How to learn Azure
This week we talk about:
How to learn Azure
Certification Tips & Tricks
How to stay up-to-date with Azure
Azure Cheat Sheet
Azure Global Infrastructure
Tools & Resources
How to learn Azure
For most people, the challenge is really to find out what they should learn and where they should invest their time. Microsoft already prepared certification exams, to guide you through a certain skill or to learn a specific thing.
For people 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 Microsoft Azure, I recommend that look at the AZ-900 Microsoft Azure Fundamentals exam. It provides a great overview of cloud concepts, Azure services, workloads, security, and privacy in Azure, as well as pricing and support. The main goal here is not to pass the certification exam, but to learn, and (optionally) passing that exam gives you an extra benefit.
So, how do you actually start? First, go and open a free Azure account. This account includes a limited quantity of free services for 12 months. Within these limits, you have the flexibility to use free services in various configurations to meet your needs.
The next step is to choose which materials you're going to use to learn. Here we have different possibilities:
Microsoft Learn: provides various learning paths depending on a job role or skills needed. Most of the learning paths give you a hands-on learning opportunity so that you can develop practical skills through interactive training using free sandboxes.
Online tutorials:
1. Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Certification Course (AZ-900) - Video 3 hours at freeCodeCamp: link.
2. Or this one: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) Full Course by Adam Marczak: 40 videos, 7+ hours: link.
3. Also recommended: AZ-900 Azure Fundamentals Study Cram by John Savill - Video, 3+ hours: link.Take online virtual training, free with a real instructor (2 days x 3.5h): link.
Next step, Role-based exams.
Also, there are multiple options here. One possibility is a Guide to Cloud, which breaks down all the topics and makes short videos. Other ones are channels from Adam Marczak or John Savill.
After this training, you could try and prepare for Microsoft Exams and become certified.
Microsoft Azure Certification Tips & Tricks For New Joiners
If you're new in the journey of getting any of Azure certifications, take these steps:
Create a certification profile
Go to any exam page, click the order button, and on the other page it sends you to a page where you can start filling out the information. If you have a work account, it is recommended to connect those here, because your employer might be in some Microsoft programs that offer free vouchers.Check your Certifications board
Go to the certifications board page, where you can download certificates, access your certification profile and see your upcoming appointments.Check the Exam sandbox
Here you can get familiar with how well the process looks when you go to the real exam: https://aka.ms/examdemo.Open Free Azure Account
For a hands-on experience, you can create a free Azure account which gives you 200$ for 30 days and some free services for a year to test things out.Make an appointment
Here you have two options: online (VUE) or testing center. The online one is recommended as you can do it from your work or home. If you have any issues you can contact Microsoft certification support over here and you use Ask the question at top of the page.
For the testing center, bring two IDs and follow the instructions and arrive half an hour before the start time.
How to stay up-to-date with Microsoft Azure
Microsoft Azure is huge and changes fast! At this point in time, there are more than 200 services in Azure, with many, many features. The rate at which services evolve is amazing. New services come out all the time and services are constantly being improved with new features. Microsoft is able to do this because most services are owned by separate teams that develop functionality.
This high rate of change is great because it keeps providing new ways to solve problems. However, it is very hard to stay up-to-date. It is very hard to keep track of new services; and what their purpose is in the world of Azure.
So the question is how to stay up-to-date. Here are some important information sources:
Also, check my Azure Developers’ Cheat Sheet, with all Azure services in PNG/SVG formats (dark and white backgrounds, 1 or 2 pages).
Azure Global Infrastructure
Azure have now data centers in over 35 countries and more than 160 locations around the world. Microsoft manages more than 200 physical data centers across the world, each of which has a number of connected computer servers. Microsoft refers to this collection of data centers as being divided into 78 regions, each of which is connected by fiber-optic networks and installed within a latency-defined boundary.
Microsoft Azure presently offers 59 regions, and another 19 are in the works, giving the corporation access to a total of 78 regions in the near future. Each Azure region contains one to three distinct physical locations called availability zones that provide high uptime to safeguard data and applications against data center outages. Currently, 11 availability zones are in use, and another 51 are in the development stage. This means that by the end of the next few years, 164 availability zones will be operational.
What is Azure Region?
An Azure region is a collection of data centers that are put up inside a perimeter that is specified by intervals and linked by a specific, low-latency regional network. With individualized pricing and service accessibility, Azure allows clients the freedom to deploy apps wherever they are needed.
What is Availability Zone?
Physically and logically distinct data centers with their own independent power source, network, and cooling make up Azure availability zones. They serve as a foundation for offering high-availability applications when connected to an incredibly low-latency network.
What is Data Center?
Azure data centers are distinctive physical structures spread across the world that house a number of connected computer servers. An Azure region is what? A collection of data centers connected by a specialized regional low-latency network and placed within a latency-defined perimeter make up an Azure region.
Tools & Resources
Azure Service icons (SVG format)
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