Stepping into the World of Azure Administration AZ-104
The AZ-104 exam is designed to validate the skills and knowledge required to manage Azure cloud environments. It is aimed at professionals who perform tasks related to implementing, managing, and monitoring identity, governance, storage, compute, and virtual networks in a cloud infrastructure. The AZ-104 certification is a critical step for those seeking to establish or validate their role as an Azure Administrator, offering both credibility and proof of competence in cloud operations.
This certification is more than just a badge; it signifies real-world capability to handle Azure resources, troubleshoot systems, and optimize performance and cost within a cloud-based environment. It requires both conceptual understanding and practical expertise, making it a strong benchmark for current or aspiring cloud professionals.
An Azure Administrator is responsible for a wide array of cloud services that include computing, storage, networking, and security. The individual in this role must ensure that Azure services are running optimally and in line with organizational needs and policies. This involves managing user identities, maintaining systems health, controlling resource access, configuring storage accounts, and ensuring high availability.
The Azure Administrator often works in collaboration with other roles such as solution architects, DevOps engineers, and security teams. Having a clear understanding of the administrator’s responsibilities provides clarity into why the AZ-104 exam emphasizes certain skills and practices.
The AZ-104 exam is structured around several core functional areas. These include managing Azure identities and governance, implementing and managing storage, deploying and managing Azure compute resources, configuring and managing virtual networking, and monitoring and backing up Azure resources.
Each of these areas is weighted differently in the exam, and candidates must demonstrate proficiency in both routine tasks and scenarios requiring deeper problem-solving and optimization.
Managing Azure identities and governance involves tasks like managing Azure Active Directory objects, configuring role-based access control, and managing subscriptions and governance structures. These are critical in environments where secure access and regulatory compliance are priorities.
In the storage domain, candidates must show the ability to create storage accounts, manage data in Azure Storage, configure Azure files and blob storage, and implement backup solutions. Storage is a backbone service, and administrators are expected to maintain data availability, integrity, and cost-effectiveness.
Compute tasks in AZ-104 include creating and configuring virtual machines, automating deployment, managing availability sets, and implementing containers. These skills reflect the operational backbone of most enterprise applications.
Networking concepts include configuring virtual networks, managing IP addressing, implementing routing, and securing network traffic. Azure network infrastructure can be complex, and sound knowledge in this area is vital for operational stability.
Monitoring and backup skills ensure that systems are observable and recoverable. Administrators must implement and configure monitoring for Azure resources, manage Azure alerts and logs, and configure backup and recovery policies.
While there are no formal prerequisites to take the AZ-104 exam, it is recommended that candidates have a minimum of six months of hands-on experience administering Azure. This includes working with core Azure services, Azure workloads, security, and governance. A foundational understanding of PowerShell, Azure CLI, and ARM templates is also beneficial.
Candidates are expected to understand networking, virtualization, identity, and security concepts and have prior experience with operating systems, scripting, and general IT administration. This practical experience helps bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and real-world application.
The AZ-104 exam typically includes around 40 to 60 questions. These may come in the form of multiple-choice questions, drag-and-drop activities, case studies, and simulation-based tasks. The variety ensures that candidates can not only recall information but also demonstrate how they would approach and resolve specific scenarios.
Performance-based questions assess the candidate’s ability to complete specific tasks in a simulated environment. These are particularly challenging as they require candidates to apply their knowledge under time constraints and make real-time decisions that reflect actual administrative tasks.
Time management is critical during the exam. Some questions are dependent on others, especially in case studies. A strategic approach to managing these sections improves the chances of completing the exam efficiently.
To prepare for the AZ-104 exam effectively, it is important to adopt a structured approach. Start by reviewing the official exam skills outline, which details the topics and subtopics covered in the exam. This outline acts as a roadmap and helps identify strong and weak areas for each candidate.
Hands-on practice is essential. Azure offers a free tier and sandbox environments that allow candidates to simulate real-world scenarios. Practice deploying virtual machines, configuring virtual networks, creating and managing storage accounts, and setting up resource groups and policies.
Understanding Azure governance features like management groups, Azure Policy, Blueprints, and role-based access control is crucial. These tools are vital in maintaining consistency and control in enterprise environments.
