Certifications are a manner to validate technical and theoretical expertise so I set a goal for myself to take one certification every month in 2024. I took the AZ-500 in January and February came and I decided to opt for AZ-104 since it is a prerequisite for AZ-400 and I intend to take the AZ-400 in the second quarter.
It was such a difficult journey to embark on in two weeks but it was made a bit easier because I have earlier taken AZ-900, AZ-500 and I have worked administering Azure recently. I used a combination of the AZ-104 learning path on Microsoft Learn, Whiz Labs AZ-104 course on CourseEra and the free practice test on Microsoft Learn. My study plan started with devoting hours daily, reading all of the module materials on the AZ-104 learning path on Microsoft Learn and made notes. Revised the notes I made in a bid to take note of areas I was weak on and watched WhizLabs videos on CourseEra seeking verbal clarification on those areas I was weak on. I repeatedly took the Microsoft Learn’s practice test for AZ-104 and constantly scored above 80% before going ahead to book the exam.
The exam in my opinion measures your familiarity with the following concepts on Azure;
- Virtual Networks (Azure DNS, NSG, Virtual Network Peering, Load Balancer, Application Gateway, UDRs etc.)
- Compute (Azure Virtual Machines, Kubernetes, App Service, Containers and everything in between, etc.)
- Identity ( Microsoft Entra and related concepts)
- Security (Didn’t go so in depth on this course)
- Storage
- Monitoring
- Backup
The focus seemed to be on Virtual Networks, Compute and deployments in my experience. For the deployment bit, you need to master how to use Azure CLI, Azure Powershell, Azure Resource Manager, Azure Biceps, Azure Blueprints and Azure Portal to deploy and manipulate resources as that is very important for this exam.
The system works hard to ensure everyone has a unique experience, so it is difficult to prempt or cram your way through the exam. Microsoft actually penalises anyone caught using brain dumps for their exams. So it is not productive to prempt questions and memorise them for the exam. To pass the exam, it is important to have an understanding of all of the concepts I listen above and have a bit of practical experience with Azure. If you are currently a student, you could sign up on Azure for Students or if you are not, you could sign up for an Azure free account to be able to practice on an actual Azure console.
The openbook feature introduced in Microsoft role based exams help but it can be a time waster and there is no extra time on the basis of the open book. So I would advocate for learning the materials on Microsoft Learn, practicing with Azure and going for the exam without expecting to use the open book. I would advise you only use the open book if you have a bit of time left after answering the bulk of your questions.
I look forward to taking in some questions from you in the comment sections if you have any.
