Azure Solutions Architect Expert AZ-305 Foundations
A structured Azure AZ-305 course covering governance, storage, compute, networking, migration, and reliability, with linked practice questions.
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What you will learn
- Describe governance and identity design.
- Explain storage and compute solutions.
- Describe networking and connectivity.
- Explain migration and hybrid strategies.
- Describe reliability, cost, and operations.
Before you start
- Azure Administrator knowledge is recommended.
- Familiarity with networking and compute is helpful.
- No previous architect certification is required.
Lesson 1 Architecture Design and Governance
The Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert AZ-305 exam validates skills for designing secure, scalable, and reliable Azure solutions. Governance starts with Microsoft Entra ID for identity, Azure RBAC for permissions, Azure Policy for rules, and management groups for organizing subscriptions. Conditional Access enforces sign-in conditions such as MFA, and Privileged Identity Management provides just-in-time access. A subscription is a billing and access boundary, and resource groups organize related resources. A landing zone is a standardized subscription environment with networking, identity, and policy baseline. Architects choose regions and zones for availability, define SLAs, and document cost, performance, security, and operational requirements. This course connects each domain to original practice questions.
Example
Example: An organization uses management groups, Azure Policy, and Conditional Access to enforce MFA and allowed regions across every subscription.Lesson 2 Storage and Compute Solutions
Storage and compute choices depend on workload characteristics. Azure Blob Storage stores unstructured objects, Azure Files provides managed shares, Azure SQL Database is a managed relational database, and Azure Cosmos DB is a multi-model NoSQL database. Storage accounts group services and define replication such as LRS, ZRS, and GRS. Compute options include Virtual Machines for IaaS, App Service for managed web apps, Functions for serverless code, AKS for Kubernetes, and Container Instances for single containers. Scale sets manage identical VMs with autoscaling, availability sets spread VMs across fault and update domains, and availability zones protect against data center failures. Azure Virtual Desktop delivers managed desktops. Choose services by latency, scale, schema, management overhead, and cost.
Example
Example: A web application runs on App Service, stores product images in Blob Storage, and uses Cosmos DB for a globally distributed catalog.Lesson 3 Networking and Connectivity
Networking connects Azure resources securely. A virtual network provides isolated networking, and subnets divide its address space. Network Security Groups filter traffic with allow and deny rules at the subnet or NIC level. Azure Load Balancer distributes Layer 4 traffic, Application Gateway routes Layer 7 HTTP traffic, and Traffic Manager routes DNS traffic across regions. VPN Gateway creates encrypted site-to-site tunnels, ExpressRoute provides private connectivity without the internet, and Azure Private Link exposes PaaS services through private endpoints. Azure Front Door provides global HTTP routing and acceleration, while Azure DNS hosts domains. Design networks with least-privilege firewalls, clear subnets, and connectivity that matches latency, bandwidth, and security requirements.
Example
Example: Users reach an app through Azure Front Door, Application Gateway routes traffic to VMs, and ExpressRoute connects the on-premises network.Lesson 4 Migration and Hybrid
Migration strategies move on-premises workloads to Azure with different levels of change. Lift and shift moves workloads as-is, while re-platforming makes small changes to use managed services. Azure Migrate discovers, assesses, and migrates servers, and Database Migration Service moves databases. AzCopy transfers data online at high speed, while Azure Data Box ships physical devices for very large datasets. Azure File Sync keeps on-premises file servers synchronized with Azure Files. Hybrid identity uses Microsoft Entra Connect to synchronize directories. Site Recovery replicates workloads for disaster recovery, and VPN Gateway or ExpressRoute connect networks. Choose migration tools based on data size, downtime tolerance, compatibility, and target architecture.
Example
Example: Azure Migrate assesses 200 VMs, Database Migration Service moves the database, and AzCopy transfers application files to Blob Storage.Lesson 5 Reliability, Cost, and Operations
Reliable Azure solutions use monitoring, backup, disaster recovery, and cost controls. Azure Monitor collects metrics, logs, and alerts so teams can detect problems. Azure Backup protects data with scheduled backups, and Azure Site Recovery replicates workloads to another region. Recovery point objective defines acceptable data loss, and recovery time objective defines acceptable downtime. Autoscale adjusts capacity based on demand, and Traffic Manager or Front Door route traffic across regions for availability. Cost Management + Billing provides budgets, cost analysis, and alerts, while Azure Advisor recommends optimizations. Operations teams use runbooks, infrastructure as code, and dashboards. Architects define RPO and RTO with stakeholders, then choose services and configurations that meet those targets without unnecessary cost.