The answer is Azure Application Gateway v2 because it uniquely combines SSL offloading, session stickiness, and URL-based routing within a single Azure region while operating as an internal-only load balancer. SSL offloading terminates HTTPS at the gateway, offloading the encryption burden from backend VMs, while cookie-based affinity ensures session stickiness for user continuity, and path-based rules route /api/* and /app/* traffic to separate backend pools. On the AZ-305 exam, this scenario tests your ability to distinguish between Azure Load Balancer (Layer 4, no SSL or URL routing), Traffic Manager (global DNS), and Application Gateway (Layer 7 with these features). A common trap is choosing Azure Load Balancer for its simplicity, but it cannot perform SSL termination or URL path routing. Remember the mnemonic “GATE” for Gateway: SSL offloading, Affinity (stickiness), Traffic routing by URL, and Endpoint privacy (private IP only).
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 an internal web application on Azure VMs. The application requires SSL offloading, session stickiness, and URL-based routing (e.g., /api/* to one backend, /app/* to another). The solution must operate within a single Azure region and must not be exposed to the public internet. Which Azure load balancing solution should they use?
Why wrong: Azure Front Door is a global load balancer that operates at the edge. It requires public endpoints and is designed for multi-region traffic, not for a single region internal deployment.
B
B
Why wrong: Azure Traffic Manager is DNS-based and does not provide SSL offloading, session stickiness, or URL-based routing at the application layer.
C
C
Azure Application Gateway can be deployed internally (internal Application Gateway) and provides all required features: SSL offloading, session affinity, and URL path-based routing.
D
D
Why wrong: Azure Load Balancer works at Layer 4 (TCP/UDP) and cannot make routing decisions based on URL paths. It also does not provide SSL offloading.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
C
Azure Application Gateway v2 is the correct choice because it provides SSL offloading (SSL termination at the gateway), session stickiness (cookie-based affinity), and URL-based routing (path-based routing rules) within a single Azure region. It can be deployed with a private IP address only, ensuring it is not exposed to the public internet, meeting all requirements.
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 it's wrong here
Azure Front Door is a global load balancer that operates at the edge. It requires public endpoints and is designed for multi-region traffic, not for a single region internal deployment.
✗
B
Why it's wrong here
Azure Traffic Manager is DNS-based and does not provide SSL offloading, session stickiness, or URL-based routing at the application layer.
✓
C
Why this is correct
Azure Application Gateway can be deployed internally (internal Application Gateway) and provides all required features: SSL offloading, session affinity, and URL path-based routing.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
D
Why it's wrong here
Azure Load Balancer works at Layer 4 (TCP/UDP) and cannot make routing decisions based on URL paths. It also does not provide SSL offloading.
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 a global service requiring public endpoints and multi-region support, whereas Application Gateway can be deployed privately within a single region.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Azure Application Gateway v2 uses a Web Application Firewall (WAF) policy and supports TLS termination with end-to-end encryption options. Session stickiness is achieved via Application Gateway affinity cookies, which are set on the initial request and used to route subsequent requests to the same backend server. URL-based routing is configured through path-based rules in the listener settings, allowing granular traffic distribution to different backend pools based on URL patterns like /api/* and /app/*.
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 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: C — Azure Application Gateway v2 is the correct choice because it provides SSL offloading (SSL termination at the gateway), session stickiness (cookie-based affinity), and URL-based routing (path-based routing rules) within a single Azure region. It can be deployed with a private IP address only, ensuring it is not exposed to the public internet, meeting all requirements.
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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