Microsoft · 2026 Edition
A complete preparation guide written by Microsoft-certified engineers. Covers the exam format,all 5 blueprint domains, a week-by-week study plan, and proven tips for passing first time.
2–4 months
Prep time
Intermediate
Difficulty
50
Exam questions
700/1000
Pass mark
Exam code
AZ-104
Full name
Azure Administrator
Vendor
Microsoft
Duration
120 minutes
Questions
50 items
Passing score
700/1000 (scaled)
Domains covered
5 blueprint domains
Recommended experience
6 months of hands-on Azure experience recommended
Typical prep time
2–4 months
Azure is growing faster than any major cloud platform. AZ-104 certified admins are in high demand at every enterprise undergoing cloud migration.
Job roles this opens
Official Microsoft blueprint weights — study time should roughly match these percentages.
Weeks 1–2
Identities & Governance (Azure AD, RBAC, Subscriptions)
Tip: RBAC vs Azure Policy is the most tested concept — understand the distinction before anything else.
Weeks 3–4
Storage (Blob, Files, Managed Disks)
Tip: Know replication options (LRS, GRS, ZRS) and access tiers.
Weeks 5–6
Compute (VMs, App Service, Containers)
Tip: VM sizing, availability sets vs zones, and scaling options.
Weeks 7–8
Networking (VNets, Load Balancers, VPNs)
Tip: VNet peering, UDRs, and NSG rule priority — all exam-tested.
RBAC controls WHO can do things. Azure Policy controls WHAT can be deployed. Confusing them is the most common mistake.
Microsoft AZ-104 renews annually for free via a short online assessment — no re-exam fee.
Managed identity vs service principal — know when to use each for application authentication.
ARM templates and Bicep basics are fair game in the Deployment domain.
Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, and Alerts — the monitoring stack is reliably tested.
Apply everything in this guide with adaptive practice questions, detailed answer explanations, and domain analytics.
Deep-dive explanations of the key topics tested on AZ-104 — with exam key points and common misconceptions.
IaaS, PaaS, SaaS
Before you can architect a cloud solution or answer a security question about cloud responsibility, you need to understand what cloud service models are and what they actually change about who manages what.
Shared Responsibility
Moving to the cloud does not mean handing security to someone else.
Azure Entra ID
Microsoft Entra ID is the identity foundation of every Azure deployment.
Azure Resource Manager
Everything you do in Azure goes through Azure Resource Manager.
Azure Storage Accounts
Before you store anything in Azure, you create a storage account.
Azure Blob Storage
Blob storage is where Azure stores unstructured data at scale: images, videos, backups, log files, application binaries, and anything else that does not fit neatly into a database table.
Azure Virtual Machines
A virtual machine in Azure gives you a full operating system running on Microsoft's infrastructure.
VMSS & Availability
Running a single VM means a single point of failure.
App Service & Containers
Not every workload needs a virtual machine.
Azure VNet Design
Every resource in Azure that needs a private IP address lives inside a Virtual Network.
Network Security & Routing
Opening a port on an Azure VM to the internet takes about ten seconds.
Load Balancer & App Gateway
Traffic distribution in Azure comes in several flavors, each built for a different layer of the network stack.
Azure Monitor
You deploy a VM, a database, and a web app.
Backup & Site Recovery
Backup and disaster recovery are not the same problem, even though both involve restoring after something goes wrong.