- A
Azure Traffic Manager
Correct. Azure Traffic Manager is a DNS-based global traffic router that can direct users to the nearest region (performance routing) and automatically fail over to another region if one becomes unavailable.
- B
Azure Load Balancer
Why wrong: Incorrect. Azure Load Balancer operates at Layer 4 (TCP/UDP) within a single region. It does not provide DNS-based multi-region routing or latency-based routing across Azure regions.
- C
Azure Application Gateway
Why wrong: Incorrect. Azure Application Gateway is a regional Layer 7 load balancer that supports URL-based routing and TLS offloading. It is designed for intra-region traffic distribution and does not route traffic across regions based on DNS or latency.
- D
Azure Front Door
Why wrong: Incorrect. While Azure Front Door can route traffic globally and support performance routing and failover, it also includes additional features such as global TLS offloading, web application firewall (WAF), and URL-based routing. Although it could technically meet the requirement, it is an overly complex solution compared to Traffic Manager. The question specifies that the company does not need TLS offloading or URL routing, making Traffic Manager the most appropriate and cost-effective choice.
AZ-900 Describe Azure architecture and services Practice Question
This AZ-900 practice question tests your understanding of describe azure architecture and services. 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.
A company runs a web application in two Azure regions: East US and West US. The company wants to route users automatically to the region that provides the lowest network latency. If one region becomes unavailable, all traffic should be rerouted to the healthy region. The company does not need to offload Transport Layer Security (TLS) or perform URL-based routing. Which Azure service should the company use to distribute traffic at the DNS level?
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 Traffic Manager
Azure Traffic Manager operates at the DNS level, using DNS responses to direct user traffic to the region with the lowest network latency based on the Performance traffic-routing method. It also supports automatic failover: if a region becomes unavailable, Traffic Manager detects the endpoint health probe failure and reroutes all traffic to the healthy region. This matches the requirement exactly, as the company needs DNS-level distribution without TLS offloading or URL-based routing.
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 Traffic Manager
Why this is correct
Correct. Azure Traffic Manager is a DNS-based global traffic router that can direct users to the nearest region (performance routing) and automatically fail over to another region if one becomes unavailable.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Azure Load Balancer
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Azure Load Balancer operates at Layer 4 (TCP/UDP) within a single region. It does not provide DNS-based multi-region routing or latency-based routing across Azure regions.
- ✗
Azure Application Gateway
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Azure Application Gateway is a regional Layer 7 load balancer that supports URL-based routing and TLS offloading. It is designed for intra-region traffic distribution and does not route traffic across regions based on DNS or latency.
- ✗
Azure Front Door
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. While Azure Front Door can route traffic globally and support performance routing and failover, it also includes additional features such as global TLS offloading, web application firewall (WAF), and URL-based routing. Although it could technically meet the requirement, it is an overly complex solution compared to Traffic Manager. The question specifies that the company does not need TLS offloading or URL routing, making Traffic Manager the most appropriate and cost-effective choice.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Azure Traffic Manager (DNS-level, cross-region) with Azure Load Balancer (transport-level, single-region) or Azure Application Gateway (application-level, with TLS/URL features), failing to recognize that only Traffic Manager provides global latency-based routing at the DNS layer without requiring TLS offloading or URL path inspection.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Azure Traffic Manager uses DNS-based traffic routing by responding to DNS queries with the IP address of the endpoint that yields the lowest latency, based on periodic latency measurements from Azure's global edge nodes. It supports multiple routing methods including Performance, Priority, Weighted, and Geographic; for this scenario, Performance routing is used, which relies on the Internet latency table maintained by Azure. Health probes are sent via HTTP/HTTPS or TCP to each endpoint every 10 seconds by default, and after three consecutive failures the endpoint is marked as degraded, triggering failover to the next best region.
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.
TExam Day Tips
- 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
A healthcare organisation deploys an application with a public-facing web tier and a private database tier. The database subnet has no public IP and only accepts connections from the web tier's security group. Questions like this test whether you can design cloud network isolation using VNets/VPCs, subnets, and security group rules.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this AZ-900 question test?
Describe Azure architecture and services — This question tests Describe Azure architecture and services — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Azure Traffic Manager — Azure Traffic Manager operates at the DNS level, using DNS responses to direct user traffic to the region with the lowest network latency based on the Performance traffic-routing method. It also supports automatic failover: if a region becomes unavailable, Traffic Manager detects the endpoint health probe failure and reroutes all traffic to the healthy region. This matches the requirement exactly, as the company needs DNS-level distribution without TLS offloading or URL-based routing.
What should I do if I get this AZ-900 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This AZ-900 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-900 exam.
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