Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals

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Exam at a Glance

AZ-900 measures whether you understand what cloud computing is and how Microsoft Azure delivers it: the cloud models and service types, the core Azure services for compute, networking, storage and identity, and the tools Azure gives you to control cost, governance, deployment and monitoring. It is a concepts exam: you describe and compare, you do not configure.

 

What the Exam Covers

The exam has three domains with unequal weights. Azure architecture and services is the highest-weight domain (and the broadest, spanning compute, networking, storage, identity and security), with management and governance close behind. Cloud concepts is the smallest domain, but it supplies the vocabulary the other two assume, so do not skip it.

 

Describe cloud concepts — 25-30%

Defining cloud computing and the shared responsibility model; public, private and hybrid cloud models and the right use case for each; the consumption-based model, cloud pricing models and serverless; the benefits of the cloud (high availability and scalability, reliability and predictability, security and governance, manageability); infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and software as a service (SaaS), and which service type fits which scenario.

 

Describe Azure architecture and services — 35-40%

Core architectural components: regions, region pairs and sovereign regions, availability zones, datacenters, and the resource, resource group, subscription and management group hierarchy.

Compute and networking: containers versus virtual machines versus functions, VM options including Virtual Machine Scale Sets, availability sets and Azure Virtual Desktop, application hosting options, virtual networks, subnets, peering, Azure DNS, VPN Gateway, ExpressRoute, and public and private endpoints.

Storage: comparing the storage services, tiers, redundancy, account options and types, moving files with AzCopy, Storage Explorer and Azure File Sync, migrating with Azure Migrate and Azure Data Box. Identity, access and security: Microsoft Entra ID and Domain Services, SSO, MFA and passwordless, external identities, Conditional Access, Azure RBAC, Zero Trust, defense in depth and Microsoft Defender for Cloud.

 

Describe Azure management and governance — 30-35%

Cost management: the factors that affect cost, the pricing calculator, cost management capabilities and the purpose of tags. Governance and compliance: the purpose of Microsoft Purview, Azure Policy and resource locks. Managing and deploying resources: the Azure portal, Azure Cloud Shell, Azure CLI and Azure PowerShell, the purpose of Azure Arc, infrastructure as code, Azure Resource Manager and ARM templates. Monitoring: the purpose of Azure Advisor, Azure Service Health, and Azure Monitor including Log Analytics, Azure Monitor alerts and Application Insights.

 

The full bullet-level list lives in the official study guide. Treat it as your checklist:

The Official AZ-900 Study Guide

 

How This Maps to CertiAce Practice Modules

The CertiAce question bank mirrors the three exam domains one-to-one. Use the mapping below and the topics behind your missed questions to identify the skills-measured areas to revisit:

 

Where AZ-900 Fits

AZ-900 has no prerequisites, and it is not a prerequisite for anything else: the role-based certifications that usually follow it, including Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104), do not require a prior certification. Treat it as the on-ramp: it teaches the vocabulary and service map every later Azure exam assumes. If artificial intelligence is your direction, Azure AI Fundamentals (AI-901) is the matching starting point, and developers heading toward Azure AI Cloud Developer Associate (AI-200) will find the service map useful groundwork too. Passing AZ-900 may also make you eligible for ACE college credit.

Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals certification page

 

Before You Start

Microsoft describes the candidate as a technology professional with experience in some area of IT, but you do not need to be an administrator, developer or architect to pass. Check yourself against this table. Anything unfamiliar is where your preparation should start:

 

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Step-by-Step Study Plan

How long you need depends on where you start. Treat these estimates as planning guidance and adjust them to your starting knowledge and weekly study hours:

 

Step 1: Read the Official Study Guide

Skim the full skills-measured list once, and mark every bullet you could not explain to a colleague. That marked-up list is your personal syllabus: everything else in this plan exists to clear it. The list was last refreshed on July 20, 2026, so check older materials against it: many still drill service-level agreements and the total cost of ownership calculator, and neither appears in the current list.

The Official Study Guide

 

Step 2: Schedule Your Exam

Choose a realistic target date after reviewing the skills list and your available study time. A date on the calendar turns studying into a countdown, so pick one using the prep-time table above and plan backwards from it.

Certification and Exam Details Page

 

Step 3: Work Through the Official Learning Path

Complete the AZ-900 course modules on Microsoft Learn. The course now carries the title Introduction to Cloud Infrastructure (course code AZ-900T00-A), and its three learning paths map one-to-one to the exam domains, so you will meet the exam's own wording throughout. Focus on what each service is for and when you would choose it, not on memorizing product names.

Official Learning Path Course Page

 

Step 4: Watch a Full Video Course

John Savill's free AZ-900 course walks through every domain with whiteboard explanations that make the architecture topics click (regions and zones, the resource hierarchy, networking, identity) and was last updated in April 2025 for the current three-domain skills list. Watch it end to end after the learning path, then rewatch only your weak topics in your final days. Short on time? His Study Cram in the resources below compresses the same ground into a single session.

John Savill's AZ-900 Azure Fundamentals Certification Course

 

Step 5: Get Hands-On Practice

AZ-900 does not test configuration, but the concepts stick far faster once you have clicked through the real thing. Create a free Azure account (it starts with a 30-day credit plus always-free services) and work through the five official exercises for the course: create a resource, create a virtual machine, create a storage blob, estimate costs with the pricing calculator, and configure a resource lock. Microsoft Learn's free sandboxes have been retired, so you need your own subscription. Then spend an hour exploring, so every management tool on the skills list is something you have actually seen:

• Subscriptions, resource groups and tags in the Azure portal
• Users, groups and roles in the Microsoft Entra admin center
• Cost Management, Azure Advisor, Service Health and Azure Monitor
• A few Azure CLI and Azure PowerShell commands in Azure Cloud Shell
• Azure Policy assignments and resource locks on a resource group

Official AZ-900 Lab Exercises

 

Step 6: Benchmark Your Knowledge

Use CertiAce to benchmark your readiness module by module. The practice modules map to the exam domains as shown above, so use the module mapping and the topics behind your missed questions to identify the skills-measured areas to revisit. Microsoft also offers a free official practice assessment on Microsoft Learn (sign in to launch it). Aim for consistent performance across every module, not one lucky high score.

CertiAce AZ-900 Exam Practice

Free Official Practice Assessment

 

Step 7: Take the Exam

The day before, review only your weak topics: no brand-new material. On exam day, read each question for what it is truly asking: most AZ-900 questions come down to matching the right service, cloud model or service type to a short scenario, so decide first whether it describes IaaS, PaaS or SaaS, or public, private or hybrid cloud, then eliminate the options from the wrong service family. With 40 to 60 questions in 45 minutes you have roughly a minute each. Mark anything slow for review and move on.

Worth knowing before you sit down:

• This is a closed-book exam: unlike the role-based exams, Microsoft Learn is NOT available during fundamentals exams.
• You can take unscheduled breaks, but the clock keeps running and you cannot return to questions you already saw.
• Watch the naming: the exam uses current product names such as Microsoft Entra ID (not Azure AD), Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Microsoft Purview, so cross-check older product names and objectives against the current study guide.
• Try the exam sandbox beforehand so the question formats and interface hold no surprises: Exam Sandbox

 

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Additional Learning Resources