Security is another critical focus. Candidates must understand how to secure storage accounts, use managed identities, configure firewalls, and apply network security groups. Knowledge of identity protection features like conditional access and multifactor authentication is increasingly relevant.
Monitoring and diagnostics should not be overlooked. Familiarity with Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, and configuring alert rules helps in ensuring that systems are observable and actionable. Backup and disaster recovery planning are also essential, requiring understanding of Azure Backup and Site Recovery solutions.
One of the most common challenges candidates face is the depth and breadth of topics covered. The AZ-104 exam spans several Azure services and administrative functions, making it difficult to master every domain equally. A balanced study plan is necessary, especially for those without prior experience in a specific area such as networking or monitoring.
Another issue is over-reliance on theoretical knowledge. While understanding concepts is important, the exam also demands hands-on skills. Candidates who focus solely on reading may struggle with simulation-based questions or performance tasks that require practical configuration.
Time pressure is also a factor. With a mix of question types and dependencies, it's easy to spend too long on certain questions. Practicing mock exams and time management strategies can help reduce stress during the actual test.
Break your study into segments aligned with the official skills outline. For each segment, combine documentation review with hands-on labs. Create a checklist of tasks for each domain and ensure you can complete them from memory in the Azure portal or via CLI.
Use whiteboards or visual diagrams to map out Azure network configurations, resource group hierarchies, and access control strategies. Visualization helps reinforce relationships between resources and policies.
When preparing for performance-based questions, focus on the order of steps and prerequisites. For example, when deploying a VM with specific configurations, be aware of dependency settings like network interface configuration or disk encryption.
Join study groups or forums where others are preparing for the same exam. Discussing real-world scenarios and edge cases exposes you to different perspectives and fills knowledge gaps.
Another key tip is to make use of Azure’s built-in documentation and tutorials. These not only explain the service but often provide sample commands and deployment scenarios that align closely with what is tested in the exam.
Earning the AZ-104 certification significantly boosts a candidate’s profile in the competitive cloud job market. Organizations increasingly seek professionals who can manage cloud infrastructure with efficiency, security, and scalability. This certification demonstrates that a candidate is capable of meeting these demands using Microsoft’s cloud ecosystem.
The certification is widely recognized in hiring processes and is often listed as a requirement or preferred qualification in job descriptions for cloud administrator, systems engineer, and IT operations roles.
The credential also opens the door to further specialization. Once certified, professionals may pursue advanced paths in areas such as security, DevOps, or solution architecture. It acts as a foundation for deeper involvement in enterprise-level Azure operations.
The AZ-104 exam evaluates a professional’s ability to handle daily administrative responsibilities. Candidates are expected to manage Azure identities and governance, implement and manage storage solutions, deploy and manage Azure compute resources, configure and monitor virtual networking, and handle backups and disaster recovery. A strong grip on each area is essential, as the tasks simulate what administrators deal with in real-world production environments.
A vital part of administrative operations is managing subscriptions, which includes cost control and resource access management. An administrator should be capable of creating and managing resource groups, configuring cost management tools, and applying governance through policies and blueprints. Azure Policy and Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) are crucial concepts that allow centralized management and automation of rules and restrictions.
RBAC enables fine-grained access control by assigning roles to users, groups, or service principals. Each role has a defined set of permissions. Azure Policy, on the other hand, is used to enforce compliance rules. For example, restricting which regions resources can be deployed in or ensuring that only specific SKUs are used. Understanding how these tools integrate to enforce governance is crucial for efficient cloud operations.
Azure offers several storage options such as Blob storage, File Shares, Queues, and Tables. Administrators must manage access, performance tiers, and data protection. Knowing how to create and configure storage accounts, set up lifecycle management policies, and enable replication for high availability is critical.
Access management includes generating shared access signatures (SAS), setting up Azure AD authentication for Blob and Queue storage, and implementing network access rules through firewalls and virtual network rules. Administrators should also understand performance tiers like Hot, Cool, and Archive, and be able to manage transitions between them.
Redundancy options such as locally redundant storage (LRS), zone-redundant storage (ZRS), and geo-redundant storage (GRS) are frequently tested. Knowledge of these replication models is vital when architecting resilient storage solutions that align with business continuity plans.
