I want to share my new updated AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Certification Exam Study Guide for 2021 with you. To learn and prepare for the exam, I usually use a couple of online resources, mainly Microsoft Docs and Microsoft Learn, which I am going to share with you. You can find more information about how I prepare for a Microsoft Certification exam on my blog post: How to prepare and pass Microsoft Certification Exam.
NOTE: This exam study guide is updated to cover the new content starting from November 9, 2020. If you want to see the differences between the old exam content and the new, check out the skills measured doc on the exam website.
Also, check out other Microsoft Azure Certification Exam Study Guides:
- Exam AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator Exam Study Guide
- Exam AZ-204: Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure Exam Study Guide
- Exam AZ-303: Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies Exam Study Guide
- Exam AZ-304: Microsoft Azure Architect Design Certification Exam Study Guide
- Exam AZ-305: Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Certification Exam Study Guide
- Exam AZ-500: Microsoft Azure Security Technologies Exam Study Guide
- Exam AZ-600: Configuring and Operating a Hybrid Cloud with Microsoft Azure Stack Hub Exam Study Guide
- Exam AZ-700: Microsoft Azure Network Engineer Exam Study Guide
- Exam SC-900: Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals Exam Study Guide
- Exam DP-300: Azure Database Administrator Exam Study Guide
I passed the AZ-900 exam awhile back, but now I am looking forward to refreshing it. If you want to learn more about how to get started with Azure, I recommend my blog post: How to get started learning Microsoft Azure and Cloud Computing
Here is my AZ-900 Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Certification Exam Study Guide
It is essential to get familiar with the exam objectives and skills measured first. That is why I recommend reading the description of the exam and the skills measured.
Exam AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals
This exam is designed for candidates who need to validate foundationallevel knowledge of cloud services and how those services are provided with Microsoft Azure.
The exam is intended for candidates who are just beginning to work with cloud-based solutions and services. Candidates must be prepared to demonstrate a fundamental understanding of cloud concepts, Azure services, Azure workloads, security and privacy in Azure, as well as Azure pricing and support. Candidates should be familiar with the concepts of networking, storage, compute, application support, and application development.This exam can be taken as a precursor to other Microsoft certifications, such as Azure Administrator. While it would be a beneficial first step, taking this exam is not a prerequisite before taking any other Azure-based certifications.
The high-level view of the skills measured in the exam:
- Describe cloud concepts (15-20%)
- Describe core Azure services (30-35%)
- Describe security, privacy, compliance, and trust (25-30%)
- Describe Azure pricing Service Level Agreements, and Lifecycles (20-25%)
You can find more information on the exam website.
Free Online Microsoft Learn AZ-900 Exam Study Guide resources
I personally believe is you are going through the Azure Fundamentals learning path on Microsoft Learn, you should be able to pass the exam. Microsoft Learn provides you with free online training and learning paths for different Microsoft technologies. They not just offer reading material, but also control questions and free online labs. Here are some relevant Microsoft Learn modules and learning paths for the AZ-900 Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Certification Exam. Microsoft Learn is an important part of my AZ-900 exam study guide.
- Azure Fundamentals part 1: Describe core Azure concepts
- Azure Fundamentals part 2: Describe core Azure services
- Azure Fundamentals part 3: Describe core solutions and management tools on Azure
- Azure Fundamentals part 4: Describe general security and network security features
- Azure Fundamentals part 5: Describe identity, governance, privacy, and compliance features
- Azure Fundamentals part 6: Describe Azure cost management and service level agreements
Free Azure Account
I also highly recommend that you create a free Azure account to try out the Azure services and get familiar with the Azure platform.
If you don’t have an Azure account yet, you can sign up today for your free Azure account and receive 12 months of free popular services, $200 free credit, and 25+ always free services.
Microsoft Docs AZ-900 study guide resources
One thing I always used to prepare for my Microsoft exams is Microsoft Docs. Here are the relevant Microsoft Docs which I used to prepare and study for the AZ-900 exam.
