Getting started with Azure admin training and certification is a great way to boost your career in cloud computing. Azure offers a wide range of training and certification options to suit different skill levels and career goals.
Azure provides a free training program called Microsoft Learn, which includes interactive tutorials, hands-on labs, and assessment tools. This program is a great starting point for beginners.
To get started with Azure admin training, you'll need to create a Microsoft account and enroll in the Azure free account program. This will give you access to Azure resources and services to practice and learn.
Microsoft offers a variety of certification paths, including the Azure Administrator Associate and Azure Solutions Architect Expert certifications.
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Exam Preparation
Practice makes perfect, and that's especially true when preparing for the Microsoft Azure Administrator certification exam. You can experience the look and feel of the exam through practice assessments, which provide an overview of the style, wording, and difficulty of the questions you'll encounter.
These assessments allow you to assess your readiness, determine where additional preparation is needed, and fill knowledge gaps. You'll be able to interact with different question types in the same user interface you'll use during the exam.
To help you prepare, we've outlined the exam format: 40-60 questions, 2 hours, and a passing score of 700. The cost for this certification exam is $165.00.
Benefits
Pursuing the Microsoft Azure Administrator certification can lead to numerous benefits, both personally and professionally. This certification can open up more job opportunities, including roles such as Azure Administrator or Cloud Engineer.
Having this certification can also lead to a higher salary. It demonstrates that you are proficient in Azure administration and cloud services, making you a more attractive candidate to potential employers.
You'll become part of the Microsoft-certified professional community, giving you access to a network of like-minded individuals. This certification is also internationally recognized, making you a more valuable asset to any organization.
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Microsoft offers a rich library of resources and instructor-led training sessions to help you prepare for and succeed in your career. This certification is the industry standard for professionals starting their careers in Azure.
Here are some benefits of having an Azure Administrator certification, both for individuals and organizations:
Exam Prep
To prepare for the Microsoft Azure Administrator certification exam, it's essential to practice with sample questions. Practice assessments provide an overview of the exam style, wording, and difficulty, helping you assess your readiness and identify areas for improvement.
You can experience the look and feel of the exam by taking practice assessments, which will allow you to interact with different question types in the same user interface you'll use during the exam.
The Microsoft Azure Administrator certification exam consists of 40-60 questions, and you'll have two hours to complete it. A passing score of 700 is required for certification, and the exam costs $165.
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To prepare, it's recommended to take the Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Training (AZ-900T00) first, as it's a prerequisite for the AZ-104 exam.
Here's a breakdown of the exam content:
The exam covers a range of topics, including managing Azure subscriptions, securing identities, administering infrastructure, and configuring virtual networking. You can review the skills measured and skills covered to get a better understanding of what to expect on the exam.
To make the most of your exam prep, be sure to use the practice assessments and review the skills measured and skills covered.
Who Usually Attend
If you're considering taking the AZ-104 Microsoft Azure Administrator Training, you're likely in a role that involves managing cloud infrastructure. Cloud infrastructure specialists, cloud administrators, and infrastructure administrators are common attendees.
These professionals often work with cloud-based systems and are looking to expand their skills to manage Azure environments. In fact, the certification is a great fit for network project engineers, who can benefit from the training to improve their cloud management skills.
The certification is also relevant for software developers, application developers, and IoT Platform developers, who can leverage their existing skills to take on more responsibilities in cloud administration.
Here's a list of common attendees:
- Network project engineers
- Cloud infrastructure specialists
- Cloud administrators
- DevOps engineers
- Application developers
- Infrastructure administrators
- Software architects
- Windows System Administrators
- Software developers
- IoT Platform developers
Course Information
This course is designed to prepare you for the AZ-104 exam, which is part of the Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate certification. This certification is a key step in becoming a Microsoft Azure Administrator.
The course covers 11 key areas, including managing Azure subscriptions and resources, configuring and securing virtual networking, and implementing and managing storage accounts. You'll also learn about Azure governance, monitoring, and backup.
