Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) Practice Exam

Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) Exam

The Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) exam is designed to assess a candidate’s foundational understanding of cloud computing concepts and Microsoft Azure services. It evaluates core knowledge in areas such as cloud principles, Azure architecture, services, and governance and management tools.

This certification provides a strong entry point into the world of cloud computing and is particularly beneficial for individuals exploring a career in cloud-based technologies.

Who should take the Microsoft AZ-900 Exam?

This certification is ideal for:

• Technology professionals looking to demonstrate foundational cloud knowledge
• Beginners in cloud computing or those exploring Microsoft Azure for the first time
• IT professionals seeking to understand how Azure services are structured and deployed
• Business stakeholders, project managers, or decision-makers who work closely with cloud technologies but do not perform technical tasks themselves
• Individuals planning to pursue Azure role-based or specialty certifications in the future

While the AZ-900 is not a prerequisite for other Azure certifications, it serves as an excellent launchpad for further learning and certification in the Azure ecosystem.

Skills Measured

Candidates are evaluated on their ability to describe and explain:

• Core Cloud Concepts
  • Benefits of cloud computing
  • Types of cloud models and services (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS)
• Azure Architecture and Services
  • Key architectural components of Azure
  • Core Azure services, including:
    • Compute
    • Networking
    • Storage
• Azure Management and Governance
  • Tools and features for managing Azure subscriptions and resources
  • Security, compliance, and governance capabilities in Azure

Prerequisites and Recommended Experience

There are no formal prerequisites for taking the AZ-900 exam. However, it is recommended that candidates have a general understanding of core technology concepts, such as:

• Networking
• Storage
• Compute
• Application development
• Application support

Additionally, experience in one or more IT domains such as infrastructure management, database management, or software development can be beneficial for exam preparation.

Exam Details of Microsoft AZ-900 

• Exam Code: AZ-900
• Exam Name: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals
• Exam Languages: English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Korean, Spanish, German, French, Indonesian (Indonesia), Arabic (Saudi Arabia), Chinese (Traditional), Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian
• Time: 45 minutes
• Exam Questions: 40-60 Questions
• Passing Score: 700 or greater (On a scale 1 - 1000)

AZ-900 Exam Course Outline 

The Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) Exam covers the given topics  - 

Module 1 – Cloud concepts Overview (25–30%)

Learn about cloud computing

• Defining cloud computing
• Describing the shared responsibility model
• Defining cloud models, including public, private, and hybrid
• Identifying appropriate use cases for each cloud model
• Describing the consumption-based model 
• Comparing cloud pricing models 
• Describing serverless

Understand the benefits of using cloud services

• Describing the benefits of high availability and scalability in the cloud
• Describing the benefits of reliability and predictability in the cloud
• Describing the benefits of security and governance in the cloud
• Describing the benefits of manageability in the cloud

Learn cloud service types

• Describing infrastructure as a service (IaaS)
• Describing platform as a service (PaaS)
• Describing software as a service (SaaS)
• Identifying appropriate use cases for each cloud service(IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) 

Module 2 – Understand Azure architecture and services (35–40%)

Explore the core architectural components of Azure

• Describing Azure regional, regional pairs, and sovereign regions
• Describing availability zones
• Explain Azure datacenters
• Describing Azure resources and resource groups 
• Describing subscriptions 
• Describing management groups
• Describing the hierarchy of resource groups, subscriptions, and management groups

Understand Azure compute and networking services

• Comparing compute types, including container instances, virtual machines, and functions
• Explain Virtual Machine options, including Azure Virtual Machines, Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets, availability sets, and Azure Virtual Desktop
• Describing resources required for virtual machines
• Describing application hosting options, including Web Apps, containers, and virtual machines
• Describing virtual networking, including the purpose of Azure Virtual Networks, Azure virtual subnets, peering, Azure DNS, Azure VPN Gateway, and Azure ExpressRoute
• Defining public and private endpoints

Learn about Azure storage services

• Comparing Azure storage services
• Explain storage tiers
• Describing redundancy options
• Describing storage account options and storage types
• Identifying options for moving files, including AzCopy, Azure Storage Explorer, and Azure File Sync
• Describing migration options, including Azure Migrate and Azure Data Box 

Understand Azure identity, access, and security

• Describing directory services in Azure, including Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) and part of Microsoft Entra and Azure Active Directory Domain Services (Azure AD DS)
• Describe authentication methods in Azure, including single sign-on (SSO), multifactor authentication (MFA), and passwordless
• Describing external identities in Azure, including business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer (B2C)
• Describe Microsft Entra Conditional Access
• Describe Azure role-based access control (RBAC)
• Describe the concept of Zero Trust
• Describe the purpose of the defense in-depth model
• Describe the purpose of Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Module 3 – Understand Azure management and governance (30–35%)

Cost management in Azure

• Describe factors that can affect costs in Azure
• Compare the Pricing calculator and the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) calculator
• Describe the Cost Management capabilities in Azure
• Describe the purpose of tags

Understand the features and tools in Azure for governance and compliance

• Describe the purpose of Microsoft Purview in Azure
• Describe the purpose of Azure Policy 
• Describe the purpose of resource locks

Describe features and tools for managing and deploying Azure resources

• Describe the Azure portal
• Describe Azure Cloud Shell, including Azure Command-Line Interface (CLI) and Azure PowerShell
• Describe the purpose of Azure Arc
• Describe infrastructure as code (IaC) 
• Describe Azure Resource Manager (ARM) and ARM templates

Explore monitoring tools in Azure

• Describe the purpose of Azure Advisor
• Describe Azure Service Health
• Describe Azure Monitor, including Log Analytics, Azure Monitor alerts, and Application Insights