fbpx

The AZ-103 Microsoft Azure Administrator certification exam tests and validates your expertise as an Azure Administrator. This exam tests your expertise in managing cloud services that span compute, networking, storage, security, and other cloud capabilities within Microsoft Azure.

This exam has been available since May 1, 2019.

The AZ-103 exam was rolled out as a replacement for the AZ-100 + AZ-101 or AZ-102 exams for earning the Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate certification. This was a move to simplify the process to earning this certifications based on feedback received from customers.

Certification Target Audience

The AZ-103 Microsoft Azure Administrator certification exam is geared towards Azure Administrator candidates who manage cloud services that span compute, networking, storage, security, and other cloud capabilities within Microsoft Azure. These candidates should have a deep understanding of each service across the full IT lifecycle; including infrastructure services, applications, and environments. They will also be able to make recommendations on services to us for optimal performance and scale, including provision, size, monitor, and adjust Azure resources.

AZ-103 Exam Prep Session from Microsoft Ignite 2019

The core skills measured in the Microsoft Azure Administrator – AZ-103 exam is a part of the Microsoft Certified Azure Administrator. The session covers how well an Azure Administrator understands the underlying technologies that serve as the basis for recommending a design for secure, scalable, and reliable solutions. Tasks include: deploying, configuring and infrastructure; implementing workloads and security; creating and deploying apps; and developing for the cloud. While there is no substitute for on-the-job experience, preparation through study and hands-on practice can help you prepare for the exam.

Skills Measured

Here’s a very high level list of the skills and objectives measured on the AZ-103 Microsoft Azure Administrator certification exam. The percentages next to each objective area represents the number of questions in that objective area on the exam.

Manage Azure subscriptions and resources (15-20%)

  • Manage Azure subscriptions
    • May include but not limited to: Assign administrator permissions; configure cost center quotas and tagging; configure Azure subscription policies at Azure subscription level
  • Analyze resource utilization and consumption
    • May include but not limited to: Configure diagnostic settings on resources; create baseline for resources; create and rest alerts; analyze alerts across subscription; analyze metrics across subscription; create action groups; monitor for unused resources; monitor spend; report on spend; utilize Log Search query functions; view alerts in Log Analytics
  • Manage resource groups
    • May include but not limited to: Use Azure policies for resource groups; configure resource locks; configure resource policies; implement and set tagging on resource groups; move resources across resource groups; remove resource groups
  • Managed role based access control (RBAC)
    • May include but not limited to: Create a custom role, configure access to Azure resources by assigning roles, configure management access to Azure, troubleshoot RBAC, implement RBAC policies, assign RBAC Roles

Implement and manage storage (5-10%)

  • Create and configure storage accounts
    • May include but not limited to: Configure network access to the storage account; create and configure storage account; generate shared access signature; install and use Azure Storage Explorer; manage access keys; monitor activity log by using Log Analytics; implement Azure storage replication
  • Import and export data to Azure
    • May include but not limited to: Create export from Azure job; create import into Azure job; Use Azure Data Box; configure and use Azure blob storage; configure Azure content delivery network (CDN) endpoints
  • Configure Azure files
    • May include but not limited to: Create Azure file share; create Azure File Sync service; create Azure sync group; troubleshoot Azure File Sync
  • Implement Azure backup
    • May include but not limited to: Configure and review backup reports; perform backup operation; create Recovery Services Vault; create and configure backup policy; perform a restore operation

Deploy and manage virtual machines (20–25%)

  • Create and configure a VM for Windows and Linux
    • May include but not limited to: Configure high availability; configure monitoring, networking, storage, and virtual machine size; deploy and configure scale sets
  • Automate deployment of VMs
    • May include but not limited to: Modify Azure Resource Manager (ARM) template; configure location of new VMs; configure VHD template; deploy from template; save a deployment as an ARM template; deploy Windows and Linux VMs
  • Manage Azure VM
    • May include but not limited to: Add data discs; add network interfaces; automate configuration management by using PowerShell Desired State Configuration (DSC) and VM Agent by using custom script extensions; manage VM sizes; move VMs from one resource group to another; redeploy VMs
  • Manage VM backups
    • May include but not limited to: Configure VM backup; define backup policies; implement backup policies; perform VM restore; Azure Site Recovery

