8-Week AZ-305 Study Plan: Azure Solutions Architect Expert (2026)

Knowing Azure Is Not the Same as Designing With Azure

I passed AZ-104 with an 830. So I figured AZ-305 would be, you know, manageable. Just "more Azure stuff" at a higher level.

Wrong. The AZ-104 asks you what a service does and how to configure it. The AZ-305 asks you which service to use, why it's the right choice, and what trade-offs you're making. It's architecture, not administration. And that shift in thinking takes real preparation.

I scored 785. Not perfect, but comfortable. Here's the 8-week plan I followed, including the stuff I wish I'd done differently.

AZ-305 Exam Overview (March 2026)

Skills Measured

Notice that "infrastructure solutions" and "identity/governance" together make up over half the exam. These are where you'll spend most of your study time.

The 8-Week Study Plan

This assumes 10-12 hours per week. If you've recently passed AZ-104, you might move faster through some sections. If AZ-104 was months ago, consider adding 2 weeks.

Week 1: Identity and Access Design

Start with identity because it touches every other design decision. You can't design anything in Azure without understanding who accesses what.

• Review Azure AD (now Entra ID) architecture — tenants, subscriptions, management groups
• Study authentication methods: MFA, passwordless, conditional access policies
• Learn hybrid identity: Azure AD Connect, federation, pass-through auth
• Understand Privileged Identity Management (PIM) and just-in-time access
• Practice: design an identity solution for a multi-subsidiary company

The exam loves scenarios like "Company A acquires Company B — design the identity integration." If you can't sketch out a hybrid identity solution on a whiteboard, keep studying.

Week 2: Governance and Monitoring

• Study Azure Policy vs. Azure Blueprints vs. RBAC — know when to use each
• Learn management group hierarchies and subscription design patterns
• Understand Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Application Insights
• Study cost management strategies: reservations, spot VMs, cost alerts
• Practice: design a governance structure for a 50-subscription enterprise

Governance questions are all about trade-offs. Azure Policy prevents non-compliance. RBAC restricts access. Blueprints package multiple governance controls. The exam tests whether you pick the right tool for the right problem.

Weeks 3-4: Data Storage Solutions

This section is heavier than it looks. Azure has a dozen storage options, and the exam expects you to know which one fits which scenario.

• Relational: Azure SQL Database vs. SQL Managed Instance vs. SQL Server on VMs — know the migration path for each
• Non-relational: Cosmos DB (which API for which workload?), Table Storage, Redis Cache
• File and blob: Azure Blob Storage tiers (Hot/Cool/Archive), Azure Files, Azure NetApp Files
• Data integration: Azure Data Factory, Synapse Analytics, Event Hubs
• Study data redundancy: LRS, ZRS, GRS, RA-GRS — know the RPO/RTO for each
• Practice: given a workload with specific latency and consistency requirements, choose the right Cosmos DB consistency level

Week 5: Business Continuity

Only 10-15% of the exam, but the questions are tricky because they require you to map specific RTO/RPO targets to Azure services.

• Study Azure Site Recovery (ASR) for VM failover
• Learn Azure Backup options for different resource types
• Understand availability sets vs. availability zones vs. region pairs
• Design for multi-region high availability — active-active vs. active-passive
• Practice: given an RTO of 1 hour and RPO of 15 minutes, design the appropriate HA/DR strategy

Quick cheat sheet that saved me: need sub-minute RPO? Use availability zones. Need region-level protection? Use geo-replication. Need cheapest DR? Azure Site Recovery with cool storage.

Weeks 6-7: Infrastructure Solutions

This is the biggest section and where your AZ-104 knowledge pays off — but at a design level.

Week 6: Compute

• When to use VMs vs. App Service vs. AKS vs. Azure Functions — this decision tree is critical
• Study VM sizing strategies and scale set design
• Learn App Service plans: when to use Basic vs. Standard vs. Premium vs. Isolated
• Containerization decisions: ACI vs. AKS vs. App Service containers
• Understand Azure Batch for HPC workloads

Week 7: Networking

• Design hub-spoke network topologies with Azure Virtual WAN
• Study load balancing: Azure Load Balancer vs. Application Gateway vs. Front Door vs. Traffic Manager
• Learn private connectivity: Private Endpoints, Private Link, Service Endpoints
• Hybrid networking: ExpressRoute vs. VPN Gateway — know the decision criteria
• Understand Azure Firewall vs. NSGs vs. Azure WAF

The networking section had the most questions on my exam. The load balancer decision tree alone could save you 3-4 questions: Layer 4 or Layer 7? Global or regional? HTTP or non-HTTP? Each answer points to a different service.

