AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator Associate
Validate skills to manage Azure identities and governance, implement and manage storage, deploy and manage Azure compute resources, configure and manage virtual networking, and monitor and maintain Azure resources.
Official Exam Specification & Quick Facts
Question Difficulty Breakdown
Recommended Study Guides & Exam Preparation Blueprints
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Exam Guidelines & Simulation Rules
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
The AZ-104 exam contains 50-60 scenario, case study, drag-and-drop, and multiple-choice questions over a 120-minute period. The exam fee is $165 USD, with a passing score of 700/1000 (70%).
The exam tests five core areas: (1) Manage Azure identities and governance (~20-25%), (2) Implement and manage storage (~15-20%), (3) Deploy and manage Azure compute resources (~20-25%), (4) Configure and manage virtual networking (~20-25%), and (5) Monitor and maintain Azure resources (~10-15%).
VNet Peering connects two Azure virtual networks directly across Microsoft's high-speed private backbone with lowest latency and no gateway transit bottleneck. VPN Gateways connect VNets or on-premises networks over encrypted IPsec tunnels across the internet with bandwidth caps.
Azure Load Balancer operates at Layer 4 (TCP/UDP) with ultra-low latency. Azure Application Gateway operates at Layer 7 (HTTP/HTTPS) supporting URL-based routing, cookie affinity, SSL termination, and integrated Web Application Firewall (WAF) inspection.
A VMSS is an Azure compute resource that lets you deploy and manage a set of identical, auto-scaling virtual machines. As demand increases or decreases, instances automatically scale out or in according to metrics like CPU load or schedules.
Azure Bastion is a fully managed PaaS provisioned inside your VNet that enables seamless RDP/SSH access to VMs directly via the Azure Portal over TLS (port 443), eliminating the need for public IP addresses on the virtual machines.
Lifecycle management defines automated rules that transition blobs between Hot, Cool, Cold, and Archive tiers based on last modified or creation dates, reducing long-term storage expenditures.
NSG rules are processed in priority order from lowest number (highest priority) to highest number. The first matching rule applies, and processing stops. Default rules evaluate last, denying inbound internet traffic while permitting internal VNet communication.
Azure File Sync centralizes file shares in Azure Files while caching frequently accessed files locally on Windows Server on-premises via cloud tiering, optimizing local storage and enabling multi-site replication.
Azure Backup focuses on long-term data protection, granular file-level recovery, and compliance archiving. Azure Site Recovery (ASR) is a business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) solution that orchestrates real-time VM replication and automated failover.
The AZ-104 certification is valid for one year. Certified professionals must renew their credential annually by passing a free, unproctored assessment on Microsoft Learn before expiration.
AZ-104 is the prerequisite benchmark for cloud administrators, DevOps specialists, and systems engineers, with certified administrators earning average US salaries between $120,000 and $155,000 annually.