Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions (AZ-305) — All Questions

A workload requires near-full SQL Server compatibility, including SQL Agent and cross-database queries, for a lift-and-shift migration. Which Azure service best fits?

• a.Azure SQL Database single database
• b.Azure SQL Managed Instance✓
• c.Azure Cosmos DB
• d.Azure Table storage

SQL Managed Instance provides near-100% SQL Server engine compatibility, including SQL Agent and cross-database queries, making it ideal for lift-and-shift. A single database lacks some instance-level features, and Cosmos DB and Table storage are non-relational.

An application needs a globally distributed database with single-digit-millisecond reads in multiple regions and tunable consistency. Which service should the architect select?

• a.Azure Cosmos DB✓
• b.Azure SQL Database Basic tier
• c.Azure Files
• d.Azure Queue storage

Azure Cosmos DB is globally distributed with low-latency reads and offers five tunable consistency levels. A Basic-tier SQL Database is regional and not designed for global low latency, and Files and Queue storage are not databases.

To automatically move blob data to cooler, cheaper tiers as it ages and delete it after a retention period, what should the architect configure?

• a.Manual monthly tier changes
• b.A separate storage account per tier
• c.Geo-redundant storage only
• d.Blob lifecycle management policies✓

Lifecycle management policies automatically transition blobs between hot, cool, cold, and archive tiers and delete them based on age rules, optimizing cost without manual work. Manual changes do not scale, separate accounts add overhead, and GRS controls redundancy, not tiering.

An architect must ensure a storage account's data is protected with encryption keys that the organization controls and can rotate. What should be designed?

• a.Rely only on platform-managed keys with no control
• b.Disable encryption and use network rules
• c.Customer-managed keys stored in Azure Key Vault✓
• d.Store keys in application configuration files

Customer-managed keys in Azure Key Vault give the organization control over key lifecycle and rotation while encrypting storage at rest. Platform-managed keys offer no customer control, disabling encryption is insecure, and storing keys in config files exposes them.

A big-data analytics platform needs object storage with a hierarchical namespace optimized for analytics workloads. Which service should be chosen?

• a.Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2✓
• b.Azure Queue storage
• c.Azure Table storage
• d.Azure Cache for Redis

Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 adds a hierarchical namespace on top of Blob storage, optimizing directory operations and analytics access patterns. Queue and Table storage serve messaging and key-value data, and Redis is an in-memory cache.