- A
Azure Load Balancer
Why wrong: Azure Load Balancer distributes traffic within a single Azure region at the transport layer (TCP/UDP). It cannot route traffic across multiple regions, so it does not meet the global routing requirement.
- B
Azure Application Gateway
Why wrong: Azure Application Gateway is a regional web traffic load balancer that operates at Layer 7 (HTTP/HTTPS). It can route traffic based on URL path or host headers within a region, but it does not support cross-region latency-based routing or region failover.
- C
Azure Traffic Manager
Azure Traffic Manager is a DNS-based traffic load balancer that works at the global level. It can route users to the endpoint with the lowest latency (performance routing) and automatically fail over to a different region if the primary endpoint is unhealthy.
- D
Azure Front Door
Why wrong: Azure Front Door is a global application delivery network that provides load balancing, SSL offload, and web application firewall. While it can also perform global routing, it is a more complex service. For basic DNS-based latency routing and region failover, Traffic Manager is the simpler and appropriate solution.
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 global e-commerce company has deployed its web application in two Azure regions: West US and East US. The company wants to automatically route end users to the region that provides the lowest latency, and if an entire region becomes unavailable, gracefully redirect all traffic to the remaining healthy region. Which Azure service should the company use?
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 is a DNS-based traffic load balancer that routes incoming DNS requests to the endpoint with the lowest latency based on the user's geographic location. It also supports automatic failover: if an entire region becomes unavailable, Traffic Manager detects the endpoint health probe failure and redirects all traffic to the remaining healthy region, meeting the company's requirements.
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 Load Balancer
Why it's wrong here
Azure Load Balancer distributes traffic within a single Azure region at the transport layer (TCP/UDP). It cannot route traffic across multiple regions, so it does not meet the global routing requirement.
- ✗
Azure Application Gateway
Why it's wrong here
Azure Application Gateway is a regional web traffic load balancer that operates at Layer 7 (HTTP/HTTPS). It can route traffic based on URL path or host headers within a region, but it does not support cross-region latency-based routing or region failover.
- ✓
Azure Traffic Manager
Why this is correct
Azure Traffic Manager is a DNS-based traffic load balancer that works at the global level. It can route users to the endpoint with the lowest latency (performance routing) and automatically fail over to a different region if the primary endpoint is unhealthy.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Azure Front Door
Why it's wrong here
Azure Front Door is a global application delivery network that provides load balancing, SSL offload, and web application firewall. While it can also perform global routing, it is a more complex service. For basic DNS-based latency routing and region failover, Traffic Manager is the simpler and appropriate solution.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Azure Traffic Manager (DNS-based, global, multi-region) with Azure Load Balancer (regional, Layer 4) or Azure Front Door (global, Layer 7 with advanced features), failing to recognize that Traffic Manager is the simplest and most cost-effective service for DNS-level latency routing and regional failover without requiring HTTP/HTTPS traffic inspection.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Azure Traffic Manager uses DNS resolution to direct clients to the endpoint with the lowest latency by leveraging a global network of DNS servers that measure network latency between the client and each endpoint. It supports multiple traffic-routing methods (e.g., Performance, Priority, Weighted, Geographic) and health probes over HTTP/HTTPS/TCP to detect endpoint availability; if a region fails, the DNS TTL ensures clients eventually resolve to the healthy region, though in-flight sessions may be lost unless applications handle session persistence.
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 cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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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 is a DNS-based traffic load balancer that routes incoming DNS requests to the endpoint with the lowest latency based on the user's geographic location. It also supports automatic failover: if an entire region becomes unavailable, Traffic Manager detects the endpoint health probe failure and redirects all traffic to the remaining healthy region, meeting the company's requirements.
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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