- A
Azure Traffic Manager
Why wrong: Azure Traffic Manager operates at the DNS level and is designed to route traffic across different regions, not to distribute HTTP traffic between virtual machines in the same region. It also does not support cookie-based session affinity.
- B
Azure Application Gateway
Azure Application Gateway is a layer 7 HTTP/HTTPS load balancer that provides cookie-based session affinity (sticky sessions) and health probes. It can distribute traffic across virtual machines in the same region and automatically stop sending traffic to an unhealthy machine.
- C
Azure Load Balancer
Why wrong: Azure Load Balancer operates at layer 4 (TCP/UDP) and does not inspect HTTP headers. It can distribute traffic and perform health probes, but it cannot provide session affinity based on cookies. It is not the best choice when HTTP-level session persistence is required.
- D
Azure Front Door
Why wrong: Azure Front Door is a global application delivery network that provides layer 7 routing, but it is designed for multi-region scenarios and DNS-based steering. For distributing traffic between two virtual machines in the same region, Azure Application Gateway is more appropriate.
Quick Answer
The answer is Azure Application Gateway. This is the correct choice because it operates at layer 7 of the OSI model, providing HTTP/HTTPS load balancing with session affinity—often called sticky sessions—through cookie-based persistence, which ensures that a user’s checkout session stays on the same virtual machine. It also includes built-in health probes that automatically detect an unhealthy backend VM and stop routing new traffic to it, satisfying both requirements. On the AZ-900 exam, this question tests your ability to distinguish between Azure Load Balancer (layer 4, no session affinity) and Application Gateway (layer 7, with session affinity and health probes). A common trap is choosing Azure Load Balancer because it also has health probes, but it lacks cookie-based session persistence for HTTP traffic. Memory tip: think “Gateway for sticky sessions” — the word “Gateway” reminds you of the application-layer features like cookies and HTTP-specific health checks.
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 web application in the West US region on two Azure virtual machines that are in the same virtual network. The application handles user sessions that must persist on the same virtual machine for the duration of a checkout process. The company needs to load balance incoming HTTP traffic across the two virtual machines. If one virtual machine becomes unhealthy, the load balancer must automatically stop sending new traffic to that machine. 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 Application Gateway
Azure Application Gateway is correct because it provides HTTP/HTTPS layer-7 load balancing with session affinity (also known as sticky sessions) using cookie-based persistence, which ensures that all requests from a user during the checkout process are routed to the same virtual machine. It also includes built-in health probes that automatically stop sending traffic to an unhealthy backend VM, meeting both requirements precisely.
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
- ✓
Azure Application Gateway
Why this is correct
Azure Application Gateway is a layer 7 HTTP/HTTPS load balancer that provides cookie-based session affinity (sticky sessions) and health probes. It can distribute traffic across virtual machines in the same region and automatically stop sending traffic to an unhealthy machine.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Azure Load Balancer
Why it's wrong here
Azure Load Balancer operates at layer 4 (TCP/UDP) and does not inspect HTTP headers. It can distribute traffic and perform health probes, but it cannot provide session affinity based on cookies. It is not the best choice when HTTP-level session persistence is required.
- ✗
Azure Front Door
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse layer-4 load balancing (Azure Load Balancer) with layer-7 load balancing (Application Gateway), assuming any load balancer can handle HTTP session persistence, but only Application Gateway provides the cookie-based affinity required for sticky sessions in a web application.
Trap categories for this question
Scenario analysis trap
Azure Front Door is a global application delivery network that provides layer 7 routing, but it is designed for multi-region scenarios and DNS-based steering. For distributing traffic between two virtual machines in the same region, Azure Application Gateway is more appropriate.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Azure Application Gateway uses a Gateway Load Balancer SKU that supports Application Gateway Cookie Affinity, which sets a cookie named 'ApplicationGatewayAffinity' in the client's browser to pin the session to a specific backend server. The health probes are configured to check HTTP 200 responses from a custom path (e.g., /health), and if a VM fails three consecutive probes (based on the 'UnhealthyThreshold' setting), it is removed from the backend pool until it recovers. This is critical for e-commerce checkout flows where session state is stored in-memory on the VM and cannot be shared across instances without a distributed cache.
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.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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Describe Azure architecture and services — study guide chapter
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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 Application Gateway — Azure Application Gateway is correct because it provides HTTP/HTTPS layer-7 load balancing with session affinity (also known as sticky sessions) using cookie-based persistence, which ensures that all requests from a user during the checkout process are routed to the same virtual machine. It also includes built-in health probes that automatically stop sending traffic to an unhealthy backend VM, meeting both requirements precisely.
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
1 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 company runs a web application on two Azure virtual machines in the same region. The application must be accessible from the internet, and incoming traffic should be distributed evenly across both VMs. Additionally, the company needs to offload Transport Layer Security (TLS) termination to a single service and route requests based on the URL path (e.g., /images to one set of VMs, /api to another). 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 B: Azure Application Gateway is the correct choice because it is a Layer 7 (HTTP/HTTPS) load balancer that supports TLS termination, URL path-based routing, and cookie-based session affinity. This allows the company to offload TLS decryption to a single service and route requests like /images or /api to different backend pools, meeting all stated requirements.
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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