How To Prepare for Exam AZ-305 Certification

If you are looking to find a study guide or holy grail to study and pass one of the most valuable certifications in the Azure Cloud community i.e. none other than Exam Az-305 Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions, then you are landed up to the very right page. In this article I will take you through a step by step free study guide on who can attempt the exam, how you can prepare using the free and paid methods, AZ-305 exam practice questions and answers, Az-305 Syllabus or exam guidelines. So let’s start your journey to become a Microsoft Azure Solution Architect by clearing AZ-305.

What is the perquisite to become Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert?

Pass AZ-104 Azure Administrator certification

or

Pass Exam AZ-303 (before it retires on March 31, 2022) 

Candidates for the Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification should have subject matter
expertise in designing cloud and hybrid solutions that run on Microsoft Azure, including
compute, network, storage, monitoring, and security.

Responsibilities for this role include advising stakeholders and translating business requirements into designs for secure, scalable, and reliable Azure solutions.

An Azure Solutions Architect partners with developers, administrators, and other roles
responsible for implementing solutions on Azure.

A candidate for this certification should have advanced experience and knowledge of IT
operations, including networking, virtualization, identity, security, business continuity, disaster recovery, data platforms, and governance. A professional in this role should manage how decisions in each area affect an overall solution. In addition, they should have experience in Azure administration, Azure development, and DevOps processes

History of Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert

Before the recent changes (16-Nov-2021) to earn and become a Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert you had to pass two exams namely Az-303 and Az-304. Once you pass both of these two exams you will become an Azure solution architect.

However now Az-304 is replaced by Az-305 and Az-303 is retiring on 31-03-2022 as per the notification issued by Microsoft while writing this blog. Now to remove overlap with the other Azure certification, it has been decided whether you finish AZ-104 or Az-303 and then give Az-305 to get the Azure Architect badge.

What is the price of the AZ-305 Certification Exam?

Price for exam Az-305 certification voucher vary based on the country in which you are trying to give the exam.

Country	AZ-305 Certification Cost
USA	165 USD
UK	113 GBP
India	4800 INR
UAE	165 USD
Australia	165 USD
Singapore	176 SD

Good deal is to buy the Exam Voucher for AZ-305 with 1 Retake at a half price.

How to book Az-305 certification exam

• Buy the exam voucher. I would recommend that if you are not sure or too confident it is a very prudent choice to buy the voucher with 1 retake option. It will come in at just half the price. You can book from here.
• Once you buy the voucher, you can book or schedule exam based on the slot availability and your convenience.

What is syllabus for Exam AZ-305: Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions and Study Material Link?

This exam mainly focuses upon networking, virtualization, identity, security, business continuity, disaster recovery, data platforms, and governance. Any candidate who is having experience in Azure administration, Azure development, and DevOps processes could be best suited for it.

Syllabus along with Study Guide Link is as follows:

Design Identity, Governance, and Monitoring Solutions (25-30%)

Design a solution for logging and monitoring

•  design a log routing solution
•  recommend an appropriate level of logging
•  recommend monitoring tools for a solution

Design authentication and authorization solutions

•  recommend a solution for securing resources with role-based access control
•  recommend an identity management solution
•  recommend a solution for securing identities

Design governance

•  recommend an organizational and hierarchical structure for Azure resources
•  recommend a solution for enforcing and auditing compliance

Design identities and access for applications

•  recommend solutions to allow applications to access Azure resources
•  recommend a solution that securely stores passwords and secrets
•  recommend a solution for integrating applications into Azure Active Directory (Azure AD)
•  recommend a user consent solution for applications

Design Data Storage Solutions (25-30%)

Design a data storage solution for relational data

•  recommend database service tier sizing
•  recommend a solution for database scalability
•  recommend a solution for encrypting data at rest, data in transmission, and data in use

Design data integration

•  recommend a solution for data integration
•  recommend a solution for data analysis