Compute resources form the foundation of any workload. For the AZ-104 exam, candidates must be familiar with deploying and managing virtual machines (VMs), container instances, and App Services. Creating VMs using Azure Portal, PowerShell, CLI, or ARM templates demonstrates different approaches that support various operational preferences.
VM configuration includes setting sizes, choosing operating systems, attaching disks, and setting availability options such as availability sets and zones. Administrators must manage VM states, implement backup, and configure diagnostics to ensure optimal performance and security.
Beyond virtual machines, the AZ-104 also focuses on container-based workloads. Deploying container instances or using Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) is essential for environments that demand scalability and microservices architecture. Understanding when to use containers over traditional VMs is part of strategic decision-making.
Azure App Services allow administrators to host web applications without managing the underlying infrastructure. Configuring deployment slots, scaling options, authentication, and backup features within App Services enables smooth and secure deployment pipelines.
Networking remains a foundational element in Azure infrastructure. Administrators must design and implement virtual networks (VNets), configure subnets, and apply network security groups (NSGs) and route tables. It’s essential to be fluent in how IP addressing, DNS, and name resolution function within an Azure environment.
Administrators need to configure VPN gateways and Azure ExpressRoute for secure, private connectivity to on-premises environments. Concepts such as virtual network peering, service endpoints, and private endpoints are commonly tested to evaluate how well one can design secure, scalable network architectures.
Implementing Azure Load Balancer and Application Gateway allows distribution of incoming traffic to multiple back-end instances. Load balancing ensures high availability and performance, while web application firewalls (WAFs) add security against common web threats.
Properly configuring diagnostic logging and network watcher tools is crucial for monitoring and troubleshooting network issues. These tools help identify traffic flow problems, latency, and configuration mismatches that could impact system availability.
Ensuring resource health, performance, and availability through monitoring is central to the administrator’s responsibilities. Azure Monitor provides metrics, alerts, dashboards, and logs that offer deep visibility into system behavior. Understanding how to create alerts based on metrics or activity logs is vital.
Azure Log Analytics allows querying data using the Kusto Query Language (KQL). The ability to write effective KQL queries to investigate events or performance bottlenecks is becoming increasingly valuable for administrators.
For backup and disaster recovery, Azure Backup and Azure Site Recovery are key tools. Azure Backup protects data stored in VMs, databases, and other services, while Site Recovery ensures business continuity during outages. Setting up backup policies, retention rules, and performing restores are tasks covered in the exam.
Understanding Recovery Services Vaults, configuring backup schedules, and testing restore processes show how well a candidate can prepare for unexpected data loss or service disruption.
Identity is the cornerstone of security and access in Azure. Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) manages users, groups, and service principals. The exam emphasizes configuring multi-factor authentication (MFA), conditional access policies, password protection policies, and monitoring sign-in activity.
Administrators should be comfortable creating users and groups, assigning roles, and managing device identities. Implementing hybrid identity with Azure AD Connect is another focus area, especially in environments transitioning from on-premises to cloud.
Conditional Access helps enforce access decisions based on user, location, device state, or risk. It enables organizations to enforce adaptive security controls without sacrificing productivity. Azure AD Identity Protection offers automation and insights to detect and respond to identity-based threats.
Managing enterprise applications and configuring single sign-on (SSO) is also covered. Administrators must understand how to integrate third-party SaaS applications with Azure AD and ensure secure access through federation or password-based methods.
Security is a core theme throughout the AZ-104. Every administrative action must consider security best practices. Using managed identities to secure communication between services, applying encryption for data at rest and in transit, and managing secrets with Azure Key Vault are all critical capabilities.
Role-based access control ensures users only have the permissions they need. Using least privilege principles, just-in-time (JIT) access through Azure Bastion, and Privileged Identity Management (PIM) helps mitigate risk.
Administrators must also understand Defender for Cloud to assess and improve the security posture of Azure resources. It provides continuous assessment, recommendations, and threat protection tailored to your environment.
Implementing security baseline templates and auditing activity logs ensures that all changes are tracked and compliant with corporate or regulatory requirements.
