Ultimate Guide to Prepare AZ-104 Certification Exam for Microsoft Azure Administrator in 2024
This is the ultimate guide to prepare for the Microsoft Azure Administrator exam with code AZ-104 in 2024 with links to resources to best books, courses, and mock tests.
Hello Azure professionals, if you are preparing for AZ-104 or Microsoft Azure Administrator Associate certification and looking for guidance and resources then you have come to the right place.
Earlier, I have shared AZ 104 courses and practice tests to pass the AZ-104 exam, and today, I’ll talk about the ultimate, step-by-step guide to prepare for AZ-104 or Microsoft Azure Administrator certification.
A couple of years ago, Microsoft launched a new role-based certification AZ-104. These are the replacement for the AZ-103 exam, which was the older version of Microsoft Azure Administrator Certification.
If you want to become a Microsoft Certified Azure Administrator in 2024 then you should prepare for the AZ-104 exam. This is the latest version of the Azure Administrator certification.
All previous exams associated with Microsoft Azure Administrator Certification such as AZ-100, AZ-101, and AZ-102, AZ-103 have been expired and now, you can get the badge of Microsoft Azure Administrator Associate Certification by taking only one AZ-104 certification exam.
In this article, I will show you how you can start preparation for this prestigious Azure cloud certification with links to relevant resources like exam guides, official exam topics, books, courses, and even mock tests, both free and paid. In short, all the resources you need to crack this exam in 2024.
By the way, if you are in hurry and don’t have enough time for extensive preparation then I suggest you join AZ-104 Microsoft Azure Administrator Exam Certification 2024 course by Scott Duffy on Udemy. It is most up-to-date, includes changes from Oct 2022, and also provides a PDF study guide for offline reading.
How to Pass AZ-104 — Microsoft Azure Administrator Associate Exam Certification in 2024
Now that you know that Microsoft’s Azure certification is increasing over each passing day, it’s time to make a plan to succeed in this prestigious exam. Here is your step by step guide to crack Microsoft’s new AZ-104 Azure Administrator certification in 2024
1. Microsoft AZ-104 Azure Administrator Exam
Microsoft Azure Administrator Certification AZ-104 exam measures the ability of those who are responsible for the role of Azure Administrator. This exam validates your knowledge of managing cloud services that span compute, storage, networking, security, and other cloud capabilities of Microsoft Azure.
In the next section, you will get to know more about this exam so it will be helpful for you to start the preparation for the AZ-104 exam.
Candidates have a thorough understanding of each service throughout the entire IT lifecycle and accept requests for infrastructure, application, and environmental services.
They provide recommendations on the services that will be used to achieve optimal performance and size, as well as the provision, size, monitoring, and adjustment of resources, if necessary.
Also, here is the new Role-based Microsoft Azure Certification RoadMap from Whizlabs, a leading certification prep portal, which shows which certification you can take to become Azure Developer, Administrator, Solution architect, etc.
2. Overview of Microsoft AZ-104 Azure AdministratorAssociate Exam
Microsoft's official AZ-104 exam detail page doesn’t provide more information about the AZ-104 exam, so here are some important details about this popular Azure certification.
- Name — AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator Certification
- Duration — 150 Minutes
- Type — Multiple Choice Examination
- Number of Questions 40–60
- Exam Fee — $165
- Eligibility/Pre-requisite — None
- Exam validity — 2 years
- Exam Languages — English, Japanese, Korean, and Simplified Chinese
You can see that the full name of the certification is Microsoft Azure Administrator Certification. AZ-104 exam contains 40–60 questions in multiple-choice and multiple answer format.
The examination fee is 165 USD. There is no prerequisite for this exam. This exam is available in English, Japanese, Chinese and Korean languages.
3. Microsoft Azure AZ-104 Exam Objectives
AZ-104 is the combination of two exams AZ-100 and AZ-101, the exam topics contain the objectives of both AZ-100 and AZ-101 exams. That’s why now aspire of Microsoft Azure Administrator Certification will have to prepare more syllabus during their AZ-104 exam preparation.
Here are the exam topics covered in the Microsoft Azure AZ-104 certification exam.
