The Microsoft Azure Administrator AZ-104 exam checks how well you know and can handle Azure resources. This includes things like setting up storage, managing virtual networks, dealing with user identities, and keeping an eye on and safeguarding Azure resources. This certification is really helpful for those who want to start a career in cloud computing or make progress in their current IT career. Since lots of companies are using Microsoft Azure for cloud computing, there’s a rising demand for experts who can handle Azure resources effectively.
Our study guide will cover all the topics and concepts that you need to know to pass the AZ-104 exam. We will provide you with detailed explanations of each topic, along with tips and tricks to help you prepare for the exam. Whether you are a seasoned IT professional or just starting out in your career, our study guide will help you gain the knowledge and skills you need to become a certified Azure Administrator. So, let’s get started and dive into the world of Microsoft Azure!
Glossary of Microsoft Azure Administrator
Here are some common terms and concepts in Microsoft Azure Administrator:
- Azure Portal: A web-based management portal that allows administrators to manage their Azure resources.
- Azure Active Directory (Azure AD): A cloud service for handling who can access what in a system, including user identities and resource permissions, which administrators can control.
- Resource Group: A logical container that holds related resources for an Azure solution.
- Virtual Machine (VM): A virtualized computer system that runs an operating system and applications.
- Azure Virtual Network: A network that allows communication between Azure resources.
- Azure Storage: A cloud-based storage service that provides scalable and secure storage for data and applications.
- Azure Load Balancer: A service that distributes incoming traffic among multiple Azure resources for improved performance and availability.
- Azure App Service: A platform where developers can create, put out, and expand web applications and APIs, known as Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS).
- Azure SQL Database: A cloud-based relational database service that provides high availability, security, and scalability.
- Azure Monitor: A service that provides a centralized view of the performance and health of Azure resources.
- Azure Backup: A service that provides backup and restore capabilities for Azure resources.
- Azure Security Center: A service that provides a centralized view of the security posture of Azure resources and helps identify and mitigate potential security threats.
- Azure Policy: A service that allows administrators to create, assign, and manage policies that enforce compliance and governance standards for Azure resources.
- Azure Resource Manager (ARM): A toolset for administrators to collectively set up, oversee, and keep an eye on Azure resources.
- Azure ExpressRoute: A service that provides a dedicated, private connection between on-premises infrastructure and Azure data centers.
Exam preparation resources for Microsoft Azure Administrator (AZ-104) Exam
Here are some official exam preparation resources with links for Microsoft Azure Administrator (AZ-104) Exam:
- Exam Skills Outline: This is a document that provides a detailed list of the skills and knowledge areas that will be tested in the exam. You can download it from the official exam page: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/certifications/exams/az-104
- Microsoft Learn: This is an interactive learning platform that provides free online courses, hands-on labs, and certification preparation guides. You can find the Microsoft Learn resources for AZ-104 at: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/certifications/azure-administrator
- Microsoft Official Practice Tests: These are practice tests that simulate the actual exam experience and help you assess your readiness for the exam. You can purchase them from the official exam page: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/exam-az-104.aspx
- Exam Ref Book: This is an official book that provides in-depth coverage of the exam objectives and helps you prepare for the exam. You can purchase it from Microsoft Press: https://www.microsoftpressstore.com/store/exam-ref-az-104-microsoft-azure-administrator-9780136805379
- Azure Documentation: This is the official documentation for Azure services and features. It provides detailed information about Azure and can be a useful resource for exam preparation. You can find the Azure documentation at: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/
Expert Tips and Tricks for Microsoft Azure Administrator (AZ-104) Exam
- Keyboard shortcuts: Learning keyboard shortcuts can save a lot of time and make you more efficient in Excel. Some common shortcuts include Ctrl+C (copy), Ctrl+V (paste), Ctrl+Z (undo), Ctrl+X (cut), Ctrl+A (select all), and Ctrl+F (find).
- Data validation: You can use data validation to make sure that the information you put into a cell follows specific rules. For instance, you can use it to make sure a cell only gets numbers between 1 and 100.
- Conditional formatting: Conditional formatting helps you make cells stand out if they match specific conditions. For instance, you can use it to highlight cells with a particular word or cells that have values above or below a specific number.
