- A
Azure Application Gateway
Azure Application Gateway is a layer 7 load balancer that provides SSL offloading, session persistence, and URL-based routing. It can distribute HTTP/HTTPS traffic across VMs and expose a fixed public IP address.
- B
Azure Load Balancer
Why wrong: Azure Load Balancer operates at layer 4 (TCP/UDP) and does not offload SSL or inspect HTTP traffic. It is suitable for non-HTTP traffic or when SSL termination is handled elsewhere.
- C
Azure Traffic Manager
Why wrong: Azure Traffic Manager is a DNS-based traffic load balancer that directs clients to endpoints based on traffic-routing methods. It does not proxy traffic, so it cannot offload SSL or provide a fixed public IP for the application.
- D
Azure Front Door
Why wrong: Azure Front Door is a global layer 7 load balancer that can offload SSL and provide fixed IP, but it is designed for multi-region deployments. For a single-region application, Application Gateway is simpler and more cost-effective.
AZ-305 Design infrastructure solutions Practice Question
This AZ-305 practice question tests your understanding of design infrastructure solutions. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company deploys a web application across multiple Azure VMs in a single region. They want to distribute incoming HTTP traffic evenly across the VMs, offload SSL encryption, and provide a fixed public IP address for clients. Which Azure load balancing solution should they use?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Azure Application Gateway
Azure Application Gateway is the correct choice because it is a Layer 7 load balancer that supports HTTP/HTTPS traffic, SSL termination, and cookie-based session affinity. It can distribute incoming HTTP traffic evenly across VMs, offload SSL encryption to reduce backend processing, and provide a fixed public IP address (VIP) for client access. This aligns with all three requirements: load balancing, SSL offload, and a static public IP.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Azure Application Gateway
Why this is correct
Azure Application Gateway is a layer 7 load balancer that provides SSL offloading, session persistence, and URL-based routing. It can distribute HTTP/HTTPS traffic across VMs and expose a fixed public IP address.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Azure Load Balancer
Why it's wrong here
Azure Load Balancer operates at layer 4 (TCP/UDP) and does not offload SSL or inspect HTTP traffic. It is suitable for non-HTTP traffic or when SSL termination is handled elsewhere.
- ✗
Azure Traffic Manager
Why it's wrong here
Azure Traffic Manager is a DNS-based traffic load balancer that directs clients to endpoints based on traffic-routing methods. It does not proxy traffic, so it cannot offload SSL or provide a fixed public IP for the application.
- ✗
Azure Front Door
Why it's wrong here
Azure Front Door is a global layer 7 load balancer that can offload SSL and provide fixed IP, but it is designed for multi-region deployments. For a single-region application, Application Gateway is simpler and more cost-effective.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is confusing Layer 4 (Azure Load Balancer) with Layer 7 (Application Gateway) capabilities, leading candidates to pick Azure Load Balancer because it is the default choice for distributing traffic across VMs, but it cannot offload SSL or handle HTTP-specific features like session affinity.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, Azure Application Gateway uses a web application firewall (WAF) and supports end-to-end TLS with customizable cipher suites. It can also perform URL-based routing and rewrite HTTP headers, which is critical for microservices architectures. In a real-world scenario, if the application requires sticky sessions (e.g., shopping cart state), Application Gateway’s cookie-based affinity ensures requests from the same client go to the same VM, which Azure Load Balancer cannot do at Layer 7.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this AZ-305 question test?
Design infrastructure solutions — This question tests Design infrastructure solutions — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Azure Application Gateway — Azure Application Gateway is the correct choice because it is a Layer 7 load balancer that supports HTTP/HTTPS traffic, SSL termination, and cookie-based session affinity. It can distribute incoming HTTP traffic evenly across VMs, offload SSL encryption to reduce backend processing, and provide a fixed public IP address (VIP) for client access. This aligns with all three requirements: load balancing, SSL offload, and a static public IP.
What should I do if I get this AZ-305 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This AZ-305 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the AZ-305 exam.
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