AZ-305 Question 12
Single answerYour organization manages a large distributed application running in multiple Azure resource groups, including VMs, Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) clusters, and Azure App Service instances. You have been tasked with implementing a centralized monitoring solution that can collect performance metrics and logs in near real-time, create custom alerts, and provide a unified view for both operations and security analysis. Which approach should you recommend to meet these requirements with minimal deployment overhead?
- A
Deploy a self-managed Elasticsearch and Kibana cluster on Azure VMs for all logs
- B
Use Azure Monitor with a centralized Log Analytics workspace for all resources
- C
Configure Azure NetApp Files and store CSV-based diagnostic files from each resource
- D
Enable only Azure Advisor recommendations across all subscriptions
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
According to Microsoft best practices, Azure Monitor is the recommended solution for unified logging, metrics, and alerting at scale. By creating a Log Analytics workspace, you can integrate Azure VMs, AKS clusters, App Services, and more into one centralized platform, enabling near real-time data visibility, powerful query-based analytics, and advanced alerting. This approach offers a fully managed, comprehensive environment without the need to maintain additional infrastructure. Refer to Microsoft's Azure Monitor documentation (https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/azure-monitor/overview) for detailed guidance on deploying and configuring Log Analytics for centralized monitoring.
- A. Incorrect.
Option 1: Deploying Elasticsearch and Kibana on Azure VMs can certainly ingest logs; however, it requires manual setup and ongoing maintenance, including scaling, security hardening, and updates. This approach does not inherently align with a managed Azure monitoring solution and increases overhead.
- B. Correct.
Option 2: Using Azure Monitor with a centralized Log Analytics workspace is the recommended Microsoft solution for collecting metrics and logs in near real-time across various Azure services. It provides built-in alerting, seamless integration with security features, and a single pane of glass for analysis, requiring minimal infrastructure to manage.
- C. Incorrect.
Option 3: Storing CSV-based diagnostic files in Azure NetApp Files or any storage location is feasible for archival, but it does not provide near real-time monitoring or built-in analytics capabilities. You'd have to parse the CSV files separately, which is cumbersome and does not fulfill the immediate insight requirements.
- D. Incorrect.
Option 4: Azure Advisor offers best practice recommendations and cost optimization advice. It is not a comprehensive monitoring solution, nor does it offer centralized log or metric ingestion and analysis features.