Azure AZ-305 FAQ for exam format, topics, prep strategy, practice, and common candidate traps.
RBAC: Role-based access control for Azure resource authorization.
DR: Disaster recovery, the design and process for restoring service after a major failure.
RTO / RPO: Recovery Time Objective and Recovery Point Objective, the recovery targets that drive Azure continuity design.
AZ-305 validates solution architecture decisions in Azure: identity/governance/monitoring, data services, business continuity, and infrastructure design. It’s for architects and senior engineers who translate requirements into Azure designs that are secure, reliable, and cost-aware.
AZ-104 is operational (configure and run Azure). AZ-305 is design-heavy (choose the right services and justify trade-offs). AZ-305 assumes you understand operational realities (monitoring, backup, RBAC scopes), but tests your ability to select architectures.
AZ-305 is strongest for people who can already:
If you answer like an administrator doing the task step-by-step instead of an architect selecting the design, you will often miss the better answer.
You can usually sit AZ-305 without AZ-104, but to earn Azure Solutions Architect Expert, you must hold Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104) and pass AZ-305. Always confirm current requirements on Microsoft Learn.
The passing score is typically 700/1000 (scaled). Question count and format vary (MCQ/MR, case studies, drag-and-drop). Expect scenario wording that forces trade-offs.
| Failure pattern | Better instinct |
|---|---|
| solving the scenario with the most complex architecture instead of the simplest viable one | prefer the least operationally heavy managed design that satisfies the constraints |
| mixing RBAC, Policy, landing-zone scope, and network decisions into one blur | separate identity, governance, connectivity, and runtime concerns |
| using backups to answer strict continuity requirements | map the requirement to RTO / RPO first, then decide between restore, standby, or failover |
| picking a data platform by brand familiarity instead of workload shape | classify OLTP, document, analytics, object, or file needs first |
| adding private access without thinking through DNS and routing | treat name resolution and network path as part of the design, not cleanup work |
Hands-on work helps, but AZ-305 is not “lab-y.” You should be able to design from first principles, and it’s much easier if you’ve built a small reference stack: hub-spoke VNet, Private Endpoints, a workload with App Insights + Log Analytics, a relational DB, a storage account with lifecycle rules, and a basic DR story.
You do not need a huge estate. A solid minimum baseline is being able to explain:
RTO / RPOAzure Monitor, Log Analytics, and Application InsightsWith strong Azure exposure: 3–5 weeks part-time. If you’re new to Azure, it’s better to do AZ-900 → AZ-104 → AZ-305 rather than jumping straight to architecture patterns.
| If the miss was really about… | Fix it by doing this next |
|---|---|
| governance scope | redraw the hierarchy first: management group -> subscription -> resource group -> resource |
| data-platform fit | restate the workload type and operational constraint before naming a service |
| continuity | write the RTO / RPO target, then decide whether backup, geo-replication, or failover is actually required |
| ingress or private access | classify the path as global, regional L7, regional L4, DNS-only, or private endpoint first |
| monitoring | separate metrics, logs, traces, and archive/export paths before picking a product |
Do not disappear into:
AZ-104 or service-specialist docsUse the current Microsoft Learn AZ-305 exam page and study guide as the source of truth. As of April 13, 2026, Microsoft says the English-language exam updates on April 17, 2026, so if your exam is near that date, re-check the live study guide before booking or final review.