Not only am I absolutely full of I.T., but I’m also certifiable! I’ve been earning Microsoft Certifications of one flavor or another since 1994, when I became an MCP on Windows 3.11 (“Windows for Workgroups”). And recently I set myself a goal to become certified on all things Azure.
“What certifications are available for Azure?”
There are three main tests that you can take and pass to get Azure certifications; one for developers(70-532), one for implementers (70-533), and one for architects (70-534). There are also two related tests focusing on proving your knowledge of designing and implementing cloud data platforms (70-473) and designing and implementing big data solutions (70-475). My goal for now is to pass all of those first three, and maybe later consider the others.
“How’s it going?”
A couple of years ago I took and passed the 70-533, but that was back when Azure was all “Service Manager” style, in the old “classic” portal. A whole lot has changed since then, so I think eventually I’d like to take that one again to prove I know the newer stuff. And then again about 6 months later. (sigh)
A couple of weeks ago I took and passed the 70-534.
Tomorrow (Tuesday 9/19/2017) I’ll be taking and passing the 70-532. I feel pretty ready for it.
“What did you do to study for it?”
That’s why I am writing this article! I wanted to share with you some resources I am using, in case you might want to go down this path yourselves. There are some really good links to resources on the 70-532 page, and excellent documentation on the Azure site. I carefully watched the provided video overviews, walked through the outline of what is on the test, and read the documentation for those area. When applicable, of course, I tried things out in Azure directly. I found good step-by-step guides that helped me through that process as well.
In the video overview (excellently done for Microsoft Virtual Academy by Brian Swiger), Brian shares a summary of the topics covered on the test, and in his presentation provides links to the related documentation. You have to get the PowerPoint of his presentation to have access to the URLs, so that’s what I did.
In fact, to close out this article, and again for anyone of you interested in taking and possibly passing this exam, I’ll copy/paste those links for you here. It’s a lot, but if you read and understand this documentation, and maybe focus on the areas you’re not as familiar with, you’ll have a good start at mastering the topic.
Exam Topics and Details
Virtual Machines
Run a Windows VM on Azure
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/reference-architectures/virtual-machines-windows/single-vm
Create and Manage Windows VMs with the Azure PowerShell
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/windows/tutorial-manage-vm
Create and deploy your first Azure Resource Manager template
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-resource-manager/resource-manager-create-first-template
Windows VMSS and Desired State Configuration with Azure Resource Manager templates
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/windows/extensions-dsc-template
Upload a generalized VHD and use it to create new VMs in Azure
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/windows/upload-generalized-managed
Manage the availability of Windows virtual machines in Azure
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/windows/manage-availability
How to use availability sets
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/windows/tutorial-availability-sets
Azure Storage replication
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/common/storage-redundancy
Azure Storage Scalability and Performance Targets
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/common/storage-scalability-targets
About Azure storage accounts
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/common/storage-create-storage-account
High-performance Premium Storage and managed disks for VMs
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/common/storage-premium-storage
Filter network traffic with network security groups
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-network/virtual-networks-nsg
User-defined routes and IP forwarding
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-network/virtual-networks-udr-overview
Microsoft cloud services and network security
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/best-practices-network-security#dmz-characteristics-and-requirements
What are virtual machine scale sets in Azure?
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machine-scale-sets/virtual-machine-scale-sets-overview
Storage
Understanding Block Blobs, Append Blobs, and Page Blobs
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/rest/api/storageservices/Understanding-Block-Blobs–Append-Blobs–and-Page-Blobs
Get started with Azure Queue storage using .NET
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/queues/storage-dotnet-how-to-use-queues
What are Azure SQL Database service tiers
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/sql-database/sql-database-service-tiers
Scale out databases with the shard map manager
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/sql-database/sql-database-elastic-scale-shard-map-management
Azure Storage Service Encryption for Data at Rest
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/common/storage-service-encryption
Create an Azure Search index
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/search/search-what-is-an-index
Upload data to Azure Search
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/search/search-what-is-data-import
How to page search results in Azure Search
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/search/search-pagination-page-layout
Introduction to the Azure Redis Cache Premium tier
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/redis-cache/cache-premium-tier-intro
How to configure data persistence for a Premium Azure Redis Cache
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/redis-cache/cache-how-to-premium-persistence
How to configure Redis clustering for a Premium Azure Redis Cache
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/redis-cache/cache-how-to-premium-clustering
Caching
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/best-practices/caching
Web and Mobile
What is Application Insights?
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/application-insights/app-insights-overview
An introduction to Azure Functions
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-functions/functions-overview
Identity and Networks
What is Azure Active Directory?
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/active-directory-whatis
Azure AD B2C: Focus on your app, let us worry about sign-up and sign-in
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory-b2c/active-directory-b2c-overview
What is Azure AD B2B collaboration?
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/active-directory-b2b-what-is-azure-ad-b2b
Other Resources
Study Groups
https://borntolearn.mslearn.net/
Microsoft Azure Documentation
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/index
MeasureUp (Practice Tests for Sale)
http://www.measureup.com/70-532-Developing-Microsoft-Azure-Solutions-P5566.aspx
edX Course / Labs
https://www.edx.org/course/developing-microsoft-azure-solutions-microsoft-dev233-2
Microsoft Official Curriculum Course 20532C: Developing Microsoft Azure Solutions
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/course.aspx?cid=20532
—
Are you certifiable like me? Leave a comment or question.
And check back here for the update Tuesday afternoon (9/19/2017) on whether or not I passed.
Thanks for sharing. Up next when I’m done with AWS.
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Cool! Where is the best place to start with AWS? I think I might start down that path now, too.
Cheers!
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Hi Kevin,
If the certifications you receive help demonstrate your skills to potential employers/clients, why don’t you list them on your résumé on this site?
Kirk
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Absolutely! Actually, my original resume had all of my certifications listed.. but it was a long and annoying list; at least where I had it positioned in the document. I have been meaning to add it back, maybe just before or after the Education section.
Thanks for the reminder!
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