📘 AZ-305 Study Notes

Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert

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🏠 These notes are maintained by Marco Grimaldi and based on the official Microsoft documentation. Find more certification guides, study tips, and tech content at 🌐 marcogrimaldi29.com. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Microsoft. Always verify against the latest Microsoft documentation.

🎯 Exam Overview

Detail Value
🏅 Certification Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert
📝 Passing Score 700 / 1000
💶 Price (EU) ~€126 (varies by country, VAT may apply)
⏱️ Duration ~120 minutes
🔁 Renewal Annual — free online assessment on Microsoft Learn
🛡️ Prerequisite AZ-104: Azure Administrator Associate (active cert required)

📊 Domain Weights 

pie title AZ-305 — Official Exam Domain Weights
    " Design Infrastructure Solutions (30–35%)" : 32
    " Design Identity, Governance & Monitoring (25–30%)" : 25
    " Design Data Storage Solutions (25–30%)" : 25
    " Design Business Continuity Solutions (15–20%)" : 18
# Domain Weight Key Focus Areas
1 Design Identity, Governance & Monitoring 25–30% Entra ID, RBAC, PIM, Azure Policy, Monitor, Sentinel
2 Design Data Storage Solutions 25–30% Azure SQL, Cosmos DB, Blob, ADLS Gen2, Synapse
3 Design Business Continuity Solutions 15–20% HA, DR, SLAs, Backup, ASR, geo-replication
4 Design Infrastructure Solutions 30–35% Compute, Networking, Migrations, App Architecture

🗂️ Notes Index

📘 Prerequisites

Core Azure architecture: regions, availability zones, VNets, compute, storage, and identity fundamentals.

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🔐 Domain 1 — Identity & Governance

25–30% of exam. Entra ID, RBAC, PIM, Conditional Access, Azure Policy, Azure Monitor, Sentinel.

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🗄️ Domain 2 — Data Storage

25–30% of exam. SQL family, Cosmos DB consistency, Blob tiers, ADLS Gen2, Synapse, ADF.

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🔄 Domain 3 — Business Continuity

15–20% of exam. SLA math, HA patterns, Azure Backup, ASR, auto-failover groups.

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🏗️ Domain 4 — Infrastructure

30–35% of exam — heaviest domain. Compute, networking, migrations, messaging, API Management.

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🏛️ Well-Architected & CAF

WAF 5 pillars (Reliability, Security, Cost, Ops, Performance) + Cloud Adoption Framework lifecycle.

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⚡ Quick Reference Cheatsheet

Key numbers, SLA tables, decision matrices, EU pricing, exam traps, and pre-exam checklist.

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🏗️ Azure Architectures (AAC)

Architecture choices by type (compute, messaging, routing, data, security) and compliance implications for financial services, healthcare, government, retail, energy, and manufacturing.

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🧠 How to Use These Notes

These notes are structured to follow the official AZ-305 study guide domain order. The recommended reading flow:

flowchart LR
    PRE["📘 Prerequisites\n(fundamentals)"]
    D1["🔐 Domain 1\nIdentity & Governance\n25–30%"]
    D2["🗄️ Domain 2\nData Storage\n25–30%"]
    D3["🔄 Domain 3\nBusiness Continuity\n15–20%"]
    D4["🏗️ Domain 4\nInfrastructure\n30–35%"]
    WAF["🏛️ WAF & CAF\n(cross-domain)"]
    SHEET["⚡ Cheatsheet\n(last-minute)"]
    ARCH["🏗️ AAC Appendix\n(architectures)"]

    PRE --> D1 --> D2 --> D3 --> D4 --> WAF --> SHEET --> ARCH

💡 Study Tips

  • 🎯 The exam tests “why this service?” — think in trade-offs and constraints, not just definitions
  • 💶 Know SKU tier feature gates — what’s in Premium that Standard doesn’t have often decides exam answers
  • 📊 SLA uptime percentages appear regularly in scenario questions — the cheatsheet has a full table
  • ⚠️ Each section has Exam Caveats callouts — these are high-frequency exam traps
  • 🔄 Each domain ends with a quick-reference scenario table — great for final review

📄 Official Resources

Resource Link
🎓 Microsoft Certification Path AZ-305 Certification Path
📋 Skills Measured Guide Official Study Guide
🧪 Free Practice Assessment Practice Test
🏗️ Architecture Center Azure Architecture Center
💶 EU Exam Booking Pearson VUE Microsoft

📚 About the Study Notes

These notes are hosted on GitHub Pages and published as a searchable website on this URL:

👉 📘 AZ-305 Study Notes

The site includes full-text search, Mermaid diagram rendering, and mobile-friendly navigation for on-the-go review.

These notes are designed to be a structured, exam-focused summary of the most important concepts and services baseds on the official Microsoft AZ-305 Study Guide and its criteria.

Additional resources and study notes maintained by me, such as the 📘 AZ-500 Study Notes and more, are also available for those pursuing the Microsoft and Azure certifications at the following Landing Page:

👉 🧑‍🏫 Microsoft Study Notes: Central Hub

✍️ About the Author

These notes are maintained by Marco Grimaldi — Cloud Consultant, Language Trainer & Lifelong Learner.

📍 Find more content at 🌐 marcogrimaldi29.com

The website is continuously updated and based on my personal study notes and experiences. If you have any feedback, suggestions, or corrections, feel free to reach out**!

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©️ Credits & Acknowledgements

The Just the Docs theme is used for a clean, documentation-style layout. Licensed under MIT.

Created with the help of AI. Model used: Claude Sonnet 4.6. The content has been reviewed and edited by the author for accuracy and clarity, but may contain errors. Always verify against the latest Microsoft documentation.

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