Azure Study Resources Guide¶
Consolidated Azure study resources referenced across the Microsoft Azure certifications in this repo. Use this as the central hub when preparing for any Azure certification.
Official Microsoft Resources¶
Documentation and learning paths¶
- 📖 Microsoft Learn - Free official learning paths and modules
- 📖 Microsoft Learn Certifications - Cert pages, study guides, exam prep
- 📖 Azure Documentation - Authoritative service docs
- 📖 Azure Architecture Center - Reference architectures and patterns
- 📖 Cloud Adoption Framework - Migration / governance methodology
- 📖 Azure Well-Architected Framework - Reliability, security, cost, ops, performance
Blogs¶
- Azure Blog - Product launches and feature updates
- Azure Architecture Blog
- Azure DevOps Blog
- Microsoft Security Blog
- Azure SQL Blog
Video and event content¶
- Microsoft Build sessions
- Microsoft Ignite sessions
- Microsoft Mechanics on YouTube
- Azure Friday on YouTube
Hands-on Practice¶
Free / low-cost lab environments¶
- Azure Free Account - $200 credit for 30 days + always-free tier
- Microsoft Learn Sandbox - Free hands-on environments embedded in learning modules (no credit card)
- Azure for Students - $100 credit, no credit card
Commercial lab platforms¶
- A Cloud Guru / Pluralsight - sandbox accounts, broad catalog
- WhizLabs - practice exams + labs
- Cloud Academy - hands-on labs and learning paths
- MeasureUp - the official Microsoft practice test partner
Building your own¶
- Use ARM templates, Bicep, or Terraform to spin up + tear down lab environments
- Set Cost alerts before you start
Practice Exams¶
| Provider | Strength | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| MeasureUp Official Practice Test | Microsoft's official partner; closest to the real exam | $90-130 |
| Whizlabs | Volume of questions, cheap | $10-20 per cert |
| Tutorials Dojo / Jon Bonso | Quality explanations (he covers Azure too now) | $15-30 |
| Scott Duffy / Tim Warner (Udemy) | Often bundled with video courses | varies |
| ExamTopics | Free but quality varies; treat as supplementary | free |
Aim for 80%+ on the same practice exam twice in a row before scheduling.
Video Courses¶
- Scott Duffy (Udemy) - popular for AZ-104, AZ-204, AZ-305, AZ-500
- Tim Warner (Pluralsight, his own site) - deep AZ-104, AZ-305 content
- John Savill (YouTube) - free, exam-aligned cram videos for almost every Azure cert
- A Cloud Guru / Pluralsight - broad catalog
- Microsoft Learn - free official courses
John Savill's exam-prep playlists are widely considered the best free resource for AZ-104, AZ-204, AZ-305, AZ-500, AI-102, DP-203, etc.
Communities¶
- r/AZURE - active study + general discussion
- r/AzureCertification - cert-focused
- Microsoft Q&A - official Q&A platform
- Microsoft Tech Community - blog + forums
- John Savill Discord (linked from his YouTube channel)
Cost-Optimization for Lab Use¶
- Activate the $200 free credit at start of prep; budget so it lasts the full 30 days.
- Tag every resource with
cert:<exam-code>. - Use Cost alerts at $25 / $50 / $100.
- Tear down resources after every lab session (RGs make this easy: delete the RG).
- Prefer Spot VMs for compute-heavy labs.
- Use B-series burstable VMs for cheap always-on labs.
- See Azure Cost Optimization Guide.
Repo Cross-References¶
- Azure CLI Cheat Sheet
- Azure Well-Architected Notes
- Azure Cost Optimization
- Azure Troubleshooting
- On-Prem to Azure Migration
- Service Comparisons (cross-cloud)
- Practice Resources (cross-vendor)
Last reviewed: 2026-04. Microsoft Learn URLs are stable; if a link breaks, search for the title text in learn.microsoft.com.