Configure and manage virtual networks (20-25%)

  • Create connectivity between virtual networks
    • May include but not limited to: Create and configure VNET peering; create and configure VNET to VNET; verify virtual network connectivity; create virtual network gateway
  • Implement and manage virtual networking
    • May include but not limited to: Configure private and public IP addresses, network routes, network interface, subnets, and virtual network
  • Configure name resolution
    • May include but not limited to: Configure Azure DNS; configure custom DNS settings; configure private and public DNS zones
  • Create and configure a Network Security Group (NSG)
    • May include but not limited to: Create security rules; associate NSG to a subnet or network interface; identify required ports; evaluate effective security rules
  • Implement Azure load balancer
    • May include but not limited to: Configure internal load balancer, configure load balancing rules, configure public load balancer, troubleshoot load balancing
  • Monitor and troubleshoot virtual networking
    • May include but not limited to: Monitor on-premises connectivity, use Network resource monitoring, use Network Watcher, troubleshoot external networking, troubleshoot virtual network connectivity
  • Integrate on premises network with Azure virtual network
    • May include but not limited to: Create and configure Azure VPN Gateway, create and configure site to site VPN, configure Express Route, verify on premises connectivity, troubleshoot on premises connectivity with Azure

Manage identities (15-20%)

  • Manage Azure Active Directory (AD)
    • May include but not limited to: Add custom domains; Azure AD Join; configure self-service password reset; manage multiple directories;
  • Manage Azure AD objects (users, groups, and devices)
    • May include but not limited to: Create users and groups; manage user and group properties; manage device settings; perform bulk user updates; manage guest accounts
  • Implement and manage hybrid identities
    • May include but not limited to: Install Azure AD Connect, including password hash and pass-through synchronization; use Azure AD Connect to configure federation with on-premises Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS); manage Azure AD Connect; manage password sync and password writeback
  • Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA)
    • May include but not limited to: Configure user accounts for MFA, enable MFA by using bulk update, configure fraud alerts, configure bypass options, configure Trusted IPs, configure verification methods

To view the full list of exam objectives, and to find information on scheduling to take the exam, please reference the official AZ-103 exam page.

Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate

AZ-103 Microsoft Azure Administrator Certification Exam 1

Once a candidate passes the AZ-103 Microsoft Azure Administrator certification exam they will earn the Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate certification.

The Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate is part of a job-role based restructuring of the Microsoft certifications. This particular certification is geared towards candidates who are Azure Administrators using Microsoft Azure in their daily job.

Take Azure Fundamentals AZ-900 Exam First

The AZ-103 Microsoft Azure Administrator certification exam does not have any prerequisites to take. However, if candidates are new to Microsoft Azure development, then they may want to take the AZ-900 Microsoft Azure Fundamentals certification exam first. This will validate their knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of Microsoft Azure.

If candidates are new to the cloud, or to Microsoft Azure, then the AZ-900 Azure Fundamentals could be a good place to start.

What’s Next? The Microsoft Certified: Azure DevOps Engineer Expert!

AZ-203 Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure Certification Exam 4

Once a candidate has already earned the Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate certification they can take another exam to upgrade to the Microsoft Certified: Azure DevOps Engineer Expert certification. The DevOps Engineer Expert certification is earned on top of the Azure Developer Associate by taking and passing the additional AZ-400 Microsoft Azure DevOps Solutions certification exam.

Microsoft MVP

Chris Pietschmann is a Microsoft MVP, HashiCorp Ambassador, and Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) with 20+ years of experience designing and building Cloud & Enterprise systems. He has worked with companies of all sizes from startups to large enterprises. He has a passion for technology and sharing what he learns with others to help enable them to learn faster and be more productive.
HashiCorp Ambassador Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect

Discover more from Build5Nines

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading