MSDEVBUILD / azure

Architecture & Services

Domain 2 · 35–40% of the AZ-900 exam

How Azure is physically and logically organised, and the core compute, networking, storage, identity and security services you will meet in every project.

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Lessons in this module

  1. 1 Azure Regions, Region Pairs and Sovereign Regions Azure regions, region pairs and sovereign regions explained simply, with how to choose a region, real examples, interview questions and AZ-900 practice.
  2. 2 Availability Zones Azure availability zones explained with zonal vs zone-redundant services, an animation, real examples, interview questions and AZ-900 practice questions.
  3. 3 Azure Datacenters What Azure datacenters are, how they relate to availability zones and regions, how Microsoft secures them, with interview questions and AZ-900 practice.
  4. 4 Resources and Resource Groups Azure resources and resource groups explained simply, with the key rules, how to organise them, a hands-on lab, interview questions and AZ-900 practice.
  5. 5 Azure Subscriptions Azure subscriptions explained simply as billing and access boundaries, why companies use several, real examples, interview questions and AZ-900 practice.
  6. 6 Management Groups Azure management groups explained, with how they organise subscriptions and inherit policy and access, real examples and AZ-900 practice.
  7. 7 The Azure Management Hierarchy The Azure management hierarchy explained with an animation, from management groups to subscriptions, resource groups and resources, plus AZ-900 practice.
  8. 8 Compute Types: VMs, Containers and Functions Virtual machines, containers and Azure Functions compared simply, with when to use each, a decision guide, interview questions and AZ-900 practice.
  9. 9 Azure Virtual Machines Azure Virtual Machines explained: when to use them, the resources a VM needs, sizes and costs, a hands-on lab, interview questions and AZ-900 practice.
  10. 10 VM Scale Sets and Availability Sets Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets and availability sets explained, with fault and update domains, autoscale, a hands-on lab and AZ-900 practice.
  11. 11 Azure Virtual Desktop Azure Virtual Desktop explained: cloud-hosted Windows desktops, multi-session, security benefits, use cases, interview questions and AZ-900 practice.
  12. 12 Azure App Service Azure App Service explained, covering web apps, APIs and mobile back ends on PaaS, plans and features, a hands-on lab, interview questions and AZ-900 practice.
  13. 13 Azure Functions Azure Functions explained simply, with triggers and bindings, hosting plans, use cases, limits, interview questions and AZ-900 practice questions.
  14. 14 Container Instances, Container Apps and AKS Azure Container Instances, Container Apps and Azure Kubernetes Service compared, with when to use each, interview questions and AZ-900 practice questions.
  15. 15 Virtual Networks and Subnets Azure virtual networks and subnets explained simply, with what they do, address spaces, segmentation, real examples, interview questions and AZ-900 practice.
  16. 16 Virtual Network Peering Azure VNet peering explained: regional and global peering, the Microsoft backbone and non-transitivity, with interview questions and AZ-900 practice.
  17. 17 Network Security Groups · beyond the exam Azure network security groups explained: allow and deny rules, priorities and where to apply them, with interview questions and AZ-900 practice.
  18. 18 Azure VPN Gateway Azure VPN Gateway explained: site-to-site, point-to-site and VNet-to-VNet encryption over the internet, with interview questions and AZ-900 practice.
  19. 19 Azure ExpressRoute Azure ExpressRoute explained: private connections that skip the internet, benefits, VPN comparison, interview questions and AZ-900 practice.
  20. 20 Azure DNS Azure DNS explained: hosting DNS domains on Azure, records, private DNS zones and alias records, with interview questions and AZ-900 practice.
  21. 21 Public and Private Endpoints Public and private endpoints in Azure explained: how PaaS services are reached, Private Link, security benefits, interview questions and AZ-900 practice.
  22. 22 Load Balancer, Application Gateway and Front Door · beyond the exam Azure Load Balancer, Application Gateway and Front Door compared: layer 4 vs 7, regional vs global, WAF and when to use each. Beyond the exam.
  23. 23 Azure Virtual WAN · beyond the exam Azure Virtual WAN explained: one managed hub to connect branches, VPN users, ExpressRoute and virtual networks at scale. Beyond the AZ-900 exam.
  24. 24 Storage Accounts and Storage Types Azure storage accounts explained: account types, naming rules, endpoints and redundancy choices, with a hands-on lab and AZ-900 practice.
  25. 25 Blob Storage and Access Tiers Azure Blob Storage and hot, cool, cold and archive tiers explained with an animation, cost trade-offs, examples and AZ-900 practice.
  26. 26 Azure Files, Queues, Tables and Managed Disks Azure Files, Queue Storage, Table Storage and Managed Disks compared simply, with when to use each, interview questions and AZ-900 practice.
  27. 27 Storage Redundancy: LRS, ZRS, GRS, GZRS Azure Storage redundancy explained with an animation: LRS, ZRS, GRS, GZRS and read-access options, durability and when to use each.
  28. 28 AzCopy, Storage Explorer and Azure File Sync AzCopy, Azure Storage Explorer and Azure File Sync compared: how to move and sync files with Azure Storage, with examples and AZ-900 practice.
  29. 29 Azure Migrate and Azure Data Box Azure Migrate and Azure Data Box explained: discovering, assessing and migrating workloads, and moving huge data offline, with AZ-900 practice.
  30. 30 Azure SQL, SQL Managed Instance and Cosmos DB · beyond the exam Azure database options compared: SQL Database, SQL Managed Instance, SQL Server on VMs and Cosmos DB, with when to use each. Beyond the AZ-900 exam.
  31. 31 Microsoft Entra ID and Entra Domain Services Microsoft Entra ID and Entra Domain Services explained: cloud identity, sign-in, SSO, sync with Active Directory and managed domains, with AZ-900 practice.
  32. 32 Authentication: SSO, MFA and Passwordless Single sign-on, multifactor authentication and passwordless sign-in in Azure explained with examples, interview questions and AZ-900 practice.
  33. 33 External Identities External identities in Azure explained: B2B guest collaboration and customer sign-in with Microsoft Entra External ID, with examples and AZ-900 practice.
  34. 34 Conditional Access Microsoft Entra Conditional Access explained with an animation: signals, decisions, common policies, examples, interview questions and AZ-900 practice.
  35. 35 Azure Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) Azure role-based access control explained: security principals, roles, scopes, inheritance and least privilege, with examples and AZ-900 practice.
  36. 36 Zero Trust The Zero Trust security model explained: verify explicitly, use least privilege, assume breach, with an animation, examples and AZ-900 practice.
  37. 37 Defense in Depth The defense-in-depth model explained with layers from physical to data, an animation, Azure controls for each layer and AZ-900 practice.
  38. 38 Microsoft Defender for Cloud Microsoft Defender for Cloud explained: secure score, recommendations and threat protection across Azure, on-premises and other clouds, with AZ-900 practice.