While not always front-and-center in administrative exams, automation is becoming increasingly critical. Azure Automation allows for consistent and repeatable administrative tasks through runbooks. These scripts can manage VMs, patch updates, or monitor configurations without manual intervention.
Logic Apps and Azure Functions allow event-driven task execution without managing infrastructure. For administrators, knowing when to use a serverless tool versus full-blown automation service depends on the problem being solved.
Optimization includes rightsizing virtual machines, eliminating unused resources, and applying reserved instance pricing for long-term savings. Using Azure Cost Management + Billing provides insights into consumption trends and allows for budget creation and cost control.
Being proactive in resource tagging, setting up alerts for overuse, and understanding Azure Advisor recommendations demonstrates a mature administrative approach that focuses on both performance and cost efficiency.
A significant portion of the AZ-104 exam revolves around managing Azure subscriptions, resources, and ensuring governance through policies, role-based access control, and monitoring. This part focuses on mastering those areas, with practical context for each topic.
At the foundational level, managing subscriptions involves understanding how resources are grouped, billed, and accessed. Azure subscriptions serve as containers that define a boundary for resources and cost tracking. Each subscription has trust relationships with Azure Active Directory tenants and is linked to a billing account.
Administrators must be able to configure subscription policies, including spending limits and cost alerts. Implementing budgets can help organizations manage expenditures proactively. For AZ-104, candidates should know how to use the Azure Cost Management and Billing tools to view resource usage, generate cost forecasts, and export spending data.
Azure Policy plays a vital role in governance by enforcing rules over resource properties. These rules can restrict resource types, enforce naming conventions, or apply tags to ensure standardization across departments. Understanding the distinction between Azure Policy and Azure Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) is crucial. While policies enforce compliance, RBAC manages who has access to what.
RBAC is a security mechanism that governs access to Azure resources. Instead of assigning permissions directly to users, RBAC assigns roles to users, groups, or managed identities. Each role has a set of permissions defining what actions can be performed at a given scope—such as management group, subscription, resource group, or individual resource.
Common built-in roles include Reader, Contributor, and Owner, each providing increasing levels of access. Custom roles can also be created when fine-grained control is required. For the AZ-104 exam, understanding how to assign roles using the Azure portal, CLI, or PowerShell is essential.
One scenario might involve restricting a developer to a single resource group while allowing them to manage virtual machines and storage accounts within it. The proper use of RBAC ensures the principle of least privilege, reducing the risk of accidental or malicious actions.
Storage services in Azure support virtual machines, applications, and backup solutions. Azure offers different types of storage accounts, including general-purpose v2, blob storage, and premium performance tiers. For the exam, candidates must understand account types, performance tiers, and redundancy options.
Managing blob storage involves creating containers, uploading and downloading blobs, and configuring access using Shared Access Signatures (SAS), access keys, or Azure Active Directory authentication. Lifecycle management rules can automatically transition blobs to cooler storage tiers or delete them after a certain period, optimizing costs.
Storage accounts support redundancy options like LRS (Locally Redundant Storage), GRS (Geo-Redundant Storage), and ZRS (Zone-Redundant Storage). Choosing the correct redundancy option impacts data availability and disaster recovery capabilities.
A virtual network (VNet) in Azure allows resources to securely communicate with each other and the internet. For AZ-104, understanding how to create VNets, subnets, and network security groups is vital.
VNets enable segmentation and traffic control. Subnets allow you to isolate workloads within a network, often based on their function or security level. Network Security Groups (NSGs) enforce rules for inbound and outbound traffic based on IP addresses, ports, and protocols. NSGs help limit exposure and reduce the attack surface.
Private endpoints provide private IP addresses for Azure services like storage or SQL, removing the need for public access. This approach is critical for securing communication over private links.
Azure Load Balancer distributes traffic across virtual machines and enhances availability. The exam requires knowledge of configuring both public and internal load balancers, setting up backend pools, health probes, and rules for traffic distribution.
In contrast, Application Gateway operates at Layer 7 and offers capabilities like URL-based routing, SSL termination, and application firewalling. It is used for web applications needing advanced traffic management and security inspection.
