AZ-305 Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions Exam

Venture into the world of Azure Infrastructure, where design meets functionality. Harness your skills and gain mastery over complex cloud structures to ace the AZ-305 Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions exam!

Practice Test

Expert
Exam

Design solutions for logging and monitoring

Recommend a logging solution

Logging is the practice of capturing detailed records about system and application events. Logs provide insight into errors, performance issues, and user activities. Effective logging helps teams respond quickly to problems and maintain service reliability. When designing a logging solution, consider the types of logs needed, such as activity logs, diagnostic logs, and application logs.

Azure offers several built-in services for collecting and storing logs. Azure Monitor Logs ingests data through a Log Analytics workspace, while Azure Diagnostics can capture resource-level events. Application Insights focuses on application performance, collecting request rates, response times, and failure rates. Choose a solution that aligns with your workload’s complexity and data retention needs.

Retention and cost management are key factors in any logging design. Azure allows you to configure retention policies for each Log Analytics workspace, helping control storage costs. Consider using data tiers to move older logs to a cheaper storage tier. Properly sizing your workspace and setting data caps prevents unexpected charges.

When recommending a logging solution, start by defining scope and granularity. Determine which resources need detailed diagnostic logs versus standard activity logs. Use lists to capture distinct log categories:

  • Activity logs for subscription-level events
  • Resource logs for detailed service-level data
  • Custom logs for specialized application events Balancing detail with cost and complexity ensures you capture the right data without unnecessary overhead.

Recommend a solution for routing logs

Routing logs ensures that captured data reaches the appropriate destinations for storage, analysis, or alerting. Log routing leverages Azure’s Diagnostic Settings to define where logs should be sent. Key sinks include Event Hubs, Storage Accounts, and Log Analytics workspaces. Effective routing centralizes logs and supports downstream processing.

Each destination serves different purposes:

  • Event Hubs is ideal for streaming logs to external SIEM tools or custom analytics pipelines.
  • Storage Accounts provide low-cost, long-term archiving with access via Azure Blob Storage APIs.
  • Log Analytics workspaces offer built-in query and visualization capabilities. Use routing rules to target the right sink based on log type and business requirements.

Cost and performance considerations guide sink selection. Routing high-volume diagnostic logs to a Log Analytics workspace can incur significant costs and query charges. In contrast, sending rarely used logs to Blob Storage reduces expenses but adds latency. Align your routing policy with data access patterns and budget constraints.

To implement routing, configure a diagnostic setting on each resource and choose the appropriate log categories. Set filters to include or exclude specific events, reducing noise. Ensure that the managed identity or service principal used for routing has proper role-based access control. This approach enforces security and maintains data integrity.

Recommend a monitoring solution

Monitoring tracks the health and performance of Azure resources in real time. Monitoring uses metrics, logs, and alerts to inform teams about service status and performance trends. Proactive monitoring helps prevent outages and ensures service level agreements are met. Start by identifying critical metrics and defining thresholds.

Azure Monitor is the core platform for resource monitoring. It collects metrics (numerical data points) and logs (detailed event records). Use metrics alerts for simple threshold-based triggers and log alerts for complex conditions evaluated via Kusto Query Language (KQL). Dashboards and workbooks visualize this data, making it easy to spot anomalies.

For applications, Application Insights provides deep visibility into code-level performance. It tracks request response times, dependency calls, and exception rates. Network performance can be evaluated with Network Watcher, while Service Health alerts inform you about platform-level issues. Combining these tools delivers comprehensive coverage.

An effective monitoring design includes automated responses and escalation workflows. Create action groups to define notification channels, such as email, SMS, or runbooks. Use auto-scale rules to adjust resources based on real-time demand. This ensures that monitoring is not just reactive but also proactively maintains application and infrastructure health.

Conclusion

In designing solutions for logging and monitoring on Azure, it is essential to recommend the right mix of services for capturing, routing, and analyzing data. A solid logging strategy uses Azure Monitor Logs, Diagnostics Settings, and Application Insights to gather necessary information while managing cost and retention policies. Well-planned log routing sends data to Event Hubs, Storage Accounts, or Log Analytics workspaces, matching each sink to its best use case. A comprehensive monitoring approach combines metrics, alerts, dashboards, and automated actions to maintain service health and meet business goals. By integrating these components, you create a robust observability framework that supports quick troubleshooting, informed decision-making, and reliable operations.

Study Guides for Sub-Sections

Integrated monitoring architecture is important for keeping track of the performance, availability, and security of cloud resourc...

Assessing log data requirements involves analyzing various metrics and diagnostic settings to determine the proper configuration for logging solutions in Azure. Ensuring effective ...

When configuring Azure log routing services, it is important to understand the different options available for throughput, retention, and cost efficiency. You can route logs to var...