Describe cloud concepts (20-25%)
Identify the benefits and considerations of using cloud services
- Identify the benefits of cloud computing, such as high availability, scalability, elasticity, agility, and disaster recovery
- Identify the differences between Capital Expenditure (CapEx) and Operational Expenditure (OpEx)
- Microsoft Learn: Cloud Concepts – Principles of cloud computing
- Describe the consumption-based model
Describe the differences between categories of cloud services
- Describe the shared responsibility model
- Describe Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)
- Describe Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)
- Describe serverless computing
- Describe Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
- Identify a service type based on a use case
Describe the differences between types of cloud computing
- Define cloud computing
- The Definition of Cloud Computing (thomasmaurer.ch)
- Describe public cloud
- Describe private cloud
- Describe hybrid cloud
- Compare and contrast the three types of cloud computing
Describe core Azure services (15-20%)
Describe the core Azure architectural components
- Describe the benefit and usage of Regions and Region Pairs
- Describe the benefit and usage of Availability Zones
- Describe the benefit and usage of Resource Groups
- Describe the benefit and usage of Subscriptions
- Describe the benefit and usage of Management Groups
- Describe the benefit and usage of Azure Resource Manager
- Explain Azure resources
Describe core resources available in Azure
- Describe the benefits and usage of Virtual Machines, Azure App Services, Azure Container Instances (ACI), Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), and Windows Virtual Desktop
- Describe as the benefits and usage of Virtual Networks, VPN Gateway, Virtual network peering, and Express Route
- Describe the benefits and usage of Container (Blob) Storage, Disk Storage, File Storage, and storage tiers
- Describe the benefits and usage of Cosmos DB, Azure SQL Database, Azure Database for MySQL, and Azure Database for PostgreSQL, and SQL Managed Instance
- Describe the benefits and usage of Azure Marketplace
Describe Core Solutions and Management Tools on Azure (10-15%)
Describe core solutions available on Azure
- Describe the benefits and usage of IoT Hub, IoT Central, and Azure Sphere
- Describe the benefits and usage of Azure Synapse Analytics, HDInsight, and Azure Databricks
- Describe the benefits and usage of Azure Machine Learning, Cognitive Services, and Azure Bot Service
- Describe the benefits and usage of serverless computing solutions that include Azure Functions and Logic Apps
- Describe solutions for software development including Azure DevOps, GitHub, GitHub Actions, and Azure DevTest Labs
Describe Azure management tools
- Describe the functionality and usage of the Azure Portal, Azure PowerShell, Azure CLI, Cloud Shell, and Azure Mobile App
- Azure Portal
- Azure PowerShell
- Azure PowerShell (ThomasMaurer.ch)
- Azure CLI
- Azure CLI (ThomasMaurer.ch)
- Cloud Shell
- Cloud Shell (ThomasMaurer.ch)
- Azure Mobile App
- Describe the functionality and usage of Azure Advisor
- Describe the functionality and usage of Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates
- Describe the functionality and usage of Azure Monitor
- Describe the functionality and usage of Azure Service Health
Describe General Security and Network Security Features (10-15%)
Describe Azure security features
- Describe basic features of Azure Security Center, including policy compliance, security alerts, secure score, and resource hygiene
- Describe the functionality and usage of Key Vault
- Describe the functionality and usage of Azure Sentinel
- Describe the functionality and usage of Azure Dedicated Hosts
Describe Azure network security
- Describe the concept of defense in depth
- Describe the functionality and usage of Network Security Groups (NSG)
- Describe the functionality and usage of Azure Firewall
- Describe the functionality and usage of Azure DDoS protection
Describe Identity, Governance, Privacy, and Compliance Features (20-25%)
Describe core Azure identity services
- Explain the difference between authentication and authorization
- Define Azure Active Directory
- Describe the functionality and usage of Conditional Access, Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), and Single Sign-On (SSO)
Describe Azure governance features
- Describe the functionality and usage of Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
- Describe the functionality and usage of Azure Policy
- Azure Policy
- Azure Policy ThomasMaurer.ch
- Describe the functionality and usage of resource locks
- resource locks
- resource locks ThomasMaurer.ch
- Describe the functionality and usage of tags
- Azure tags
- Azure Tags ThomasMaurer.ch
