Microsoft AZ-305 Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solution Exam Dumps and Practice Test Questions Set 3 Q31-45
Visit here for our full Microsoft AZ-305 exam dumps and practice test questions.
Question 31
You need to design a solution that allows secure, multi-factor authentication for users accessing Azure resources. Which Azure service should you recommend?
A) Azure Active Directory (Azure AD)
B) Azure Key Vault
C) Azure Security Center
D) Azure VPN Gateway
Answer: A) Azure Active Directory (Azure AD)
Explanation:
Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) is a cloud-based identity and access management service. It enables secure authentication and authorization for users accessing Azure resources, applications, and services. Azure AD supports multi-factor authentication (MFA), conditional access policies, and identity protection, which helps prevent unauthorized access even if credentials are compromised. MFA can include phone verification, mobile app notifications, or hardware tokens, ensuring an additional layer of security beyond passwords.
Azure Key Vault securely stores secrets, keys, and certificates but does not manage user authentication or enforce multi-factor authentication for users accessing Azure resources. Its primary purpose is managing sensitive information and encryption.
Azure Security Center provides monitoring, security recommendations, and threat detection. While it helps identify security vulnerabilities and enforce security policies, it does not provide direct user authentication or MFA capabilities.
Azure VPN Gateway enables secure network connectivity between on-premises networks and Azure through encrypted tunnels. While it provides network-level security, it does not enforce user-level authentication or multi-factor verification for accessing Azure resources.
The correct selection must enforce secure access for users through authentication and multi-factor verification. Azure AD meets this requirement by providing centralized identity management, MFA, and conditional access policies. Other services focus on key management, security monitoring, or network-level security and cannot provide user authentication. Therefore, Azure Active Directory is the correct choice.
Question 32
You need to design a solution for monitoring Azure resources and collecting diagnostic logs for analysis. Which Azure service should you recommend?
A) Azure Monitor
B) Azure Security Center
C) Azure Advisor
D) Azure Cost Management
Answer: A) Azure Monitor
Explanation:
Azure Monitor is a comprehensive solution for collecting, analyzing, and acting on telemetry data from Azure resources. It collects metrics, logs, and diagnostic data, enabling real-time monitoring and proactive management. Users can set alerts, create dashboards, and integrate with Log Analytics and Application Insights for deeper insights into application and infrastructure performance. Azure Monitor helps identify performance bottlenecks, detect anomalies, and optimize resource utilization.
Azure Security Center focuses on monitoring security posture, detecting threats, and providing security recommendations. While it offers security alerts and compliance insights, it is not a full-stack monitoring solution for general performance metrics and diagnostic logs.
Azure Advisor provides personalized best practices and recommendations for optimizing resources, cost, security, and performance. It does not collect real-time telemetry or provide detailed monitoring dashboards.
Azure Cost Management helps track, analyze, and optimize cloud costs. It provides insights into spending and budget alerts but does not monitor resource performance or collect diagnostic logs.
The correct selection must provide full-stack monitoring, metric collection, and log analysis. Azure Monitor meets this requirement, offering proactive alerting, dashboards, and integration with analytics services. Other services focus on security, optimization, or cost management and cannot provide comprehensive monitoring for performance and diagnostics. Therefore, Azure Monitor is the correct choice.
Question 33
You need to design a solution for deploying containerized applications with automated orchestration and scaling. Which Azure service should you recommend?
A) Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
B) Azure App Service
C) Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets
D) Azure Load Balancer
Answer: A) Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
Explanation:
Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) is a managed Kubernetes platform that orchestrates containerized applications. It provides automated deployment, scaling, and management of container workloads. AKS integrates with monitoring, CI/CD pipelines, and security services, making it ideal for microservices architectures. Kubernetes automatically handles container scheduling, load balancing, and failover, ensuring high availability and efficient resource utilization.
Azure App Service is a PaaS platform for web apps, APIs, and mobile backends. While it supports containerized applications, it does not provide advanced orchestration, scheduling, or microservices management like AKS.
Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets allow scaling of IaaS VMs automatically based on metrics. They manage VM-level scaling but do not provide container orchestration, automated deployment, or microservices management.
Azure Load Balancer distributes network traffic across VMs for high availability but does not orchestrate containers or manage application deployments.
