- A
Azure Application Gateway (WAF) in front of web VMs, with Azure Firewall in a hub VNet for central inspection
Correct. Application Gateway handles web traffic with SSL and session persistence; Azure Firewall inspects all traffic centrally.
- B
Azure Load Balancer (Standard) in front of web VMs, with a third-party Network Virtual Appliance (NVA) for inspection
Why wrong: Load Balancer does not provide SSL termination or session persistence; NVA adds management overhead.
- C
Azure Front Door in front of web VMs, with Azure Firewall for inspection
Why wrong: Front Door is a global load balancer; it does not route traffic through a VNet firewall for internal inspection.
- D
Azure Traffic Manager + Azure Application Gateway
Why wrong: Traffic Manager provides DNS-level routing but no inspection; this combination lacks central firewall inspection.
Quick Answer
The answer is Azure Application Gateway with Web Application Firewall (WAF) in front of web VMs, paired with Azure Firewall in a hub VNet for central inspection. This combination is correct because Azure Application Gateway provides the required Layer 7 features—SSL termination, cookie-based session persistence, and health probes—directly at the web tier, while Azure Firewall in a hub-and-spoke topology enforces compliance by inspecting all traffic centrally. On the AZ-305 exam, this scenario tests your ability to separate Layer 7 load balancing from network-layer security, a common trap where candidates mistakenly choose Azure Load Balancer (Layer 4) for web-tier needs. Remember: if the requirement mentions SSL offload, URL-based routing, or session stickiness, you need a Layer 7 solution like Application Gateway, not a basic load balancer. For high availability, deploying the web VMs across availability zones satisfies the redundancy requirement. Memory tip: “L7 for web, L4 for TCP; Firewall in hub, Gateway at edge.”
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 multi-tier web application on Azure VMs across availability zones. The web tier must have SSL termination, session persistence, and health probe monitoring. Additionally, all traffic must be inspected by a central firewall for compliance. The solution must be highly available. Which combination of Azure services should they implement?
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 (WAF) in front of web VMs, with Azure Firewall in a hub VNet for central inspection
Option A is correct because Azure Application Gateway provides SSL termination, session persistence (via cookie-based affinity), and health probes at Layer 7, which are required for a web tier. Placing Azure Firewall in a hub VNet for central inspection ensures all traffic is inspected for compliance, and deploying the web VMs across availability zones meets the high-availability requirement.
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 (WAF) in front of web VMs, with Azure Firewall in a hub VNet for central inspection
- ✗
Azure Load Balancer (Standard) in front of web VMs, with a third-party Network Virtual Appliance (NVA) for inspection
Why it's wrong here
Load Balancer does not provide SSL termination or session persistence; NVA adds management overhead.
- ✗
Azure Front Door in front of web VMs, with Azure Firewall for inspection
Why it's wrong here
Front Door is a global load balancer; it does not route traffic through a VNet firewall for internal inspection.
- ✗
Azure Traffic Manager + Azure Application Gateway
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Azure Load Balancer (Layer 4) with Application Gateway (Layer 7), assuming the Load Balancer can handle SSL termination and session persistence, or they overlook that Azure Front Door lacks session persistence and central inspection capabilities.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Azure Application Gateway uses a Layer 7 reverse proxy model, terminating SSL and re-encrypting traffic to backend pools, which allows it to inspect HTTP/HTTPS headers for session persistence via cookie-based affinity. Azure Firewall in a hub-spoke topology can enforce forced tunneling for all egress traffic, ensuring compliance inspection at the network layer, while the Application Gateway’s health probes monitor backend VM health using HTTP/HTTPS endpoints with configurable intervals and thresholds.
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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
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.
- →
Design infrastructure solutions — study guide chapter
Learn the concepts, then practise the questions
- →
Design infrastructure solutions practice questions
Targeted practice on this topic area only
- →
All AZ-305 questions
999 questions across all exam domains
- →
Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert AZ-305 study guide
Full concept coverage aligned to exam objectives
- →
AZ-305 practice test guide
How to use practice tests most effectively before exam day
Related practice questions
Related AZ-305 practice-question pages
Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.
Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions practice questions
Practise AZ-305 questions linked to Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions.
Design data storage solutions practice questions
Practise AZ-305 questions linked to Design data storage solutions.
