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AZ-305 Study Guide

A curated learning path for the AZ-305 exam: the best documentation, videos, blog posts and tutorials for every exam objective.

Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert

 

Before You Start Studying

Before diving into the study sections, review the exam path, prerequisites, and recommended background knowledge below to understand what will help you succeed.

 

Recommended Exam Path

AZ-305 works differently from most Microsoft exams: the Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification requires the Azure Administrator Associate certification (AZ-104) as a prerequisite. Microsoft does not stop you from taking and passing the AZ-305 exam before AZ-104, but the Expert certification is only issued once you hold the AZ-104 certification as well.

Because of this, taking AZ-104 first is the sensible route: it builds the hands-on administration foundation that AZ-305 design questions assume you already have.

AZ-104 helps you build:

  • Practical experience deploying and managing Azure resources
  • Working knowledge of Azure networking, storage, identity, and compute
  • The implementation-level intuition that design decisions are judged against

If you already hold AZ-104 and work with Azure regularly, you can proceed directly to AZ-305 preparation.

 

Prerequisites

The certification requires AZ-104, and the exam itself assumes advanced, broad experience rather than beginner knowledge.

You should be comfortable with:

  • IT operations across networking, virtualization, identity, security, business continuity, disaster recovery, data platforms, and governance
  • Azure administration and at least awareness of Azure development and DevOps processes
  • Translating business requirements into technical designs

 

Recommended Background Knowledge

AZ-305 focuses on designing solutions, not implementing them. Almost every question asks you to recommend a service or pattern that meets a set of requirements.

Azure Core Services

  • Compute options: virtual machines, App Service, Functions, containers, AKS, Batch
  • Storage options: Blob Storage, Azure Files, Data Lake, redundancy tiers (LRS, ZRS, GRS, GZRS)
  • Database options: Azure SQL Database, SQL Managed Instance, Cosmos DB

Identity and Governance

  • Microsoft Entra ID concepts: authentication, Conditional Access, managed identities, PIM
  • Management groups, subscriptions, resource groups, and Azure Policy
  • Key Vault for secrets, certificates, and keys

Networking and Hybrid Connectivity

  • VPN Gateway vs ExpressRoute for on-premises connectivity
  • Load balancing: Azure Load Balancer, Application Gateway, Front Door, Traffic Manager
  • Hub-and-spoke topologies and private endpoints

Architecture Frameworks

  • The five pillars of the Azure Well-Architected Framework
  • Cloud Adoption Framework basics, especially migration and landing zones
  • RTO and RPO as the language of backup and disaster recovery design

 

Step-by-Step Study Guide

 

Step 1: Review the Official Study Guide

What to do:

  • Open the official AZ-305 study guide
  • Read the four skill areas and their weights: identity, governance, and monitoring (25-30%), data storage (20-25%), business continuity (15-20%), and infrastructure (30-35%)
  • Note any topics that are new to you
  • Use it as your checklist throughout your prep

Link to The Official Study Guide

 

Step 2: Schedule Your Exam

What to do:

  • Choose a date that gives you enough time for study and practice
  • Schedule the exam through the official Microsoft certification page
  • Put the date on your calendar and plan backwards

Recommended timing:

  • If you work with Azure daily as an admin or architect: 3 to 6 weeks
  • If you are coming straight from passing AZ-104: 6 to 10 weeks

Certification and Exam Details Page

 

Step 3: Go Through the Official Learning Path

What to do:

  • Complete the official AZ-305 course, which spans six learning paths: design prerequisites, identity and governance, business continuity, data storage, infrastructure, and the Well-Architected Framework
  • Take notes on concepts you cannot explain in simple terms
  • Pay special attention to why one service is recommended over another

Official Learning Path Course Page

 

Step 4: Watch John Savill's AZ-305 Study Playlist

What to do:

  • Watch John Savill's free AZ-305 study playlist end-to-end
  • Pause on the decision-tree videos and redraw them from memory
  • Write down any services you cannot confidently compare

Tips:

  • Savill's roughly 5-hour AZ-305 Study Cram is an excellent final review a day or two before the exam
  • These are widely regarded as the best free video resources for this exam

John Savill's AZ-305 Study Playlist

 

Step 5: Practice Architectural Thinking

AZ-305 is a design exam. It rewards the ability to match requirements to services, not memorized steps in a portal.

The fastest way to build that skill is deliberate practice with real reference material:

  • Whiteboard architectures against written requirements: pick a scenario, sketch the solution, then compare it to a reference architecture
  • Work through the Azure Architecture Center's decision guides for compute, data stores, load balancing, and messaging
  • For each service pair you confuse (Application Gateway vs Front Door, Service Bus vs Event Hubs, Backup vs Site Recovery), write one sentence on when you would pick each
  • Review the Well-Architected Framework pillars and the Cloud Adoption Framework migration methodology, since they supply the vocabulary the exam uses

Azure Architecture Center

 

Step 6: Benchmark Your Knowledge

What to do:

  • Use CertiAce to benchmark your readiness
  • Practice time management and scenario-based questions
  • Use the official Microsoft practice assessment as a second signal

Recommended target:

  • Aim for consistent performance, not one lucky high score
  • If a topic is unstable, return to the learning paths and decision guides

CertiAce AZ-305 Exam Practice

 

Step 7: Take the Exam

The day before:

  • Review your weak topics only
  • Rewatch a study cram or your own notes
  • Avoid learning brand new topics

On exam day:

  • Read the requirement bullets carefully: most wrong options fail exactly one stated requirement, so eliminate against each bullet in turn
  • Watch for tiebreakers such as "minimize cost" or "minimize administrative effort"; when two options meet the hard requirements, pick the cheaper or more managed one
  • Expect case studies plus hotspot and drag-drop formats, so slow down and confirm what each dropdown or zone is really asking
  • Answer what is asked, not the most impressive architecture you know

 

Additional Learning Resources

 

Blogs

 

YouTube

 

Other Resources

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