- A
Azure Application Gateway v2
Application Gateway is a layer 7 load balancer that offers SSL termination, WAF, and URL-based routing. It can be placed in front of VMs with private IPs to protect the web tier.
- B
Azure Front Door
Why wrong: Azure Front Door is a global HTTP(S) load balancer with WAF, but it is designed for multi-region and internet-facing endpoints. It does not support exposing only private IP backends without using Private Link.
- C
Azure Load Balancer
Why wrong: Azure Load Balancer operates at layer 4 and cannot perform SSL termination or URL path-based routing. It also does not include WAF capabilities.
- D
Azure Traffic Manager
Why wrong: Azure Traffic Manager is a DNS-based traffic load balancer. It does not terminate SSL, does not provide WAF, and cannot route based on URL paths.
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 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?
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 v2
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.
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 v2
Why this is correct
Application Gateway is a layer 7 load balancer that offers SSL termination, WAF, and URL-based routing. It can be placed in front of VMs with private IPs to protect the web tier.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Azure Front Door
Why it's wrong here
Azure Front Door is a global HTTP(S) load balancer with WAF, but it is designed for multi-region and internet-facing endpoints. It does not support exposing only private IP backends without using Private Link.
- ✗
Azure Load Balancer
Why it's wrong here
Azure Load Balancer operates at layer 4 and cannot perform SSL termination or URL path-based routing. It also does not include WAF capabilities.
- ✗
Azure Traffic Manager
Why it's wrong here
Azure Traffic Manager is a DNS-based traffic load balancer. It does not terminate SSL, does not provide WAF, and cannot route based on URL paths.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Azure Front Door with Application Gateway, but Front Door is designed for global, multi-region scenarios and cannot provide direct VNet integration for a single-region app without exposing backend public IPs, whereas Application Gateway is the correct Layer 7 solution for a single-region VNet deployment.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, Azure Application Gateway v2 uses a multi-tenant, auto-scaling infrastructure that terminates SSL at the gateway, decrypts the traffic for WAF inspection, and then re-encrypts it (or forwards it unencrypted) to backend pools. URL path-based routing is implemented via path-based rules that map specific URL patterns to backend pools, allowing fine-grained traffic distribution. In real-world scenarios, this is critical for microservices architectures where different API versions or application modules are hosted on separate backend pools, and the gateway ensures that only authorized, inspected traffic reaches the internal VMs.
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.
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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 v2 — 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.
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
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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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