azure AD

Identity Protection and Conditional Access

Azure AD Roles and Privileged Access

Application Access and Single Sign-On (SSO)

Integrating On-Premises AD with Azure AD

Design Patterns and Considerations

Monitoring and Troubleshooting Identity

Summary

Designing Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) Strategies

Fundamentals of Azure RBAC

RBAC Scope and Hierarchy

Built-In Roles vs Custom Roles

RBAC and Identity Types

Least Privilege and Segregation of Duties

Designing RBAC for Multi-Subscription Environments

Data Plane vs Control Plane RBAC

Auditing and Monitoring Role Assignments

Automating RBAC with Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

RBAC and Compliance Frameworks

Common RBAC Design Pitfalls

Summary

Implementing Azure Policy and Blueprints

Azure Policy: Architecture and Purpose

Designing Effective Policy Definitions

Policy Assignment and Scoping

Common Use Cases for Azure Policy

Initiatives: Scaling with Policy Sets

DeployIfNotExists and Modify

Azure Blueprints: Environment-as-Code

Blueprint Lifecycle

Policy vs Blueprint: When to Use Each

Integration into DevOps and CI/CD

Monitoring Policy Compliance

Summary

Centralizing Monitoring with Azure Monitor and Log Analytics

Overview of Azure Monitor

Architecture of a Centralized Monitoring Solution

Log Analytics Workspace

Connecting Azure Resources to Log Analytics

Kusto Query Language (KQL)

Alerting Strategy

Application Insights

Workbooks and Dashboards

Integrating with Azure Arc and Hybrid Environments

Automating Monitoring Setup

Cost Considerations

Summary

Governance Best Practices and Cost Management Tools

Governance and the Azure Enterprise Scaffold

Designing a Management Group Hierarchy

Resource Organization and Naming Standards

Tagging Strategy and Enforcement

Cost Management Overview

Budgets and Alerts

Azure Advisor Recommendations

Cost Allocation and Chargeback Models

Automation and Governance as Code

Compliance and Auditing

Governance Maturity Levels

Summary

Chapter 3: Designing Data Storage Solutions

Selecting the Right Storage Account Types

Overview of Azure Storage Account Types

General-purpose v2 (GPv2)

Premium Performance Tiers

Blob Storage Accounts (Legacy)

Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2

Storage Redundancy Options

Access Tiers for Blob Storage

Selecting the Right Storage Type: Decision Matrix

Storage Account Configuration Considerations

Multi-region and Multi-account Strategy

Data Management and Automation

Summary

Designing Data Access and Redundancy Models

Understanding Data Access Patterns

Access Tiers and Lifecycle Design

Redundancy Models in Azure Storage

Data Consistency Models

Geo-Replication Considerations

Designing for Read and Write Optimization

Access Control and Security

Multi-Region Access and Performance

Azure Files Access Models

Cache, CDN, and Tiering

Redundancy and High Availability Patterns

Monitoring Data Access and Redundancy

Summary

Securing Storage with Keys, Firewalls, and Private Endpoints

Storage Account Security Layers

Access Control Mechanisms

Network Security and Firewalls

Data Protection and Encryption

Immutable Storage and Soft Delete

Monitoring, Auditing, and Alerts

Compliance and Security Benchmarks

Summary

Integrating Azure Files, Blob Storage, and Data Lake

Overview of Storage Services

Selecting the Right Storage for the Task

Cross-Service Integration Patterns

Connecting Storage Services to Analytics

Access and Identity Integration

Hybrid Access and On-Prem Integration

Performance and Optimization Techniques

Monitoring and Logging Across Services

Security Integration

Automation and DevOps Integration

Summary

Designing for Data Archiving and Retention Policies

Understanding Data Archiving vs Retention

Legal and Regulatory Drivers

Azure Blob Storage Tiers for Archiving

Automating Retention with Lifecycle Management

Immutability and WORM Policies

Designing for Tiered Access Models

Archiving Non-Blob Data

Data Movement and Export for Archiving

Hybrid and Edge Considerations

Security and Compliance Integration

Monitoring and Cost Optimization

Summary

Chapter 4: Designing Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Strategies

