Complete AZ-104 Study Guide 2025: 8-Week Plan to Pass First Attempt

The AZ-104 Microsoft Azure Administrator exam is one of the most valuable cloud certifications you can earn in 2025. It validates your ability to manage Azure subscriptions, secure identities, administer infrastructure, configure virtual networking, and monitor resources — skills that every enterprise cloud team needs.

Understanding the 5 Exam Domains

Microsoft weights each domain differently. Knowing where to invest your time is the first step to passing efficiently.

• ●Manage Azure Identities and Governance — 20–25% (Azure AD, RBAC, subscriptions, policies)
• ●Implement and Manage Storage — 15–20% (storage accounts, blob, file, access)
• ●Deploy and Manage Azure Compute Resources — 20–25% (VMs, containers, App Service)
• ●Implement and Manage Virtual Networking — 15–20% (VNets, NSGs, load balancers)
• ●Monitor and Maintain Azure Resources — 10–15% (Monitor, Log Analytics, alerts, backups)

The 8-Week Study Plan

This plan assumes 1 hour of study per weekday and 2 hours on weekends — roughly 9 hours per week. Adjust based on your baseline Azure experience.

Week 1 — Azure Foundations & Identity

• ●Azure global infrastructure: regions, availability zones, resource groups
• ●Azure Active Directory (now Microsoft Entra ID): tenants, users, groups
• ●RBAC: built-in roles, custom role definitions, scope levels
• ●Azure Policy: definitions, initiatives, compliance assessment
• ●Lab: Create a resource group, assign RBAC roles, apply a policy

Week 2 — Governance Deep Dive

• ●Management groups and subscription hierarchy
• ●Azure Blueprints for repeatable environment deployment
• ●Cost management: budgets, alerts, cost analysis
• ●Managed Identities (system-assigned and user-assigned)
• ●Conditional Access and MFA configuration
• ●Lab: Deploy a multi-subscription governance structure

Week 3 — Storage Solutions

• ●Storage account types: Standard, Premium, LRS, GRS, ZRS
• ●Blob containers: access tiers (hot, cool, archive), lifecycle policies
• ●Azure File Shares: SMB mounts, snapshot policies
• ●SAS tokens, stored access policies, encryption at rest
• ●Lab: Configure a storage account with lifecycle rules and monitor access

Week 4 — Compute: Virtual Machines

• ●VM sizes, families, and pricing models (reserved, spot, on-demand)
• ●Managed disks: OS disk, data disks, disk types and snapshots
• ●Availability Sets vs Availability Zones
• ●VM Scale Sets: autoscaling rules, rolling updates
• ●VM extensions, custom script execution, Run Command
• ●Lab: Deploy a VM, attach a disk, configure auto-scaling

Week 5 — Compute: Containers & App Service

• ●Azure Container Instances (ACI) for quick container deployments
• ●Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS): cluster creation, node pools
• ●Azure Container Registry (ACR): pushing and pulling images
• ●App Service Plans and Web Apps: deployment slots, scaling
• ●Lab: Deploy a container to ACI and then migrate to AKS

Week 6 — Virtual Networking

• ●Virtual Networks (VNets): subnets, CIDR planning, peering
• ●Network Security Groups (NSGs): inbound/outbound rules, priority
• ●Azure Load Balancer: public vs internal, health probes, backend pools
• ●Application Gateway: path-based routing, WAF, SSL termination
• ●VPN Gateway and ExpressRoute basics
• ●Lab: Build a hub-spoke network with NSGs and a load balancer

Week 7 — Monitoring & Maintenance

• ●Azure Monitor: metrics, diagnostic settings, log collection
• ●Log Analytics Workspace: KQL basics, common queries
• ●Alert rules: metric alerts, log alerts, action groups
• ●Azure Backup: Recovery Services Vault, backup policies, restore
• ●Azure Site Recovery (ASR): replication, failover, failback
• ●Lab: Set up monitoring, alerts, and a backup policy for a VM

Week 8 — Mock Exams & Weak Area Review

• ●Take 3 full-length practice exams (MeasureUp, Whizlabs, or Microsoft Learn)
• ●Review every wrong answer — understand WHY, not just the correct option
• ●Revisit your 2 weakest domains with focused labs
• ●Re-read Microsoft documentation on confusing topics
• ●Rest 24 hours before the exam — avoid last-minute cramming

Best Study Resources

• ●Microsoft Learn — free official learning paths for AZ-104 (learn.microsoft.com)
• ●Azure Free Account — $200 credit for 30 days + 12 months free services for hands-on labs
• ●John Savill's AZ-104 Study Cram on YouTube — excellent visual explanations
• ●MeasureUp practice tests — closest simulation to the real exam format
• ●Whizlabs or ExamTopics — additional question banks for breadth practice
• ●CloudTechTrainings live batch — instructor-led sessions Mon–Sat, Azure 9–10 AM IST

Exam Day Strategy

1. 1Read every question twice — Azure questions often contain key qualifying words like "least privilege", "most cost-effective", or "without downtime"
2. 2Eliminate obviously wrong answers first — this increases your odds even when guessing
3. 3Flag uncertain questions and come back — don't spend 5 minutes on one question
4. 4For case studies, read the requirements section FIRST, then the scenario
5. 5Check networking questions carefully — NSG priority numbers are often tested (lower number = higher priority)
6. 6Submit with time to spare — review flagged questions calmly

After Passing AZ-104

Congratulations on your future AZ-104 certification! Most Azure Administrators pursue AZ-400 (DevOps Engineer) or AZ-305 (Solutions Architect Expert) next. Both build on the core skills you've just mastered — identity, networking, compute, and storage.

At CloudTechTrainings, our 45-day batch covers AZ-104, AZ-400, and AZ-305 in a single cohort — the most efficient path to becoming an Azure professional.

Ready to Start Your Cloud Journey?

Join our live batch — Azure: 9–10 AM · AWS: 10:15–11:30 AM IST, Mon–Sat. Hands-on labs, exam prep, and community support.

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