The correct selection must enable automated deployment, orchestration, and scaling of containerized applications. AKS meets these requirements by providing Kubernetes-based orchestration, monitoring, and integration with CI/CD pipelines. Other services focus on VM scaling, web app hosting, or traffic distribution and cannot provide full container orchestration. Therefore, Azure Kubernetes Service is the correct choice.
Question 34
You need to design a solution for storing unstructured data such as videos, images, and backups with tiered access for cost optimization. Which Azure service should you recommend?
A) Azure Blob Storage
B) Azure File Storage
C) Azure Table Storage
D) Azure SQL Database
Answer: A) Azure Blob Storage
Explanation:
Azure Blob Storage is a highly scalable and versatile object storage solution designed to store large amounts of unstructured data. This includes a wide range of data types such as videos, images, documents, logs, backups, and other media files. One of the key strengths of Blob Storage is its ability to scale seamlessly to accommodate growing data volumes, making it an ideal choice for organizations with high storage demands. It provides flexible storage tiers—hot, cool, and archive—which allow organizations to optimize costs based on how frequently data is accessed. Hot storage is intended for data that is accessed frequently and requires low latency, ensuring fast retrieval for active workloads. Cool storage is designed for data that is infrequently accessed but still needs to be readily available when required, providing a cost-effective option for less critical data. Archive storage is meant for long-term retention of data that is rarely accessed, offering the lowest storage costs, though retrieval times are longer compared to hot and cool tiers.
Blob Storage also offers robust security and integration features. It supports secure access to data through shared access signatures (SAS), allowing controlled and temporary access to objects without exposing account keys. This is critical for applications that need to grant limited access to external users or services. Furthermore, Blob Storage integrates with Azure Data Lake, enabling advanced analytics on large datasets stored in the service. It also provides multiple redundancy options to ensure data durability and availability. Locally redundant storage (LRS) maintains multiple copies of data within a single data center, while geographically redundant storage (GRS) replicates data across regions to protect against regional outages. Read-access geographically redundant storage (RA-GRS) adds the ability to read data from the secondary region, enhancing availability in disaster recovery scenarios.
In comparison, other Azure storage solutions are designed for different use cases and do not provide the same level of flexibility or efficiency for unstructured object storage. Azure File Storage, for instance, offers managed file shares accessible via SMB or NFS protocols, making it suitable for shared file access and lift-and-shift scenarios. However, it is not optimized for object storage at scale or for tiered storage that reduces costs based on access patterns. Azure Table Storage is a NoSQL key-value store intended for structured data. While it is highly scalable and capable of handling large volumes of structured information, it is not designed to store large media files, documents, or backups efficiently. Similarly, Azure SQL Database is a relational database platform optimized for transactional and structured data. It is unsuitable for storing unstructured datasets or implementing tiered storage for cost optimization, as relational databases are not built to handle massive objects like videos or backups effectively.
For scenarios requiring scalable, cost-efficient, and secure storage of unstructured data, Azure Blob Storage is the most appropriate choice. Its tiered storage options, integration with analytics services, and robust redundancy mechanisms provide both performance and durability. While other services excel in structured data storage, shared file access, or transactional workloads, they cannot match Blob Storage’s ability to efficiently handle large volumes of unstructured data while optimizing costs. Therefore, for organizations seeking a reliable and scalable solution for unstructured data, Azure Blob Storage offers the ideal combination of flexibility, security, and cost efficiency.
Question 35
You need to design a solution that automatically encrypts Azure virtual machine disks and manages encryption keys. Which Azure service should you recommend?
A) Azure Key Vault
B) Azure Storage Account
C) Azure Security Center
D) Azure Virtual Network
Answer: A) Azure Key Vault
Explanation:
Azure Key Vault is a cloud-based service that provides secure storage and management of cryptographic keys, secrets, and certificates used to protect Azure resources. One of its primary functions is to securely manage encryption keys for Azure virtual machine (VM) disks. By integrating with Azure Disk Encryption, Key Vault enables organizations to use customer-managed keys (CMK) to control how their data is encrypted at rest. This integration provides organizations with the ability to define and enforce key rotation policies, control access permissions, and audit key usage. By managing encryption keys through Key Vault, enterprises can ensure that their data encryption meets both organizational and regulatory requirements while minimizing the operational overhead typically associated with key management.