Recommend a data storage solution

•  recommend a solution for storing relational data
•  recommend a solution for storing semi-structured data
•  recommend a solution for storing non-relational data

Design a data storage solution for non-relational data

•  recommend access control solutions to data storage
•  recommend a data storage solution to balance features, performance, and cost
•  design a data solution for protection and durability

Design Business Continuity Solutions (10-15%)

Design a solution for backup and disaster recovery

•  recommend a recovery solution for Azure, hybrid, and on-premises workloads that meets
• recovery objectives (Recovery Time Objective [RTO], Recovery Level Objective [RLO], Recovery Point Objective [RPO])
•  understand the recovery solutions for containers
•  recommend a backup and recovery solution for compute
•  recommend a backup and recovery solution for databases
•  recommend a backup and recovery solution for unstructured data

Design for high availability

•  identify the availability requirements of Azure resources
•  recommend a high availability solution for compute
•  recommend a high availability solution for non-relational data storage
•  recommend a high availability solution for relational data storage

Design Infrastructure Solutions (25-30%)

Design a compute solution

•  recommend a virtual machine-based compute solution
•  recommend an appropriately sized compute solution based on workload requirements
•  recommend a container-based compute solution
•  recommend a serverless-based compute solution

Design an application architecture

•  recommend a caching solution for applications
•  recommend a messaging architecture
•  recommend an event-driven architecture
•  recommend an automated deployment solution for your applications
•  recommend an application configuration management solution
•  recommend a solution for API integration

Design migrations

•  evaluate a migration solution that leverages the Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure
•  assess and interpret on-premises servers, data, and applications for migration
•  recommend a solution for migrating applications and virtual machines
•  recommend a solution for migrating databases
•  recommend a solution for migrating unstructured data

Design network solutions

•  recommend a network architecture solution based on workload requirements
•  recommend a connectivity solution that connects Azure resources to the internet
•  recommend a connectivity solution that connects Azure resources to on-premises networks
•  optimize network performance for applications
•  recommend a solution to optimize network security
•  recommend a load balancing and routing solution

Free Study Material for AZ-305 Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions certification exam:

The list of links and tutorial for the Az-305 preparation guide is as follows:

Training	Links	FREE /Paid
AZ-305: Design identity, governance, and monitor solutions	https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/design-identity-governance-monitor-solutions/	FREE
AZ-305: Design business continuity solutions	https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/design-business-continuity-solutions/	FREE
AZ-305: Design data storage solutions	https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/design-data-storage-solutions/	FREE
AZ-305: Design infrastructure solutions	https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/design-infranstructure-solutions/	FREE
Build great solutions with the Microsoft Azure Well-Architected Framework	https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/azure-well-architected-framework/	FREE
Accelerate cloud adoption with the Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure	https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/cloud-adoption-framework/	FREE

Links to follow for Azure Az-305 material

• For Azure Study material Join Telegram group : Telegram group link:
• Azure Jobs and other updates Follow me on LinkedIn: Azure Updates on LinkedIn
• Azure Tutorial Videos: Videos Link

Recommendations

Most of the Azure Data engineer finds it little difficult to understand the real world scenarios from the Azure Data engineer’s perspective and faces challenges in designing the complete Enterprise solution for it. Hence I would recommend you to go through these links to have some better understanding of the Azure Data factory.

Azure Data Factory Insights

Azure Data Engineer Real World scenarios

Azure Databricks Spark Tutorial for beginner to advance level

Latest Azure DevOps Interview Questions and Answers

You can also checkout and pinned this great Youtube channel for learning Azure Free by industry experts

IT Skills Upgrade – YouTube

Final Thoughts

Azure cloud solution expert is one of the top most and prestigious certification exams within the in the Azure cloud space. I have assembled all the material and information with details which could be highly beneficial for any professional or fresher who is looking to clear the exams.

Please let me know your comments or query in the drop box below or write to me directly on azurelibblog@gmail.com and I will try to respond to you as early as possible.