Defining RPO and RTO Requirements

Understanding RPO and RTO

Visualizing RPO and RTO in a Timeline

Mapping Business Requirements to RPO/RTO

Azure Services and Their RPO/RTO Capabilities

Defining RPO and RTO with Stakeholders

Design Patterns to Meet RPO/RTO

Example RPO/RTO-Driven Architecture

Cost vs Resiliency Trade-Offs

Testing and Validation

Governance and Documentation

Summary

Architecting High Availability and Failover Scenarios

Principles of High Availability in Azure

Fault Domains and Update Domains

Zonal Architecture: Availability Zones

Regional Resiliency and Geo-Pairing

Failover Routing and Load Balancing

High Availability by Service

Active-Active vs Active-Passive Patterns

Health Probes and Application Monitoring

Testing High Availability and Failover

Cost Optimization and Trade-Offs

Summary

Implementing Azure Backup and Site Recovery

Understanding Azure Backup vs Azure Site Recovery

Azure Backup Architecture

Backup Policy Design

Restoring Backups

Azure Site Recovery Architecture

Supported Scenarios

Configuring Azure Site Recovery

Replication Settings

Failover and Failback Operations

Designing Recovery Plans

Monitoring and Compliance

Security and Retention Compliance

Cost Considerations

Testing Your DR Strategy

Summary

Designing Multi-Region and Cross-Zone Deployments

Azure Global Infrastructure Overview

Design Objectives for Cross-Zone and Multi-Region Deployments

Key Patterns and Architectures

Azure Services and Cross-Zone/Region Resiliency

Traffic Management Across Regions

Application Architecture Considerations

Storage and Database Strategies

Automation and Infrastructure as Code

Observability and Monitoring

Testing Multi-Region Resiliency

Compliance and Data Residency

Cost Management and Optimization

Summary

Business Continuity for Mission-Critical Applications

Characteristics of Mission-Critical Applications

Architectural Design Principles

Resilient Azure Services for Mission-Critical Applications

Pattern: Active-Active with Global Load Distribution

Pattern: Active-Passive with Hot Standby

Data Strategy for Mission-Critical Workloads

Security and Compliance Requirements

Testing and Simulation

Observability and Alerting

Governance and Runbook Automation

Cost Implications

Summary

Chapter 5: Designing Infrastructure Solutions

Designing Virtual Networks and Subnetting

Understanding Azure Virtual Networks

IP Address and Subnet Planning

Subnet Segmentation Strategy

Creating a VNet with Subnets via CLI

Route Table and Custom Routing

Integrating DNS in VNets

Private Link and Endpoint Integration

VNet Peering and Global Connectivity

Network Security Groups (NSGs)

Integration with Azure Firewall

Hub-and-Spoke Network Topology

Monitoring and Observability

Best Practices Checklist

Summary

Configuring Network Security and Private Connectivity

Principles of Network Security in Azure

Network Security Groups (NSGs)

Azure Firewall

Application Security Groups (ASGs)

Service Endpoints

Private Link and Private Endpoints

Hybrid Connectivity Security

Zero Trust Networking in Azure

Network Monitoring and Auditing

Best Practices for Network Security and Private Access

Summary

Choosing the Right Compute Option: VMs, App Services, and Containers

Compute Model Overview

When to Use Azure Virtual Machines

When to Use Azure App Services

When to Use Containers

Comparative Decision Matrix

Cost Considerations

Security and Governance

Monitoring and Observability

Summary

Architecting Scalable and Elastic Solutions

Scalability vs Elasticity

Azure Scaling Mechanisms

Designing Horizontally Scalable Applications

Vertical Scaling (Scale-Up)

Statelessness and Scale Units

Autoscaling Compute Resources

Messaging and Asynchronous Workflows

Caching for Scalability

Resiliency Patterns Under Load

Monitoring and Autoscale Tuning

Cost Optimization

Summary

Integrating Hybrid Networks with ExpressRoute and VPN Gateways

Understanding Hybrid Connectivity Scenarios

VPN Gateway: Overview and Use Cases

VPN Gateway Architecture

ExpressRoute: Overview and Enterprise Use Cases

ExpressRoute Architecture

BGP Configuration and Routing

VPN and ExpressRoute Coexistence

High Availability and Redundancy

Network Integration Patterns

Security and Compliance

Monitoring and Troubleshooting

Cost Considerations

Summary

Chapter 6: Designing Application Architectures

Building Microservices with Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)

Microservices Architecture Fundamentals

Why Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)?

Microservices Architecture Pattern on AKS

Deploying AKS Cluster (CLI)

Containerizing Microservices

CI/CD Integration for AKS

Service Mesh Integration

Observability and Monitoring

Networking in AKS

Security Best Practices

Scaling Microservices

Common Pitfalls and Remedies

Summary

Leveraging Serverless Architectures with Azure Functions

What is Serverless Architecture?

