Azure AZ-900 - Master Study Guide

Microsoft Azure Fundamentals

Master Azure.

The definitive interactive guide for the AZ-900 exam. Explore core cloud concepts and Azure services.

Cloud Foundations

☁️

Cloud Concepts

High availability, scalability, and disaster recovery.

🤝

Shared Responsibility

Division of responsibilities between Microsoft and customers.

Core Services

💻

Compute & Containers

Virtual Machines, App Services, and Azure Kubernetes Service.

📦

Storage Services

Blob storage, Disk storage, and Azure Files.

📊

Databases & Analytics

SQL Database, Cosmos DB, and Azure Synapse.

🌐

Networking

Virtual Networks, Load Balancers, and VPN Gateway.

Governance & Management

🛡️

Identity & Security

Microsoft Entra ID, RBAC, and Zero Trust.

⚙️

Management & Governance

Azure Policy, Blueprints, and Advisor.

💰

Pricing & Support

TCO Calculator, Cost Management, and Support Plans.

Cloud Concepts

Azure Resource Hierarchy

Management Groups

Subscriptions (Billing Boundary)

Resource Groups (Logical Grouping)

Resources (VMs, DBs, VNets)

Compute Services

Virtual machines, serverless, and container orchestration on Azure.

Compute Service Decision Tree

Need full OS control?

Use Azure VMs (IaaS).

Just need to deploy code?

Use App Service (PaaS) or Functions (Serverless).

Need container orchestration?

Use AKS for complex apps, ACI for simple containers.

Storage Services

Object, block, and file storage solutions on Azure.

Blob Storage Access Tier Waterfall

Hot Tier Active Data / Lowest read cost / Highest storage cost

Cool Tier Infrequent Access (≥ 30 Days min)

Cold Tier Rare Access (≥ 90 Days min)

Archive Tier Long-term Retention (≥ 180 Days) / Lowest storage cost / Highest read cost

Database Services

Managed relational and NoSQL database solutions.

Azure Database Decision Matrix

Service	Type	Best For	Key Feature
Azure SQL	Relational	Traditional SQL workloads	Auto-patching, built-in HA
Cosmos DB	NoSQL	Global, low-latency apps	Multi-API, single-digit ms
MySQL/PostgreSQL	Relational	Open-source DB workloads	Community compatibility
Azure Cache	In-Memory	Session state, caching	Sub-millisecond latency

Networking

Virtual networks, hybrid connectivity, and traffic management.

NSG vs Azure Firewall Cheat Sheet

NSG (Network Security Group)

✦ Layer 3/4 filtering (IP, Port, Protocol)

✦ Applied to NIC or Subnet level

✦ Free to use

✦ Stateful (return traffic auto-allowed)

Azure Firewall

✦ Layer 3/4/7 filtering (FQDN, URL, TLS)

✦ Centralized, hub-level firewall

✦ Paid managed service

✦ Threat intelligence integration

Identity & Security

Identity management, access control, and threat protection in Azure.

Azure Security Layers (Defense in Depth)

Physical Security (Data Centers)

Identity & Access (Entra ID, RBAC)

Perimeter (DDoS Protection, Azure Firewall)

Network (NSGs, VNet, Private Endpoints)

Compute (VM Patching, Endpoint Protection)

Application (Secure coding, WAF)

Data (Encryption at rest & in transit)

Management & Governance

Monitoring, policy enforcement, cost control, and governance tools.

Governance Enforcement Flow

Azure Policy

Define rules

➔

Azure Blueprints

Package & deploy

➔

Azure Monitor

Observe & alert

➔

Azure Advisor

Optimize & recommend

Shared Responsibility Model

Security in the Cloud vs Security of the Cloud.

👤

Customer
Responsibility IN the Cloud

Data & Access

The customer is ALWAYS responsible for data classification, encryption, and access management (Entra ID).

Applications & OS

In IaaS, you manage the OS and apps. In PaaS, you manage the apps. In SaaS, you manage the configuration.

☁️

Microsoft
Responsibility OF the Cloud

Physical Infrastructure

Microsoft handles the physical security of data centers, power, cooling, and global networking.

Managed Services

For PaaS and SaaS, Microsoft manages the underlying runtime, middleware, and operating systems.

Pricing & SLAs

Understand Azure pricing models, SLA guarantees, and cost optimization strategies.

SLA Uptime Quick Reference

SLA %	Monthly Downtime	Annual Downtime
99%	~7.2 hours	~3.65 days
99.9%	~43.8 minutes	~8.76 hours
99.95%	~21.9 minutes	~4.38 hours
99.99%	~4.3 minutes	~52.6 minutes

🌱

Basic &
Developer

✦ Basic: Free. Billing & subscription support only. No technical support.
✦ Developer: Trial/non-production. Business hours support via email.

🚀

Standard &
Pro Direct

✦ Standard: Production workloads. 24x7 support. 1-hour response for critical.
✦ Professional Direct: Business critical. 1-hour response. Dedicated account manager.

Master Azure.

Cloud Foundations

Cloud Concepts

Shared Responsibility

Core Services

Compute & Containers

Storage Services

Databases & Analytics

Networking

Governance & Management

Identity & Security

Management & Governance

Pricing & Support

Cloud Concepts

Azure Resource Hierarchy

Compute Services

Compute Service Decision Tree

Storage Services

Blob Storage Access Tier Waterfall

Database Services

Azure Database Decision Matrix

Networking

NSG vs Azure Firewall Cheat Sheet

Identity & Security

Azure Security Layers (Defense in Depth)

Management & Governance

Governance Enforcement Flow

Shared Responsibility Model

CustomerResponsibility IN the Cloud

Data & Access

Applications & OS

MicrosoftResponsibility OF the Cloud

Physical Infrastructure

Managed Services

Pricing & SLAs

SLA Uptime Quick Reference

Basic &Developer

Standard &Pro Direct

Customer
Responsibility IN the Cloud

Microsoft
Responsibility OF the Cloud

Basic &
Developer

Standard &
Pro Direct