Key Vault provides a centralized and highly secure environment for key management. Organizations can store secrets such as passwords, connection strings, and API keys alongside their encryption keys, all protected with stringent access control policies. Using Key Vault, administrators can define which users or applications have access to specific keys and track key usage through detailed audit logs. This capability enhances both security and compliance, ensuring that only authorized personnel or services can access sensitive cryptographic material. Additionally, Key Vault supports automated key rotation, which reduces the risk of key compromise and simplifies adherence to best practices for cryptographic security.
Other Azure services do not provide the same level of key management and encryption capabilities. For example, an Azure Storage Account can store VM disks as blobs, but by default, it relies on Microsoft-managed encryption. While Storage Accounts can be configured to use customer-managed keys, this still requires integration with Key Vault for secure key storage and lifecycle management. On its own, a storage account does not provide key rotation, access auditing, or centralized secret management.
Similarly, Azure Security Center offers monitoring, threat detection, and security recommendations. It can alert administrators if disk encryption is not enabled or suggest enabling encryption for compliance purposes. However, Security Center does not directly manage encryption keys, perform encryption operations, or provide centralized key storage, which are essential for managing VM disk encryption securely.
Azure Virtual Network provides network isolation, segmentation, and secure connectivity for Azure resources. While critical for securing traffic and controlling access between networked resources, it does not handle encryption or manage cryptographic keys and therefore cannot meet requirements related to automated disk encryption and key management.
To achieve secure, automated encryption of VM disks with comprehensive key management, Azure Key Vault is the correct solution. It provides secure storage for keys, enables customer-managed key integration with Azure Disk Encryption, and offers robust access control and auditing capabilities. By centralizing key and secret management, Key Vault reduces operational complexity, ensures compliance with organizational and regulatory standards, and provides organizations with control over cryptographic operations. While other Azure services focus on storage, security monitoring, or networking, they do not provide the necessary capabilities to manage encryption keys for VM disks. Therefore, for scenarios requiring secure key management and automated disk encryption, Azure Key Vault is the optimal choice.
Question 36
You need to design a solution that ensures global distribution of static website content with low latency for users worldwide. Which Azure service should you recommend?
A) Azure Content Delivery Network (CDN)
B) Azure Front Door
C) Azure Blob Storage
D) Azure Traffic Manager
Answer: A) Azure Content Delivery Network (CDN)
Explanation:
Azure Content Delivery Network (CDN) is a cloud service designed to cache and deliver static content such as images, videos, scripts, stylesheets, and HTML files from edge locations positioned close to end users around the world. By distributing content across multiple geographically dispersed edge nodes, Azure CDN significantly reduces latency, allowing users to access content faster regardless of their physical location. This global caching strategy also alleviates the load on the origin server, improving performance and reliability while minimizing bandwidth consumption. Azure CDN supports HTTPS, custom domains, caching rules, and compression, enabling secure, optimized delivery of content at scale. The service is particularly well-suited for applications that serve large numbers of users across different regions, as it ensures content is delivered efficiently and consistently, enhancing the overall user experience.
The architecture of Azure CDN is designed to optimize the distribution of static assets. When a user requests content, the CDN first checks the nearest edge server for a cached copy. If the content is available, it is delivered immediately from the edge location, reducing the need to retrieve it from the origin server. This approach minimizes latency and improves load times for users globally. Additionally, Azure CDN can be configured with caching rules, allowing developers to control how long content remains in the cache, when it should be refreshed, and how dynamic content is handled. These features provide flexibility for optimizing performance based on specific application requirements and traffic patterns.
While Azure Front Door is also a global service operating at Layer 7 that can perform routing, caching, and SSL offload, its primary focus is on web traffic optimization and application acceleration. Front Door can enhance overall web application performance and provide load balancing across regions, but it is not as specialized as CDN when it comes to caching static content and serving it from edge locations. Azure CDN is specifically built for delivering static assets quickly and efficiently, making it the better choice for scenarios where minimizing latency for static content is critical.
Azure Blob Storage, although highly scalable and suitable for storing large amounts of unstructured data, does not inherently provide caching or edge delivery. Users accessing blobs directly from storage accounts may experience higher latency, particularly if they are located far from the data center hosting the storage. Without a CDN layer, static content stored in Blob Storage is delivered directly from the origin, which may result in slower load times for globally distributed audiences.
