AZ-305 Practice Question: Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions
You are designing a monitoring solution for a hybrid environment with on-premises servers and Azure VMs. You need to collect security events and performance data centrally, and create custom alerts. The solution must use the same agent for both environments. Which agent should you deploy?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse the Log Analytics agent (MMA) as the 'standard' hybrid agent, not realizing it is being replaced by Azure Monitor Agent, which is the only agent that meets the 'same agent for both environments' requirement with unified data collection rules.
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 Monitor Agent
Azure Monitor Agent (AMA) is the correct choice because it is the next-generation agent that replaces the legacy Log Analytics agent (MMA) and supports both Windows and Linux machines in hybrid and Azure environments. It collects security events and performance data into a single Log Analytics workspace and enables custom alert rules via data collection rules (DCRs), all with a single agent deployment.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Log Analytics agent (MMA)
Why it's wrong here
The Log Analytics agent (MMA) is the legacy predecessor to Azure Monitor Agent, and Microsoft has announced deprecation with retirement still coming. While it can collect performance and event data from Windows/Linux machines into a Log Analytics workspace, its configuration is limited to workspace ID and key, without the flexibility of data collection rules. For a new hybrid monitoring solution, it should not be chosen because no new features are being developed and workloads must eventually migrate to Azure Monitor Agent.
- ✓
Azure Monitor Agent
Why this is correct
Azure Monitor Agent (AMA) is the next-generation, unified agent designed to replace the Log Analytics agent for both Azure VMs and on-premises servers via Azure Arc. It provides a single agent to collect performance, event, security, and custom telemetry, with granular control through Data Collection Rules (DCRs) that separate data collection from configuration. AMA supports multi-homing by sending data to multiple Log Analytics workspaces simultaneously, making it the appropriate and recommended choice for a hybrid environment.
- ✗
Microsoft Dependency Agent
Why it's wrong here
The Microsoft Dependency Agent is a specialized agent used exclusively for VM Insights, capturing network connections, process dependencies, and outbound traffic to power the connection map and dependency visualization. It requires the base Azure Monitor Agent (or legacy MMA) to be installed first and does not collect standard performance metrics or event logs on its own. In a hybrid environment, deploying only the Dependency Agent would leave core monitoring gaps, so it is not a valid standalone monitoring solution.
- ✗
Azure Diagnostics extension
Why it's wrong here
The Azure Diagnostics extension is designed for Azure virtual machines to gather guest OS diagnostics, such as performance counters, event logs, and IIS logs, often used for auto-scaling or Virtual Machine diagnostics. It is not extensible to on-premises servers, as it relies on Azure-specific infrastructure and Azure storage; there is no supported way to configure it as a hybrid agent. Additionally, its diagnostic data is not directly routed to Log Analytics without an additional sink, making it unsuitable as the primary monitoring agent for a hybrid environment.
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JA
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.