AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals

Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Exam (AZ-900) validates your fundamental knowledge of cloud services and how Microsoft Azure provides the cloud services, irrespective of any specific role. The exam AZ-900 is suited for candidates looking to demonstrate working knowledge – foundation level of cloud services and how these services are offered by Microsoft Azure. This is an exam for people of non-technical backgrounds, like those in the sales and marketing and purchase of cloud-based solutions, or anyone who has some involvement with cloud-based solutions.  Also, candidates with technical knowledge can take this exam to demonstrate their working knowledge of cloud-based services and solution.  

Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Exam AZ-900 measures your ability to describe the following concepts: cloud concepts; core Azure services; core solutions and management tools on Azure; general security and network security features; identity, governance, privacy, and compliance features; and Azure cost management and Service Level Agreements.

Who should take the Exam?

Target audience for the Microsoft Azure AZ-900 Exam includes –

•  First of all, candidates with non-technical backgrounds can apply for this exam.
•  Secondly, individuals involved in selling or purchasing cloud-based solutions and services. 
• Subsequently, candidates who have some involvement with cloud-based solutions and services.
• Lastly, candidates with a technical background who wish to validate their foundational-level knowledge around cloud services. 

Apart from this, candidates must pay attention here, that technical IT experience is not required. However, any general IT knowledge or experience would be beneficial.

Learning Objectives

Microsoft spells out in the exam objectives clearly and outlines the topics you are expected to understand before taking the Microsoft exam. Also, Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Exam (AZ-900) exam provides a learning path specifically designed for professionals seeking to build a career in Cloud Computing. As the name suggests is a basic fundamental exam that covers general concepts of Microsoft Azure.

• Understanding Cloud Concepts and Cloud Models
• Learning about Core Azure Services
• Learn about security, Privacy, Compliance, and Trust
• Understanding Azure Pricing and Support

Indeed Microsoft Azure AZ-900 Exam is a good option to choose if you are planning to build a career in Azure. Even though it is not a core development or Architecture exam but having technical know-how is surely an add-on.

Azure Fundamentals AZ-900 exam is an opportunity to prove knowledge of cloud concepts, Azure services, Azure workloads, security and privacy in Azure, as well as Azure pricing and support. Candidates should be familiar with the general technology concepts, including concepts of networking, storage, compute, application support, and application development. Azure Fundamentals can be used to prepare for other Azure role-based or speciality certifications, but it is not a prerequisite for any of them.

Learning Path

The Microsoft Azure (AZ-900) exam tests your knowledge based on primarily four learning paths as defined. It caters to general cloud concepts, together with an understanding of the foundational aspects and benefits of Microsoft’s Cloud including subscriptions offered, available support plans available, understanding the difference between Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service and Software as a Service, and thereby identifying the services to use as per the requirement.  Moreover, having an understanding of some “systems administration” concepts like enforcing Policies and using Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), applicable across Azure tenancy regardless of the services you are using is also beneficial.

Exam Format

The Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) Exams comprises 40-60 questions that need to be answered within 85 minutes. There are different types of questions asked during the exam including case study, short answers, multiple-choice, mark review, drag, and drop, etc. Further, this exam will cost you $99 USD. But remember, you have to score 700 or more points to pass the Microsoft AZ-900 exam. Also, the exam is available in four languages. These include- English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Korean.

How to Schedule the exam?

The Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) exam has been built to measure your ability to understand the basic of cloud concepts, understanding core Azure services; security, privacy, compliance, and trust; as well as Azure pricing and support.

• For Non-Students interested in Technology

• For Students or Instructors

Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Exam AZ-900 Updated Course Outline

The content includes updates of English version of the exam as of July 31, 2023

Module 1 – Describe cloud concepts (25–30%)

The Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Exam cover the latest and updated exam guide including –

Describe cloud computing

• Define cloud computing (Microsoft Documentation: What is cloud computing? and Types of Cloud Computing)
• Describe the shared responsibility model (Microsoft Documentation: Shared Responsibility Model in Cloud)
• Define cloud models, including public, private, and hybrid (Microsoft Documentation: What is a Public Cloud?, What is a Private Cloud? and What is a Hybrid Cloud?)
• Identify appropriate use cases for each cloud model (Examples of cloud computing)
• Describe the consumption-based model (Microsoft Documentation: Consumption and Fixed Cost Models)
• Compare cloud pricing models (Microsoft Documentation: Azure Product Pricing and Azure Cloud Services pricing)
• Describe serverless

Describe the benefits of using cloud services (Benefits of Cloud Computing Services)

• Describe the benefits of high availability and scalability in the cloud (Microsoft Documentation: Benefits and considerations of using cloud services)
• Describe the benefits of reliability and predictability in the cloud (Microsoft Documentation: Azure Reliability and Overview of the reliability pillar)
• Describe the benefits of security and governance in the cloud (Microsoft Documentation: Security governance and Governance in the Microsoft Cloud and Azure governance documentation)
• Describe the benefits of manageability in the cloud (Microsoft Documentation: Cloud management in the Cloud Adoption Framework, Cloud management gateway overview and Azure Management Guide, Before you start)

