The correct answer includes both an Azure Load Balancer and an Availability Set. The Load Balancer distributes incoming traffic across multiple VMs, ensuring no single VM is overwhelmed, while the Availability Set protects against hardware failures by placing VMs on separate fault and update domains within an Azure datacenter. Together, these two components form the foundational pattern for high availability web app VMs, as the load balancer handles traffic distribution and the availability set provides VM redundancy. On the AZ-305 exam, this scenario tests your ability to distinguish between regional high availability (Availability Set plus Load Balancer) and global routing services like Traffic Manager or Front Door. A common trap is choosing Application Gateway, but the question specifies basic traffic distribution across an availability set, which is a Layer 4 Load Balancer task. Memory tip: think “regional pair” — for a single-region, highly available web app, you always pair a load balancer with an availability set.
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.
You are designing a highly available architecture for a web application that runs on Azure VMs. The solution must distribute incoming traffic across multiple VMs in an availability set. Which TWO Azure components should you include? (Choose two.)
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Azure Load Balancer
Options A and D are correct. Azure Load Balancer distributes incoming traffic. Availability Set provides VM redundancy. Option B is wrong because Azure Traffic Manager is for global traffic routing. Option C is wrong because Azure Application Gateway is a layer 7 load balancer with additional features, but the scenario specifically mentions distributing traffic across VMs in an availability set, which is a basic load balancer function. However, both Load Balancer and Application Gateway can distribute traffic, but the simplest is Load Balancer. For high availability, you need both a load balancer and an availability set. Option E is wrong because Azure Front Door is for global load balancing.
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 Load Balancer
Why this is correct
Load Balancer distributes traffic to VMs in the same region.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Azure Traffic Manager
Why it's wrong here
Traffic Manager is for DNS-based global traffic routing, not regional load balancing.
✗
Azure Front Door
Why it's wrong here
Front Door is a global load balancer, not for regional VM distribution.
✓
Availability Set
Why this is correct
Availability Set ensures VMs are distributed across fault and update domains for high availability.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Azure Application Gateway
Why it's wrong here
Application Gateway is a layer 7 load balancer, but the scenario doesn't require web application firewall or URL routing.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Trap categories for this question
Scenario analysis trap
Application Gateway is a layer 7 load balancer, but the scenario doesn't require web application firewall or URL routing.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
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.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
→Underline the problem statement mentally.
→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.
Identify which AZ-305 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
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 Load Balancer — Options A and D are correct. Azure Load Balancer distributes incoming traffic. Availability Set provides VM redundancy. Option B is wrong because Azure Traffic Manager is for global traffic routing. Option C is wrong because Azure Application Gateway is a layer 7 load balancer with additional features, but the scenario specifically mentions distributing traffic across VMs in an availability set, which is a basic load balancer function. However, both Load Balancer and Application Gateway can distribute traffic, but the simplest is Load Balancer. For high availability, you need both a load balancer and an availability set. Option E is wrong because Azure Front Door is for global load balancing.
What should I do if I get this AZ-305 question wrong?
Identify which AZ-305 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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