- Pivot tables: Pivot tables are a powerful tool for analyzing and summarizing large amounts of data. They allow you to quickly group and filter data, and to create summary reports.
- VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP: These functions allow you to search for a value in a table and return a corresponding value from another column. VLOOKUP searches for values in the first column of a table, while HLOOKUP searches for values in the first row.
- Concatenate: The concatenate function lets you put together information from two or more cells into a single cell. It’s handy for making complete names or addresses, for instance.
- Freeze panes: Use the freeze panes option to keep certain rows or columns visible while scrolling through a large spreadsheet.
- Name ranges: Use the name range feature to give a range of cells a meaningful name. This can make formulas easier to read and understand.
- Remove duplicates: Use the remove duplicates feature to quickly remove duplicate values from a range of cells.
- Protect worksheets: Use the protect worksheet feature to prevent users from making changes to certain cells or ranges of cells. This can help prevent accidental changes or unauthorized access to sensitive data.
Target Audience for Azure administrator AZ-104 exam
According to the certification page, people taking this exam need to have at least six months of practical experience in handling Azure. They should also have a good understanding of core Azure services, how Azure works, its security, and governance. You should be familiar with tools like PowerShell, Command Line Interface, Azure Portal, and ARM templates.
In simple terms, you need to know a lot about Azure. An Azure administrator’s job is to set up, control, and keep an eye on various things like identity, storage, computers, and networks in the cloud. They also need to make sure resources are set up, monitored, and adjusted as needed.
If you’re just starting out it is important that you learn and practice core Azure cloud services and concepts. You may find the following article useful.
Azure study guide for beginners
Looking to boost your Azure abilities? Take the following free practice test on AZ-104 Exam
Azure administrator AZ-104 Practice Test
Alternatively, you can check out Azure Fundamentals certification which is beginner-friendly, although not an AZ-104 exam prerequisite. Let’s now dive into our AZ-104 study guide.
Microsoft have given the list of upcoming domains and sub-topics to illustrate how they are intending to test a candidate and the required skills. So let’s take a detailed look on each domain to enable you prepare well for the exam
Let’s first look at the azure administrative tools which are necessary to interact with azure
Now let’s start taking a detailed look at the domains required to learn for this exam. We will list the necessary and important links from the documentation where you can learn all the concepts required to pass the exam. Once you go through all the concepts, don’t forget to subscribe to our Microsoft Azure AZ-104 practice tests, since they are very necessary to keep your progress in check.
Microsoft AZ-104 Exam has been updated in the course outline as on April 27, 2023.
The Microsoft AZ-104 exam topics include:
Module 1: Manage Azure identities and governance (15-20%)
1.1 Manage Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) objects
Read the following documentations
- Create users and groups (Microsoft Documentation: Add or delete users using Azure Active Directory)
- Manage licenses in Azure AD (Microsoft Documentation: Assign or remove licenses in the Azure Active Directory portal)
- Create administrative units (Microsoft Documentation: Administrative units in Azure Active Directory)
- Manage User and Group Properties (Microsoft Documentation: Update user’s profile information in Azure Active Directory)
- Manage device settings and device identity (Microsoft Documentation: Manage device identities using the Azure portal)
- Perform bulk user updates (Microsoft Documentation: Active Directory Bulk User Modification)
- Manage guest accounts (Microsoft Documentation: Quickstart: Add guest users to your directory in the Azure portal)
- Configure self-service password reset (Microsoft Documentation: Tutorial: Enable users to unlock their account or reset passwords using Azure Active Directory self-service password reset)
1.2 Manage access control
- Create custom role-based access control (RBAC) and Azure AD roles (Microsoft Documentation: Azure custom roles)
- Provide access to Azure resources by assigning roles at different scopes (Microsoft Documentation: Assign Azure roles using the Azure portal)
