Study guide · Exam overview
The format, passing score, and four content domains of Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert, plus the design choices worth practicing before you book AZ-305.
Exam version notice: This overview follows the Microsoft study guide for Exam AZ-305: Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions, skills measured as of April 17, 2026. The exam code is unchanged. The April 17 update is a minor audience-profile change, not a replacement exam. Microsoft does not publish a fixed minute count on the AZ-305 page; confirm the time shown when you schedule. A score of 700 or greater is required. Pricing, languages, and delivery options can change. Confirm them on the Microsoft certification site before you register. Items tagged Extra are useful context that the study guide does not name as a measured skill. Operational click-path practice for administrators is on the AZ-104 overview. Shared cloud vocabulary is on the AZ-900 overview.
Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert checks whether you can recommend and choose an Azure design that meets constraints. The work is design-shaped: pick the identity model, the storage shape, the RPO/RTO path, the compute host, and the network pattern. You are not asked to click through the portal to create a resource the way AZ-104 does. AZ-104 proves you can implement and operate. AZ-305 proves you can decide what should be built.
Microsoft describes the candidate as someone who advises stakeholders and translates business requirements into secure, scalable, reliable designs. Expected background includes Azure administration experience and familiarity with Azure development and DevOps processes. The Expert credential requires Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104). You can sit AZ-305 without holding AZ-104, but you will not earn the Expert certification until that prerequisite is met.
Figures below come from the AZ-305 certification page and the study guide reviewed in October 2026.
| Specification | AZ-305 |
|---|---|
| Level | Advanced, role-based. Microsoft calls the credential Azure Solutions Architect Expert. Prerequisite for the Expert certification: Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104). |
| Length of test | Microsoft does not publish a fixed minute count on the AZ-305 certification page. Role-based associate and expert exams are typically about 100 minutes when labs are not included, or about 120 minutes when interactive labs may be included. Confirm the time shown when you schedule. This site's practice timer uses 100 minutes as exam time. |
| Number of questions | Microsoft does not publish a fixed count on the certification page. Do not treat a practice length as the live exam length. |
| Passing score | 700 or greater on a scale of 1 to 1,000. A scaled score is not the percentage of questions you answered correctly. |
| Recommended experience | Azure administration experience, plus familiarity with Azure development and DevOps. Comfortable translating requirements into identity, data, continuity, and infrastructure designs. |
| Exam price | Price depends on the country or region where the exam is proctored. Confirm the current fee when you schedule. |
| Validity | Expert certifications expire after 12 months. Renew at no cost with an online assessment on Microsoft Learn during the renewal window. |
| Delivery | Schedule through Pearson VUE. English is updated first. Other languages follow later. |
A blank answer earns no credit. Microsoft exams do not subtract extra points for a wrong answer, so answer every question. If the exam is not offered in your preferred language, you can request an additional 30 minutes. Request accommodations before you sit if you need them. After a failed attempt you can retake the exam 24 hours later. Later retakes wait longer. Confirm the current retake policy with Microsoft.
These ranges are the share of scored content in the study guide dated April 17, 2026. The 200 practice questions use midpoints inside those ranges that add to 100 percent: 27%, 22%, 18%, and 33%.
Recommend who authenticates, who may act, and how you see the estate.
Recommend the store, the tier, and the protection that fit the workload.
Meet the RPO and RTO the stem states, then choose HA where needed.
The largest domain. Place compute, wire the app, migrate, and connect the network.
The study guide names design recommendations more often than portal click paths. Learn the paired choices first. The same map is in the core notes and flashcards.