Similarly, Azure Traffic Manager is a DNS-based traffic routing service that directs users to endpoints based on factors such as performance, geographic location, or priority. While Traffic Manager improves availability and can route users to the closest endpoint, it does not cache content or optimize the delivery of static assets. It cannot reduce latency in the same way that a CDN can.
To meet the requirement of low-latency global delivery of static content, Azure CDN is the most appropriate solution. Its edge caching, optimized delivery mechanisms, and ability to scale globally ensure that users experience fast load times and reliable access to static assets. Other services focus on web routing, storage, or application acceleration but lack the specialized global caching and low-latency delivery that CDN provides. For organizations aiming to enhance user experience through efficient distribution of static content, Azure CDN is the correct choice.
Question 37
You need to design a solution that ensures secure, encrypted communication between on-premises networks and Azure virtual networks. Which Azure service should you recommend?
A) Azure VPN Gateway
B) Azure ExpressRoute
C) Azure Load Balancer
D) Azure Application Gateway
Answer: A) Azure VPN Gateway
Explanation:
Azure VPN Gateway is a cloud-based service that provides secure, encrypted connectivity between on-premises networks and Azure virtual networks. It supports both site-to-site and point-to-site configurations, allowing organizations to establish reliable connections for a variety of hybrid network scenarios. The VPN Gateway uses industry-standard IPsec and IKE protocols to encrypt traffic in transit, ensuring that data exchanged between on-premises environments and Azure remains confidential and protected from interception or tampering. This encryption capability is critical for organizations that handle sensitive or regulated data, as it ensures compliance with security standards while maintaining the integrity of communications across the public internet.
In a site-to-site VPN configuration, the VPN Gateway establishes a secure tunnel between an on-premises VPN device and an Azure virtual network, effectively extending the on-premises network into Azure. This allows workloads hosted in Azure to communicate seamlessly with on-premises systems as if they were part of the same network. In point-to-site configurations, individual clients or devices can securely connect to the Azure virtual network over encrypted tunnels, making it an ideal solution for remote employees or branch offices that need secure access to cloud resources.
Azure VPN Gateway also supports high availability and scaling to meet the needs of enterprise workloads. High availability ensures that VPN tunnels remain active even if one gateway instance fails, while scaling allows the service to handle increased traffic without performance degradation. The integration of VPN Gateway with Azure routing and network management enables organizations to implement complex hybrid network architectures, including multiple VPN connections, routing policies, and network segmentation. These features make VPN Gateway a versatile and reliable solution for securing hybrid connectivity.
While Azure ExpressRoute also provides hybrid connectivity between on-premises networks and Azure, it differs from VPN Gateway in several key ways. ExpressRoute establishes private connections that bypass the public internet, providing predictable performance and high reliability. However, ExpressRoute does not encrypt traffic by default. Organizations using ExpressRoute must implement additional encryption mechanisms, such as IPsec tunnels, to achieve the same level of security that VPN Gateway provides natively.
Other Azure services do not offer network-level encryption between on-premises and cloud environments. Azure Load Balancer distributes traffic among virtual machines to improve availability and performance, but it does not provide secure tunnels or encrypt traffic across networks. Azure Application Gateway, a Layer 7 web application load balancer, delivers features such as SSL termination, web application firewall protection, and URL-based routing. However, it operates at the application layer and cannot establish encrypted network-level connections required for hybrid network scenarios.
To meet the requirement of encrypting communication between on-premises networks and Azure, Azure VPN Gateway is the most appropriate solution. It provides secure, IPsec/IKE-encrypted tunnels, supports both site-to-site and point-to-site configurations, and integrates with Azure networking for reliable and scalable hybrid connectivity. While other services focus on private connectivity, traffic distribution, or application-level encryption, they do not offer network-level encryption for hybrid scenarios. Therefore, for organizations seeking secure and reliable encrypted connectivity to Azure, VPN Gateway is the correct choice.
Question 38
You need to design a solution that provides centralized management of secrets, keys, and certificates for applications. Which Azure service should you recommend?
A) Azure Key Vault
B) Azure Storage Account
C) Azure Security Center
D) Azure Active Directory
Answer: A) Azure Key Vault
Explanation:
Azure Key Vault securely stores secrets, keys, and certificates used by applications and services. It allows programmatic access to sensitive information without hardcoding credentials, reducing risk. Key Vault integrates with Azure services, supports access control with Azure AD, logging, and auditing. It also enables key rotation and lifecycle management, ensuring compliance and security for application secrets.
