AZ-104 Cheat Sheet.
The night-before summary, built like the exam.
Exam Logistics at a Glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | Proctored exam, may include interactive components |
| Duration | 100 minutes |
| Extra time | +30 minutes if preferred language is unavailable |
| Passing score | 700 or greater (scale of 1 to 1,000) |
| Price | Varies by country or region |
| Scheduling | Pearson VUE |
| Retake wait | 24 hours after a failed first attempt |
| Renewal | Every 12 months, free, open-book, unproctored, within a 6-month window |
Content Domains (Quick List)
- Manage Azure identities and governance — 20–25%
- Implement and manage storage — 15–20%
- Deploy and manage Azure compute resources — 20–25%
- Implement and manage virtual networking — 15–20%
- Monitor and maintain Azure resources — 10–15%
AZ-104 measures skills across five functional groups, so no single domain dominates — budget study time roughly proportional to the weight ranges above, with extra attention to identities/governance and compute since they carry the highest ceilings.
Domain Study Priorities
- Identities and governance: Azure AD (Entra ID) users/groups, RBAC vs. Azure Policy, subscriptions and management groups, resource locks and tags.
- Compute: VMs (sizing, availability sets/zones, scale sets), App Service plans, containers (ACI, AKS basics), ARM/Bicep template deployment.
- Storage: storage accounts, redundancy tiers (LRS/ZRS/GRS/RA-GRS), blob lifecycle management, Azure Files, storage account keys vs. SAS tokens.
- Networking: VNets, subnets, NSGs vs. ASGs, VNet peering, load balancers vs. Application Gateway, DNS, VPN Gateway basics.
- Monitor and maintain: Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Azure Backup, Update Management, Network Watcher.
Key Terms and Concepts to Memorize
- RBAC (Role-Based Access Control): scoped at management group, subscription, resource group, or resource level; roles are additive, deny assignments override.
- Azure Policy vs. RBAC: Policy enforces compliance rules and configurations; RBAC controls who can do what.
- Resource locks: CanNotDelete vs. ReadOnly — locks inherit down the hierarchy.
- Storage redundancy: LRS (single datacenter), ZRS (zone), GRS/GZRS (geo), RA-GRS/RA-GZRS (read access to secondary region).
- NSG vs. ASG: NSGs filter traffic by IP/port rules; ASGs group VM NICs for simpler rule management.
- Availability sets vs. availability zones: sets protect against rack-level failure within one datacenter; zones protect against datacenter-level failure across a region.
- ARM templates and Bicep: declarative, idempotent infrastructure-as-code; Bicep transpiles to ARM JSON.
- Azure AD Connect / hybrid identity: syncs on-prem AD to Entra ID for hybrid environments.
- Service endpoints vs. private endpoints: service endpoints keep traffic on the Azure backbone; private endpoints assign a private IP to a PaaS resource inside a VNet.
- Update Management / Azure Backup: centralized patch scheduling and recovery-services-vault-based backup policies.
Common Gotchas and Traps
- Confusing Azure Policy (compliance/configuration enforcement) with RBAC (access control) — exam questions often test which tool solves a given scenario.
- Forgetting that NSGs can be applied at both the subnet and NIC level, and that the most restrictive rule combination wins.
- Assuming a resource lock also blocks changes from Azure Policy remediation tasks — locks primarily target user-initiated delete/write actions.
- Mixing up GRS (data replicated but not readable) with RA-GRS (readable secondary) when a scenario asks about read access during a regional outage.
- Overlooking that moving resources between resource groups or subscriptions can break role assignments scoped narrowly.
- Treating Azure AD roles and Azure RBAC roles as interchangeable — they are separate permission systems with different scopes.
- Missing that VNet peering is non-transitive by default, so peered VNets don't automatically route through each other.
- Not accounting for the extra 30-minute allowance only applying when a candidate's preferred exam language is unavailable, not as a general accommodation.
Test-Taking Traps
- Watch for scenario questions that describe a business requirement and ask you to pick the most cost-effective or least-privilege solution, not just any working solution.
- Case study sections may repeat information across multiple questions — re-read the scenario carefully rather than assuming prior answers still apply.
- There is no penalty for guessing, so never leave a question unanswered — flag uncertain ones and return if time allows.
Night-Before Checklist
- Confirm Pearson VUE appointment time, exam center or online-proctoring setup, and required photo ID.
- Review the five domain weightings once more and mentally rank your weakest area for a final skim.
- Re-check the difference between RBAC, Azure Policy, and resource locks — a frequent source of confused answers.
- Skim storage redundancy tiers and networking terms (NSG vs. ASG, service vs. private endpoints) one last time.
- Verify your device/webcam setup in advance if testing remotely; have a distraction-free room ready.
- Get sleep — a 100-minute proctored exam rewards steady focus over last-minute cramming.
- Remember: no penalty for guessing, so plan to answer every question before time runs out.
- Know your retake policy going in — if you don't pass, you can retake after 24 hours, so don't panic mid-exam.
Frequently asked questions
What score do I need to pass AZ-104, and how does scoring work?
You need a score of 700 or greater to pass. Microsoft reports all technical exam scores on a scale of 1 to 1,000, and 700 is the passing bar — note that this is a scaled score, not 70% of questions correct. There is no penalty for guessing, so never leave a question blank: no points are deducted for incorrect answers. After the exam, your score report shows your overall numeric score, your pass/fail status, and a bar chart of your performance in each skill area, which tells you exactly which domains to restudy if you fall short. If you do fail, you can retake the exam 24 hours after your first attempt.
How long is the AZ-104 exam, and what is the testing experience like?
You have 100 minutes to complete the exam. It is proctored and may include interactive components, so expect more than plain multiple-choice — budget your time with hands-on-style items in mind. The exam is scheduled through Pearson VUE, and pricing is based on the country or region where the exam is proctored, so check the price for your location when you register. AZ-104 is offered in English, Chinese (Simplified), Korean, Japanese, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (Traditional), and Italian. If your preferred language is not available, you can request an additional 30 minutes of exam time.
What topics does AZ-104 cover, and which domains should I prioritize?
AZ-104 measures skills across five functional groups with published weighting ranges: Manage Azure identities and governance (20–25%), Deploy and manage Azure compute resources (20–25%), Implement and manage storage (15–20%), Implement and manage virtual networking (15–20%), and Monitor and maintain Azure resources (10–15%). Identities/governance and compute carry the heaviest weights at 20–25% each — together they can account for up to half the exam — so they deserve the largest share of your study time. Monitoring is the lightest domain at 10–15%, but even the smallest domain is worth enough points to swing a borderline result, so don't skip it entirely.
How often do I have to renew the Azure Administrator Associate certification, and does renewal cost anything?
This role-based certification has a renewal frequency of 12 months, but renewing is far easier than the original exam: there is no cost to renew, and the renewal assessment is shorter than the original exam, unproctored, and open book — you take it online without a testing center or proctor. You get a six-month renewal window to take the renewal assessment, and passing extends your certification one year from its expiration date. Because passing extends from the expiration date rather than the day you pass, renewing early in your window costs you nothing in certification time — so take the assessment as soon as your window opens rather than risking a lapse.
Sources
- 1.Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate — Certification page — Microsoft (accessed Jul 18, 2026)
- 2.Study guide for Exam AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator — Microsoft (accessed Jul 18, 2026)
- 3.Microsoft Certification Renewal — Microsoft (accessed Jul 18, 2026)
- 4.Exam scoring and score reports — Microsoft (accessed Jul 18, 2026)