To get the most out of this course, you should have equivalent knowledge and hands-on experience of Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Training (AZ-900T00). This will help you understand the basics of the platform and prepare you for the more advanced topics covered in the course.
The course is a 4-day instructor-led training course, which includes Microsoft Official Courseware (MOC) and after-course coaching. You'll also receive a MOC exam voucher, which is included in the course tuition.
Here are the key areas you'll cover in the course:
- Manage Azure Subscriptions and Resources.
- Configure and Secure Virtual Networking.
- Administer Azure Identity and Access.
- Deploy and Manage Virtual Machines.
- Implement and Manage Storage Accounts.
- Configure and Manage Microsoft Entra.
- Implement and Manage Azure Governance.
- Monitor and Back Up Azure Resources.
- Manage Azure Applications and App Services.
- Implement and Manage Azure Virtual Networks.
- Work with Azure Resource Manager (ARM) Templates.
By the end of the course, you'll be well-prepared to take the AZ-104 exam and start your career as a Microsoft Azure Administrator.
Azure Services
Azure Services is a robust platform that offers a wide range of features and tools for cloud computing. Azure offers a free tier for many of its services, allowing you to get started without incurring costs.
Azure Active Directory (AAD) is a key service that provides identity and access management for your Azure resources. AAD allows you to manage user identities, group permissions, and conditional access policies.
Azure Storage is a highly scalable and durable storage solution that supports various data types, including blobs, files, queues, and tables.
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Entra
Microsoft Entra is a powerful tool for securing identities and implementing users and groups. It's a crucial component of Azure Services, and understanding its concepts is essential for effective identity management.
To get started with Microsoft Entra, you'll need to define its key concepts, including identities, accounts, and tenants. This will help you navigate its features and configurations.
Microsoft Entra features support different configurations, including the ability to implement the join feature and use the self-service password reset feature. These features are designed to simplify identity management and improve user experience.
One key difference between Microsoft Entra and Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) is the way they handle identity management. Understanding this difference is crucial for choosing the right edition of Microsoft Entra for your organization.
Here are the key features you'll learn in the Microsoft Entra module:
- Define Microsoft Entra concepts, including identities, accounts, and tenants.
- Describe Microsoft Entra features to support different configurations.
- Understand differences between Microsoft Entra and Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS).
- Choose between supported editions of Microsoft Entra.
- Implement the Microsoft Entra join feature.
- Use the Microsoft Entra self-service password reset feature.
Subscriptions
Subscriptions are a crucial aspect of Azure Services. You can determine the correct region to locate Azure services by considering factors such as proximity to your users and data sovereignty requirements.
To obtain an Azure subscription, you'll need to go through the process outlined in Module 3. This involves understanding the features and use cases for Azure subscriptions, which include cost management and resource tagging.
Microsoft Cost Management is a valuable tool for cost analysis, allowing you to track and optimize your expenses. You can use it to identify areas where costs can be reduced.
To reduce costs, consider implementing resource tagging and reviewing your subscription's billing and features. This will help you identify opportunities to optimize your spending.
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Here are some key features to consider when choosing an Azure subscription:
Networks
Networks are a crucial part of Azure Services, allowing you to connect and manage your cloud resources. You can configure virtual networks and subnets, including IP addressing, to create a secure and scalable network infrastructure.
Azure Virtual Network features and components include virtual networks, subnets, and private and public IP addresses. Private IP addresses are used for internal communication within a virtual network, while public IP addresses are used for external communication.
To create a virtual network, you need to specify the IP address range, subnet mask, and gateway IP address. You can also create subnets to organize your virtual network and control access to resources.
Azure Virtual Network peering allows you to connect two virtual networks, enabling communication between them. You can configure peering to extend your network to other virtual networks, using a hub and spoke network with user-defined routes and service chaining.
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Network Watcher is a tool that helps you troubleshoot common networking problems. You can configure diagnostic capabilities like IP Flow Verify, Next Hop, and Network Topology to identify issues and optimize your network performance.
Here are some key features of Azure Virtual Network:
- Virtual networks: A virtual network is a logical network that exists in the cloud.
