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 need to distribute incoming internet traffic across multiple Azure virtual machines in the same region. The solution must provide layer 7 load balancing and SSL offloading. Which Azure service should you use?
Azure Application Gateway
Application Gateway is a regional layer 7 load balancer with SSL offloading.
Azure Traffic Manager
Why wrong: Traffic Manager is DNS-based global load balancing, not layer 7.
Azure Load Balancer
Why wrong: Load Balancer is layer 4, not layer 7.
Azure Front Door
Why wrong: Front Door is global, not regional.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Azure Application Gateway
Option C is correct because Azure Application Gateway provides layer 7 load balancing with SSL termination. Option A is wrong because Azure Load Balancer is layer 4. Option B is wrong because Traffic Manager is DNS-based. Option D is wrong because Azure Front Door is global, not regional.
Key principle: NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Azure Application Gateway
Why this is correct
Application Gateway is a regional layer 7 load balancer with SSL offloading.
Related concept
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
Azure Traffic Manager
Why it's wrong here
Traffic Manager is DNS-based global load balancing, not layer 7.
Azure Load Balancer
Why it's wrong here
Load Balancer is layer 4, not layer 7.
Azure Front Door
Why it's wrong here
Front Door is global, not regional.
Common exam traps
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Detailed technical explanation
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
Key takeaway
NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Real-world example
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.
What to study next
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related AZ-500 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
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FAQ
Secure networking — This question tests Secure networking — Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address..
The correct answer is: Azure Application Gateway — Option C is correct because Azure Application Gateway provides layer 7 load balancing with SSL termination. Option A is wrong because Azure Load Balancer is layer 4. Option B is wrong because Traffic Manager is DNS-based. Option D is wrong because Azure Front Door is global, not regional.
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related AZ-500 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
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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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