AZ-305 Certification Study Guide for Azure Solutions Architects

Microsoft’s AZ-305 exam—Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions—is the capstone role-based certification for Azure architects. It replaced the older AZ-303 and AZ-304 pair, and it assumes you already passed AZ-104 (administrator) or hold an equivalent foundation.

If you are preparing for the AZ-305 certification, this guide maps what the exam actually tests, how it differs from associate-level study, and how to structure a study plan that sticks.

What AZ-305 proves

AZ-305 is aimed at senior engineers and architects who translate business requirements into secure, scalable Azure designs. Microsoft expects you to:

Recommend compute, storage, networking, and integration services for hybrid and cloud-native workloads.
Design identity, governance, and compliance controls at subscription and landing-zone scale.
Plan business continuity, high availability, and disaster recovery with realistic RTO/RPO targets.
Estimate cost and optimize spending without sacrificing reliability.
Design monitoring, backup, and migration strategies that operations teams can run.

The exam is scenario-heavy. You will read long case studies about fictional companies and choose the best architectural option—not merely recite service names.

Prerequisites and audience

Officially, Microsoft lists AZ-104 as the prerequisite path. In practice, successful candidates usually have:

Hands-on experience deploying and troubleshooting Azure resources.
Familiarity with ARM/Bicep or Terraform for infrastructure definitions.
Exposure to Entra ID (formerly Azure AD), RBAC, and policy at scale.

If you only studied for AZ-900 or skimmed portal tutorials, spend time in AZ-104 territory first. AZ-305 questions assume you already know how to create a virtual network or storage account; they ask why one design beats another.

Skills measured (high-level map)

Microsoft publishes a skills outline that shifts slightly over time. Group your study around these domains:

Design identity, governance, and monitoring

Landing zones, management groups, subscriptions, and resource organization.
Entra ID integration, hybrid identity, conditional access, and privileged access.
Azure Policy, Blueprints (where still relevant), and role design least privilege.
Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Application Insights, and alert routing.

Design data storage solutions

Choosing between Blob, Files, Disks, and managed databases.
SQL Managed Instance versus Azure SQL Database versus Cosmos DB for given access patterns.
Data protection, encryption, and key management (Key Vault, customer-managed keys).

Design business continuity

Availability zones and region pairs.
Backup policies, Azure Site Recovery, and failover testing.
RPO/RTO tradeoffs for tiered workloads.

Design infrastructure solutions

Virtual networks, hub-spoke, VPN, ExpressRoute, and private endpoints.
Compute selection: VMs, App Service, AKS, Azure Functions, container instances.
Migration tools (Azure Migrate) and modernization paths.

Design application architecture

Event-driven patterns with Service Bus, Event Grid, and Functions.
API management, caching, and front-door style global distribution where appropriate.

Use the official skills document as a checklist and mark weak cells honestly.

How AZ-305 questions feel

Unlike AZ-104 lab-style tasks, AZ-305 is multiple choice and multi-select only. Typical patterns include:

“Which two actions should you recommend?” — partial credit requires exact sets.
“What should you include in the design?” — distractors often describe valid features that do not solve the stated constraint (budget, compliance, latency).
Case study tabs — requirements, existing environment, and optimization goals spread across sections; skim all tabs before answering.

Read constraints twice: data residency, existing on-premises dependencies, and “minimize administrative overhead” frequently eliminate otherwise attractive answers.

Study plan template (8–10 weeks)

Adjust pace to your background; the structure matters more than the duration.

Weeks 1–2 — Governance and identity
Build a small multi-subscription sandbox. Practice management groups, policy assignments, and Entra ID conditional access policies in a test tenant.

Weeks 3–4 — Networking and hybrid
Design hub-spoke with Azure Firewall or NVAs, private endpoints for PaaS, and site-to-site VPN. Draw diagrams by hand until routing is intuitive.

Weeks 5–6 — Data and BC
Compare backup options for VMs versus PaaS databases. Walk through a Site Recovery drill for a single VM.

Weeks 7–8 — Application and integration
Map an event-driven order processing sample using Service Bus and Functions. Note idempotency and dead-letter handling.

Weeks 9–10 — Practice exams and weak spots
Use Microsoft Learn practice assessments and third-party question banks sparingly—focus on why wrong answers fail. Schedule the exam while material is fresh.

Hands-on labs worth your time

Reading alone fails many candidates. Minimum practical exercises:

Deploy a hub-spoke network with peering and route tables.
Implement private access to a storage account and SQL database.
Configure Azure Backup and restore a file and a VM.
Set up Diagnostic settings shipping logs to Log Analytics and build one workbook.
Author a Bicep or Terraform module that enforces tagging via policy.

Document each lab in your own words; AZ-305 rewards architects who can explain operational impact.

Cost and exam logistics

Exam pricing varies by country; check the Microsoft certification portal for current fees. You can take the exam online proctored or at a testing center. Verify identity requirements and room setup for online sittings ahead of time.

When you pass AZ-305 with an active AZ-104 (or equivalent path), Microsoft awards the Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert credential.

What AZ-305 is not

It is not a deep dive into writing application code.
It is not a replacement for security specialty exams if your role is purely defensive security architecture.
It will not teach every Azure service—obscure services appear only when they solve a scenario constraint.

Treat it as proof you can design under ambiguity, not that you have memorized every SKU.

After you pass

Certifications age; Microsoft requires periodic renewal via free online assessments on Microsoft Learn. Keep designs grounded in real projects—employers hire architects who have shipped migrations, not only passed exams.

FAQ

AZ-305 vs AZ-700?
AZ-700 focuses on networking specialty depth. AZ-305 includes networking as one pillar among governance, data, and BC.

Do I need programming skills?
Light scripting helps for automation questions, but the exam targets architecture decisions, not building full applications.

How long is the exam?
Plan for the full allotted window; case studies consume reading time even when questions feel familiar.

Are dumps useful?
Memorizing answers without understanding tradeoffs fails on scenario wording changes and violates exam policies. Practice exams plus real labs are safer investments.

Pairing AZ-305 with real migration work

Certification prep sticks when it overlaps a work project. If your employer is moving VMs to Azure, volunteer to document:

Current RTO/RPO targets versus what Azure Site Recovery actually delivers in your tests.
Identity flows (LDAP sync, SSO apps, conditional access policies) that must survive cutover weekend.
Cost baselines before and after reserved instances or savings plans.

These artifacts become both portfolio evidence and memory anchors for case-study questions.

Renewal and keeping skills current

Microsoft role-based expert certifications require periodic renewal through Microsoft Learn assessments. Block a half-day quarterly to skim service release notes for networking, Kubernetes on Azure (AKS), and security features—exam scenarios gradually incorporate newer services even when the exam code stays AZ-305.

AZ-305 is demanding because architect work is demanding. Structure your study around designs you can whiteboard from memory, and the exam scenarios will feel like abbreviated versions of conversations you have already practiced.