Quick Answer
The answer is Azure Monitor and Azure Automation. Azure Monitor is the correct choice because it collects and analyzes custom performance counters from Azure VMs, enabling metric-based alert rules that detect threshold breaches. When the alert fires, an action group can invoke an Azure Automation runbook, providing automated remediation without manual intervention. On the AZ-305 exam, this scenario tests your ability to design a monitoring and remediation strategy that integrates Azure Monitor’s data collection with Automation’s runbook execution, often appearing as a two-service combination question. A common trap is selecting Azure Logic Apps instead of Automation, but remember that runbooks are purpose-built for scripted remediation on Azure VMs, while Logic Apps are better for orchestration across services. Memory tip: “Monitor the metric, Automate the fix” — the alert triggers the action group, which calls the runbook.
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.
You are designing a monitoring solution for a critical application that runs on Azure Virtual Machines. The application generates custom performance counters. You need to alert when the custom counter exceeds a threshold and trigger an Azure Automation runbook to remediate. Which two Azure services should you combine? (Select TWO.)
Azure Event Grid
Why wrong: Event Grid can route events but is not directly integrated with metric alerts.
Azure Monitor
Azure Monitor can alert on metrics and trigger actions.
Log Analytics
Why wrong: Log Analytics is for log queries, not metric alerts.
Azure Automation
Azure Automation can run runbooks in response to alerts.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Azure Monitor
Azure Monitor is the correct choice because it collects and analyzes custom performance counters from Azure VMs, enabling metric-based alert rules. When a threshold is exceeded, Azure Monitor can trigger an action group that invokes an Azure Automation runbook, providing automated remediation. This combination directly addresses the requirement to alert on custom counters and execute a runbook in response.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Azure Event Grid
Why it's wrong here
Event Grid can route events but is not directly integrated with metric alerts.
Azure Monitor
Why this is correct
Azure Monitor can alert on metrics and trigger actions.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Log Analytics
Why it's wrong here
Log Analytics is for log queries, not metric alerts.
Azure Automation
Why this is correct
Azure Automation can run runbooks in response to alerts.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Log Analytics as a direct alerting and remediation service, when in fact it is a data repository that requires Azure Monitor to evaluate alerts and trigger actions via action groups.
Detailed technical explanation
Azure Monitor uses the Metrics platform to store custom performance counters collected via the Azure Diagnostics extension or the Log Analytics agent, with alert rules evaluating these metrics at a frequency as low as 1 minute. Action groups can include an Automation Runbook action, which passes an alert payload (including metric values and resource IDs) to the runbook via a webhook, enabling context-aware remediation. In real-world scenarios, this pattern is used for auto-scaling or restarting services when a custom counter like 'Requests Queued' exceeds a threshold.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
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.
What to study next
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FAQ
Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions — This question tests Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Azure Monitor — Azure Monitor is the correct choice because it collects and analyzes custom performance counters from Azure VMs, enabling metric-based alert rules. When a threshold is exceeded, Azure Monitor can trigger an action group that invokes an Azure Automation runbook, providing automated remediation. This combination directly addresses the requirement to alert on custom counters and execute a runbook in response.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 24, 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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