Describe cloud service types

• Describe infrastructure as a service (IaaS) (Microsoft Documentation: What is IaaS? and Azure IaaS (infrastructure as a service)
• Describe platform as a service (PaaS) (Microsoft Documentation: What is PaaS? and Use platform as a service (PaaS) options)
• Describe software as a service (SaaS) (Microsoft Documentation: What is SaaS? and About SaaS)
• Identify appropriate use cases for each cloud service (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) (Microsoft Documentation: Azure Cloud Services)

Module 2 – Describe Azure architecture and services (35–40%)

Describe the core architectural components of Azure

• Describe Azure regional, regional pairs, and sovereign regions (Microsoft Documentation: Azure Regions and Avaialbility Zones and Azure Regional Pairs and Azure Sovereign Clouds)
• Describe availability zones (Microsoft Documentation: Azure availability zones)
• Describe Azure datacenters (Microsoft Documentation: Datacenter security overview)
• Describe Azure resources and resource groups (Manage Azure resource groups)
• Describe subscriptions (Microsoft Documentation: Subscription decision guide and Azure subscription)
• Describe management groups (Microsoft Documentation: Azure Management Groups)
• Describe the hierarchy of resource groups, subscriptions, and management groups (Microsoft Documentation: What are Azure management groups? )

Describe Azure compute and networking services

• Compare compute types, including container instances, virtual machines, and functions (Choose an Azure compute service, Azure Container Instances, Introduction to Azure virtual machines, Introduction to Azure Functions)
• Describe Virtual Machine options, including Azure Virtual Machines, Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets, availability sets, and Azure Virtual Desktop (Virtual machines in Azure, What are virtual machine scale sets? and What is Azure Virtual Desktop?)
• Describe resources required for virtual machines (Windows virtual machines in Azure)
• Describe application hosting options, including Web Apps, containers, and virtual machines
• Describe virtual networking, including the purpose of Azure Virtual Networks, Azure virtual subnets, peering, Azure DNS, Azure VPN Gateway, and Azure ExpressRoute (What is Azure Virtual Network?, Virtual Network Subnet, Azure Virtual Network Peering, Azure Peering Service Overview, What is Azure DNS?, What is Azure VPN Gateway?, Azure ExpressRoute and Significance of Azure ExpressRoute)
• Define public and private endpoints (What is a private endpoint?)

Describe Azure storage services

• Compare Azure storage services (Introduction to Azure Storage)
• Describe storage tiers (Storage account overview, Hot, Cool, and Archive access tiers)
• Describe redundancy options (Azure Storage redundancy)
• Describe storage account options and storage types (Storage account overview)
• Identify options for moving files, including AzCopy, Azure Storage Explorer, and Azure File Sync (azcopy copy, Get started with AzCopy, Transfer data with AzCopy and file storage, What is Azure File Sync?, Get started with Storage Explorer)
• Describe migration options, including Azure Migrate and Azure Data Box (About Azure Migrate)

Describe Azure identity, access, and security

• Describe directory services in Azure, including Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) and part of Microsoft Entra and Azure Active Directory Domain Services (Azure AD DS)
• Describe authentication methods in Azure, including single sign-on (SSO), multifactor authentication (MFA), and passwordless (Passwordless authentication options for Azure Active Directory, authentication and verification methods are available in Azure Active Directory)
• Describe external identities in Azure, including business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer (B2C)
• Describe Conditional Access in Azure AD (What is Conditional Access?)
• Describe Azure role-based access control (RBAC) (What is Azure role-based access control (Azure RBAC)?)
• Describe the concept of Zero Trust (What is Zero Trust?)
• Describe the purpose of the defense in-depth model
• Describe the purpose of Microsoft Defender for Cloud (What is Microsoft Defender for Cloud?)

Module 3 – Describe Azure management and governance (30–35%)

Describe cost management in Azure

• Describe factors that can affect costs in Azure (Plan and manage your Azure costs)
• Compare the Pricing calculator and the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) calculator (Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Calculator)
• Describe the Cost Management capabilities in Azure
• Describe the purpose of tags (Use tags to organize your Azure resources and management hierarchy)

Describe features and tools in Azure for governance and compliance

• Describe the purpose of Microsoft Purview in Azure
• Describe the purpose of Azure Policy (What is Azure Policy?)
• Describe the purpose of resource locks (Lock resources to prevent unexpected changes)

Describe features and tools for managing and deploying Azure resources

• Describe the Azure portal (Azure portal overview)
• Describe Azure Cloud Shell, including Azure Command-Line Interface (CLI) and Azure PowerShell (Overview of Azure Cloud Shell)
• Describe the purpose of Azure Arc (Azure Arc overview)
• Describe infrastructure as code (IaC) (IaC on Azure)
• Describe Azure Resource Manager (ARM) and ARM templates (What is Azure Resource Manager?, What are ARM templates?)

