Passed Exam AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Certification #Microsoft #Azure - CHARBEL NEMNOM - MVP | MCT | CCSP

Updated – 21/04/2023 – The exam study guide below includes a new Free practice assessment for the AZ-900 certification.

Table of Contents

Introduction

After passing the Microsoft Azure Solutions Experts exam as well as the Azure Developer Associate exam, and the Microsoft Azure Administrator Certification. I decided to sit for the Microsoft Azure Fundamentals exam. It sounds tedious to pass a fundamental exam, but as techie people, we usually work on complex projects, we design and architect large deployments but sometimes we missed some of the fundamental concepts. For this reason, I decided to refresh the fundamental concepts that I learned over the years because the cloud it’s about continuous re-learning. This will also help when discussing with non-technical customers such as people with business decision-makers and top management roles.

As you may have heard that Microsoft is evolving its learning programs to help you and your career keep pace with today’s demanding IT environments. At Ignite in September 2018, Microsoft announced new role-based certifications to help you and your career keep pace with today’s business requirements. They are evolving their learning program to better offer what you need to skill up, prove your expertise to employers and peers, and get the recognition—and opportunities—you’ve earned. On December 31, 2018, Microsoft announced the new AZ-900: Azure Fundamentals exam.

I am so happy and grateful now that I passed the AZ-900 Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Certification exam. I figured that I would share my experience in this study guide to help you prepare and tackle the AZ-900 exam successfully.

In this exam, I got something around 48 questions, and the total time for this exam is only 60 minutes. You have around 1.2 minutes per question to answer, otherwise, you will run out of time so be careful!!! The questions do pretty much match the list of skills measured below.

Exam Target Audience

This exam can be taken as an optional first step in learning about cloud services and how those concepts are exemplified by Microsoft Azure. It can be taken as a precursor to Microsoft Azure or Microsoft cloud services exams. While it would be a beneficial first step, validating foundational level knowledge, taking this exam is not a prerequisite for any other Azure-based certifications.

This exam is designed for candidates looking to demonstrate foundational level knowledge of cloud services and how those services are provided with Microsoft Azure. The exam is intended for candidates with non-technical backgrounds, such as those involved in selling or purchasing cloud-based solutions and services or who have some involvement with cloud-based solutions and services, as well as those with a technical background who have a need to validate their foundational-level knowledge around cloud services. Technical IT experience is not required; however, some general IT knowledge or experience would be beneficial.

Skills measured on this exam

This exam measures your ability to accomplish the technical topics listed below based on the latest update from Microsoft:

Describe cloud concepts (25–30%)

Describe cloud computing

Define cloud computing
Describe the shared responsibility model
Define cloud models, including public, private, and hybrid
Identify appropriate use cases for each cloud model
Describe the consumption-based model
Compare cloud pricing models

Describe the benefits of using cloud services

Describe the benefits of high availability and scalability in the cloud
Describe the benefits of reliability and predictability in the cloud
Describe the benefits of security and governance in the cloud
Describe the benefits of manageability in the cloud

Describe cloud service types

Describe infrastructure as a service (IaaS)
Describe platform as a service (PaaS)
Describe software as a service (SaaS)
Identify appropriate use cases for each cloud service (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS)

Describe Azure architecture and services (35–40%)

Describe the core architectural components of Azure

Describe Azure regions, region pairs, and sovereign regions
Describe availability zones
Describe Azure datacenters
Describe Azure resources and resource groups
Describe subscriptions
Describe management groups
Describe the hierarchy of resource groups, subscriptions, and management groups

Describe Azure compute and networking services

Compare compute types, including container instances, virtual machines (VMs), and functions
Describe VM options, including Azure Virtual Machines, Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets, availability sets, and Azure Virtual Desktop
Describe resources required for virtual machines
Describe application hosting options, including the Web Apps feature of Azure App Service, 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
Define public and private endpoints

Describe Azure storage services

Compare Azure storage services
Describe storage tiers
Describe redundancy options
Describe storage account options and storage types
Identify options for moving files, including AzCopy, Azure Storage Explorer, and Azure File Sync
Describe migration options, including Azure Migrate and Azure Data Box

Describe Azure identity, access, and security

Describe directory services in Azure, including Microsoft Azure Active Directory (Azure AD), 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, and passwordless
Describe external identities and guest access in Azure
Describe Conditional Access in Microsoft Azure Active Directory (Azure AD), part of Microsoft Entra
Describe Azure role-based access control (RBAC)
Describe the concept of Zero Trust
Describe the purpose of the defense in-depth model
Describe the purpose of Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Describe Azure management and governance (30–35%)

Describe cost management in Azure

Describe factors that can affect costs in Azure
Compare the Pricing calculator and the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) calculator
Describe the Azure Cost Management and Billing tool
Describe the purpose of tags

Describe features and tools in Azure for governance and compliance

Describe the purpose of Azure Blueprints
Describe the purpose of Azure Policy
Describe the purpose of resource locks
Describe the purpose of the Service Trust Portal

Describe features and tools for managing and deploying Azure resources

Describe the Azure portal
Describe Azure Cloud Shell, including Azure CLI and Azure PowerShell
Describe the purpose of Azure Arc
Describe Azure Resource Manager and Azure Resource Manager templates (ARM templates)

Describe monitoring tools in Azure

Describe the purpose of Azure Advisor
Describe Azure Service Health
Describe Azure Monitor, including Log Analytics, Azure Monitor alerts, and Application Insights

Lessons Learned and Exam Preparation

The key to success in passing this exam is to work with Microsoft Azure on regular basis. You can create your free Azure account today and start practicing the new features.

To prepare for this exam, I used Microsoft Learn the new learning approach to explore all the Azure fundamentals concepts, I highly recommend checking the following modules:

You can also go through the following presentation which can help you to build your foundational knowledge of cloud services.

~~At the time of this writing~~ If you prefer a book to prepare, Microsoft has released an Exam Reference book (1st Edition) which was released in June 2019, you can place the order here.

You can go through the following free Azure Fundamentals course from Microsoft to get prepared for this exam:

Microsoft Azure Fundamentals

Last but not least, you can practice and test your knowledge before the actual exam by taking the online Microsoft Official Practice Test powered by MeasureUp.

AZ-900 Free Practice Assessment

Are you preparing for the AZ-900 certification exam? Microsoft just announced Practice Assessments on Microsoft Learn, the newest free exam preparation resource that allows you to assess your knowledge and fill knowledge gaps so that you are better prepared the take the AZ-900 certification exam.

The following assessment provides you with an overview of the style, wording, and difficulty of the questions you’re likely to experience on the exam. Through this assessment, you’re able to assess your readiness, determine where additional preparation is needed, and fill knowledge gaps bringing you one step closer to the likelihood of passing your AZ-900 exam.

> Take now the Exam AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Practice Assessment (50 questions).

Prepare for your certification exam by assessing your knowledge through Practice Assessments, which are free and can be attempted multiple times. These assessments are created and regularly updated by the same team that develops the official certification exams.

You can access practice assessments on Microsoft Learn by signing in or creating an account. The score report for each question includes the answer, rationale, and links to additional information.

Certification

By passing the AZ-900 Microsoft Azure Fundamentals, you will earn the Microsoft Certified Azure Fundamentals certification. This certification does not expire.

If you are planning to take this exam… I wish you all the best and Happy Studying!!!

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Thank you for reading my blog.

If you have any questions or feedback, please leave a comment.

-Charbel Nemnom-