- Interpret access assignments (Microsoft Documentation: Role-based Access Control/Deny Assignments)
1.3 Manage subscriptions and governance
- Configuring and managing Azure policies (Microsoft Documentation: Create and manage policies to enforce compliance)
- Configuring resource locks (Microsoft Documentation: Lock resources to prevent unexpected changes)
- Apply and manage tags on resources (Microsoft Documentation: Use tags to organize your Azure resources and management hierarchy)
- Managing resource groups (Microsoft Documentation: Move resources to a new resource group or subscription)
- Managing subscriptions (Microsoft Documentation: Organize and manage multiple Azure subscriptions)
- Manage costs by using alerts, budgets, and recommendations (Microsoft Documentation: Use cost alerts to monitor usage and spending)
- Configuring management groups (Microsoft Documentation: Create management groups for resource organization and management)
Module 2: Implement and manage storage (15-20%)
2.1 Configure access to storage
- Configure network access to storage accounts (Microsoft Documentation: Configure Azure Storage firewalls and virtual networks)
- Create and configure storage accounts (Microsoft Documentation: Create an Azure Storage account)
- Generate shared access signature tokens (Microsoft Documentation: Grant limited access to Azure Storage resources using shared access signatures (SAS) )
- Manage access keys (Microsoft Documentation: Manage storage account access keys)
- Configure Azure AD Authentication for a storage account (Microsoft Documentation: Acquire a token from Azure AD for authorizing requests from a client application)
- Configure storage encryption (Microsoft Documentation: Azure encryption overview)
2.2 Manage data in Azure storage accounts
- Create import and export jobs (Microsoft Documentation: Azure Import/Export service)
- Manage data by using Azure Storage Explorer and AzCopy (Microsoft Documentation: Get started with AzCopy)
- Implement Azure Storage redundancy (Microsoft Documentation: Azure Storage redundancy)
- Configure object replication (Microsoft Documentation: Configure object replication for block blobs)
2.3 Configure Azure files and Azure blob storage
- Create an Azure file share (Microsoft Documentation: Create an Azure file share)
- Configure Azure blob storage (Microsoft Documentation: Upload, download, and list blobs with the Azure portal)
- Configure storage tiers (Microsoft Documentation: Hot, Cool, and Archive access tiers for blob data)
- Configure blob lifecycle management (Microsoft Documentation: Configure a lifecycle management policy)
Module 3: Deploy and manage Azure compute resources (20-25%)
3.1 Automate deployment of resources by using templates
- Modify an ARM template (Microsoft Documentation: Create and deploy ARM templates by using the Azure portal)
- Deploy from a template (Microsoft Documentation: ARM templates)
- Save a deployment as an ARM template (Microsoft Documentation: Use Azure portal to export a template)
- Deploy virtual machine (VM) extensions (Microsoft Documentation: Azure virtual machine extensions and features)
3.2 Create and configure VMs
- Create a VM (Microsoft Documentation: Create a Windows virtual machine)
- Manage images by using the Azure Compute Gallery (Microsoft Documentation: Store and share resources in an Azure Compute Gallery)
- Configure Azure Disk Encryption (Microsoft Documentation: Create and encrypt a Windows virtual machine with the Azure portal)
- Move VMs from one resource group to another (Microsoft Documentation: Move a Windows VM to another Azure subscription or resource group)
- Manage VM sizes (Microsoft Documentation: Sizes for virtual machines in Azure)
- Add data disks (Microsoft Documentation: Attach a managed data disk to a Windows VM by using the Azure portal)
- Configure VM network settings (Microsoft Documentation: Configure the network for your virtual machines)
- Configure VM availability options (Microsoft Documentation: Availability options for Azure Virtual Machines)
- Deploy and configure VM scale sets (Microsoft Documentation: Create a virtual machine scale set in the Azure portal)
3.3 Create and configure containers
- Configure sizing and scaling for Azure Container Instances (Microsoft Documentation: Set scaling rules in Azure Container Apps)
- Configure container groups for Azure Container Instances (Microsoft Documentation: Container groups in Azure Container Instances)
- Configure storage for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) (Microsoft Documentation: Storage options for applications in Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS))
- Configure scaling for AKS (Microsoft Documentation: Automatically scale a cluster to meet application demands)