Use Cases for Azure Functions

Hosting Plans for Azure Functions

Function Triggers and Bindings

Developing and Deploying Azure Functions

Scaling and Performance

Durable Functions for Stateful Workflows

Security Best Practices

Observability and Diagnostics

Cost Optimization

Integration with Other Azure Services

Summary

API Management and Integration with Logic Apps

Role of APIs and Integration in Cloud Architectures

Azure API Management (APIM): Overview

APIM Tiers and Use Cases

Deploying API Management (CLI Example)

Importing and Publishing APIs

Policies and Security

API Versioning and Revisions

Developer Portal

Logic Apps: Overview and Use Cases

Logic App Components

Building a Logic App (Visual Designer or Code)

Enterprise Integration with Logic Apps

Monitoring and Governance

Security Considerations

DevOps and CI/CD Integration

Summary

Event-Driven Design Patterns with Event Grid and Service Bus

Introduction to Event-Driven Architecture (EDA)

Azure Event Grid

Azure Service Bus

Architectural Patterns

Event Grid Implementation Example

Service Bus Implementation Example

Security and Governance

Monitoring and Diagnostics

Event Reliability and Delivery Guarantees

CI/CD and Infrastructure as Code

Summary

Application Insights and Performance Monitoring

The Role of Monitoring in Cloud Applications

Overview of Azure Application Insights

Instrumenting Applications

Analyzing Performance Metrics

Distributed Tracing

Application Map

Workbooks and Dashboards

Writing Kusto Queries (KQL)

Availability and Synthetic Testing

Alerting and Anomaly Detection

DevOps Integration

Cost Optimization and Retention

Summary

Chapter 7: Preparing for the AZ-305 Exam

Understanding the Exam Format and Objectives

Overview of the Certification Path

Exam Format and Delivery

Exam Objective Domains

Understanding the Case Study Format

Depth vs Breadth of Knowledge

How AZ-305 Differs from AZ-104 or AZ-700

Preparation Strategies

What to Expect on Exam Day

Post-Exam Recommendations

Summary

Practice Question Walkthroughs

Practice Scenario 1: Multi-Tier Global Web Application

Practice Scenario 2: Regulatory-Compliant Data Processing

Practice Scenario 3: Application Integration with Legacy Systems

Practice Scenario 4: Secure User Access and Governance

Exam Strategy Recap from Practice Scenarios

Summary

Time Management Strategies During the Exam

Understand the Exam Structure and Timing Constraints

Pre-Exam Time Management Preparation

Managing Case Study Questions

Tackling Single and Multiple-Choice Questions

Handling Drag-and-Drop and Hot Area Items

Time-Budgeting Techniques

Flagging and Review Strategy

Managing Cognitive Load

Prioritizing High-Impact Topics

If You’re Running Out of Time

Summary

Final Review Checklist and Study Plan

Final 7-Day Study Plan Overview

Final Review Checklist by Exam Domain

Additional Final Review Tools

Before the Exam Day: Personal Prep Checklist

Final Day Preparation (Day Before Exam)

Mental Strategy for Test Day

Summary

Chapter 8: Appendices

Glossary of Terms

Summary

Resources for Further Learning

Official Microsoft Resources

Microsoft Certification Ecosystem

Architecture and Design Repositories

Books and Learning Guides

Labs, Sandboxes, and Simulators

Community Resources and Forums

Tools and Portals

Continuing Professional Development

Summary

Sample Projects and Code Snippets

Project 1: Multi-Tier Web Application with High Availability

Project 2: Secure Hybrid Connectivity with On-Prem Integration

Project 3: Event-Driven Serverless Architecture

Project 4: Application Monitoring with Custom Alerts

Project 5: Resilient Multiregion API Deployment

Project 6: Cost Governance and Budgeting System

Summary

API Reference Guide

Core API Concepts

Authentication Overview

Common Request Headers

Common Management API Endpoints

Azure Resource Manager (ARM) APIs

Azure Monitor and Log Analytics API

Azure Key Vault API

Azure Cosmos DB REST API

Error Handling and Response Codes

SDK Usage Patterns

Summary

Frequently Asked Questions

General Certification FAQs

Study Planning and Preparation

Exam Logistics and Environment

Technical and Content-Specific Questions

Post-Certification and Career Guidance

Advanced Questions from Experienced Professionals

Summary

Chapter 1: Introduction to AZ-305 and the Azure Architect Role

​Understanding the AZ-305 Certification Path

THE AZ-305: DESIGNING Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions certification is a pivotal milestone for any cloud professional pursuing the Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert designation. Unlike foundational certifications like AZ-900 or administrator-level credentials such as AZ-104, AZ-305 focuses exclusively on high-level design and architectural decisions.

Achieving this certification demonstrates your ability to translate business requirements into secure, scalable, and reliable Azure solutions. It is not merely about knowing individual