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Microsoft Exam Syllabus

AZ-305 syllabus, skills measured, and exam topics

The AZ-305 exam measures Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions, Design data storage solutions, and Design business continuity solutions. Use this page to review the current official syllabus, major domains, and source links before exam day.

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Skills measured by domain

Use the weighting table to decide where to spend the most study time.

Domain Weight
Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions 25–30%
Design data storage solutions 20–25%
Design business continuity solutions 15–20%
Design infrastructure solutions 30–35%

Detailed outline

Scan each section as a working study checklist instead of one long wall of text.

Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions (25–30%)

  • Recommend a logging solution
  • Recommend a solution for routing logs
  • Recommend a monitoring solution
  • Recommend an authentication solution
  • Recommend an identity management solution
  • Recommend a solution for authorizing access to Azure resources
  • Recommend a solution for authorizing access to on-premises resources
  • Recommend a solution to manage secrets, certificates, and keys
  • Recommend a structure for management groups, subscriptions, and resource groups, and a strategy for resource tagging
  • Recommend a solution for managing compliance
  • Recommend a solution for identity governance

Design data storage solutions (20–25%)

  • Recommend a solution for storing relational data
  • Recommend a database service tier and compute tier
  • Recommend a solution for database scalability
  • Recommend a solution for data protection
  • Recommend a solution for storing semi-structured data
  • Recommend a solution for storing unstructured data
  • Recommend a data storage solution to balance features, performance, and costs
  • Recommend a data solution for protection and durability
  • Recommend a solution for data integration
  • Recommend a solution for data analysis

Design business continuity solutions (15–20%)

  • Recommend a recovery solution for Azure and hybrid workloads that meets recovery objectives
  • 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
  • Recommend a high availability solution for compute
  • Recommend a high availability solution for relational data
  • Recommend a high availability solution for semi-structured and unstructured data

Design infrastructure solutions (30–35%)

  • Specify components of a compute solution based on workload requirements
  • Recommend a virtual machine-based solution
  • Recommend a container-based solution
  • Recommend a serverless-based solution
  • Recommend a compute solution for batch processing
  • Recommend a messaging architecture
  • Recommend an event-driven architecture
  • Recommend a solution for API integration
  • Recommend a caching solution for applications
  • Recommend an application configuration management solution
  • Recommend an automated deployment solution for applications
  • Evaluate a migration solution that leverages the Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure

Purpose of this document

  • This study guide should help you understand what to expect on the exam and includes a summary of the topics the exam might cover and links to additional resources. The information and materials in this document should help you focus your studies as you prepare for the exam.
  • Useful links: Description
  • How to earn the certification: Some certifications only require passing one exam, while others require passing multiple exams.
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  • Exam scoring and score reports: A score of 700 or greater is required to pass.
  • Exam sandbox: You can explore the exam environment by visiting our exam sandbox.
  • Request accommodations: If you use assistive devices, require extra time, or need modification to any part of the exam experience, you can request an accommodation.
  • Take a free Practice Assessment: Test your skills with practice questions to help you prepare for the exam.

Updates to the exam

  • Our exams are updated periodically to reflect skills that are required to perform a role.
  • We always update the English language version of the exam first. Some exams are localized into other languages, and those are updated approximately eight weeks after the English version is updated. Other available languages are listed in the Schedule Exam section of the Exam Details webpage. If the exam isn't available in your preferred language, you can request an additional 30 minutes to complete the exam.
  • The bullets that follow each of the skills measured are intended to illustrate how we are assessing that skill. Related topics may be covered in the exam.
  • Most questions cover features that are general availability (GA). The exam may contain questions on Preview features if those features are commonly used.

Audience profile

  • As an Azure solutions architect, you have subject matter expertise in designing cloud and hybrid solutions that run on Azure, including:
  • Compute
  • Network
  • Storage
  • Monitoring
  • Security
  • Your responsibilities for this role include advising stakeholders and translating business requirements into designs for Azure solutions that align with the Azure Well-Architected Framework and Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure. In this role, you implement solutions on Azure by partnering with various other job roles, including:
  • Developers
  • Administrators
  • Security engineers
  • Data engineers
  • As a candidate for this exam, you should have advanced experience and knowledge of IT operations, including networking, virtualization, identity, security, business continuity, disaster recovery, data platforms, and governance. You should manage how decisions in each area affect an overall solution. In addition, you should have experience with: