What to expect and how to clear new lab-based AZ-100 Microsoft Azure certification?

Microsoft recently released new role-based certifications for Azure. These are named as AZ-100, AZ-101, AZ-102, AZ-200, AZ-201, AZ-202, AZ-300, AZ-301 & AZ-302. If you need more information about the entire series, then read more about them here New Role-based Azure Certification & Training Tracks from Microsoft.

• Update 22 January: AZ -200 & AZ-201 will be deprecated going forward.
• Update April 14: AZ 100 + AZ-101 will be merged into one certification AZ-103

AZ-100

What is AZ-100 certification all about?

AZ-100 is for Azure administrators, who manages cloud services spanning across storage, security, networking, active directory & other areas.

While creating and maintaining IT infrastructure, administrators need to have practical knowledge of entire lifecycle. Hence, this certification exam also contains hands-on labs … yeah seriously :-)

New lab-based certification pattern, Speed is the key!!

There will be approximately 53 questions and 180-minutes to solve them. This 180-minute time slot also includes the time needed to perform two labs (8 to 10 task each. It is a very long & gruesome three-hour long certification exam.

You have to be very quick while reading questions and case study scenarios to deduce answers.

My Experience:

1. During my certification examination, a total number of 53 questions came. These 53 questions included 2 case studies (with approximately 15 questions combined), 38 miscellaneous questions and two labs (with 18 subtasks in total).
2. You cannot skip the case study/lab to do it later. Examination goes in a sequence.
3. Regarding lab: one virtual environment opened in the browser. Labs were to be done in the provided Azure portal. Usernames & passwords to access Azure portal were present on the screen. However, I had to type them as copy/paste functionality was disabled.

Examination felt more like a race against time

Type of Questions

You can expect these types of questions.

1. Scenario-based single answer question.
2. Case studies with 5 to 9 following questions.
3. Picture-based single answer.
4. Multiple choice questions.
5. Arrange in the correct sequence type questions. They will be based on some task that has to be performed. Like, steps to take an Azure backup.
6. Fill in the blank based drag drop questions.

What to expect and prepare for?

1. Manage Azure subscription and resource (15–20%)
2. Implement and manage storage (20–25 %)
3. Deploy and manage virtual machines (20–25 %)
4. Configure and manage virtual networks (15–20 %)
5. Manage Identities (15–20 %)

Subtopics can be found in the official AZ-100 certification description page. For the preparation, I recommend official Azure documentation. However, if you want to boot your preparation, then please reach out to us here … self-promotion :-)

Hackles I Faced :(

The user interface to perform lab was not calibrated properly in the browser. So, at times when I clicked on a part of the screen to create an Azure resource, mouse use to randomly click somewhere else on the screen or the worse nothing gets clicked. I had to start using the keyboard Tab to move the selections on the screen, and then use Enter to submit it.

Honestly, it was very frustrating trying to adjust with the use of Tab while the timer ticked, about 20–30 min got burned due to this UI bug. I hope Microsoft will fix the lab experience soon.

If you have any comment or question, then do write it in the comment.

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