Azure Storage Account stores data but is not designed to manage secrets, keys, or certificates securely. It focuses on object, file, table, or queue storage.
Azure Security Center monitors security posture and provides recommendations but does not store application secrets or manage encryption keys.
Azure Active Directory manages identities and authentication but does not provide secure storage of application secrets or cryptographic keys.
The correct selection must manage secrets, passwords, and certificates centrally for secure application access. Azure Key Vault meets these requirements with secure storage, access control, and auditing. Other services focus on storage, monitoring, or identity management and cannot manage secrets securely. Therefore, Azure Key Vault is the correct choice.
Question 39
You need to design a solution that provides disaster recovery for Azure VMs with automated failover and minimal downtime. Which Azure service should you recommend?
A) Azure Site Recovery
B) Azure Backup
C) Azure Storage Account
D) Azure Key Vault
Answer: A) Azure Site Recovery
Explanation:
Azure Site Recovery (ASR) replicates Azure VMs to a secondary region, providing automated failover in case of outages. ASR supports near-zero downtime and ensures business continuity. It allows test failovers, orchestrated recovery plans, and automated replication, simplifying disaster recovery management. ASR supports multi-VM replication and integration with monitoring for high availability.
Azure Backup protects data by periodic snapshots but does not offer real-time replication or automated failover. Restoring from backup involves downtime and is not suitable for near-zero downtime requirements.
Azure Storage Account provides durable data storage but does not provide VM replication or failover orchestration.
Azure Key Vault manages keys and secrets securely but does not provide disaster recovery or VM replication.
The correct selection must enable disaster recovery with automated failover. Azure Site Recovery meets this requirement with replication, failover orchestration, and minimal downtime. Other services focus on backups, storage, or key management and cannot provide real-time failover. Therefore, Azure Site Recovery is the correct choice.
Question 40
You need to design a solution for scaling web applications based on CPU and memory usage automatically. Which Azure service should you recommend?
A) Azure App Service
B) Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets
C) Azure Load Balancer
D) Azure Traffic Manager
Answer: A) Azure App Service
Explanation:
Azure App Service provides fully managed web app hosting with built-in auto-scaling capabilities. It can scale applications horizontally or vertically based on CPU, memory, or custom metrics. Auto-scaling ensures that web apps maintain performance during traffic spikes and reduces costs during low usage. App Service also integrates with CI/CD pipelines, providing automated deployment and high availability.
Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets allow auto-scaling of IaaS VMs based on metrics but require additional configuration, management, and deployment overhead compared to PaaS web apps.
Azure Load Balancer distributes traffic among VMs but does not provide automatic scaling based on resource utilization.
Azure Traffic Manager routes DNS-based traffic globally but does not scale compute resources or manage application performance.
The correct selection must automatically scale web applications based on CPU and memory usage while providing a managed hosting environment. Azure App Service meets these requirements, providing auto-scaling, high availability, and CI/CD integration. Other services focus on VM-level scaling, traffic distribution, or DNS routing and cannot manage application-level scaling for PaaS workloads. Therefore, Azure App Service is the correct choice.
Question 41
You need to design a solution for distributing traffic globally to multiple Azure regions with automatic failover. Which Azure service should you recommend?
A) Azure Traffic Manager
B) Azure Load Balancer
C) Azure Application Gateway
D) Azure Front Door
Answer: A) Azure Traffic Manager
Explanation:
Azure Traffic Manager is a robust DNS-based traffic routing service that enables organizations to direct user traffic to the most appropriate endpoints across multiple regions. By using DNS to determine the optimal endpoint, Traffic Manager ensures that users are routed to the nearest or best-performing server, which can significantly reduce latency and enhance overall application performance. One of the key features of Traffic Manager is its ability to provide automatic failover. In the event that an endpoint becomes unavailable due to maintenance, outages, or other disruptions, Traffic Manager can automatically redirect traffic to healthy endpoints, thereby maintaining application availability and continuity without manual intervention. This makes it particularly valuable for multi-region deployments where high availability and resiliency are critical requirements.