- Manage Azure identities and governance (15–20%)
- Implement and manage storage (15–20%)
- Deploy and manage Azure compute resources (20–25%)
- Configure and manage virtual networking (25–30%)
- Monitor and back up Azure resources (10–15%)
It is most important to fully focus on the above exam objectives for the preparation of your AZ-104 Azure Administrator exam. You can follow this preparation guide to passing the AZ-104 Azure Administrator Exam in the first attempt
Step by Step Guide to Prepare for AZ-104 Exam
In this section, I will share all the steps that you follow for the preparation of the AZ-104 Microsoft Azure Administrator exam. These steps help you to minimize your preparation efforts to pass the AZ-104 exam. Let’s have look at the golden steps:
1. Check Microsoft Official AZ-104 Exam Page
Before starting the preparation, you should visit the official AZ-104 exam detail page on the Microsoft website. This is the most trusted page provided by Microsoft to share updated and exact authentic information about the exam.
On the official exam detail page, you can see the most important information include eligibility criteria, prerequisites for the exam, objectives of the exam, exam registration fee and exam scheduling options, etc.
2. Understand the Exam Topics
Each new exam comes with new modules and weights. So, it is important to understand the new AZ-104 exam objectives carefully. Microsoft provides all information about the weight of different modules on the official exam detail page.
You can prepare well for the exam if you have a good understanding of each domain and every module. This act will help you to keep more focus on the modules that have a high weight in the exam.
3. Take Online Training
One of the easy and convenient training methods is Online training, which will help you to prepare for the AZ-104 exam. In online training courses, you will learn the concepts of the exam modules from industry experts.
Microsoft also provides a free learning portal where you can take Online self-paced training for the AZ-104 exam. Microsoft also providing paid personalized instructor-led training.
You can also choose paid personalized instructor-led training from any other training provider for exam objectives preparation, but those can be expensive.
If you are looking for a cost-effective solution then online courses can be a good idea. If you need a recommendation then I suggest you check out AZ-104 Microsoft Azure Administrator Exam Certification 2024 guide by Scott Duffy.
It’s a great resource, covers all topics, and always up-to-date with the latest changes on exam topics.
If you need an alternative, then Whizlabs also have 9+ hours AZ-104 Online training course. This training course covers all exam topics and it comes with 42 Scenario-based lab exercise videos, recommended for AZ 104 Exam. You can also check that one.
4 Online Resources and Reference Books
Microsoft Press provides the Microsoft Azure Administrator Exam Reference AZ-103 book that is a part of the exam reference series. The authors of this book are Michael Washam, Scott Hoag, and Jonathan Tuliani and it is available at Microsoft Press Store.
This book covers the old version as the new version of this book is yet to be released, but it's coming soon. Till then, you can also study the old books for the Azure Administrator Associate exam that covers all modules of the AZ-104 exams.
5. Study Groups and Online Discussion Forums
You should join study groups and discussion forums for your exam preparation at the very first step of your preparation.
Joining study groups and discussion forums opens an opportunity for you to connect with those who are Azure Administrators or are preparing for the exam.
You can get answers to your questions, and get queries resolved on forums. So, it is very important to join some Azure discussion forums and study groups during the preparation for the AZ-104 exam.
6. Practice with Simulators and Mock Exams
In this final step, you can boost your confidence and get everything ready for your AZ-104 exam. When you feel that you have prepared through all resources and the preparation steps, you should pay attention to take some good Simulators.
These AZ-104 Simulators are designed to provide you a real exam environment. By using the Simulator, you can find your strengths and weakness so you can improve your weak points.
There are many websites available on the internet that are providing online and desktop simulators for Azure certification including this one but I recommend David Mayer’s Microsoft AZ-104 Azure Administrator Simulator because it is a perfect simulator with affordable Price for your AZ-104 exam preparation.
You can also try with these free 10 questions and then purchase a premium version to get ready for the exam and check your preparation level.
10. Conclusion
Based on the feedback received on the AZ-100 and AZ-101 exams, and AZ-103 exam,s Microsoft has released AZ-104: Microsoft Azure administrator to simplify the path for the Azure administrator.
If you aspired to advance in your career as an Azure administrator, you should plan to take the AZ-104 exam. The certification exam improves your skills and shows them to your employers, making you stand out from the crowd.
This AZ-104 Exam Preparation Guide is a definitive guide to prepare you for the AZ-104 certification exam.
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Thanks for reading this article so far. If you like these AZ-104 Exam guides and resources like online courses, books, and practice tests, then please share them with your friends and colleagues. If you have any questions or feedback, then please drop a note.
P. S. — If you are in hurry and don’t have enough time for extensive preparation then I suggest you join AZ-104 Microsoft Azure Administrator Exam Certification 2024 course by Scott Duffy on Udemy. It is most up-to-date, includes changes from May 2021 and Oct 2024 , and also provides a PDF study guide for offline reading.