- Configure network connections for AKS (Microsoft Documentation: Network concepts for applications in Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS))
- Upgrade an AKS cluster (Microsoft Documentation: Upgrade an Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) cluster)
3.4 Create and configure Azure App Service
- Create an App Service plan (Microsoft Documentation: Manage an App Service plan in Azure)
- Configure scaling settings in an App Service plan (Microsoft Documentation: Scale up an app in Azure App Service)
- Create an App Service (Microsoft Documentation: App Service overview)
- Secure an App Service (Microsoft Documentation: Security in Azure App Service)
- Configure custom domain names (Microsoft Documentation: Add your custom domain name using the Azure Active Directory portal)
- Configure a backup for an App Service (Microsoft Documentation: Back up and restore your app in Azure App Service)
- Configuring networking settings (Microsoft Documentation: Configuring the Network)
- Configure deployment settings
Module 4: Configure and manage virtual networking (20-25%)
4.1 Configure virtual networks
- Create and configure virtual networks and subsets (Microsoft Documentation: Azure Virtual Network)
- Create and configure virtual network peering (Microsoft Documentation: Virtual network peering)
- Configure private and public IP addresses (Microsoft Documentation: Private IP addresses)
- Configure user-defined network routes (Microsoft Documentation: Virtual network traffic routing)
- Configure Azure DNS (Microsoft Documentation: Azure DNS)
4.2 Configure secure access to virtual networks
- Create and configure network security groups (NSGs) and application security groups (ASGs) (Microsoft Documentation: Network security groups)
- Evaluate effective security rules (Microsoft Documentation: Effective security rules view in Azure Network Watcher)
- Implement Azure Bastion (Microsoft Documentation: Azure Bastion)
- Configure service endpoints
- Configure private endpoints (Microsoft Documentation: private endpoint)
4.3 Configure load balancing
- Configure Azure Application Gateway (Microsoft Documentation: Application Gateway configuration overview)
- Configure an internal or public load balancer (Microsoft Documentation: Create an internal load balancer)
- Troubleshoot load balancing (Microsoft Documentation: Troubleshoot Azure Load Balancer)
4.4 Monitor virtual networking
- Monitor on-premises connectivity (Microsoft Documentation: Monitor network connectivity by using Connection Monitor)
- Configure and use Azure Monitor for networks (Microsoft Documentation: Azure Monitor Network Insights)
- Use Azure Network Watcher (Microsoft Documentation: Azure Network Watcher)
- Troubleshoot external networking
- Troubleshoot virtual network connectivity (Microsoft Documentation: Troubleshooting connectivity problems between Azure VMs)
Module 5: Monitor and Maintain Azure resources (10-15%)
5.1 Monitor resources by using Azure Monitor
- Configure and interpret metrics (Microsoft Documentation: Metrics in Azure Monitor)
- Configure Azure Monitor Log (Microsoft Documentation: Azure Monitor Logs overview)
- Query and analyze logs (Microsoft Documentation: Get started with log queries in Azure Monitor)
- Set up alerts and actions (Microsoft Documentation: Create, view, and manage metric alerts using Azure Monitor)
- Configure monitoring of VMs, storage accounts, and networks by using VM insights (Microsoft Documentation: VM insights)
5.2 Implement backup and recovery
- Create an Azure Recovery Services vault (Microsoft Documentation: Create and configure a Recovery Services vault)
- Create Azure backup vault (Microsoft Documentation: Backup vaults overview)
- Perform backup and restore operations by using Azure Backup (Microsoft Documentation: restore Azure VM data in Azure portal)
- Configure Azure Site Recovery for Azure resources (Microsoft Documentation: Azure to Azure disaster recovery architecture)
- Perform failover to a secondary region by using Azure Site Recovery (Microsoft Documentation: Failover Azure VMs to a secondary region)
- Configure and review backup reports (Microsoft Documentation: Configure Azure Backup reports)
Refer to the following to learn these topics:
Don’t forget to practice what you learn by taking our practice tests on AZ-104 below:
Refer to the following to learn these topics:
Implement resource management security
Architect migration, business continuity and disaster recovery
Once you have practiced and learnt these concepts it’s essential to put yourself into a real time test environment. Our premium practice tests give you 100% pass guarantee. Enrol now at