Design business continuity solutions practice questions
Practise AZ-305 questions linked to Design business continuity solutions.
Design infrastructure solutions practice questions
Practise AZ-305 questions linked to Design infrastructure solutions.
SAA-C03 VPC practice questions
Practise AZ-305 questions linked to SAA-C03 VPC.
SAA-C03 S3 lifecycle policy questions
Practise AZ-305 questions linked to SAA-C03 S3 lifecycle policy questions.
SAA-C03 RDS Multi-AZ questions
Practise AZ-305 questions linked to SAA-C03 RDS Multi-AZ questions.
SAA-C03 IAM policy practice questions
Practise AZ-305 questions linked to SAA-C03 IAM policy.
SAA-C03 Route 53 failover questions
Practise AZ-305 questions linked to SAA-C03 Route 53 failover questions.
SAA-C03 CloudFront practice questions
Practise AZ-305 questions linked to SAA-C03 CloudFront.
SAA-C03 NAT gateway questions
Practise AZ-305 questions linked to SAA-C03 NAT gateway questions.
SAA-C03 VPC endpoint questions
Practise AZ-305 questions linked to SAA-C03 VPC endpoint questions.
Practice this exam
Start a free AZ-305 practice session
Short sessions build daily habit. Longer sessions build exam-day stamina. Try a timed session to simulate real conditions.
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 (WAF) in front of web VMs, with Azure Firewall in a hub VNet for central inspection — Option A is correct because Azure Application Gateway provides SSL termination, session persistence (via cookie-based affinity), and health probes at Layer 7, which are required for a web tier. Placing Azure Firewall in a hub VNet for central inspection ensures all traffic is inspected for compliance, and deploying the web VMs across availability zones meets the high-availability requirement.
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 →
Same concept, more angles
8 more ways this is tested on AZ-305
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company is deploying a web application that must be accessible from the internet. The application is hosted on Azure virtual machines in a virtual network. The solution must provide SSL termination, web application firewall (WAF) protection, and URL path-based routing (e.g., /api/* to one backend pool, /app/* to another). The web tier must not be directly exposed to the internet. Which Azure load balancing solution should they use?
easy- ✓ A.Azure Application Gateway v2
- B.Azure Front Door
- C.Azure Load Balancer
- D.Azure Traffic Manager
Why A: Azure Application Gateway v2 is the correct choice because it is a Layer 7 load balancer that provides SSL termination, a web application firewall (WAF), and URL path-based routing. It can route traffic to different backend pools based on URL paths (e.g., /api/* and /app/*) while keeping the web tier isolated within the virtual network, as the gateway itself is exposed to the internet.
Variation 2. A company plans to deploy a web application on Azure VMs across multiple availability zones. They need to distribute incoming HTTP traffic across the VMs and provide health probes. Which Azure load balancing solution should they use?
easy- A.Azure Load Balancer
- ✓ B.Azure Application Gateway
- C.Azure Traffic Manager
- D.Azure Front Door
Why B: Azure Application Gateway is the correct choice because it operates at Layer 7 (HTTP/HTTPS), providing application-level routing, SSL termination, and HTTP health probes. This matches the requirement to distribute incoming HTTP traffic across VMs in multiple availability zones, whereas Azure Load Balancer operates at Layer 4 and cannot inspect HTTP headers or perform URL-based routing.
Variation 3. A company deploys a web application on Azure VMs across multiple availability zones in a region. They need to distribute incoming traffic across VMs in all zones, maintain session persistence, and support SSL offloading and URL-based routing (e.g., /api/* to one pool, /app/* to another). Which Azure load balancing solution should they use?
medium- A.Azure Load Balancer
- ✓ B.Azure Application Gateway
- C.Azure Traffic Manager
- D.Azure Front Door
Why B: Azure Application Gateway is the correct choice because it is a Layer 7 (HTTP/HTTPS) load balancer that supports SSL offloading, URL-based routing (e.g., /api/* and /app/* to different backend pools), and session persistence (cookie-based affinity). It can distribute traffic across VMs in multiple availability zones within a region, meeting all stated requirements.
