I just passed the Azure AI Fundamentals exam a few weeks ago and made the decision to pursue the Microsoft Azure Administrator certification and register for the AZ-104 exam. I always have a plan and use a study guide when I prepare myself for an exam. That is why I am creating and sharing an AZ-104 study guide because it seems to be one of the hardest “associate” or entry-level certifications right now. My goal is to take the exam in about 6 weeks, latest at the end of December 2023.
Note: This approach also helped me to pass the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate Exam.
Update: My articles, notes and summaries as part of my preparation can be found here: https://www.cloud13.ch/az-104-study-guide/
My Goal
Without having any prior Azure hands-on experience, my goal is to pass the AZ-104 exam first before taking AZ-305 to become a Microsoft certified Azure Solutions Architect Expert.
Exam Overview
As an Azure administrator, you often serve as part of a larger team dedicated to implementing an organization’s cloud infrastructure. You also coordinate with other roles to deliver Azure networking, security, database, application development, and DevOps solutions.
The skills measured are:
- Manage Azure identities and governance (20–25%)
- Implement and manage storage (15–20%)
- Deploy and manage Azure compute resources (20–25%)
- Implement and manage virtual networking (15–20%)
- Monitor and maintain Azure resources (10–15%)
Note: Obviously, the exam requires you to have hands-on experience with Microsoft Azure
Costs: $165 (in Switzerland CHF 216)
Passing score: Technical exam scores are reported on a scale between 1 and 1’000. You need a passing score of 700 or greater.
Important: The English language version of this exam was updated on October 26, 2023.
Schedule Exam: Exam AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator
AZ-104 Study Guide
I am going to use the following resources to prepare myself.
First, I would like to get a quick overview and basic understanding of Microsoft Azure. For that, I will watch John Savill’s technical training on YouTube.
Second, I need to create a free account for Azure
Third, I am going through the self-paced learning path collection of Microsoft:
- AZ-104: Prerequisites for Azure administrators
- AZ-104: Manage identities and governance in Azure
- AZ-104: Implement and manage storage in Azure
- AZ-104: Deploy and manage Azure compute resources
- AZ-104: Configure and manage virtual networks for Azure administrators
- AZ-104: Monitor and back up Azure resources
Fourth, I am going to use Microsoft’s study guide for AZ-104 but I will map the related MS docs links to each topic, see below.
Note: Please bookmark this study guide since I am going to add/update the links during my journey.
Manage Azure identities and governance (20–25%)
Manage Microsoft Entra users and groups
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Manage user and group properties
Manage access to Azure resources
Manage Azure subscriptions and governance
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Manage costs by using alerts, budgets, and Azure Advisor recommendations
Implement and manage storage (15–20%)
Configure and manage storage accounts
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Manage data by using Azure Storage Explorer and AzCopy
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Configure snapshots and soft delete for Azure Files
Deploy and manage Azure compute resources (20–25%)
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Interpret an Azure Resource Manager template or a Bicep file
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Deploy resources by using an Azure Resource Manager template or a Bicep file
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Export a deployment as an Azure Resource Manager template or convert an Azure Resource Manager template to a Bicep file
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Move a virtual machine to another resource group, subscription, or region
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Deploy virtual machines to availability zones and availability sets
Provision and manage containers in the Azure portal
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Manage sizing and scaling for containers, including Azure Container Instances and Azure Container Apps
Implement and manage virtual networking (15–20%)
Configure secure access to virtual networks
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Create and configure network security groups (NSGs) and application security groups
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Configure service endpoints for Azure platform as a service (PaaS)
Configure name resolution and load balancing
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Configure an internal or public load balancer
Monitor and maintain Azure resources (10–15%)
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Set up alert rules, action groups, and alert processing rules in Azure Monitor
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Configure and interpret monitoring of virtual machines, storage accounts, and networks by using Azure Monitor Insights
Let’s see in a few weeks if this guide and my preparation were enough to pass the exam. 😀
Good luck!
If you already passed the exam, please share your experience in the comments section!