Traffic Manager supports several routing methods to optimize user experience and application performance. The performance routing method directs traffic to the endpoint with the lowest network latency, which is ideal for globally distributed users who need fast response times. Priority routing allows traffic to be directed to a primary endpoint first, with secondary endpoints serving as backups in case of failure. Geographic routing enables traffic to be directed based on the geographic location of the user, which can help with compliance, content localization, or improved regional performance. These routing options provide flexibility for organizations to design traffic management strategies tailored to their specific business and technical needs.
In contrast, Azure Load Balancer operates at Layer 4 and distributes traffic among virtual machines within a single region. While it is effective for improving availability and load distribution within a regional deployment, it does not provide global traffic routing or failover capabilities. Applications that require cross-region failover or DNS-based routing would not benefit from Load Balancer alone.
Azure Application Gateway, on the other hand, is a Layer 7 load balancer designed specifically for web applications. It provides advanced features such as SSL termination, URL-based routing, session affinity, and Web Application Firewall (WAF) protection. While these features are valuable for application-level traffic management and security, Application Gateway does not offer global DNS-based failover across multiple regions, which limits its ability to ensure continuous availability in multi-region deployments.
Azure Front Door is another Layer 7 service that provides global load balancing, SSL offload, and WAF capabilities. It can improve global performance by routing traffic to the fastest available backend. However, its focus is more on delivering web applications with performance acceleration and security, rather than straightforward DNS-based multi-region failover, which is the core strength of Traffic Manager.
To meet requirements for global traffic routing, automatic failover, and performance optimization based on routing policies, Azure Traffic Manager is the most suitable solution. Its DNS-based approach, combined with monitoring of endpoint health and flexible routing options, ensures that users are directed to the most appropriate and available endpoint at all times. Other Azure services, while offering regional traffic distribution, application-level routing, or combined global delivery with additional capabilities, do not provide the same simplicity and reliability for DNS-based multi-region failover. Consequently, for scenarios demanding high availability and resiliency across multiple regions, Azure Traffic Manager is the clear choice.
Question 42
You need to design a solution for hosting mission-critical relational databases with high availability and automatic failover. Which Azure service should you recommend?
A) Azure SQL Database Managed Instance
B) Azure Cosmos DB
C) Azure Table Storage
D) Azure Blob Storage
Answer: A) Azure SQL Database Managed Instance
Explanation:
Azure SQL Database Managed Instance is a fully managed Platform as a Service (PaaS) solution designed specifically for relational database workloads. It combines the rich feature set of SQL Server with the advantages of a fully managed cloud service, providing organizations with a scalable, secure, and highly available database platform. One of the key benefits of Managed Instance is its built-in high availability, which includes automatic failover capabilities to ensure business continuity in the event of a hardware or software failure. Additionally, it supports geo-replication and disaster recovery, enabling data to be replicated across regions and ensuring that critical applications remain operational even during regional outages. This makes it particularly suitable for mission-critical applications where downtime or data loss is not acceptable.
Managed Instance is fully compatible with SQL Server, which allows for near-seamless migration from on-premises SQL Server environments. Organizations can move their existing databases to Managed Instance with minimal changes to applications or database code. This compatibility also includes support for SQL Server features such as stored procedures, triggers, and transactional consistency, allowing businesses to leverage their existing SQL expertise without needing to redesign applications for a new database platform. Furthermore, Azure SQL Database Managed Instance handles much of the operational overhead associated with traditional databases. It automatically manages backups, patching, and routine maintenance tasks, reducing the administrative burden on IT teams and allowing them to focus on higher-value activities such as performance tuning, application development, and business analytics.
In contrast, other Azure storage and database options are designed for different workloads and do not meet the same requirements as Managed Instance. Azure Cosmos DB, for example, is a globally distributed NoSQL database optimized for low-latency and high-throughput workloads across multiple regions. While Cosmos DB provides excellent performance for scenarios such as IoT telemetry, real-time analytics, or globally distributed applications, it does not offer traditional relational database features, ACID transaction support, or SQL Server compatibility. This makes it less suitable for applications that rely on structured relational data and complex transactions.
Similarly, Azure Table Storage is a NoSQL key-value store designed for structured data at large scale. While it can handle massive volumes of data and is highly scalable, it lacks relational database features, full ACID compliance, and built-in high availability, which are essential for mission-critical applications requiring guaranteed data consistency and reliability. Azure Blob Storage, on the other hand, is designed for unstructured data such as documents, images, or media files. It is not suitable for relational database workloads that require structured tables, transactional integrity, or automatic failover.
