Am i ready for the AZ-305?
The AZ-305 is an expert-level exam. Unlike AZ-104, which tests implementation skills, AZ-305 tests your ability to design solutions that meet business and technical requirements. You should already have strong Azure administration experience before attempting this exam.
Self-Assessment checklist
Click each row to cycle through: ✅ Comfortable | ⚠️ Need Review | ❌ New to Me
Azure administration (Prerequisite)
| Skill | Your Level (click to rate) |
|---|
| I have passed AZ-104 or have equivalent Azure administration experience | ⬜ |
| I can deploy and manage VMs, App Services, and container workloads | ⬜ |
| I can configure VNets, NSGs, load balancers, and DNS | ⬜ |
| I can manage storage accounts, RBAC, and Azure Policy | ⬜ |
| I can set up monitoring, alerts, and diagnostic settings | ⬜ |
| I have managed production Azure environments (not just lab/dev) | ⬜ |
Architecture & design skills
| Skill | Your Level (click to rate) |
|---|
| I can evaluate trade-offs between cost, performance, and availability | ⬜ |
| I understand SLA composition (calculating composite SLAs) | ⬜ |
| I can explain the difference between RTO and RPO | ⬜ |
| I know when to use IaaS vs PaaS vs serverless for a given workload | ⬜ |
| I can design multi-tier applications (web, API, database, cache) | ⬜ |
| I understand the Azure Well-Architected Framework pillars | ⬜ |
| I can design hybrid solutions (on-prem + Azure connectivity) | ⬜ |
Identity & governance
| Skill | Your Level (click to rate) |
|---|
| I understand Entra ID B2B vs B2C vs workforce tenants | ⬜ |
| I know when to use Conditional Access, PIM, and Access Reviews | ⬜ |
| I can design a management group hierarchy for a multi-team org | ⬜ |
| I understand Azure Policy initiatives and compliance enforcement | ⬜ |
| I know the difference between Key Vault access policies and RBAC | ⬜ |
Data & Storage
| Skill | Your Level (click to rate) |
|---|
| I can choose between Azure SQL DB, SQL MI, PostgreSQL, and Cosmos DB | ⬜ |
| I understand DTU vs vCore pricing models | ⬜ |
| I know Cosmos DB consistency levels and partition key design | ⬜ |
| I can design storage redundancy (LRS, ZRS, GRS, GZRS and their RA variants) | ⬜ |
| I understand Data Factory pipelines and Synapse Analytics | ⬜ |
Business continuity
| Skill | Your Level (click to rate) |
|---|
| I can design backup strategies for VMs, databases, and blobs | ⬜ |
| I understand Azure Site Recovery for DR scenarios | ⬜ |
| I can calculate composite SLAs and design for 99.99% availability | ⬜ |
| I know the HA options for SQL (failover groups, Business Critical tier) | ⬜ |
| I understand Cosmos DB multi-region writes and consistency trade-offs | ⬜ |
Infrastructure & networking
| Skill | Your Level (click to rate) |
|---|
| I can choose between VPN Gateway, ExpressRoute, and Virtual WAN | ⬜ |
| I understand the load balancer decision tree (LB vs App GW vs Front Door vs Traffic Manager) | ⬜ |
| I can design hub-spoke network topologies | ⬜ |
| I know when to use Azure Firewall vs NSGs vs WAF | ⬜ |
| I understand Private Link and Private Endpoints | ⬜ |
| I can design IaC deployment strategies (Bicep vs Terraform, CI/CD) | ⬜ |
How to interpret your results
Mostly ✅: you're ready!
Jump to Challenge 01 and start designing.
Mix of ✅ and ⚠️: you're almost ready
Focus on the domains where you marked ⚠️. Use the Learning Resources in each challenge to fill gaps. Consider reviewing the Microsoft Learn path for AZ-305.
Mostly ⚠️ or ❌: build your foundation first
The AZ-305 builds on AZ-104 knowledge. If you haven't already, complete the AZ-104 challenges first, or gain 6-12 months of hands-on Azure experience before attempting this exam.
Key differences from AZ-104
| Aspect | AZ-104 | AZ-305 |
|---|
| Question style | "How do you do X?" | "Which solution meets these requirements?" |
| Knowledge depth | Know one correct way | Know all options and trade-offs |
| Scenario complexity | Single service | Multi-service architecture |
| Decision criteria | N/A | Cost, performance, security, compliance |
| Framework knowledge | Not required | Well-Architected Framework, CAF |
Ready to start? Begin with Challenge 01: Design a Centralized Logging Solution.