The answer is Azure Monitor paired with a Log Analytics workspace, because this combination provides the centralized collection, storage, and analysis of performance metrics from both Azure VMs and on-premises servers. Azure Monitor uses the Log Analytics agent or the newer Azure Monitor Agent to gather CPU and memory data, while the Log Analytics workspace stores that data for up to one year by adjusting its retention settings (default 730 days, extendable to two years). Custom dashboards are built using Azure Workbooks, and critical threshold alerts are configured through Azure Monitor Alerts, all within the same workspace. On the AZ-305 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of the unified monitoring architecture, often appearing as a distractor where candidates mistakenly choose separate tools like Azure Sentinel or Application Insights for basic metric collection. A common trap is forgetting that on-premises servers require the Log Analytics agent, not just the Azure VM extension. Memory tip: think “Monitor, Workspace, Workbook, Alert” as the four pillars of a single retention-compliant solution.
AZ-305 Practice Question: Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions
This AZ-305 practice question tests your understanding of design identity, governance, and monitoring 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 large enterprise has multiple Azure subscriptions and on-premises servers. They need to collect performance metrics (CPU, memory) from all servers, create custom dashboards to visualize health across workloads, and set up alerts for critical thresholds. They also need to retain log data for one year. Which combination of Azure services should they use?
Azure Monitor with Log Analytics workspaces allows collection of performance counters, creation of custom dashboards, and alert rules. Log retention can be set to one year per workspace.
B
B
Why wrong: Azure Service Health and Azure Advisor provide status notifications and best practices, but they do not collect custom metrics or support custom dashboards and alerts based on performance counters.
C
C
Why wrong: Application Insights is designed for monitoring live web applications, not for collecting server-level performance metrics from on-premises or Azure VMs.
D
D
Why wrong: Azure Sentinel is a SIEM tool for security monitoring, not the primary platform for general performance and operational monitoring.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
A
Azure Monitor is the central service for collecting performance metrics (CPU, memory) from both Azure VMs and on-premises servers via the Log Analytics agent or Azure Monitor Agent. Log Analytics workspace stores the data, enabling custom dashboards with Azure Workbooks and alerts with Azure Monitor Alerts. The 1-year retention is achieved by configuring the workspace's data retention settings (up to 730 days by default, extendable to 2 years).
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.
✓
A
Why this is correct
Azure Monitor with Log Analytics workspaces allows collection of performance counters, creation of custom dashboards, and alert rules. Log retention can be set to one year per workspace.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
B
Why it's wrong here
Azure Service Health and Azure Advisor provide status notifications and best practices, but they do not collect custom metrics or support custom dashboards and alerts based on performance counters.
✗
C
Why it's wrong here
Application Insights is designed for monitoring live web applications, not for collecting server-level performance metrics from on-premises or Azure VMs.
✗
D
Why it's wrong here
Azure Sentinel is a SIEM tool for security monitoring, not the primary platform for general performance and operational monitoring.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse Azure Monitor with Azure Sentinel, thinking Sentinel is needed for long-term retention and alerting, but Sentinel is a security-specific solution, while Azure Monitor natively handles performance monitoring, dashboards, and retention for operational data.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, the Log Analytics agent (or Azure Monitor Agent) uses the Windows Performance Counters and Linux syslog/OMI to collect CPU and memory metrics every 60 seconds by default. These metrics are stored in the Log Analytics workspace as custom logs, which can be queried via Kusto Query Language (KQL) in Azure Workbooks. Retention is set at the workspace level; for 1 year, you configure the retention policy to 365 days, which is within the default maximum of 730 days for Pay-as-you-go workspaces.
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
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this AZ-305 question in full detail.
Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions — This question tests Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: A — Azure Monitor is the central service for collecting performance metrics (CPU, memory) from both Azure VMs and on-premises servers via the Log Analytics agent or Azure Monitor Agent. Log Analytics workspace stores the data, enabling custom dashboards with Azure Workbooks and alerts with Azure Monitor Alerts. The 1-year retention is achieved by configuring the workspace's data retention settings (up to 730 days by default, extendable to 2 years).
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.
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Question Discussion
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