Monitoring tools like Network Watcher enable flow logging, topology mapping, and connection troubleshooting. Administrators can set up alerts for network anomalies or performance thresholds. Candidates should be familiar with tools like Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, and diagnostic settings to assess network performance and resolve issues proactively.
Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) forms the backbone of identity and access management in Azure. The AZ-104 exam requires a working knowledge of managing users, groups, and devices within Azure AD.
Administrators should be capable of creating users and groups, assigning roles, and implementing conditional access policies. Conditional access enhances security by enforcing MFA, restricting access from specific locations or devices, or blocking risky sign-ins altogether.
Understanding how to configure device settings, such as automatic registration or hybrid Azure AD join, is also important. Devices can be registered with Azure AD to allow identity-based access to resources, improving control and compliance.
Virtual machines are central to many workloads in Azure. Administrators must understand how to deploy VMs using templates, the portal, or scripts. Configuring operating systems, storage, networking, and extensions is core knowledge for AZ-104.
VM sizing affects performance and cost. Candidates should know how to resize a VM, attach data disks, and configure availability sets or availability zones for high availability. Managing VMs includes starting, stopping, resizing, and capturing images for reuse.
Backup and restore capabilities are critical. Azure Backup provides point-in-time recovery, while Azure Site Recovery supports disaster recovery scenarios. Administrators should configure backup policies and understand the implications of retention and storage redundancy.
Monitoring helps ensure reliability, performance, and cost-efficiency. Azure Monitor collects metrics and logs across resources. Log Analytics lets administrators run queries to detect patterns, anomalies, or security issues.
Setting up diagnostic settings on resources ensures data is collected for analysis. Alerts notify administrators when performance thresholds are exceeded, security events are triggered, or availability is compromised.
The AZ-104 exam expects familiarity with creating metric alerts, action groups, and dashboards for visualization. Effective monitoring supports proactive administration and rapid incident resolution.
Business continuity planning includes configuring Azure Backup and Site Recovery. Azure Backup protects virtual machines, file shares, and workloads like SQL or SAP HANA. Backups are stored securely and managed using policies that define frequency and retention.
Azure Site Recovery replicates workloads across regions to provide failover capabilities during outages. Administrators must configure replication, monitor health, and perform test failovers to validate recovery plans.
Data protection compliance requires understanding of soft delete, backup encryption, and role-based control over backup operations. Candidates should know how to restore VMs or files from recovery points.
Automation reduces manual errors and improves consistency. Azure Automation provides runbooks, which are scripts that execute administrative tasks across subscriptions. These may include stopping idle VMs, cleaning up old resources, or applying patches.
Update Management helps track and install patches on VMs across environments. Administrators can schedule update deployments, monitor compliance, and troubleshoot failed patches.
Knowledge of configuring hybrid runbook workers and integrating with Azure Monitor for alert-triggered automation adds depth to preparation for the exam.
Tags are key-value pairs applied to resources for organization, cost tracking, or automation. Administrators can filter resources by tag in cost reports or apply policy-based tagging to ensure consistency.
Resource locks prevent accidental deletion or modification. They operate at the resource or resource group level with two types—read-only and delete locks. These safeguards protect critical resources from unintended changes during routine maintenance.
Understanding how to apply and manage tags and locks using the portal, PowerShell, or CLI is part of exam readiness.
Understanding role-based identity access management (RBAC) is a cornerstone of effective Azure administration. The AZ-104 exam places considerable emphasis on your ability to configure access control effectively, particularly through Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) and role assignments. This includes understanding built-in roles, custom role creation, and how to assign these roles across subscriptions and resources.
The exam tests practical skills such as configuring conditional access policies, implementing MFA (multi-factor authentication), and managing role assignments at various scopes. These scopes range from the management group level down to resource groups and individual resources. Candidates should understand how the least-privilege principle governs secure and efficient role assignment.
Managing service principals and managed identities is another critical area. These are essential for automating authentication between services and enabling secure access without embedding credentials in code. Knowledge of how to register applications in Azure AD and assign them appropriate roles ensures smooth integration of automated tasks with Azure resources.
Additionally, administrators are expected to be fluent in interpreting access logs and diagnosing permission-related issues. This includes using tools like Azure Monitor, Azure Activity Log, and the Azure AD sign-in logs to investigate and rectify access denials or anomalies.