When selecting a solution for hosting relational data with high availability, automatic failover, and PaaS management, Azure SQL Database Managed Instance is the clear choice. It provides SLA-backed availability, full relational capabilities, and integrated maintenance features that simplify operations and ensure reliability. While other Azure services excel at NoSQL storage, globally distributed workloads, or unstructured data management, they do not meet the requirements for relational database workloads that demand high availability, transaction consistency, and operational simplicity. Therefore, for organizations seeking a fully managed relational database platform with enterprise-grade features and minimal administrative overhead, Azure SQL Database Managed Instance is the most appropriate solution.
Question 43
You need to design a solution for encrypting sensitive data stored in Azure with customer-managed keys. Which Azure service should you recommend?
A) Azure Key Vault
B) Azure Security Center
C) Azure Active Directory
D) Azure Blob Storage
Answer: A) Azure Key Vault
Explanation:
Azure Key Vault provides secure storage and management of encryption keys, secrets, and certificates. It integrates with Azure services such as Azure Disk Encryption, SQL Database, and Blob Storage to enable customer-managed keys (CMK). Organizations can control key rotation, auditing, and access policies, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements. Key Vault reduces operational overhead while maintaining secure encryption key lifecycle management.
Azure Security Center monitors security posture, identifies threats, and provides recommendations. While it can suggest enabling encryption, it does not store keys or manage encryption directly.
Azure Active Directory provides identity and access management but does not store or manage encryption keys. It ensures authentication and authorization for users but cannot encrypt data.
Azure Blob Storage stores unstructured data and can use Microsoft-managed or customer-managed keys, but the actual key storage and management require Azure Key Vault. Blob Storage alone cannot securely manage encryption keys.
The correct selection must manage encryption keys securely, allowing organizations to retain control. Azure Key Vault meets this requirement by providing secure key storage, auditing, and integration with encryption-enabled Azure services. Other services focus on monitoring, identity, or data storage without key management. Therefore, Azure Key Vault is the correct choice.
Question 44
You need to design a hybrid connectivity solution between on-premises data centers and Azure that avoids using the public internet. Which Azure service should you recommend?
A) Azure ExpressRoute
B) Azure VPN Gateway
C) Azure Load Balancer
D) Azure Application Gateway
Answer: A) Azure ExpressRoute
Explanation:
Azure ExpressRoute is a networking service that provides private, dedicated connectivity between on-premises infrastructure and Microsoft Azure. Unlike traditional internet-based connections, ExpressRoute traffic does not traverse the public internet. This private connectivity ensures higher reliability, consistent low latency, and predictable network performance, making it particularly well-suited for mission-critical workloads and applications that require continuous, high-speed access to cloud resources. ExpressRoute supports multi-gigabit bandwidth, allowing organizations to transfer large volumes of data efficiently between on-premises systems and Azure without impacting performance. This capability is especially valuable for enterprises with heavy data processing, backup, or replication requirements, where performance and reliability are non-negotiable.
ExpressRoute also integrates seamlessly with Microsoft services, including Azure Storage, Azure SQL Database, and Microsoft 365, providing consistent, private access to cloud applications. Because the traffic bypasses the public internet, it also enhances security and compliance, which is crucial for organizations operating in regulated industries such as finance, healthcare, and government. The service supports hybrid cloud scenarios, enabling organizations to build resilient and scalable architectures that span both on-premises and Azure environments. By using ExpressRoute, businesses can ensure predictable network performance, avoid congestion-related slowdowns common with public internet connections, and maintain higher levels of availability for critical applications.
In contrast, Azure VPN Gateway offers encrypted connections over the public internet to link on-premises networks with Azure. While VPN Gateway provides secure connectivity and is useful for smaller workloads or backup connections, it does not guarantee the same level of consistent low latency, high bandwidth, or performance predictability as ExpressRoute. VPN connections are subject to variations in internet traffic, which can result in unpredictable latency and reduced throughput, making them less suitable for high-performance or mission-critical applications.