Variation 4. A company deploys a web application on Azure VMs across multiple availability zones in the East US region. They need to distribute incoming HTTPS traffic across the VMs, offload SSL termination, and ensure that client requests from the same user session are sent to the same backend VM (session persistence). Which Azure load balancing solution should they choose?
medium- ✓ A.Azure Application Gateway v2 with cookie-based affinity
- B.Azure Load Balancer Standard with source IP affinity
- C.Azure Traffic Manager with performance routing
- D.Azure Front Door with session affinity
Why A: Azure Application Gateway v2 is the correct choice because it is a Layer 7 load balancer that can offload SSL termination, distribute HTTPS traffic, and support cookie-based session affinity (also known as sticky sessions). Cookie-based affinity ensures that all requests from the same user session are routed to the same backend VM by injecting an Application Gateway-managed cookie into the client's response. This meets all three requirements: HTTPS traffic distribution, SSL offloading, and session persistence.
Variation 5. A company deploys a web application on Azure VMs across availability zones. They need to distribute HTTPS traffic, offload SSL termination, and maintain session persistence. They do not require traffic inspection. Which Azure load balancing solution should they use?
easy- ✓ A.Azure Application Gateway v2.
- B.Azure Load Balancer (Standard).
- C.Azure Traffic Manager.
- D.Azure Front Door.
Why A: Azure Application Gateway v2 is the correct choice because it is a Layer 7 load balancer that supports HTTPS traffic distribution, SSL termination (offloading the decryption burden from backend VMs), and session persistence via cookie-based affinity. It meets all requirements without needing traffic inspection, which is optional and can be disabled.
Variation 6. A company deploys a web application on Azure virtual machines (VMs) across multiple availability zones. The application needs to automatically distribute incoming HTTPS traffic, offload SSL/TLS termination, and provide session persistence. Additionally, the solution must include a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to protect against common web vulnerabilities. Which Azure load balancing solution should they use?
medium- A.Azure Load Balancer
- B.Azure Traffic Manager
- ✓ C.Azure Application Gateway
- D.Azure Front Door
Why C: Azure Application Gateway is the correct choice because it is a Layer 7 load balancer that can route HTTPS traffic, offload SSL/TLS termination, and provide session persistence (cookie-based affinity). It also natively integrates a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to protect against common web vulnerabilities like SQL injection and cross-site scripting.
Variation 7. A company deploys a web application on Azure virtual machines (VMs) across multiple availability zones in the East US region. The application receives HTTPS traffic. They need to distribute incoming traffic across the VMs, offload SSL/TLS termination, and ensure that client requests from the same user session are always sent to the same backend VM (session persistence). Which Azure load balancing solution should they choose?
medium- A.Azure Load Balancer
- ✓ B.Azure Application Gateway
- C.Azure Traffic Manager
- D.Azure Front Door
Why B: Azure Application Gateway is the correct choice because it is a Layer 7 load balancer that supports SSL/TLS termination, cookie-based session persistence (affinity), and can distribute HTTPS traffic across VMs in multiple availability zones. These features directly match all three requirements: SSL offloading, session persistence, and cross-zone traffic distribution.
Variation 8. A company deploys a web application across multiple Azure VMs in a single region. They need to distribute incoming HTTP traffic, offload SSL termination, and perform URL-based routing to different backend pools (e.g., /images to one pool, /api to another). Which Azure load balancing solution should they use?
medium- ✓ A.Azure Application Gateway
- B.Azure Load Balancer
- C.Azure Traffic Manager
- D.Azure Front Door
Why A: Azure Application Gateway is a Layer 7 load balancer that can distribute HTTP traffic, offload SSL termination, and perform URL-based routing to different backend pools. This directly matches the requirements for routing /images and /api traffic to separate pools while handling SSL termination at the gateway.
Keep practising
More AZ-305 practice questions
- A company has multiple Azure virtual networks (VNets) in different regions and an on-premises data center connected via…
- A company is designing hub-and-spoke networking. Spoke VNets must use a central Azure Firewall for outbound internet tra…
- A company has virtual machines in Azure that need to be grouped across multiple fault domains and update domains to ensu…
- A company plans to migrate on-premises applications to Azure. They require users to authenticate using their existing on…
- A company has multiple Azure subscriptions and wants to enforce that all administrators must use multi-factor authentica…
- A company has two on-premises data centers and an Azure subscription. They need to connect each data center to Azure wit…
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.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.