AZ-305: Architecture design and tradeoffs

25–30% · Exam weight

Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions

Mapped intro lessons

• VM basics: responsibility boundaries, identity, and observability
• Azure Files: shared files and identity boundaries

Known gaps / todo coverage

Enterprise authentication/authorization, keys/certificates, governance, management groups, log routing, and monitoring design need dedicated coverage.

20–25% · Exam weight

Design data storage solutions

Mapped intro lessons

• Blob lifecycle: tiers, access, and retention
• Azure SQL: day-to-day design for a managed relational database
• Cosmos DB: partitioning, consistency, and throughput

Known gaps / todo coverage

Service-tier selection, scaling, data integration, and analytics design are incomplete; AI Search is supplementary indexing, not a system-of-record database.

15–20% · Exam weight

Design business continuity solutions

Mapped intro lessons

• Backup and continuity: work backward from recovery targets
• Azure SQL: day-to-day design for a managed relational database

Known gaps / todo coverage

Cross-region failover, drill evidence, and dependent-service recovery sequencing need more coverage.

30–35% · Exam weight

Design infrastructure solutions

Mapped intro lessons

• VM basics: responsibility boundaries, identity, and observability
• Container Apps: revisions, scaling, and a smaller platform surface
• VNet segmentation: subnets, routes, and minimal exposure
• Edge and hybrid networking: Front Door, ExpressRoute, and failure domains

Known gaps / todo coverage

Landing zones, hybrid connectivity, security boundaries, cost models, and capacity planning are not yet a full project.

Architecture decision questions

• Are availability goals backed by cost and operations evidence?
• Are consistency, recovery point, and cross-region latency evaluated together?
• Security, governance, and cost are cross-cutting capabilities, not post-launch add-ons.