AZ-104 study plan

Week 1chapters 1–5 · about 5 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 1. Microsoft Entra ID: users, groups, devices and licences
  • 2. Access control with Azure RBAC
  • 3. Governance: policy, tags, locks, subscriptions and cost
  • 4. Storage accounts: types, redundancy, encryption and data transfer
  • 5. Securing access to storage
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: Azure resource locks: CanNotDelete vs ReadOnly, Azure storage redundancy: LRS vs ZRS vs GRS vs GZRS, Azure shared access signatures (SAS) explained: account, service and user delegation, Azure Storage firewall: IP rules, virtual network rules and trusted services.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the AZ-104 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Manage Azure identities and governance · 20–25%Implement and manage storage · 15–20%Deploy and manage Azure compute resources · 20–25%

Week 2chapters 6–11 · about 5 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 6. Blob and file data: tiers, protection and lifecycle
  • 7. Infrastructure as code: ARM templates and Bicep
  • 8. Virtual machines and scale sets
  • 9. Containers: registries, instances, Container Apps and AKS
  • 10. Azure App Service
  • 11. Virtual networks and connectivity
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: Availability sets vs availability zones in Azure (and proximity placement groups), Scaling an Azure App Service plan: tiers, scale up vs scale out, autoscale.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the AZ-104 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Implement and manage storage · 15–20%Deploy and manage Azure compute resources · 20–25%Implement and manage virtual networking · 15–20%

Week 3chapters 12–15 · about 5 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 12. Securing virtual networks: NSGs, Bastion and private access
  • 13. Name resolution and load balancing
  • 14. Monitoring with Azure Monitor and Network Watcher
  • 15. Backup and disaster recovery
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: How Azure NSG rules are evaluated (subnet vs NIC, priority, default rules), Azure private endpoints and Private Link: how they work.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the AZ-104 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Manage Azure identities and governance · 20–25%Implement and manage virtual networking · 15–20%Monitor and maintain Azure resources · 10–15%

Week 4review Done

• Go back through every chapter’s key takeaways. Anything you can’t explain without looking, re-read that section.
• Re-read the common-trap callouts: they mark the answers that look right but aren’t.
• Check the exam coverage map against Microsoft’s own outline, in case it has changed since the book was checked.
• Take Microsoft’s free practice assessment, if your exam has one, from the official AZ-104 study guide page. Revisit the chapters behind any weak area.
• Try the exam sandbox to get used to the exam’s screens and question formats.
• Get the free exam-day checklist and work through it a few days before your exam.

Week 1chapters 1–2 · about 2 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 1. Microsoft Entra ID: users, groups, devices and licences
  • 2. Access control with Azure RBAC
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the AZ-104 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Manage Azure identities and governance · 20–25%

Week 2chapters 3–4 · about 2 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 3. Governance: policy, tags, locks, subscriptions and cost
  • 4. Storage accounts: types, redundancy, encryption and data transfer
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: Azure resource locks: CanNotDelete vs ReadOnly, Azure storage redundancy: LRS vs ZRS vs GRS vs GZRS.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the AZ-104 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Manage Azure identities and governance · 20–25%Implement and manage storage · 15–20%Deploy and manage Azure compute resources · 20–25%

Week 3chapters 5–7 · about 3 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 5. Securing access to storage
  • 6. Blob and file data: tiers, protection and lifecycle
  • 7. Infrastructure as code: ARM templates and Bicep
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: Azure shared access signatures (SAS) explained: account, service and user delegation, Azure Storage firewall: IP rules, virtual network rules and trusted services.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the AZ-104 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Implement and manage storage · 15–20%Deploy and manage Azure compute resources · 20–25%

Week 4chapters 8–9 · about 2 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 8. Virtual machines and scale sets
  • 9. Containers: registries, instances, Container Apps and AKS
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: Availability sets vs availability zones in Azure (and proximity placement groups).
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the AZ-104 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Deploy and manage Azure compute resources · 20–25%

Week 5chapters 10–11 · about 2 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 10. Azure App Service
  • 11. Virtual networks and connectivity
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: Scaling an Azure App Service plan: tiers, scale up vs scale out, autoscale.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the AZ-104 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Deploy and manage Azure compute resources · 20–25%Implement and manage virtual networking · 15–20%

Week 6chapters 12–13 · about 2 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 12. Securing virtual networks: NSGs, Bastion and private access
  • 13. Name resolution and load balancing
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: How Azure NSG rules are evaluated (subnet vs NIC, priority, default rules), Azure private endpoints and Private Link: how they work.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the AZ-104 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Implement and manage virtual networking · 15–20%

Week 7chapters 14–15 · about 3 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 14. Monitoring with Azure Monitor and Network Watcher
  • 15. Backup and disaster recovery
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the AZ-104 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Manage Azure identities and governance · 20–25%Implement and manage virtual networking · 15–20%Monitor and maintain Azure resources · 10–15%

Week 8review Done

• Go back through every chapter’s key takeaways. Anything you can’t explain without looking, re-read that section.
• Re-read the common-trap callouts: they mark the answers that look right but aren’t.
• Check the exam coverage map against Microsoft’s own outline, in case it has changed since the book was checked.
• Take Microsoft’s free practice assessment, if your exam has one, from the official AZ-104 study guide page. Revisit the chapters behind any weak area.
• Try the exam sandbox to get used to the exam’s screens and question formats.
• Get the free exam-day checklist and work through it a few days before your exam.