- A
Azure Load Balancer
Why wrong: Azure Load Balancer distributes traffic within a single Azure region and does not provide global geographic routing or cross-region failover. It operates at the transport layer (TCP/UDP) and is not suitable for this multi-region requirement.
- B
Azure Application Gateway
Why wrong: Azure Application Gateway is a regional HTTP(S) load balancer that includes features like URL-based routing and a Web Application Firewall (WAF). It does not support global geographic routing or cross-region failover between different regions.
- C
Azure Traffic Manager
Azure Traffic Manager is a DNS-based traffic routing service that can direct users to the closest or most appropriate regional endpoint based on geographic location, latency, or priority. It automatically detects endpoint health and fails over to healthy endpoints, making it ideal for global load balancing with DNS-level routing and without terminating HTTPS.
- D
Azure Front Door
Why wrong: Azure Front Door is a global HTTP(S) load balancer and Application Delivery Network (ADN) that provides geographic routing, WAF, and SSL offloading. While it can meet the routing and failover requirements, it terminates HTTPS traffic at the edge, which is more than what is needed in this scenario where DNS-level routing is sufficient. Traffic Manager is the simpler, more cost-effective choice for DNS-only routing.
Quick Answer
The answer is Azure Traffic Manager, the correct choice because it provides DNS-based global load balancing and multi-region failover without terminating HTTPS traffic at the routing layer. By using the Performance traffic-routing method, Traffic Manager directs user requests to the nearest regional endpoint based on geographic location, and it automatically reroutes all traffic to a healthy region if an endpoint becomes unavailable—all at the DNS level, meaning SSL/TLS termination is never required. On the AZ-900 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of how Traffic Manager differs from Azure Load Balancer or Application Gateway, which operate at higher network layers and do terminate traffic. A common trap is confusing Traffic Manager with Application Gateway, but remember: if the requirement says “DNS level” and “no SSL termination,” it’s Traffic Manager. Memory tip: Think “DNS directs, never decrypts.”
AZ-900 Describe Azure architecture and services Practice Question
This AZ-900 practice question tests your understanding of describe azure architecture and services. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 multinational e-commerce company runs its customer-facing web application on Azure virtual machines deployed in two Azure regions: East US and West Europe. The company wants to automatically route user traffic to the nearest regional deployment based on the user's geographic location. Additionally, if one region becomes unavailable, all traffic should automatically be redirected to the remaining healthy region. The company wants a solution that works at the DNS level and does not require terminating HTTPS traffic at the routing layer. Which Azure service should they 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 nearest available endpoint based on geographic location (using the Performance traffic-routing method) and automatically fails over to the next healthy region when a region becomes unavailable. It operates at the DNS level, so it does not terminate HTTPS traffic, meeting the requirement to avoid SSL/TLS termination at the routing layer.
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 and does not provide global geographic routing or cross-region failover. It operates at the transport layer (TCP/UDP) and is not suitable for this multi-region requirement.
- ✗
Azure Application Gateway
Why it's wrong here
Azure Application Gateway is a regional HTTP(S) load balancer that includes features like URL-based routing and a Web Application Firewall (WAF). It does not support global geographic routing or cross-region failover between different regions.
- ✓
Azure Traffic Manager
Why this is correct
Azure Traffic Manager is a DNS-based traffic routing service that can direct users to the closest or most appropriate regional endpoint based on geographic location, latency, or priority. It automatically detects endpoint health and fails over to healthy endpoints, making it ideal for global load balancing with DNS-level routing and without terminating HTTPS.
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 HTTP(S) load balancer and Application Delivery Network (ADN) that provides geographic routing, WAF, and SSL offloading. While it can meet the routing and failover requirements, it terminates HTTPS traffic at the edge, which is more than what is needed in this scenario where DNS-level routing is sufficient. Traffic Manager is the simpler, more cost-effective choice for DNS-only routing.
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, global, no SSL termination) with Azure Front Door (global, but terminates SSL at the edge), leading them to pick Front Door because it also supports geographic routing, but they overlook the explicit requirement to avoid HTTPS termination at the routing layer.
Trap categories for this question
Scenario analysis trap
Azure Front Door is a global HTTP(S) load balancer and Application Delivery Network (ADN) that provides geographic routing, WAF, and SSL offloading. While it can meet the routing and failover requirements, it terminates HTTPS traffic at the edge, which is more than what is needed in this scenario where DNS-level routing is sufficient. Traffic Manager is the simpler, more cost-effective choice for DNS-only routing.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Azure Traffic Manager uses DNS responses to direct clients to the optimal endpoint based on the Performance routing method, which uses the client's source IP address to determine the nearest Azure region by measuring network latency. It does not inspect or modify the actual traffic payload; it only resolves the DNS name to the IP address of the chosen endpoint, so HTTPS traffic remains encrypted end-to-end between the client and the VM. In a real-world scenario, if the East US region goes down, Traffic Manager's health probes detect the failure and automatically remove that endpoint from DNS responses, causing clients to resolve to the West Europe endpoint instead.
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
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
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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 nearest available endpoint based on geographic location (using the Performance traffic-routing method) and automatically fails over to the next healthy region when a region becomes unavailable. It operates at the DNS level, so it does not terminate HTTPS traffic, meeting the requirement to avoid SSL/TLS termination at the routing layer.
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.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
2 more ways this is tested on AZ-900
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. 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?
medium- A.Azure Load Balancer
- B.Azure Application Gateway
- ✓ C.Azure Traffic Manager
- D.Azure Front Door
Why C: 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.
Variation 2. 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?
medium- ✓ A.Azure Traffic Manager
- B.Azure Load Balancer
- C.Azure Application Gateway
- D.Azure Front Door
Why A: 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.
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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