Describe monitoring tools in Azure

• Describe the purpose of Azure Advisor (Introduction to Azure Advisor)
• Describe Azure Service Health (What is Azure Service Health?)
• Describe Azure Monitor, including Log Analytics, Azure Monitor alerts, and Application Insights (Log Analytics tutorial, Azure Monitor overview, Application Insights overview)

Exam Policies

While preparing for Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) exam you will be solely responsible for understanding and complying with Microsoft Certification exam policies, together with the specified exam delivery provider’s policies and procedures.

Also, you can go through the Exam Retake Policy together with other Microsoft exam available and exam testing procedures. The exam policy page provides details of the exam provider’s policies and procedures together with the exam provider’s details. Note, you will have 30 days after taking an exam to challenge your exam score for that exam.

For more queries visit: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals AZ-900 FAQ

Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Preparation Resources

We will guide you with a step by step guide to help you prepare for the Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) exam.

Resource 1: Microsoft Learning Platform

The first and foremost learning resource should be the Microsoft learning platform. Thus, make sure you go through the official website of Microsoft.  For the AZ-900 exam, it would be a smart choice to first go through the most trusted website to get authentic information about the exam. You can easily locate the AZ-900 page where you can just go through all the necessary information about the AZ-900 exam. 

Resource 2: Microsoft Documentation

After that, you can move on to Microsoft documentation where you can easily understand Microsoft Azure fundamentals. Besides this, you also get to know the different scales of different Azure services. Doing so helps you keep your eyes on the ticking clock while learning so much new to azure technologies right from the experts.

Resource 3: Instructor Led Training

Consider yourself lucky as Microsoft provides instructor-led training which is basically online learning and training sessions by experts certified instructors. This particular training cannot be more advantageous to all those who have tiny slots between their ongoing chores. Further, these are totally on-demand classrooms where you arrange classes at your convenience and learn at your pace.

Get ready to start preparing with Microsoft Azure Fundamentals AZ-900 Online Course and expert guidance to boost your chances to qualify AZ-900 Exam.

Resource 4: Books are your Best Friends!

Books are the most important ingredient of certification preparation. In other words, while preparing for the exam, questions may create chaos in your mind or probably haunt you. However, you get away with this fear by books. There are some excellent books ruling the marketplace for years which you can use to prepare for the AZ-900 exam. Therefore, our suggestion to you would be to find books for the AZ-900 exam from genuine sources. 

• Firstly, refer Microsoft Azure For Beginners by Adney Ainsley
• Secondly, you must refer Microsoft Azure Ultimate Beginners Guide by  Kennan Bismar
• Also, refer Microsoft Azure Tutorial for Beginners by Dennis Hutten
• Lastly, refer Beginner’s Guide to Microsoft Azure

Resource 5: Join Forums or Study Group

Online forums and study groups can turn out to be beneficial while preparing for the exam. Therefore,  feel free to join study forums or study groups while preparing for the exam. However, remember the idea of joining any of these is completely subjective. Study groups help you stay connected with the other people who are also going through the same journey as yours. Moreover, you can also ask a question related to the topic you’re having difficulty with.

Resource 6: Practice Tests

We all know the worth of practice tests when we prepare for the exam. Practice test gives you exact insight where you actually stand. In other words, it helps you recognize your strengths and weaknesses. Here is some piece of advice, go through this particular learning source only when you have gone through the whole syllabus. Since, practice papers can be from various sources, make sure you find the right and authentic one. Let’s Start Practicing for Microsoft Azure A-900 Now!

Related Blogs for Exam AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamental

Learning Resources for Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900)

Describe cloud concepts

• Principles of Cloud Computing
• Benefits of Cloud Computing
• Compliance terms and requirements
• CapEx vs OpEx
• Cloud Deployment Model
• Type of Cloud Services

Describe core Azure services

• Introduction to Azure
• Azure Architecture and Service Guarantee
• Azure Compute Options
• Azure Data Storage
• Azure Networking

Describe security, privacy, compliance, and compliance

• Azure – Security, Responsibility and Trust
• Azure Resources – Principle of Resources Group
• Azure Resources – Using Tagging
• Azure Policies – Enforcing Standards
• Azure Resources – Role-based Access Control
• Azure Policy – Infrastructure Standards

Understand Azure pricing and support

• Creating Azure Account
• Cloud Services – Service Management with Azure Portal
• Core Cloud Services – Azure Architecture and Service Guarantees
• Azure – Cost Prediction and Optimizing Spending

Get ready to Practice and Prepare for Microsoft Azure Fundamental (AZ-900) Exam

Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Free Practice Test