AZ-305 Design Coverage Checklist: [Candidate name]

Study plan and design coverage checklist for Microsoft exam AZ-305, Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions, the exam for the Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification. It maps every "design" subgroup of the skills measured (as of 17 April 2026) to a design record you write for a sample workload and to the library template that practises it, then tracks a self-rating, a lab log, practice results, a weak-area plan and renewal. Skill area names and weights follow the official Microsoft Learn study guide as checked on 2026-10-23; all other text is original. Replace every [bracketed] value and every row marked Example.

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Contents

1. Certification path and exam facts
2. Skill areas, weights and study allocation
3. Design record method
4. Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions
5. Design data storage solutions
6. Design business continuity solutions
7. Design infrastructure solutions
8. Well-Architected and Cloud Adoption Framework alignment
9. Skills self-rating and readiness
10. Hands-on lab log
11. Practice results and error analysis
12. Weak-area plan and schedule
13. Exam day, result and renewal
14. Glossary and references

1. Certification path and exam facts

1.1 Certification path

1.2 Exam facts

1.3 Role expectations

The study guide describes the role as advising stakeholders and turning business requirements into Azure designs that align with the Azure Well-Architected Framework and the Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure, with advanced knowledge of networking, virtualisation, identity, security, business continuity, disaster recovery, data platforms and governance, and experience with Azure administration, Azure development and DevOps processes. Use this as the self-check before you start: if Azure administration is new to you, finish AZ-104 preparation first.

2. Skill areas, weights and study allocation

2.1 Skill areas

The midpoints sum to exactly 100%, so base hours are budget x midpoint: 80 x 0.275 = 22, 80 x 0.225 = 18, 80 x 0.175 = 14 and 80 x 0.325 = 26.

2.2 Gap-adjusted allocation

Adjusted hours for an area = budget x (midpoint x gap) / sum of (midpoint x gap), where gap = 4 minus the area self-rating from section 9.

Example with self-ratings A 2.0, B 3.0, C 2.5 and D 3.0: gaps 2.0, 1.0, 1.5 and 1.0; midpoint x gap gives 0.55, 0.225, 0.2625 and 0.325, summing to 1.3625. With 80 hours: A 32.3, B 13.2, C 15.4, D 19.1, which round to 32, 13, 15 and 19 (79); give the spare hour to C, the weakest area after A, so the total stays 80 (32, 13, 16, 19).

3. Design record method

3.1 Design record format

Use this format for every record. Keep the records in one folder; they become your revision notes.

3.2 Worked design record (Example)

4. Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions

Task areas are paraphrased; read the full bullet list in the official study guide.

4.1 Logging and monitoring

4.2 Authentication and authorisation

4.3 Governance

5. Design data storage solutions

5.1 Relational data

5.2 Semi-structured and unstructured data

5.3 Data integration

6. Design business continuity solutions

6.1 Backup and disaster recovery

6.2 High availability

6.3 Recovery tier worked example (Example)

7. Design infrastructure solutions

7.1 Compute

7.2 Application architecture

7.3 Migrations

7.4 Network

7.5 Coverage check

8. Well-Architected and Cloud Adoption Framework alignment

8.1 Pillar tagging

For a full review of a real workload against the five pillars, use Azure Well-Architected Review (architecture/azure-well-architected-review).

8.2 Cloud Adoption Framework touchpoints

9. Skills self-rating and readiness

Readiness = sum over areas of midpoint weight x (area average rating / 4).

Example with area averages A 2.0, B 3.0, C 2.5 and D 3.0: 0.275 x 0.5 = 0.1375; 0.225 x 0.75 = 0.16875; 0.175 x 0.625 = 0.109375; 0.325 x 0.75 = 0.24375. Readiness = 0.659375, about 66%.

The booking threshold is a personal planning rule, not a Microsoft figure.

10. Hands-on lab log

Sandbox controls: a dedicated subscription under a sandbox management group, a budget alert at [USD amount], tags with the lab ID on every resource group, no real personal or customer data.

11. Practice results and error analysis

11.1 Results

11.2 Error classification

12. Weak-area plan and schedule

12.1 Weak areas

12.2 Schedule

The Example plan covers the weakest area first, then works through the largest area, with a buffer week before the booked date.

13. Exam day, result and renewal

13.1 Exam-day checklist

• Booked with a personal Microsoft account, as Microsoft recommends, so records stay with you if you change employer.
• Identification matches the profile name.
• For online delivery: system test passed, room and desk prepared.
• Extra-time accommodation requested in advance if the exam is not in your preferred language or you need an accommodation.
• Constraints-first reading technique practised; every question answered.

13.2 Result

13.3 Renewal

14. Glossary and references

14.1 Glossary

14.2 References

Standard and licence note

Based on the public Microsoft Learn study guide for Exam AZ-305 (skills measured as of 17 April 2026) and the Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification page, as checked on 2026-10-23. Only the functional group names, weights and subgroup names are used; task bullets are paraphrased in original words and no study guide text beyond those names, and no exam questions, are reproduced. This template is original text written for this collection. Check the current official study guide before use, because Microsoft updates the skills measured periodically. Microsoft, Azure and Microsoft Entra are trademarks of their owners; this template is not affiliated with or endorsed by them. Template licence: MIT.