- Describe the functionality and usage of Azure Blueprints
- Describe the Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure
Describe privacy and compliance resources
- describe the Microsoft core tenets of Security, Privacy, and Compliance
- describe the purpose of the Microsoft Privacy Statement, Online Services Terms (OST) and Data Protection Amendment (DPA)
- describe the purpose of the Trust Center
- describe the purpose of the Azure compliance documentation
- describe the purpose of Azure Sovereign Regions (Azure Government cloud services and Azure China cloud services)
Describe Azure cost management and Service Level Agreements (10-15%)
Describe methods for planning and managing costs
- identify factors that can affect costs (resource types, services, locations, ingress and egress traffic)
- identify factors that can reduce costs (reserved instances, reserved capacity, hybrid use benefit, spot pricing)
- Tutorial: Optimize costs from recommendations
- Save costs on Azure (ThomasMaurer.ch)
- Describe the functionality and usage of the Pricing calculator and the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) calculator
- describe the functionality and usage of Azure Cost Management
Describe Azure Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and service lifecycles
- describe the purpose of an Azure Service Level Agreement (SLA)
- identify actions that can impact an SLA (i.e. Availability Zones)
- describe the service lifecycle in Azure (Public Preview and General Availability)
AZ-900 Azure Fundamentals Study Guide Tips and Resources
I hope this AZ-900 Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Certification Exam Study Guide helps you pass the exam and get other Microsoft Azure certifications. I also recommend that you open a free Azure account if you don’t have one yet. You can create your free Azure account here. Also, check out my blog posts about Microsoft Azure Certification:
- Why you should become Microsoft Azure certified
- How to pick the right Azure exam certification path
- How to prepare and pass a Microsoft Azure exam
- Learn Microsoft Azure in 2020
- AZ-104 Microsoft Azure Administrator Exam Study Guide
Want to learn more about how to prepare for a Microsoft Certification Exam? Check out my Video on Microsoft Channel 9.
I hope you enjoyed my AZ-900 Study Guide and it helps you as exam prep. Did I miss any link, or do you have any recommended AZ-900 Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Certification Exam Study resources? Let me know in the comments.
Tags: AZ-900, AZ-900 Study Guide, Azure, Azure Fundamentals, Certification, Exam, Fundamentals, guide, Learn, Learning, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Prep, Preparation, Study, Study Guide Last modified: June 22, 2023
I am very new to azure cloud, I am from South Africa and we are now third day in lockdown and I have stated and up to storage now on azure 900, I appreciate what you have done above and will be working through it. I am also aware the exam is expiring and will be replaced soon….I have crerated a trial azure account but unable to creat VM’s and it seems due to the influx of the free uses its causining a problem in all regions to size vms …
But I have goine past this and moing on with the reading so hope to get to ypur videos too soon
Hi Khyrren
Happy to hear that you are working with Azure and going forward.
Yes, there is currently a very high demand on Azure:
– We have seen a 775 percent increase of our cloud services in regions that have enforced social distancing or shelter in place orders.
– We have seen a very significant spike in Teams usage, and now have more than 44 million daily users. Those users generated over 900 million meeting and calling minutes on Teams daily in a single week.
– Windows Virtual Desktop usage has grown more than 3x.
This is why some of the team makes sure to have enough capacity for workloads:
“We’re implementing a few temporary restrictions designed to balance the best possible experience for all of our customers. We have placed limits on free offers to prioritize capacity for existing customers.”
You can read more here: Update #2 on Microsoft cloud services continuity
Do you have a study guide for prior to the updated one here? I had anticipated taking the AZ-900 before end of April. I have been prepping for the current exam and happened to find your site…this is extremely useful for the updated test after May 28th. I have been searching the site without luck. Thanks in advance!
I don’t have one for that. But I highly recommend that you look at the Microsoft Learn Learning Path
Hi Thomas,
Good article. Are you able to offer any advice as to whether one should take the exam before or after 28th May? I am in no real hurry but feel it would be beneficial to wait until post 28th May to write based on the latest content.
