What the Microsoft AZ-305 is and who it is for
The AZ-305, Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions, is the exam behind the Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert credential. It certifies people who design cloud and hybrid solutions on Azure, covering identity, governance, storage, business continuity and infrastructure, using Microsoft Entra ID, Azure Storage and the Azure infrastructure services to turn business requirements into secure, scalable and cost optimised designs.
It is an architect exam and it behaves like one. It does not test whether you can define a virtual network or a storage account. It gives you a set of business requirements, often inside a case study, and asks what you would design. There is almost always more than one option that works. The exam wants the one that works best against the stated constraints.
To earn the Expert credential you need the AZ-104 Azure Administrator Associate certification as well, so the AZ-305 is for people who already run Azure environments and are moving into a design role. The credential renews annually through a free Microsoft Learn assessment.
Microsoft AZ-305 at a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Exam code | AZ-305 |
| Questions | 40 to 60 |
| Passing score | 700 out of 1000 |
| Exam fee | US$165 in the US, priced in local currency elsewhere |
| Where you sit it | Online proctored or at a test centre |
| Certification valid for | Renews annually through a free Microsoft Learn assessment |
What is on the exam
Design infrastructure solutions (30 to 35%). The largest domain. It covers compute selection, from virtual machines and scale sets to containers and platform services, application architecture including messaging and event driven patterns, migration planning, and network design: connectivity, load balancing and secure access.
Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions (25 to 30%). This domain tests how you would structure identity with Microsoft Entra ID, authentication and authorisation for users and workloads, subscription and management group hierarchy, policies and role based access, and the logging and monitoring design that lets an organisation see what is happening. Questions often hinge on who needs access to what, at which scope, with the least privilege.
Design data storage solutions (20 to 25%). Choosing the right store for relational, non relational and semi structured data, selecting tiers and redundancy, and planning data integration and protection. Expect to weigh consistency, latency, cost and compliance requirements against each other and pick the storage design that fits.
Design business continuity solutions (15 to 20%). The smallest domain, covering backup, disaster recovery and high availability. Questions state recovery objectives and ask which design meets them, so you need to know which services deliver which level of resilience and what each one costs in complexity and money.
Why people fail it
Candidates who know the Azure services but have not studied the exam’s question style consistently underperform. Microsoft does not test definitions on the AZ-305. It tests design decisions. A question about storage is not asking what a storage account is, it is asking which tier, redundancy option and access pattern meet a stated durability and budget requirement.
The case study format adds another layer. You are given a company, its existing environment, its business requirements and its technical requirements, and then several questions that draw on different parts of that text. People who skim the case and answer from general knowledge miss the one constraint that changes the answer. Identity and governance architecture, storage tier selection, high availability and disaster recovery targets, and compute and network design under cost constraints are exactly the compromises a working solutions architect weighs, and the exam expects you to weigh them the same way.
Finally, most cost questions come down to the phrase “most cost effective”. Candidates who reach for the most capable service rather than the cheapest one that meets the requirement lose those marks repeatedly. Practice questions with explanations of why each wrong option is wrong fix this habit faster than reading more documentation.
A study plan that fits the exam
Seven weeks suits most candidates who already hold the AZ-104. The time is split in line with the domain weights, with the final week reserved for full length timed practice.
- Week 1: infrastructure solutions, part one. Compute selection and application architecture. Start with the free AZ-305 practice questions so you understand the design decision style from day one.
- Week 2: infrastructure solutions, part two. Network design, connectivity, load balancing and migration planning. For each service, write down when it is the best choice and when it is overkill.
- Week 3: identity, governance and monitoring, part one. Microsoft Entra ID design, authentication and authorisation for users and workloads, and role based access at the right scope.
- Week 4: identity, governance and monitoring, part two. Subscription and management group hierarchy, policy design, and logging and monitoring architecture.
- Week 5: data storage solutions. Relational and non relational options, tiers, redundancy, integration and protection. Practise choosing between similar stores on cost and consistency.
- Week 6: business continuity solutions. Backup, disaster recovery and high availability designs mapped to recovery objectives. Then review the two heaviest domains.
- Week 7: timed runs. Sit full length sessions using the questions only copy from the AZ-305 practice question pack, including the case studies, and read every explanation. Repeat until you are consistently clear of 700.
On exam day
The AZ-305 is delivered online with a proctor or at a test centre. If you sit it online, run the system check the day before and clear the desk. At a centre, bring the identification your booking confirmation specifies and arrive early.
Microsoft does not state the exam time on its AZ-305 pages, so plan a steady pace across the 40 to 60 questions and remember that the case studies take longer to read than to answer. Read the requirements sections of a case study carefully once, note the constraints that look unusual, and refer back rather than rereading. For standalone questions, find the sentence that states the requirement, then eliminate the options that fail it before comparing the rest on cost and complexity.
The pass mark is 700 out of 1000 on a scaled score. Answer every question and flag the ones you want to revisit.
Frequently asked questions
Is the practice question pack enough on its own?
No. It is practice, not a course, and at architect level the gap matters. The 286 questions and their explanations teach you the design decision style, the case study format and the “most cost effective” pattern, and they show you why each wrong option is wrong. You still need real experience of the services and the AZ-104 level knowledge the exam assumes. Use the pack to find weak domains and to rehearse at exam length.
What happens if I fail the AZ-305?
You can retake it. Microsoft sets waiting periods between attempts and charges the full fee again, so check the current retake policy on the Microsoft Learn certification page before rebooking. Another attempt costs US$165 in the US, which is the case for timed practice runs before the first booking.
Do I need the AZ-104 before the AZ-305?
You need the AZ-104 Azure Administrator Associate certification to earn the Expert credential. Most candidates pass the AZ-104 first and treat its content as assumed knowledge.
How long does the certification last?
The credential renews annually through a free Microsoft Learn assessment. Keep an eye on the renewal window in your Microsoft Learn profile so it does not lapse.
Try 10 free questions, then get all 286 AZ-305 practice questions with full explanations for US$39, pass or your money back: get the AZ-305 pack.