Question 1mediummultiple choice
Full question →mediummultiple choiceObjective-mapped
A company wants to deploy a web application on Azure virtual machines (VMs). The application experiences variable traffic patterns, so the company needs to automatically add or remove VM instances based on CPU utilization. They also want the application to remain highly available even if an Azure datacenter fails. Which combination of Azure services should they use?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
A
Best answer
Virtual Machine Scale Sets configured with autoscale rules based on CPU and distributed across availability zones
VM Scale Sets allow you to define autoscale conditions (e.g., scale out when CPU > 75%) and can be deployed across availability zones. This provides both horizontal scaling and protection against a zone failure.
B
Distractor review
Azure App Service with autoscale rules and deployment slots
Azure App Service is a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offering, not based on VMs. The requirement specifies Azure VMs, so App Service is not appropriate.
C
Distractor review
Azure Load Balancer with a backend pool of VMs and autoscale rules applied to individual VMSS
While Load Balancer distributes traffic, it does not provide autoscaling itself. You would still need VMSS for auto-scaling. This option is incomplete because it separates the autoscale from the compute platform.
D
Distractor review
Azure Traffic Manager with endpoints in separate regions and Manual scaling of VMs
Traffic Manager is for global traffic routing, not intra-region auto-scaling. Manual scaling does not meet the requirement for automatic scaling based on CPU. Also, it does not address zone-level high availability within a region.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: NAT rules depend on direction and matching traffic
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
- PAT allows many inside hosts to share one public address using ports.
- Inside local and inside global describe the private and translated addresses.
- NAT ACLs identify traffic for translation, not always security filtering.
TExam Day Tips
- Identify inside and outside interfaces first.
- Check whether the scenario needs static NAT, dynamic NAT or PAT.
- Do not confuse NAT matching ACLs with normal packet-filtering intent.
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More questions from this exam
Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
Question 1
A company is designing hub-and-spoke networking. Spoke VNets must use a central Azure Firewall for outbound internet traffic. Which two configurations are required?
Question 2
A company is designing private access to a PaaS database from workloads in a VNet. The database should not be reachable over its public endpoint. What should be recommended?
Question 3
A data platform must support analytical queries over petabytes of files in a data lake, while preserving hierarchical namespaces and fine-grained ACLs. Which storage service should you design around?
Question 4
A database workload has an RPO of 15 minutes and an RTO of 4 hours. Cost is more important than near-zero data loss. Which design is usually more appropriate than synchronous multi-region replication?
Question 5
A hub-and-spoke Azure network must centralize outbound inspection and still allow spokes to resolve private endpoint DNS names. Which two components are commonly required? (Choose 2.)
Question 6
A multinational company uses Microsoft Entra ID and several Azure subscriptions. Security administrators need to review privileged role assignments every month and require justification for continued access. Which design should be recommended?
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this AZ-305 question test?
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Virtual Machine Scale Sets configured with autoscale rules based on CPU and distributed across availability zones — Virtual Machine Scale Sets (VMSS) provide auto-scaling capabilities based on metrics like CPU usage. By configuring the scale set to span multiple availability zones, the application remains resilient to a datacenter failure (a zone is one or more datacenters). This combination ensures both scalability and high availability within a region. Azure App Service is a PaaS solution that supports auto-scaling but does not run on VMs (the requirement specifies VMs). Azure Load Balancer distributes traffic but does not auto-scale the VMs itself. Azure Traffic Manager provides global DNS load balancing but does not handle auto-scaling or zone-level high availability.
What should I do if I get this AZ-305 question wrong?
Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.
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