Hybrid environments are common in enterprise settings, and the AZ-104 exam expects candidates to understand the synchronization of on-premises identities with Azure AD. Azure AD Connect is the primary tool for achieving this integration. It supports various authentication methods such as password hash synchronization, pass-through authentication, and federation with ADFS.
Key tasks include configuring synchronization rules, managing sync schedules, and troubleshooting synchronization errors. For enterprises running hybrid environments, ensuring seamless identity flow and single sign-on (SSO) experiences is vital. As such, administrators must be capable of diagnosing sync issues and updating configurations without disrupting user access.
The exam may also touch on the implementation of writeback features like password writeback, device writeback, and group writeback, all of which allow for more advanced hybrid functionality. Understanding the implications of enabling these features, including prerequisites and limitations, is critical for candidates aiming to pass the exam.
Managing governance and compliance in Azure is not only about enforcing policies—it’s also about tracking adherence to standards. Azure Policy and Blueprints play a vital role here. Azure Policy allows you to create and assign policies that enforce organizational standards across resource deployments, ensuring that resources comply with rules such as allowed VM sizes, locations, or tag enforcement.
Blueprints go a step further by packaging policies, role assignments, and ARM templates into a single deployment model. This helps standardize environments across departments or teams. On the AZ-104 exam, you’re expected to understand the configuration and assignment of policies, the remediation of non-compliant resources, and the auditing of compliance results.
Resource tagging is another key governance strategy. Tags help categorize and identify resources for cost management, automation, or reporting. Familiarity with tagging best practices and the use of tags in policy definitions is an essential skill.
Another area involves cost management tools within Azure. Administrators should know how to configure budgets, set up alerts, and generate cost analysis reports to ensure resource consumption stays within organizational limits. This supports overall governance and financial accountability.
Monitoring is a critical part of the day-to-day responsibilities of an Azure administrator. The AZ-104 exam tests your proficiency in configuring and managing monitoring solutions using Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, and Application Insights.
Azure Monitor provides metrics and logs that help track the health and performance of your resources. You should be able to configure alerts, set thresholds, and trigger automated actions in response to events using Action Groups. Log Analytics offers powerful query capabilities to extract insights from logs across different resources, and familiarity with Kusto Query Language (KQL) is highly beneficial.
Diagnostic settings allow you to route platform logs to various destinations like Log Analytics, Event Hubs, or Storage Accounts. Understanding when and how to configure these settings is necessary for achieving full observability of your environment.
Moreover, integrating monitoring with automation through alert-based actions helps create self-healing systems. For instance, you can automatically restart a failed VM or scale out an app service based on performance metrics.
The exam may also cover the use of Azure Service Health for tracking planned maintenance, outages, or health advisories and how to implement appropriate notification mechanisms to keep stakeholders informed.
Ensuring data durability and business continuity are key responsibilities for an Azure administrator. The AZ-104 exam explores your ability to configure backup solutions using Azure Backup and Recovery Services Vaults. This includes setting up backup policies, performing on-demand backups, and restoring data from recovery points.
Azure Backup supports workloads such as virtual machines, SQL databases, file shares, and more. Understanding how backup retention works, how to manage restore points, and how to execute cross-region restore are practical areas of focus.
In terms of disaster recovery, Azure Site Recovery (ASR) enables replication and failover of workloads to a secondary Azure region or on-premises environment. The exam assesses knowledge of configuring replication, testing failover procedures, and managing recovery plans.
Candidates must understand the difference between backup and disaster recovery strategies and when to apply each. Azure’s native tools provide significant automation and scalability, but selecting the right solution for the business case is an administrator’s responsibility.
Azure automation is vital for consistent deployment and management of cloud resources. The AZ-104 exam includes tasks involving the use of ARM templates, Azure CLI, PowerShell, and tools like Azure Automation and Azure Logic Apps.
ARM templates define the infrastructure in a declarative format, allowing for repeatable deployments. Candidates should understand how to parameterize templates, use linked templates, and deploy them through the portal, CLI, or DevOps pipelines.
Automation Accounts support runbooks written in PowerShell or Python, which can be used to automate tasks like VM cleanup, stopping unused resources, or patch management. Logic Apps offer a no-code alternative for building workflows that integrate Azure services and third-party applications.
