Certifications
AZ-305 study guide: Azure Solutions Architect Expert
A design exam that assumes AZ-104. Where the security content sits, and why administrators who know Azure well still fail it.
It is a design exam, not an administration exam
AZ-104 asks how to configure something. AZ-305 gives you requirements and asks what you would choose. Both answers might work, and the correct one is the one that satisfies the stated constraint on cost, availability or compliance.
This is the same trap as SC-100. Deep product knowledge is necessary and not sufficient, and administrators who have never had to justify a design under constraints find that out during the exam.
The four design areas
Microsoft publishes these as ranges. Midpoints shown.
- Infrastructure solutions30%
- Data storage solutions25%
- Business continuity25%
- Identity, governance, monitoring20%
Ranges rather than fixed weights.
Where the security content actually is
Mostly in identity, governance and monitoring: choosing an authentication approach, designing RBAC and Azure Policy at scale, and deciding what to monitor and where logs go.
There is also security embedded in the other three areas, in the form of questions about private endpoints, encryption choices and network isolation. It is not a security exam, and roughly a third of it is security-adjacent design.
Study resources
Microsoft Learn plus the Well-Architected Framework
- Best for
- Everyone. The framework pillars are the vocabulary the correct answers are written in
- Watch out for
- Learn teaches services. The judgement has to come from case study practice
Tutorials Dojo practice exams
- Best for
- Scenario-style repetition at low cost, with explanations that teach the reasoning
- Watch out for
- Confirm AZ-305 coverage is current before buying
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The verdict
Worth it if you design Azure solutions and hold AZ-104
It is the recognised architect credential for Azure and it forces the habit of designing against constraints rather than preferences.
Skip it if you administer rather than design. AZ-104 already demonstrates that, and AZ-305 without design experience is difficult to pass and harder to justify in an interview.
Disclosure. Some links on this site are affiliate links. Scoring weights are published before any programme is joined, and commission is never a ranking input. Full policy, and the method behind this guide.