The AZ-104 is one of Microsoft's most respected certifications — and one of the more demanding associate-level exams in cloud. It's not a memorisation test. It tests whether you can actually administer Azure, troubleshoot it, and make architectural decisions under time pressure.
If you're preparing for it in 2026, here's what you need to know.
What the AZ-104 actually tests
The exam is built around five domains with very different weights:
| Domain | Exam weight |
|---|---|
| Manage Azure Identities & Governance | 20–25% |
| Implement & Manage Storage | 15–20% |
| Deploy & Manage Azure Compute Resources | 20–25% |
| Implement & Manage Virtual Networking | 15–20% |
| Monitor & Maintain Azure Resources | 10–15% |
Most people study Compute and Networking because those feel the most "cloud." The exam reflects that — but Identities & Governance and Storage together make up 35–45% of your score. Neglect them and you'll be surprised on exam day.
The three hardest areas on AZ-104
1. Azure Active Directory and Role-Based Access Control
RBAC questions are scenario-based and unforgiving. The exam will give you a specific situation — a user needs access to one resource but not another, across multiple subscriptions — and ask you which role assignment achieves it with least privilege. Getting this right requires understanding the scope hierarchy (management group → subscription → resource group → resource) and knowing the built-in roles cold.
Common mistakes: confusing Owner vs Contributor, not knowing that Reader doesn't allow resource creation, and misunderstanding how role inheritance works down the scope chain.
2. Virtual Networking
VNet peering, NSG rule evaluation, routing tables, and Azure DNS all appear heavily. The exam loves questions where you have to trace a packet through multiple NSGs and determine whether traffic is allowed or blocked.
The key: NSG rules are evaluated by priority number (lower = evaluated first), and both inbound and outbound rules are evaluated independently. Many candidates forget the outbound side.
3. Azure Monitor and Log Analytics
This domain is often undertrained because it feels like "soft" infrastructure. But the exam tests specific queries, alert configurations, and the difference between metrics and logs. Know when to use Azure Monitor Alerts vs Log Analytics vs Application Insights, and what each one can and cannot do.
How to structure your study
Weeks 1–2: Core concepts Work through Microsoft Learn's AZ-104 learning path. Don't just read — use the sandbox environments to actually configure what you're learning. Seeing the Azure portal as you study cements the concepts.
Weeks 3–4: Hands-on labs Do at least 3–4 hours of hands-on lab work. Create VNets, configure NSGs, set up RBAC assignments, deploy VMs with specific configurations. The exam has case-study sections where you need to have seen these flows before.
Week 5: Practice questions by domain This is where most candidates go wrong — they take full practice tests without knowing which domains they're weak in. A full 60-question test tells you your overall score. It doesn't tell you that you're getting 90% in Compute but only 55% in Networking.
Work by domain. Find your weak topics. Drill them specifically.
Week 6: Timed practice exams AZ-104 is 40–60 questions in 120 minutes. The time pressure is real, especially on case studies. Run two or three full timed exams in the final week to build exam stamina and identify any remaining gaps.
The most common reason people fail AZ-104
They over-prepare on content and under-prepare on scenario questions.
Microsoft's exams are not definition tests. You won't be asked "what is Azure Blob Storage?" You'll be asked: "A company needs to store unstructured data that is accessed frequently for the first 30 days and rarely after that. Which storage tier configuration minimises cost while meeting the access requirements?"
That requires understanding, not recall. The difference between candidates who pass on the first attempt and those who don't is usually practice question volume and the habit of understanding why the right answer is right — not just what it is.
Key resources
- Microsoft Learn AZ-104 path — free, official, comprehensive
- John Savill's AZ-104 Study Cram on YouTube — excellent for last-week review
- Azure portal sandbox — hands-on is irreplaceable
- ExamCoach — AI-generated practice questions per AZ-104 domain, tracks your weak areas across sessions
Practice makes the difference
Reading about Azure doesn't prepare you for Azure Administrator questions. ExamCoach generates personalised AZ-104 practice questions across all five domains, tracks where you're losing marks, and builds a study plan around your exam date — free.