Exam takers should know how to manage automation credentials, handle job output, and integrate monitoring for automated workflows. Scheduling tasks using time-based triggers or webhook events is another skill that demonstrates advanced automation capabilities.
Azure’s networking capabilities extend beyond individual virtual networks. VNet peering and inter-VNet routing allow for the creation of a global, scalable network architecture. The AZ-104 exam expects administrators to know how to configure peering within a region and across regions.
While configuring peering, understanding the implications on network traffic, such as gateway transit and IP address space overlap, is necessary. Peered networks can communicate as if they were part of the same VNet, without the need for gateways.
Hybrid connectivity is also tested, including the configuration of VPN gateways and ExpressRoute. These are essential for extending on-premises infrastructure to the cloud with secure and reliable connections. Candidates should understand routing strategies, such as user-defined routes and BGP integration.
Managing DNS settings at the VNet level and integrating private DNS zones to ensure name resolution across peered networks and hybrid environments is a critical skill.
Securing access to Azure resources requires fine-grained control over endpoints and exposure. The AZ-104 exam includes tasks related to configuring private endpoints, service endpoints, and Azure Firewall rules.
Private endpoints allow services like Storage Accounts or Key Vaults to be accessible within a VNet, enhancing security by bypassing public internet exposure. Service endpoints, on the other hand, allow traffic to remain on Azure’s backbone network, offering a balance between accessibility and security.
Implementing NSGs (Network Security Groups) and ASGs (Application Security Groups) to control traffic at the subnet and NIC level is essential. You must be able to define inbound and outbound rules and assess their effectiveness in a layered security model.
Understanding Just-In-Time (JIT) VM access through Azure Security Center helps limit the exposure of virtual machines to potential threats. Configuring and monitoring JIT policies demonstrates an administrator's ability to reduce attack surfaces.
Application hosting is a fundamental Azure service area. The AZ-104 exam covers deploying and managing App Services and containers. Candidates should be comfortable with scaling, securing, and configuring app settings, connection strings, and custom domains.
App Services support multiple deployment slots, allowing blue-green or canary deployments. Managing deployment slots, configuring staging environments, and handling slot swaps are practical areas of focus.
For containers, the exam explores Azure Container Instances (ACI) and Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS). You must understand basic deployment, scaling, and configuration of containerized applications. Managing secrets and configurations via environment variables or Azure Key Vault is also assessed.
These services help organizations run modern applications with minimal infrastructure overhead. As an administrator, knowing how to troubleshoot deployments, roll back failed changes, and monitor application health is vital for production readiness.
Preparing for the AZ-104 certification exam is not merely about passing a test—it is about cultivating a robust foundation in cloud administration that directly supports enterprise-level operational excellence. The knowledge gained while studying for this certification extends far beyond the confines of the exam objectives. It fosters the development of critical skills such as identity management, virtual networking, monitoring, and automation—skills that are indispensable in today’s cloud-driven business environment.
One of the most valuable aspects of preparing for AZ-104 is the emphasis it places on integrating theory with real-world practice. Candidates who thoroughly engage with hands-on experiences gain not only a deeper understanding of Azure services but also the confidence to apply that understanding in complex, dynamic environments. The ability to navigate Azure Portal, utilize PowerShell or CLI for resource automation, and implement governance through RBAC and policy enforcement provides practical advantages that employers highly value.
This certification also marks a significant checkpoint in a broader cloud career path. Whether aiming for advanced roles in architecture, security, or DevOps, AZ-104 serves as a vital steppingstone. It validates not only your grasp of Azure administration but also your readiness to take on responsibilities that demand cross-functional collaboration, troubleshooting agility, and long-term cloud solution planning.
In a rapidly evolving tech landscape, where cloud skills are constantly in demand, having a solid certification like AZ-104 provides more than just career momentum—it enhances your credibility, deepens your technical fluency, and anchors your ability to contribute meaningfully in cloud-first organizations. For anyone serious about cloud infrastructure, investing the time and effort into this certification pays off in both capability and opportunity.
Have any questions or issues ? Please dont hesitate to contact us