The correct approach is to assign a static private IP address to the VM’s NIC and place the VM behind a standard public load balancer. This works because a static private IP is allocated at the NIC level, ensuring the address persists even when the VM is stopped and deallocated, while the standard public load balancer provides high availability across availability zones by distributing traffic to healthy VMs. On the AZ-305 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of how to decouple IP persistence from VM lifecycle management—a common trap is confusing load balancer types, such as choosing Azure Firewall (which is a security service, not a load balancer) or Traffic Manager (a DNS-based global router). The key insight is that the static private IP belongs to the NIC, not the VM, so it survives deallocation. Memory tip: think “NIC static, LB standard” to recall that the NIC holds the fixed IP while the load balancer handles zone resilience.
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 deploying a critical application on Azure VMs. The application requires a static private IP address that does not change even if the VM is stopped and deallocated. The VM must be placed in an availability zone for high availability. Which networking approach should you use?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Assign a static private IP address to the VM's NIC and use a standard public load balancer.
Option A is correct because a standard public load balancer can be used in front of VMs, and static private IPs can be assigned via NIC-level static IP allocation. Option B is incorrect because Azure Firewall is not for load balancing. Option C is incorrect because Traffic Manager is a DNS-based load balancer for global traffic. Option D is incorrect because Application Gateway is a layer 7 load balancer, but it does not provide static private IP for the VM itself.
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.
✗
Use Azure Firewall to provide static private IP and load balancing.
Assign a static private IP address to the VM's NIC and use a standard public load balancer.
Why this is correct
Static private IP persists even when VM is deallocated, and load balancer provides high availability.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Use Azure Traffic Manager to assign static private IP.
Why it's wrong here
Traffic Manager is DNS-based and does not assign private IPs.
✗
Use Application Gateway with a static private IP.
Why it's wrong here
Application Gateway's private IP is for the gateway itself, not the VM.
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.
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: Assign a static private IP address to the VM's NIC and use a standard public load balancer. — Option A is correct because a standard public load balancer can be used in front of VMs, and static private IPs can be assigned via NIC-level static IP allocation. Option B is incorrect because Azure Firewall is not for load balancing. Option C is incorrect because Traffic Manager is a DNS-based load balancer for global traffic. Option D is incorrect because Application Gateway is a layer 7 load balancer, but it does not provide static private IP for the VM itself.
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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Question Discussion
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