| Need | Choose | Remember |
|---|---|---|
| Centralize logs and alerts across subscriptions | Azure Monitor + Log Analytics | Recommend diagnostic settings and workspaces. AZ-104 implements the alert; AZ-305 picks the monitoring design. |
| Least-privilege access to resources | RBAC at the right scope | Management group → subscription → resource group → resource. Entra ID authenticates; RBAC authorizes. |
| Secrets and keys outside app config | Azure Key Vault | Recommend managed identity for retrieval. Do not store secrets only in App Configuration. |
| Relational OLTP with managed HA options | Azure SQL / SQL MI / PostgreSQL / MySQL | Match tier and scale to RTO/RPO and feature need. Compare PaaS features before defaulting to a VM. |
| Documents or flexible schema at global scale | Cosmos DB (or similar NoSQL) | Consistency and multi-region writes are design choices. Blob storage is not a document database. |
| Meet a stated RPO/RTO for VMs or databases | Backup + Site Recovery (as required) | Backup alone may miss a tight RTO. Site Recovery replicates; Backup restores point-in-time data. |
| Zone-level compute resilience | Availability zones / zone-redundant SKUs | Availability sets are within a datacenter group. Zones are separate failure domains in the region. |
| Event-driven scale without managing servers | Azure Functions / Container Apps | VMs and AKS when you need OS or cluster control. Serverless when the stem emphasizes events and idle cost. |
| Decouple producers with durable messaging | Service Bus / Event Hubs / Event Grid | Queue versus stream versus filtered events. Pick from the delivery and retention constraint. |
| Private path to a platform service | Private endpoint (often with hybrid connectivity) | Service endpoints keep the public address. ExpressRoute or VPN is the hybrid circuit, not the service NIC. |
| Extra Day-2 portal steps for a single VM | AZ-104 territory | Useful background. AZ-305 asks you to recommend the design, not to click Create. |
| Extra Deep application code or SDK calls | Developer associate path | AZ-305 covers app architecture choices (messaging, caching, config). It is not a coding exam. |
Microsoft says the exam may include interactive components and points you to an exam sandbox so you can try the interface before you sit. This site's practice questions use multiple choice, multiple response, matching, and ordering. Matching and ordering are extra practice for the distinctions in the study guide. They are not a claim about the live item mix.
A typical stem gives constraints and asks what to recommend or which design is best. The RTO is four hours. The data must stay in one region. The app must scale on queue depth. Distractors are nearby services that solve a different problem. Backup is not Site Recovery. A private endpoint is not a service endpoint. Cosmos DB is not Blob Storage. Contributor is not Owner when role assignment is in scope.
There is no published extra penalty for a wrong guess. A blank answer earns nothing. On a timed practice exam, answer every item, then use the review to see which domain actually needs work.
A practical sequence if you still think in portal clicks instead of design recommendations.
AZ-104 asks how you configure. AZ-305 asks what you recommend. For every topic, practice the sentence: “Recommend X when the constraint is Y.”
Entra authenticates. RBAC authorizes at a scope. Policy and management groups constrain what may exist. Monitor and Log Analytics show the estate.
Relational versus documents versus files and blobs. Name the tier, the protection, and the cost trade-off the stem forces.
Say whether Backup, Site Recovery, zone redundancy, or multi-region HA is required. Do not invent a target the stem did not give.
VM, containers, serverless, or batch. Then messaging, caching, migration approach, and the internet or hybrid path.
Use the four decks until you can answer before the card flips. Work through original questions, review every explanation, and return to the notes on domains below 75 percent. Aim for a steady 85 percent before you book. Use 100 minutes as the practice exam-time pace.
The overview, core notes, flashcards, and practice exams are all published.
Exam format, the 700 passing score, domain weights, and a study plan.
Reference notes for identity, storage, continuity, and infrastructure design.
40 recall cards in four decks, plus memory notes for design distinctions.
200 original questions with custom exams, explanations, and a score report by domain.
A score of 700 or greater is required to pass. Microsoft reports scores on a scale of 1 to 1,000. A scaled score is not the percentage of questions you answered correctly.
Microsoft does not publish a fixed minute count on the AZ-305 certification page. Role-based associate and expert exams are typically about 100 minutes when labs are not included, or about 120 minutes when interactive labs may be included. Confirm the time shown when you schedule. This site's practice timer uses 100 minutes as exam time.
The study guide dated April 17, 2026 measures four areas: design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions (25–30%), design data storage solutions (20–25%), design business continuity solutions (15–20%), and design infrastructure solutions (30–35%).
No. AZ-305 is still the exam for Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert. Microsoft updated the skills measured on April 17, 2026. The change log describes a minor audience-profile change, not a new exam code.
Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104) is required to earn the Expert credential. You can take AZ-305 without holding AZ-104, but you will not receive the Expert certification until the prerequisite is met. See the Azure Administrator path.
Yes. Microsoft expert certifications expire after 12 months unless you renew them. You can renew at no cost by passing an online assessment on Microsoft Learn. Confirm the current policy before you rely on it.
No. The practice questions on this site are original. They are not Microsoft exam items, and a practice score does not predict a result.
Service names and portal labels change. The April 17, 2026 update made a minor audience-profile change. Use the current Microsoft study guide as the authority when it differs from these notes.
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Exam versions, objectives, prices, languages, and retirement dates can change. Verify the details on the Microsoft Learn certification page and the AZ-305 study guide before you register.
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