Week 8: Practice Tests and Case Study Prep

• Take a full-length AZ-305 practice exam
• Review wrong answers — for each one, write down why the correct answer is better
• Practice case studies: read the scenario, identify requirements, then design before looking at questions
• Take a second practice exam mid-week
• Final review: focus on your weakest area and the load balancer/storage decision trees

Case Studies: How to Not Panic

AZ-305 typically has 2-3 case studies. Each presents a company scenario (usually 2-3 pages of requirements) followed by 4-6 questions. Here's how to handle them.

The Strategy That Worked

1. Read the requirements FIRST — skip the company background and go straight to technical requirements and constraints
2. Note the non-negotiables — things like "must support 99.99% SLA" or "data must remain in EU" eliminate options immediately
3. Check the current environment — what they're using now often constrains what you can recommend (e.g., can't suggest Cosmos DB if they have a complex relational schema)
4. Answer with the cheapest solution that meets ALL requirements — Microsoft loves cost-effective designs

A common trap: the case study mentions a requirement on page 2 that eliminates the "obvious" answer. Read everything before answering.

Resources That Actually Moved the Needle

Must-Have

• Microsoft Learn AZ-305 Learning Path — free, official, and covers everything. Do all the modules.
• John Savill's AZ-305 Study Cram on YouTube — 4-hour video that's genuinely one of the best Azure resources ever made. Watch it twice: once during week 1, once during week 8.
• ExamCert AZ-305 Practice Tests — domain-specific questions with detailed explanations. Closest to real exam quality I found.

Helpful Supplements

• Azure Architecture Center — browse real-world reference architectures. The exam draws heavily from these patterns.
• Scott Duffy's AZ-305 course on Udemy — good overview, but you'll need practice tests alongside it.
• Microsoft documentation — specifically the "choose between" comparison articles (e.g., "Choose between Azure messaging services")

5 Things I'd Do Differently

1. Start With the Decision Trees

I wasted week 1 memorizing individual services. Should have started with decision trees: "when do I use X vs. Y?" That's what the exam tests. Build a cheat sheet of decision trees for compute, storage, networking, and database choices.

2. Do More Hands-On Labs

Reading about hub-spoke networking is one thing. Setting it up in a free Azure account and watching traffic flow is another. I did labs for about 30% of the content. Should have done 50%+.

3. Practice Case Studies Earlier

I didn't practice case studies until week 8. Should have started in week 5. Case studies test your ability to synthesize knowledge across domains — that skill takes time to develop.

4. Study the "Why," Not the "What"

AZ-104 rewards knowing what services do. AZ-305 rewards knowing why you'd pick one over another. Every time you learn about a service, ask: "In what scenario is this the WRONG choice?" That's how the exam thinks.

5. Take the AZ-305 Soon After AZ-104

If you're still studying for AZ-104, plan to take AZ-305 within 2-3 months of passing. The foundational knowledge is fresh, and you'll build on it naturally. I waited 6 months and had to re-learn half of AZ-104's content.

AZ-305 vs. AWS SAA-C03: Quick Comparison

If you're deciding between cloud architect certifications, here's the honest breakdown.

For a deeper comparison, see our AWS SAA-C03 vs. Azure guide and AWS vs. Azure certification comparison.

Exam Day Tips

• Time management: With 40-60 questions in 120 minutes, you have ~2-3 minutes per question. But case studies eat more time. Budget 20-25 minutes per case study and 1.5 minutes for regular questions.
• Case studies can't be revisited. Once you click "Next Section" after a case study, it's gone. Double-check your answers before moving on.
• When two answers seem right, pick the one that's most cost-effective while meeting ALL requirements. Microsoft favors practical, cost-conscious designs.
• Watch for "managed" services. If a managed option exists (e.g., Azure SQL DB vs. SQL on VMs), Microsoft usually prefers it unless there's a specific reason not to use it.

For more about the testing experience, see our Pearson VUE troubleshooting guide and proctoring tips.

Frequently Asked Questions