AZ-900 Azure Fundamentals Study Guide: Complete Exam Prep

The Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) exam is the ideal starting point for anyone new to cloud computing or the Azure ecosystem. It validates your understanding of core cloud concepts, Azure services, security, privacy, compliance, and Azure pricing and support. No prior technical experience is required — this certification is designed for both technical and non-technical professionals, including sales, marketing, project management, and executive roles.

What Is the AZ-900 Exam?

The AZ-900 is a foundational-level exam with no prerequisite. It tests conceptual understanding rather than hands-on implementation. The exam consists of 40–60 questions — a mix of multiple-choice, drag-and-drop, case studies, and yes/no questions — with a 60-minute time limit (85 minutes for non-native language versions). The passing score is 700 out of 1000.

This exam is for anyone who wants to demonstrate a foundational understanding of cloud services and how those services are provided with Microsoft Azure. Whether you're pivoting into IT, preparing for more advanced Azure certifications (AZ-104, AZ-305), or validating business-level cloud literacy, this Azure Fundamentals exam prep guide has you covered.

The 3 Exam Domains (With Weightings)

The exam is organized into three domains. Use these weightings to prioritize your study time.

1. Describe Cloud Concepts — 25–30%

This domain covers the absolute fundamentals of cloud computing:

• Cloud computing definition — on-demand delivery of IT resources over the internet with pay-as-you-go pricing
• Shared Responsibility Model — what the cloud provider secures vs. what you secure (varies by service model)
• Cloud models — public cloud, private cloud, hybrid cloud
• Cloud service types — IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service: virtual machines, storage, networking), PaaS (Platform as a Service: managed application hosting, databases), SaaS (Software as a Service: Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365)
• CAPEX vs. OPEX — capital expenditure (buying hardware upfront) vs. operational expenditure (paying for what you use)
• Benefits of cloud — high availability, scalability (vertical vs. horizontal), elasticity, agility, fault tolerance, disaster recovery

Key trap: Questions often test whether you can identify the right service model for a given scenario. If the customer manages only the application and data, that's SaaS. If they manage the application and some middleware but not the OS, that's PaaS. If they manage everything from the OS up, that's IaaS.

2. Describe Azure Architecture and Services — 35–40%

This is the largest domain and deserves the most study time:

• Azure Regions and Region Pairs — a region is a geographic area containing one or more datacenters. Region pairs (e.g., East US & West US) are at least 300 miles apart for disaster recovery
• Availability Zones — physically separate datacenters within an Azure region. Each zone has independent power, cooling, and networking. Use them for zone-redundant services
• Availability Sets — logical grouping of VMs to protect against rack-level failures (update domains and fault domains)
• Azure Resource Manager (ARM) — the management layer for creating, updating, and deleting Azure resources
• Azure compute services — Azure Virtual Machines (IaaS), Azure App Service (PaaS for web apps), Azure Container Instances, Azure Functions (serverless), Azure Kubernetes Service
• Azure networking — Virtual Network (VNet), VPN Gateway, ExpressRoute (dedicated private connection to Azure), Azure Load Balancer, Application Gateway, Content Delivery Network
• Azure storage — Blob storage (unstructured), Disk storage (VM disks), File storage (SMB shares), Queue storage (messaging), Table storage (NoSQL). Storage redundancy: LRS, ZRS, GRS, RA-GRS
• Azure databases — Azure SQL Database (PaaS relational), Azure Cosmos DB (globally distributed NoSQL), Azure Database for MySQL/PostgreSQL/MariaDB
• Azure Marketplace — deploy pre-configured solutions from Microsoft and third-party vendors

Key trap: Be clear on the difference between Availability Zones (protect against datacenter failure within a region) and Region Pairs (protect against region-wide failure). You use Availability Zones for high availability and Region Pairs for disaster recovery.

3. Describe Azure Management and Governance — 30–35%

This domain focuses on how Azure is managed, secured, and governed:

• Azure Cost Management — monitor spending, set budgets, create alerts, use Azure Pricing Calculator and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Calculator
• Azure Policy — create, assign, and manage policies that enforce rules for your resources (e.g., "only allow VMs in certain regions"). Policies are inherited through the management group hierarchy
• Azure Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) — fine-grained access management. Roles (Owner, Contributor, Reader, custom) are assigned to security principals (users, groups, service principals, managed identities) at a scope (management group, subscription, resource group, resource)
• Azure Blueprints — package Azure Policy, RBAC, Resource Groups, and ARM templates into a repeatable, auditable deployment
• Azure Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF) — guidance for establishing cloud governance, landing zones, and organizational readiness
• Azure AD / Microsoft Entra ID — cloud-based identity and access management service. Not the same as on-prem AD DS. Includes features like self-service password reset (SSPR), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), Conditional Access, and Privileged Identity Management (PIM)
• Azure Security Center — unified security management with threat protection across hybrid cloud workloads
• Azure Service Trust Portal — access audit reports, compliance documentation, and regulatory certifications
• Azure Service Level Agreements (SLAs) — Microsoft's commitment for uptime and connectivity. SLA tiers range from 99% to 99.999%. Composite SLAs apply when combining services
• Azure Service Lifecycle — public preview, private preview, general availability (GA)
• Azure Management Groups — containers for managing access, policy, and compliance across multiple subscriptions

Key trap: The exam frequently asks about the difference between Azure Policy and RBAC. Azure Policy enforces rules on resources (tags, locations, SKUs). RBAC controls who can do what (permissions). They work together but serve different purposes. Also remember that Azure Policy has an effect of "Deny" or "Audit", while RBAC grants or denies access.