Also, I see that there appear to be several high-level changes across the exams which makes me wonder if online courses may need to be updated for the new exam.
https://query.prod.cms.rt.microsoft.com/cms/api/am/binary/RE3VwUY
Your thoughts?
Hi Thomas,
Thank you very much for the great article with the helpful links and overview.
Can you tell us more about the current situation regarding online certification?
As far as I understand, there may be a delay in the process.
Hi Remo
Thanks, appreciate it :)
I tried it this week, booked last Saturday, did the exam on Monday. There were enough spots free. But yes maybe not as many slots open as usual. But for me, it worked really well.
Any chance to re-apply for free Azure account since it keeps rejecting my entry based on the details including the cc details that I type?
Thanks
Thanks Thomas:) Its a good article and you covered all the module very well.
HI Thomas, thanks for all the information.
I have booked the exam for the next month ,can you tell me more the type of questions that I will find there?
Hi Thomas, my savior, what an excellent overview you made. This makes it all so much easier and more structured.
One thing maybe: at ‘Resource groups’ the link refers to the general Azure Resource manager webpage. Perhaps a link to the part of that webpage about resource groups is more usefull? Since Azure Resource Manager is referred to just a few lines below as well.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-resource-manager/management/overview?WT.mc_id=thomasmaurer-blog-thmaure#resource-groups
Hi Thomas,
I hope you are doing well.
I am new to the cloud and have started preparing for Azure Fundamentals certification to begin my Azure cloud journey.
I am reaching out to you looking for some clarification on the queries I have with regard to Cloud learning. Would be really helpful if you can share your thoughts.
I chose Azure and not AWS for three main reasons:
1) 90% of Fortune 500 companies run on Azure
2) Suit of products from Microsoft that are being widely used by organizations across the world. So, there would be more demand for the IT professionals with Azure knowledge
3) AWS market is too crowded. Too many people with 7x certifications and competition is fierce (per my observation)
To be honest, I have zero knowledge about the features that AWS brings to the table. Neither Azure nor GCP. But, I preferred Azure for aforementioned reasons.
Lately, I saw this on Twitter where Andrew mentions the advantages in choosing AWS in his replies.
Would be really helpful if you can provide your insights on the below:
1) Did I make a right decision by choosing Azure?
2) Being a Linux user, will I have any difficulty in gaining Azure knowledge
3) I understand that Azure provides Azure CLI (bash shell). Despite that, is it required for me to gain knowledge on power shell?
4) How easy for Azure professions to switch to AWS or GCP?
Also, as market share of Google Cloud platform showing considerable growth with time, and as there is not much expertise available, can oneself make more valuable by preparing for GCP certifications?
The new president of Google cloud, Thomas Kurian in one of his interviews was talking about the efforts being made to get major accounts to GCP and how AI, ML can be used in their advantage to deliver effective solutions. So, keeping that in mind, should I switch to GCP?
Thank you.
Hi Thomas,
A great blog over AZ-900!!
Thank you :)
Nice article. Thanks.
One question. If I check the current “Measured Skills” document I find a topic like “describe the benefits and usage of core Azure architectural components” (under “Describe Core Azure Services”). I was unable to find this resources about it in your blog post or on the Microsoft Learning Paths. Can you give me a hint?
Hi Thomas,
On the Uk site, i do not see the new skills guide that has 6 items now. Is there any way you could publish the correct URL for the skills measured?
Thanks
I’m sorry but I don’t see the changes you say exist with the update you made to November 9th on the Az-900 test. Can you please tell me where they are?
Hello Thomas!
Can we find example questions to check our knowledge?
Thank you
Hi Thomas ,
Your Blog is always very good with Nice Explanation with all Topic Wise and Easy to Understand .
Thank you! :)
Do you have any recommendations for the practice exam? I am currently using MeasureUp but there might be other practice exams as additional exam prep tools. Thank you!
Hi Thomas
I just passed my AZ-900 exam this week :-) Got a score of 810/1000, but still a lot to learn about Azure.
Awesome! Congrats