- A
Azure Load Balancer
Why wrong: Azure Load Balancer distributes traffic within a single region and operates at Layer 4 (TCP/UDP). It cannot route traffic across multiple regions based on geographic location.
- B
Azure Application Gateway
Why wrong: Azure Application Gateway is a regional Layer 7 load balancer that provides SSL termination, web application firewall, and URL-based routing. It does not provide cross-region geographic failover and would modify HTTP traffic, which is not required in this scenario.
- C
Azure Traffic Manager
Azure Traffic Manager is a DNS-based traffic router that can direct users to endpoints in different Azure regions based on geographic location, performance, or priority. It monitors endpoint health and automatically fails over if a region goes down, all without inspecting or modifying HTTP traffic.
- D
Azure Front Door
Why wrong: Azure Front Door is a global Layer 7 service that offers SSL termination, web application firewall, and caching. It operates at the application layer and modifies HTTP traffic (e.g., by terminating TLS). The requirement states no HTTP inspection or modification, so Front Door is not suitable.
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 hosts a public-facing web application on Azure Virtual Machines in two separate Azure regions for disaster recovery. The application's domain is managed by a third-party registrar. The company needs a solution that can route user traffic to the nearest healthy regional endpoint based on geographic location and provides automatic failover if an entire region becomes unavailable. The solution should not inspect or modify the HTTP traffic (no SSL termination or web application firewall). 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 nearest healthy regional endpoint based on geographic location or latency. It supports automatic failover by monitoring endpoint health and redirecting traffic if an entire region becomes unavailable, and it operates at the DNS level without inspecting or modifying HTTP traffic, so no SSL termination or web application firewall is involved.
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 region and operates at Layer 4 (TCP/UDP). It cannot route traffic across multiple regions based on geographic location.
- ✗
Azure Application Gateway
Why it's wrong here
Azure Application Gateway is a regional Layer 7 load balancer that provides SSL termination, web application firewall, and URL-based routing. It does not provide cross-region geographic failover and would modify HTTP traffic, which is not required in this scenario.
- ✓
Azure Traffic Manager
Why this is correct
Azure Traffic Manager is a DNS-based traffic router that can direct users to endpoints in different Azure regions based on geographic location, performance, or priority. It monitors endpoint health and automatically fails over if a region goes down, all without inspecting or modifying HTTP traffic.
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 Layer 7 service that offers SSL termination, web application firewall, and caching. It operates at the application layer and modifies HTTP traffic (e.g., by terminating TLS). The requirement states no HTTP inspection or modification, so Front Door is not suitable.
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, no traffic inspection) with Azure Front Door (global HTTP load balancer with SSL termination and WAF), leading them to choose Front Door when the requirement explicitly prohibits HTTP inspection or modification.
Trap categories for this question
Scenario analysis trap
Azure Application Gateway is a regional Layer 7 load balancer that provides SSL termination, web application firewall, and URL-based routing. It does not provide cross-region geographic failover and would modify HTTP traffic, which is not required in this scenario.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Azure Traffic Manager uses DNS resolution to direct clients to the appropriate regional endpoint based on traffic-routing methods like Geographic, Performance (latency), or Priority. It does not sit in the data path; instead, it relies on periodic health probes (HTTP/HTTPS/TCP) to detect endpoint availability, and DNS TTL values (typically 300 seconds) control how quickly clients receive updated routing information after a failover event.
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
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 is a DNS-based traffic load balancer that routes incoming DNS requests to the nearest healthy regional endpoint based on geographic location or latency. It supports automatic failover by monitoring endpoint health and redirecting traffic if an entire region becomes unavailable, and it operates at the DNS level without inspecting or modifying HTTP traffic, so no SSL termination or web application firewall is involved.
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
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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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