Key Concepts Summary

Concept	What to Know
Cloud Models	Public (Microsoft-managed), Private (your datacenter), Hybrid (both). Know the benefits of each.
Service Models (IaaS/PaaS/SaaS)	IaaS = most control, you manage OS up. PaaS = managed platform. SaaS = fully managed software.
Regions & Zones	Region = geographic area with datacenters. Availability Zone = isolated datacenter within a region.
Azure AD / Entra ID	Cloud identity & access. Supports MFA, SSPR, Conditional Access. Not a replacement for on-prem AD DS.
RBAC	Role-based access at scope. Know Owner, Contributor, Reader built-in roles.
Azure Policy	Enforce rules on resources (tags, allowed regions, allowed SKUs). Inherited via management groups.
SLA Tiers	99% (single VM without availability set), 99.95% (VMs in availability set), 99.99% (zone-redundant services)
Management Groups	Hierarchy for managing subscriptions. Policies and RBAC are inherited down.
Resource Groups	Logical containers for resources. A resource can only be in one RG. RGs can't be nested.
ARM Templates	JSON files that define infrastructure as code (IaC) for repeatable deployments.

Recommended Study Approach: 1–3 Weeks

The AZ-900 is an entry-level exam. With focused study, most people can pass in 1 to 3 weeks. Here's a week-by-week plan:

Week 1: Core Concepts & Domain 1

• Learn the cloud models (public, private, hybrid) and service models (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS)
• Understand CAPEX vs. OPEX and the economic benefits of cloud computing
• Study the Shared Responsibility Model — know what changes between IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS
• Take a 10-question practice quiz on cloud concepts

Week 2: Azure Architecture, Services, and Governance

• Cover Azure Regions, Availability Zones, and Region Pairs — this is heavily tested
• Study compute, storage, networking, and database services at a conceptual level (you don't need to deploy anything)
• Dive into Azure Policy, RBAC, Azure AD, and management groups
• Learn SLA tiers and how composite SLAs work

Week 3: Review, Practice Tests, and Exam Readiness

• Take full-length AZ-900 practice questions under timed conditions
• Focus on domains where your practice scores are weakest
• Review the Azure Pricing Calculator, TCO Calculator, and Service Trust Portal
• Revisit Azure Policy vs. RBAC and Availability Zones vs. Region Pairs — the most commonly confused concepts
• Take at least 200–300 practice questions total

Why Mock Exams Matter for AZ-900

The AZ-900 is straightforward but has its share of traps. Microsoft embeds critical detail in scenarios — a single word can change the answer. Here's why practice tests are essential:

• Question pattern recognition: Microsoft asks the same concepts in different ways. After enough practice, you'll spot the pattern immediately
• Time management: 60 minutes for 40–60 questions means roughly 1 minute per question. Full-length mocks train your pacing
• Identifying weak domains: If you're scoring 90% on Cloud Concepts but 60% on Governance, you know where to focus your last study sessions
• Building confidence: Walking into the exam knowing you've consistently scored 800+ on mock exams changes everything

Start practicing with real AZ-900 practice questions at certeli.com/exam/az-900. Our platform simulates the actual exam format with detailed explanations for every answer. And the best part? This exam is free on Certeli!

Additional Resources

• Microsoft Learn — The official free learning path for AZ-900. Covers every domain with interactive modules
• Microsoft Docs — Azure documentation is thorough and exam-relevant
• Azure Pricing Calculator — Understand how different configurations affect pricing
• TCO Calculator — Compare on-premises costs vs. Azure costs
• Azure Service Trust Portal — Review compliance and audit documentation
• John Savill's AZ-900 Course (YouTube) — One of the most recommended free video courses
• Azure Free Account — Sign up for $200 free credit and explore the portal (optional but helpful)

Final Tips

• Service models are foundational: Get IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS completely straight before moving on. Every other concept builds on this
• Know your acronyms: LRS, ZRS, GRS, RA-GRS, SLA, RBAC, CAF, ARM, VNet, VPN, ExpressRoute — the exam uses these liberally
• Learn the difference between Azure AD and on-prem AD DS: This is a common trick question. They are not the same thing
• Understand management group hierarchy: Management Group → Subscription → Resource Group → Resource. Policies and RBAC are inherited downward
• Don't over-study networking details: You need conceptual knowledge of VNet, VPN Gateway, and ExpressRoute — not deep routing tables or subnet math
• Read questions carefully: Look for keywords like "most cost-effective," "highest availability," "minimum administrative effort" — these guide your answer
• Eliminate obviously wrong answers first: Even if you're unsure, narrowing from 4 to 2 options gives you a 50% chance
• Flag and move on: If you're stuck after 60 seconds, flag the question and return later
• Schedule the exam: A fixed deadline creates accountability. AZ-900 is available through Pearson Vue and PSI

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Ready to test your knowledge? Start practicing with real AZ-900 practice questions and Azure Fundamentals exam prep at certeli.com/exam/az-900. Our exam simulator mirrors the actual test environment with detailed explanations for every answer — so you learn as you practice. And remember, this exam is entirely free on our platform.

Good luck with your Azure Fundamentals journey — you've got this!