Microsoft Azure AdministratorStudy guide
The associate certification for administering Azure (AZ-104).
About Microsoft Azure Administrator (AZ-104)
Microsoft Azure Administrator (AZ-104) is a Associate-level certification from Microsoft. This page organizes the exam scope into a 5-chapter, 15-section study guide and lets you check your understanding with exam-style practice questions. A good flow is to read the chapters below in order, then test yourself via "Practice questions."
Exam domains (approximate weighting)
- Manage identities and governance~23%
- Implement and manage storage~20%
- Deploy and manage compute~25%
- Implement and manage virtual networking~19%
- Monitor and maintain resources~13%
Weights are approximate guidance for the live exam. Each domain is covered in detail in the chapters and sections below.
Official exam information: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/certifications/resources/study-guides/az-104
1Manage Identities and Governance
- 1.1Microsoft Entra ID Fundamentals
Understand Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD): tenants, users, groups, app registrations, and authentication with MFA / Conditional Access. The starting point for "Manage identities and governance" in AZ-104.
- 1.2Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
Understand Azure RBAC role assignments (security principal + role definition + scope), built-in roles, inheritance through the scope hierarchy, and least privilege.
- 1.3Subscriptions and Governance
Understand the resource hierarchy (management group → subscription → resource group → resource) and governance basics: Azure Policy enforcement, tags, and resource locks.
2Implement and Manage Storage
- 2.1Storage Accounts and Redundancy
Understand the four services a storage account groups (Blob, Files, Queue, Table) and the redundancy options that protect data (LRS / ZRS / GRS).
- 2.2Blob Access Tiers and Lifecycle
Understand cost optimization with Blob access tiers (Hot/Cool/Archive) and automatic tiering/deletion via lifecycle management policies.
- 2.3Storage Access and Azure Files
Understand ways to access storage (access keys, SAS, Entra ID + RBAC) and SMB/NFS file shares via Azure Files.
3Deploy and Manage Compute
- 3.1Virtual Machine (VM) Fundamentals
Understand IaaS compute basics: VM building blocks (size, disks, NIC, image), managed disks, and regions/zones for availability.
- 3.2Scaling and High Availability
Understand scaling and availability: autoscale with virtual machine scale sets (VMSS) and the difference between availability sets (fault/update domains) and availability zones.
- 3.3Compute Beyond VMs (App Service, Containers, Functions)
Understand compute options with less management overhead than VMs: App Service (managed web hosting), containers (ACI/AKS), and Azure Functions (serverless).
4Implement and Manage Virtual Networking
- 4.1Virtual Networks (VNet) and Subnets
Understand the foundation of Azure networking: virtual networks (VNet) and address space, subnetting (public/private), and IP address basics.
- 4.2Network Security Groups (NSG)
Understand allowing/denying inbound/outbound traffic with NSGs, evaluation by priority, 5-tuple rules, and applying NSGs to subnets/NICs.
- 4.3Network Connectivity and Name Resolution
Understand VNet-to-VNet connectivity with peering, on-prem connectivity via VPN/ExpressRoute, Azure Load Balancer, and name resolution with Azure DNS.
5Monitor and Maintain Resources
- 5.1Monitoring with Azure Monitor
Understand monitoring basics: Azure Monitor metrics and logs (Log Analytics / KQL), alerts and actions, and connection diagnostics with Network Watcher.
- 5.2Backup and Disaster Recovery
Understand the difference between Azure Backup (backup/restore via Recovery Services vault) and Azure Site Recovery (replication/failover to another region).
- 5.3Management and Automation (CLI, Templates)
Understand management options (Portal, CLI, PowerShell, Cloud Shell) and repeatable deployments via Infrastructure as Code (IaC) with ARM templates / Bicep.