My Notes some of this and some of that

Azure Solutions Architect Expert Certification Guide

13 May 2021

I cleared AZ-900 Microsoft Azure Fundamental around a year back, and since then had the goal of clearing Azure Solutions Architect Expert Certification on my agenda. I attended one 30 hours instructor led training by Microsoft certified trainer on AZ-303 and then took a de-tour for couple of months to clear CKAD (Certified Kubernetes Application Developer) first, as Kubernetes knowledge was even more desirable from my own project’s point of view. I cleared CKAD around 6 months back, and since then was preparing for this certification.

The curriculum for this certification is colossal, and it took many months of preparation. I have cleared both AZ-303 and AZ-304 with 900+ score, and wanted to share my experience with anyone aspiring for this certification.

Who should aim for this certification?

According to official site: Candidates for the Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification should have subject matter expertise in designing and implementing solutions that run on Microsoft Azure, including aspects like compute, network, storage, and security. Candidates should have intermediate-level skills for administering Azure. Candidates should understand Azure development and DevOps processes. Responsibilities for this role include advising stakeholders and translating business requirements into secure, scalable, and reliable cloud solutions. An Azure Solution Architect partners with cloud administrators, cloud DBAs, and clients to implement solutions.

Main certification page

How to get Azure Solutions Architect Expert Certification?

One is required to clear 2 exams in order to get Azure Solutions Architect Expert Certified.

  • AZ-303: Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies
  • AZ-304: Microsoft Azure Architect Design

AZ-303 is more focussed on implementation whereas AZ-304 is more focussed on design. These can be given in any sequence but I would suggest to go for AZ-303 first and then AZ-304.

Let’s talk about each of these exams now.

AZ-303: Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies

Exam pattern

  • 55-65 questions which could also include case studies and hands-on labs
  • 130 minutes
  • 700 score for passing

Preparation material

I did most of my preparations from Alan’s course but on occasions I have also looked into similar courses from Scott Duffy and Skylines to get better understanding of the topics.

How to prepare: The estimated time to complete this learning material is 80 hours, but in reality it will take a lot more. It is much preferable to have real project experience to get more familiarity and clarity on the concepts. The project generally use handful of Azure services, but the knowledge required to clear this certification is far more. Everyone has their own style of learning, I will share what worked for me. Feel free to try this, or improvise to what suits you best. I devoted lot of time to each topic. First step is to get clarity on concepts by going through course material, second is to do hands on the portal. It is very important to do hands-on as the certification comprises of hands-on labs. And you understand a lot more and gain lot of confidence. Third step is while practising questions. You will some across some questions which were not really covered by the course material, so you need to look into more documentation on Azure to get even more clarity and understanding on the subject.

I also attended 2 different trainings from Microsoft certified trainer. Each training was for around 30 hours. It provided a good overview of the whole curriculum, but you need to self study and take deeper dive into each topics to get better understanding and clarity. And there can be no better alternative than self hands-on.

Last step is to go through the learning material again as needed.

Practice Material

In practice test, learn from your mistakes, read about questions answered incorrectly and make sure to not repeat same mistakes again. Good way to do that is to read more related documents if needed or really try out the question in portal so it’s engraved in your memory.

Exam experience

I opted for online exam from home though Person Vue. I started 30 minutes before exam time to check-in well in time. During check-in you need provide photo of yourself, your identification (passport) and your surroundings (4 walls of your room). The desk needs to be clean. Proctor will ask you to show your desk from Webcam and would even check all corners and area under your desk.

You always need to be in front of your web cam. Dont even look away into the distance which we tend to do while thinking. I was warned just for doing that. There can be multiple sections in the exam. One section is multiple choice question, one is for case studies and there can be one for labs. I did not got any hands-on labs when I appeared for these exams, but they can come randomly. You cannot return to a section once you click on finish, so make sure to proceed only if you are sure and done reviewing all the questions

There is ample amount of time. 130 minutes were given for around 62 questions, I was able to complete easily with 40 minuts still left. There wasn’t a single question related to powershell or azure cli commands, whereas some practice tests have lot of them.

AZ-304: Microsoft Azure Architect Design

Exam pattern

  • 55-65 questions which could also include case studies and hands-on labs
  • 130 minutes
  • 700 score for passing

Preparation material

Preparation for AZ-303 will cover 70% of the things needed for AZ-304. Even learning path is similar to AZ-303. But some topics like Data Factory and API Management is more relevant for AZ-304.

Practice Material

Exam experience

Most of the things I shared for AZ-303 are relevant here as well. There is ample amount of time. 130 minutes were given for around 58 questions, I was able to complete easily with 50 minutes still left. Data factory and API Management is more important for this exam.

Important tips relevant for both exams

  • There are many ways to monitor in Azure. This is best link to understand how Azure monitoring is structured.
  • You need to well aware of the features provided by various app service plans
  • Hybrid identity is an important topic, so you need to know which strategy would be appropriate for which scenario
  • Azure storage and key vault are the most important topics, not just from exam perspective but also from real project usage perspective. There is a very good probability that you will use either or both of these for any application deployed on Azure.

Wish you all the best!

Related Posts