The correct combination is Azure Event Hubs, Azure Stream Analytics, and Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2. This trio forms a complete real-time streaming data pipeline: Event Hubs ingests up to 1 million events per second with low latency, Stream Analytics processes the data in near real-time (under 10 seconds), and Data Lake Storage Gen2 stores the results cost-effectively for seven years while enabling ad-hoc querying through Azure Synapse Analytics or U-SQL. On the AZ-305 exam, this scenario tests your ability to match Azure services to specific throughput, latency, and long-term storage requirements—a common design question for IoT and streaming workloads. A frequent trap is choosing IoT Hub for ingestion, but remember IoT Hub is for device management and bidirectional communication, not high-throughput streaming. Another trap is Cosmos DB, which excels at low-latency transactions but is not optimized for petabyte-scale analytics storage. Memory tip: think “Ingest, Process, Store” with Event Hubs, Stream Analytics, and Data Lake—the three pillars of a streaming pipeline.
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.
Your company is designing a new application that will process large volumes of streaming data from IoT devices. The data will be ingested, processed in near real-time, and stored for long-term analytics. You need to design a solution that meets the following requirements: (1) Ingest up to 1 million events per second. (2) Process events with a latency of less than 10 seconds. (3) Store processed data for 7 years for compliance. (4) Enable ad-hoc querying of the stored data. Which combination of Azure services should you recommend?
Azure IoT Hub, Azure Stream Analytics, and Azure Cosmos DB.
Why wrong: IoT Hub is designed for device connectivity, not high-throughput event ingestion.
B
Azure Service Bus, Azure Functions, and Azure SQL Database.
Why wrong: Service Bus is a message broker, not a streaming ingestion service.
C
Azure Event Hubs, Azure Functions, and Azure Cosmos DB.
Why wrong: Functions are not ideal for high-throughput streaming processing; Cosmos DB is expensive for long-term storage.
D
Azure Event Hubs, Azure Stream Analytics, and Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2.
Event Hubs ingests millions of events, Stream Analytics processes with low latency, Data Lake Storage provides cheap archival storage with query capability.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Azure Event Hubs, Azure Stream Analytics, and Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2.
Option D is correct because Event Hubs ingests high-volume streaming data, Stream Analytics processes it in real-time, and Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 provides cost-effective long-term storage with query capabilities via Azure Synapse or U-SQL. Option A is wrong because IoT Hub is for device management, not high-throughput ingestion. Option B is wrong because Service Bus is for messaging, not streaming. Option C is wrong because Cosmos DB is not optimized for long-term analytics storage.
Key principle: NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
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 IoT Hub, Azure Stream Analytics, and Azure Cosmos DB.
Why it's wrong here
IoT Hub is designed for device connectivity, not high-throughput event ingestion.
✗
Azure Service Bus, Azure Functions, and Azure SQL Database.
Why it's wrong here
Service Bus is a message broker, not a streaming ingestion service.
✗
Azure Event Hubs, Azure Functions, and Azure Cosmos DB.
Why it's wrong here
Functions are not ideal for high-throughput streaming processing; Cosmos DB is expensive for long-term storage.
✓
Azure Event Hubs, Azure Stream Analytics, and Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2.
Why this is correct
Event Hubs ingests millions of events, Stream Analytics processes with low latency, Data Lake Storage provides cheap archival storage with query capability.
Related concept
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
Common exam traps
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.
Detailed technical explanation
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.
Key takeaway
NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this AZ-305 question in full detail.
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related AZ-305 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
Design infrastructure solutions — This question tests Design infrastructure solutions — Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Azure Event Hubs, Azure Stream Analytics, and Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2. — Option D is correct because Event Hubs ingests high-volume streaming data, Stream Analytics processes it in real-time, and Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 provides cost-effective long-term storage with query capabilities via Azure Synapse or U-SQL. Option A is wrong because IoT Hub is for device management, not high-throughput ingestion. Option B is wrong because Service Bus is for messaging, not streaming. Option C is wrong because Cosmos DB is not optimized for long-term analytics storage.
What should I do if I get this AZ-305 question wrong?
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related AZ-305 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
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