AZ-900: Azure Fundamentals

400 practice questions · Free 15-question demo available

The AZ-900 (Microsoft Azure Fundamentals) is the entry point to Azure certification. It validates foundational knowledge of cloud concepts, core Azure services, and the governance and cost management tools built into the platform. You do not need technical experience to pass: the exam tests understanding, not configuration. It is the right starting point for anyone beginning a cloud career or working in a role that touches Azure.

Who is AZ-900 for?

AZ-900 works for a wide range of people. Developers and IT professionals use it as a foundation before moving to associate-level exams like AZ-104 (Administrator) or AZ-204 (Developer). Non-technical roles (sales, procurement, project management, business analysts) take it to build enough Azure fluency to work effectively alongside engineering teams. Students use it to break into cloud.

One thing worth knowing: AZ-900 has no prerequisites and does not expire. It is also one of the most widely recognised entry-level cloud certifications across industries. For the effort required, the return is solid.

Exam at a glance

What does the AZ-900 cover?

The exam has three domains. Azure architecture and services is the largest, making up more than a third of the exam on its own. The domain weightings below come from the official Microsoft study guide and are updated periodically; always verify before your sitting.

How difficult is the AZ-900?

It is a foundational exam with no hands-on experience required and no deep technical depth. The difficulty comes from two things: the sheer number of services you need to know at a conceptual level, and the precision required when services overlap. Azure Firewall and Network Security Groups both deal with network traffic, but they operate at different layers and serve different purposes. The exam tests whether you know which to use when.

The management and governance domain (30–35%) surprises many candidates. It includes more than just cost tools: policy enforcement, compliance frameworks, hybrid management with Azure Arc, and monitoring with Azure Monitor. Do not underestimate it.

How to prepare for AZ-900

Two to four weeks of consistent study is enough for most people. Here is a path that works:

1. 1

   Start with Microsoft Learn

   Microsoft publishes a free official AZ-900 learning path at learn.microsoft.com. It takes around 10 hours to complete and is the most accurate study resource available; it maps directly to what appears on the exam.

2. 2

   Master the cloud concepts domain first

   Cloud concepts underpin everything else. Get the shared responsibility model, IaaS/PaaS/SaaS distinctions, and cloud benefits locked in early. These show up throughout the exam, not just in the cloud concepts section.

3. 3

   Group Azure services by category

   Rather than memorising a flat list of services, group them: compute, networking, storage, identity, security, governance. Within each group, know what each service does and how it differs from its nearest neighbour.

4. 4

   Practise with scenario questions daily

   The exam frames most questions as business or technical scenarios. "A company needs to ensure all resources in a subscription follow a specific naming convention. What should they use?" Practice questions build the pattern recognition to answer these quickly and accurately.

5. 5

   Take a full timed mock exam

   Before your real sitting, do a complete mock under exam conditions. Sky Cloud Prep includes 50 mock questions for this purpose. It surfaces gaps and builds confidence in the format.

Common pitfalls on the AZ-900

These are the areas where candidates lose the most points:

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  Azure Firewall vs Network Security Groups: Both filter network traffic, but at different levels. NSGs operate at the subnet or NIC level and are free. Azure Firewall is a managed cloud-native firewall at the network perimeter with more advanced filtering and centralised logging. The exam tests whether you know when each applies.
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  Availability Zones vs Availability Sets: Availability Zones are physically separate datacenters within a region, protecting against datacenter-level failures. Availability Sets spread VMs across fault and update domains within a single datacenter, protecting against rack-level failures and planned maintenance. Different scenarios call for different solutions.
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  VPN Gateway vs ExpressRoute: Both connect on-premises networks to Azure. VPN Gateway goes over the public internet, encrypted. ExpressRoute uses a private dedicated connection through a connectivity provider, with higher reliability but higher cost. The exam frequently asks which is appropriate for a given scenario.
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  Subscription vs Management Group hierarchy: Management groups sit above subscriptions and can contain multiple subscriptions. Subscriptions contain resource groups, which contain resources. Azure Policy and RBAC applied at a management group level cascade down. Getting this hierarchy wrong costs points on governance questions.
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  Treating governance as just cost management: The management and governance domain covers much more than the Pricing Calculator. Azure Policy enforces rules on resources. Resource locks prevent accidental deletion or modification. Azure Arc extends governance to non-Azure resources. Candidates who skip these topics are caught off guard.

Frequently asked questions

For the full skill outline and latest domain percentages, visit the official AZ-900 page on Microsoft Learn. Microsoft updates the exam objectives periodically, so check before your sitting.