AZ-900 Microsoft Azure Fundamentals

What's inside

AZ-900 doesn't test whether you can list Azure products. It tests whether you know what each cloud model, service and tool is for, and which one fits a need.

This independent study guide for the Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals exam distils what AZ-900 really expects you to understand into clear definitions, comparisons and the traps that catch newcomers. It assumes no previous Azure experience and is written to the skills measured as of July 2026.

Organised by technology

Nine chapters, each readable on its own and together covering all three AZ-900 skill areas:

• Cloud concepts: cloud computing, the shared responsibility model, public, private, hybrid and multicloud, pricing models, serverless, and IaaS, PaaS and SaaS.
• Azure architecture: regions, region pairs, sovereign regions, availability zones, resource groups, subscriptions and management groups.
• Core services: virtual machines, scale sets, Azure Virtual Desktop, containers, Functions and App Service; virtual networks, VPN Gateway and ExpressRoute; storage tiers, redundancy and migration tools.
• Identity and security: Microsoft Entra ID, authentication methods, Conditional Access, Azure RBAC, Zero Trust, defence in depth and Microsoft Defender for Cloud.
• Management and governance: cost management, tags, Microsoft Purview, Azure Policy, resource locks, ARM and infrastructure as code, Azure Arc, Advisor, Service Health and Azure Monitor.

Inside

• Comparison tables for every close call, such as which cloud model, which redundancy option or which governance tool fits a requirement.
• 70+ Common trap callouts that name the answers that look right but aren't, and explain what's right instead.
• 9 diagrams, from the shared responsibility model and availability zones to storage redundancy and defence in depth.
• Key takeaways at the end of every chapter for fast revision.
• A glossary of more than 300 terms, each linked to Microsoft Learn, with a free online version for print readers.

Up to date

Azure changes quickly. This edition reflects Microsoft's documentation as of October 2026, including recent changes such as retired storage account types, VPN gateway SKU consolidation and the move to Flex Consumption for Azure Functions.

Understanding, not memorising

This book contains no exam questions. It explains the knowledge the exam expects, so you can answer questions you have never seen and carry the same understanding into AZ-104, AZ-305 and real Azure work.

Written by Tony Rough, a cloud architect with more than twenty years in IT infrastructure who holds the Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Azure Administrator and Azure Security Engineer certifications.

Part of the Ultra Transcenders series from Distilled Press. An independent publication, not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Microsoft Corporation.

Is this book for you?

• Yes, if you're preparing for AZ-900 and want to understand why the right answer is right, or you work with these services and want a compact reference organised by technology.
• It isn't a question bank. The book contains no exam questions. Use it alongside Microsoft's free official AZ-900 study guide and practice assessment, and some hands-on time in Azure.
• Leads to Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals.
• Exam outline: Microsoft's skills measured as of July 20, 2026. We check for outline changes every month.

Which certification, which book?

Exam coverage

Every skill area in Microsoft's AZ-900 outline (as of July 20, 2026), and the chapters that cover it.

See every objective and where the book covers it

Chapters

1. Cloud computing, cloud models and pricing
2. Benefits of the cloud and cloud service types
3. Azure's core architecture: regions, zones and the resource hierarchy
4. Compute and application hosting
5. Azure networking
6. Azure Storage, data movement and migration
7. Identity, access and security
8. Cost management and governance
9. Managing, deploying and monitoring Azure

Plus an appendix glossary of 300+ terms, each linked to Microsoft Learn, with the same terms explained free online for print readers.

Sample diagrams

Free study notes

Some sections of the book, free to read online:

• Shared responsibility model in Azure: who secures what in IaaS, PaaS and SaaS

  Which security and management duties Microsoft owns, which you always keep, and which shift by service type.

• IaaS vs PaaS vs SaaS: Azure cloud service types compared

  What each cloud service type gives you, what you still manage, and typical use cases for each.

• Azure sovereign regions: Azure Government and Azure in China

  What sovereign regions are, who can use them, and how they differ from the public Azure regions.

• Azure virtual network peering explained

  How peering connects virtual networks within and across regions, and what traffic and transitivity rules apply.

• Azure Storage redundancy: LRS, ZRS, GRS and GZRS compared

  How each storage redundancy option copies your data and which failures it protects against.

• Zero Trust in Azure: verify explicitly, least privilege, assume breach

  The three Zero Trust principles and how they change the traditional network-perimeter approach to security.

• Azure resource locks: CanNotDelete vs ReadOnly

  How resource locks prevent accidental deletion or change, how they inherit, and how they differ from RBAC and Policy.

• Azure Advisor: personalised recommendations for reliability, security and cost

  What Azure Advisor recommends across its categories and how it fits alongside Service Health and Azure Monitor.