Other Azure networking services, such as Azure Load Balancer and Azure Application Gateway, address different requirements. Azure Load Balancer is a Layer 4 service that distributes network traffic across virtual machines within a single region to enhance availability and scalability. However, it does not provide hybrid network connectivity or private circuits to on-premises environments. Similarly, Azure Application Gateway operates at Layer 7, providing features such as web traffic routing, SSL termination, and Web Application Firewall (WAF) protection for web applications. While these features are valuable for web traffic management, Application Gateway does not establish private connections between on-premises networks and Azure.
The correct solution for scenarios requiring dedicated, private connectivity with predictable performance and high reliability is Azure ExpressRoute. Its ability to bypass the public internet, deliver multi-gigabit bandwidth, and integrate with Azure services provides a robust foundation for hybrid cloud deployments. While other services focus on encrypted internet-based connectivity, regional traffic distribution, or web application routing, they cannot deliver the private, high-performance hybrid connectivity that ExpressRoute provides. For organizations that require consistent network performance, low latency, and reliable hybrid connectivity, ExpressRoute is the most appropriate choice.
Question 45
You need to design a solution to distribute HTTP/HTTPS traffic to multiple web applications and provide Web Application Firewall protection. Which Azure service should you recommend?
A) Azure Application Gateway
B) Azure Load Balancer
C) Azure Traffic Manager
D) Azure VPN Gateway
Answer: A) Azure Application Gateway
Explanation:
Azure Application Gateway is a comprehensive Layer 7 web application load balancer designed to optimize and secure HTTP and HTTPS traffic for modern web applications. Unlike traditional load balancers that operate at Layer 4, Application Gateway inspects and manages traffic at the application layer, enabling advanced routing decisions based on URL paths, host headers, or query strings. This capability allows organizations to implement fine-grained traffic distribution strategies, supporting multi-site hosting scenarios where multiple applications share the same gateway while ensuring requests are routed to the appropriate backend pool. By leveraging URL-based routing, developers can direct requests to specific application instances or services, improving resource utilization, performance, and scalability.
One of the most critical features of Azure Application Gateway is its integrated Web Application Firewall (WAF). WAF provides robust protection against a wide range of common web vulnerabilities, including SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and other threats identified in the OWASP Top 10. This security layer helps organizations safeguard sensitive data, maintain compliance, and reduce the risk of exploitation from malicious actors. The WAF operates in detection or prevention mode, allowing security teams to monitor potential threats and block harmful requests proactively. By integrating security directly into the application delivery path, Application Gateway eliminates the need for separate third-party firewalls, simplifying architecture while maintaining enterprise-grade protection.
Application Gateway also supports SSL termination, enabling the decryption of incoming HTTPS traffic at the gateway level. This reduces the processing burden on backend servers, improving application performance while ensuring secure end-to-end communication. Session affinity, or cookie-based routing, further enhances the user experience by directing requests from the same client to the same backend server, which is especially useful for applications that maintain session state. In addition, the gateway supports autoscaling, automatically adjusting resources to accommodate traffic spikes without manual intervention. This scalability ensures high availability and responsiveness even during periods of unpredictable or high-volume traffic, making it ideal for enterprise applications and e-commerce platforms.
While Azure Application Gateway provides these Layer 7 capabilities, other Azure networking services focus on different aspects of traffic management and security. Azure Load Balancer, for example, operates at Layer 4, distributing TCP and UDP traffic across virtual machines to ensure high availability and performance, but it does not inspect HTTP/HTTPS traffic or offer application-level security. Azure Traffic Manager functions as a DNS-based global traffic routing service, directing users to the most appropriate regional endpoint based on performance, priority, or geographic location, yet it does not provide WAF or URL-based routing. Azure VPN Gateway establishes encrypted tunnels between on-premises networks and Azure, ensuring secure connectivity but lacking any application-level inspection or routing features.
For organizations that require advanced HTTP/HTTPS traffic management, application-level routing, and robust web application protection, Azure Application Gateway is the optimal solution. It combines traffic optimization, SSL termination, autoscaling, session affinity, and an integrated Web Application Firewall into a single service, providing both security and performance for enterprise-grade web applications. Other Azure services, while valuable for load balancing, DNS routing, or secure network connectivity, do not provide the comprehensive Layer 7 capabilities necessary to protect and efficiently manage modern web traffic. Therefore, Azure Application Gateway is the correct choice for secure, scalable, and intelligent application delivery.