AZ-305 Design infrastructure solutions Practice Question
You are designing a cloud-native application that will run on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS). The application needs to authenticate users and manage access to resources. Which identity service should you use?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse Microsoft Entra ID (the modern cloud identity provider for enterprise users) with Microsoft Entra Domain Services (a legacy domain service for on-premises-style authentication), leading candidates to pick D for AKS when only Entra ID supports the required OAuth 2.0/OIDC protocols.
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
✓
Microsoft Entra ID
Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) is the correct identity service for a cloud-native application on AKS because it provides OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect authentication, enabling secure user sign-in and role-based access control (RBAC) for Kubernetes resources. It integrates natively with AKS to manage identities for users and service principals, supporting managed identities for Azure resources without credential management.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Microsoft Entra External ID
Why it's wrong here
Microsoft Entra External ID is the identity service for outside parties—business guests (B2B) and consumers (B2C)—not for an organization's own application users. It supports social identity federation, branding, and self-service sign-up, but it cannot serve as the primary directory for internal users or for workload identities that access Azure resources. For a cloud-native app inside an Azure subscription, internal authentication and authorization must be anchored in the Microsoft Entra ID tenant where Microsoft Entra ID roles and RBAC are evaluated.
- ✓
Microsoft Entra ID
Why this is correct
Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) is the identity provider (IdP) for the entire Azure platform, authenticating users, service principals, and managed identities via OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, and SAML. In a cloud-native application, services such as AKS use Entra ID for RBAC and workload identity federation, allowing pods to fetch tokens without hard-coded secrets. It is the correct choice because the same tenant that defines organizational users also authorizes access to the Azure control plane and integrates with application authentication.
- ✗
Microsoft Account
Why it's wrong here
Microsoft Account is an identity for consumer services—Outlook.com, Xbox Live, Microsoft Store—and is not bound to any enterprise tenant. While such an account can be invited into a Microsoft Entra ID directory as a guest, it cannot be granted Azure RBAC permissions natively, nor can it be used as a service identity for an Azure-hosted app. Relying on personal Microsoft Accounts leaves the application without enterprise governance, group-based access, or the federated SSO capabilities that Entra ID provides.
- ✗
Microsoft Entra Domain Services
Why it's wrong here
Microsoft Entra Domain Services (formerly Azure AD DS) is a managed domain service that offers NTLM/Kerberos authentication, LDAP, and group policy for legacy workloads that cannot use modern protocols. It does not issue OAuth 2.0/OIDC tokens and is not an authorization authority for Azure Resource Manager or AKS APIs; it simply synchronizes users from Microsoft Entra ID to support domain join and LDAP-based access. Choosing AD DS as the identity provider would force modern cloud-native components to bridge down to legacy protocols, adding unnecessary latency and complexity without solving control-plane authentication.
Quick reference
Access Control Model Comparison
| Model | Acronym | Who Controls Access? | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discretionary Access Control | DAC | Resource owner | Small teams, file shares |
| Mandatory Access Control | MAC | System / security labels | Classified govt / military |
| Role-Based Access Control | RBAC | Administrator (via roles) | Enterprise environments |
| Attribute-Based Access Control | ABAC | Policy engine (user + resource attributes) | Fine-grained, dynamic policies |
| Rule-Based Access Control | RuBAC | System rules / ACLs | Firewall rules, network ACLs |
Go deeper
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.