- Subnets: A subnet is a subset of a virtual network that has its own IP address range.
- Private IP addresses: Private IP addresses are used for internal communication within a virtual network.
- Public IP addresses: Public IP addresses are used for external communication.
- Network Security Groups (NSGs): NSGs control traffic to and from resources in a virtual network.
By understanding these features and configuring your network correctly, you can create a secure and scalable network infrastructure for your Azure Services.
Storage with Tools
You can use Azure Storage Explorer to manage your storage accounts and blob storage.
It's a user-friendly interface that allows you to browse, upload, and manage your data in the cloud.
Azure Storage Explorer can be configured to connect to your storage accounts, allowing you to manage your data more efficiently.
The WAImportExport tool can be used with the Azure Import/Export service to transfer large amounts of data to and from Azure Storage.
AZCopy is another tool that can be used to transfer data to and from Azure Storage, it's a command-line tool that's easy to use.
Here are some tools you can use to configure Azure Storage:
- Azure Storage Explorer
- WAImportExport
- AZCopy
- Azure Import/Export service
Machines
Azure virtual machines are a crucial part of any cloud infrastructure. You can configure them to meet your specific needs by determining the correct virtual machine size, which is a key step in the process.
To create a virtual machine planning checklist, you'll want to consider factors such as virtual machine locations and pricing models. This will help you ensure that your virtual machines are running efficiently and cost-effectively.
You can configure virtual machine storage to meet your specific needs, which is essential for any virtual machine deployment. This includes determining the correct storage options and configuring them accordingly.
Here's a summary of the key steps in configuring virtual machine storage:
To ensure your virtual machines are available and running smoothly, you'll want to implement availability sets and availability zones. This will help you achieve high availability and scalability.
Autoscaling virtual machines is also an important step in ensuring their availability. This allows you to scale up or down based on demand, which can help you save money and improve performance.
In addition to configuring virtual machine storage and availability, you'll also want to consider virtual machine extensions. These can help you automate virtual machine deployments and improve their security and performance.
Some common virtual machine extensions include Custom Script Extensions and Desired State Configuration. These can help you automate tasks such as patching and configuration, which can save you time and reduce errors.
Kubernetes Service
Kubernetes Service is a powerful tool for managing containerized applications in the cloud. It's a managed container orchestration service that simplifies the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications.
Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) is a fully managed container orchestration service that allows you to deploy, manage, and scale containerized applications. It's a great option for businesses that need to quickly deploy and scale applications in the cloud.
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AKS components include pods, clusters, and nodes. Pods are the basic execution unit in Kubernetes, and they can contain one or more containers. Clusters are a group of nodes that work together to provide a shared resource for pods.
To configure network connections for AKS, you need to set up a virtual network (VNet) and subnets. This will allow your pods to communicate with each other and with other services in your Azure subscription.
Here are some common AKS configuration tasks:
- Configure network connections for AKS.
- Configure storage options for AKS.
- Implement security options for AKS.
- Scale AKS including adding Azure Container Instances.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Azure admin easy to learn?
The Microsoft Certified Azure Administrator certification requires significant expertise in networking, security, and virtualization, making it a challenging certification to obtain. However, with hands-on experience in Azure services, you can develop the necessary skills to succeed.
Is AZ 104 hard to pass?
The AZ-104 exam is considered moderate in difficulty, requiring a good understanding of Azure services and hands-on experience. Passing the exam is achievable with focused study and practical experience with Azure.
How much is AZ 104 Azure administrator?
The cost of the AZ 104 Azure administrator exam varies by location, ranging from $165 to $330 USD, or ₹4800 INR in India. Check your region's pricing for the most up-to-date fee information.
Sources
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/certifications/azure-administrator/
- https://www.cybrary.it/course/az-104-microsoft-azure-administrator
- https://www.learningtree.com/courses/microsoft-azure-administration-training/
- https://www.umbctraining.com/courses/azure-administrator-training/
- https://www.simpliaxis.com/az-104-microsoft-azure-administrator-certification-training
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