This AZ-500 practice question tests your understanding of secure networking. 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 secure network for a three-tier application. The web tier must be accessible from the internet on port 443. The application tier should only be reachable from the web tier. The database tier should only be reachable from the application tier. Which Azure service should you use to enforce these restrictions?
Azure VPN Gateway.
Why wrong: VPN Gateway is not for internal traffic control.
Network security groups (NSGs) on each subnet.
NSGs can restrict traffic based on source and destination IP/port.
Azure Front Door.
Why wrong: Front Door is for global HTTP(S) load balancing.
Azure Firewall in the hub.
Why wrong: Azure Firewall is overkill for simple tier-to-tier restrictions.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Network security groups (NSGs) on each subnet.
Option A is correct because NSGs can be applied to subnets or NICs to control inbound/outbound traffic. Option B is wrong because Azure Firewall is a managed network security service typically used for perimeter traffic. Option C is wrong because a VPN gateway is for site-to-site connectivity. Option D is wrong because Azure Front Door is a global load balancer.
Key principle: Count usable hosts — not total addresses — and remember that the network and broadcast addresses are not available to hosts in standard IPv4 subnets.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Azure VPN Gateway.
Network security groups (NSGs) on each subnet.
Why this is correct
NSGs can restrict traffic based on source and destination IP/port.
Related concept
CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
Azure Front Door.
Why it's wrong here
Front Door is for global HTTP(S) load balancing.
Azure Firewall in the hub.
Why it's wrong here
Azure Firewall is overkill for simple tier-to-tier restrictions.
Common exam traps
Subnetting questions often tempt you into counting all addresses. In normal IPv4 subnets, the network and broadcast addresses are not usable host addresses.
Detailed technical explanation
Subnetting questions test whether you can identify the network, broadcast address, usable range, mask and correct subnet. Slow down enough to calculate the block size correctly.
Key takeaway
Count usable hosts — not total addresses — and remember that the network and broadcast addresses are not available to hosts in standard IPv4 subnets.
Real-world example
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
Review block sizes, usable host formulas (2^n − 2), and how to find network and broadcast addresses for /24 through /30. Then practise related AZ-500 subnetting questions on CIDR, address ranges, and subnet selection.
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FAQ
Secure networking — This question tests Secure networking — CIDR notation defines the prefix length..
The correct answer is: Network security groups (NSGs) on each subnet. — Option A is correct because NSGs can be applied to subnets or NICs to control inbound/outbound traffic. Option B is wrong because Azure Firewall is a managed network security service typically used for perimeter traffic. Option C is wrong because a VPN gateway is for site-to-site connectivity. Option D is wrong because Azure Front Door is a global load balancer.
Review block sizes, usable host formulas (2^n − 2), and how to find network and broadcast addresses for /24 through /30. Then practise related AZ-500 subnetting questions on CIDR, address ranges, and subnet selection.
CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
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Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026
This AZ-500 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-500 exam.
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