The Ultimate AZ-303 Azure Architect Technologies Study Guide

The NEW AZ-303 exam was released on June 30th 2020 (beta), and this guide now reflects those updates to the new improved curriculum. The previous version of this exam (AZ-300) is still available but expected to be retired at the end of September. This guide focuses on all the specific information you need to know to pass your AZ-303 exam. It also covers links to training courses, books and other content you can use to perfect your study approach. Lastly, we also include links to practice exams and cover typical questions Azure students have as they embark upon their first adventures into Microsoft Azure.  

If you are completely unsure where to begin in your certification journey, make sure to check out our post on certification paths. 

If you like this guide, be sure to check out our other Azure Study Guides

What is the Azure Solutions Architect Expert Certification? 

The Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification is the most desired certification by many Cloud professionals. It is a difficult certification to attain and requires significant study, as well as experience in IT. Experienced IT experts with knowledge of cloud infrastructure and services: networking, storage, compute, governance, identity, security, data management, DevOps etc are the targets for this certification. 

In order to take and pass these exams, you must be able to not only administer the Azure environment but advise your customers on direction based on their specific objectives and business environments. Achieving this certification implies that you are able to take customer requirements and translate them into solutions based on best practices and experience.   

Which exams do I need to take? AZ300 vs 301 vs 303 vs 304? 

With all the changes recently, it may be a bit complicated to determine which exams you need to take. The old exams were AZ-300 and AZ-301, and the new exams are AZ-303 and AZ-304. The exams were and are still broken out into 2 major stages. You need 1 exam completed from each stage to attain the certification. 

Stage 1: Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies: 

Exams Options: 

  • AZ-300 (OLD)

  • AZ-303 (NEW) 

This stage of the certification focuses on making sure you have all the hands-on engineering experience to work in an Azure environment. This will then help you to make intelligent design decisions in the next stage since you will have deep knowledge of how the various Azure services work. 

Stage 2: Microsoft Azure Architect Design 

Exams Options: 

  • AZ-301 (OLD) 

  • AZ-304 (NEW) 

This stage of the certification now shifts towards key design decisions you will need to make in the real world as you architect solutions with your application teams. The questions here are less around hands on configuration and more around real world scenarios. 

Taking and passing an exam from stage 1 and stage 2 will earn you the certification badge. Note that it is currently possible to mix and match the new exams with the old. For example, you can take AZ-300 and AZ-304, or AZ-303 plus AZ-301. It may seem a bit confusing, but Microsoft did this to allow people who have already passed one of the old exams to combine it with the new.  

If you are just starting out today, then your best route is to likely go for the AZ-303 and AZ-304 combination.  

This remainder of this study guide will focus on the AZ-303 exam. 

AZ-303 Exam Description

Before we begin, let’s look at the exam description as indicated by Microsoft on their AZ-303 site.

" Candidates for this exam should have subject matter expertise in designing and implementing solutions that run on Microsoft Azure, including aspects like compute, network, storage, and security. 

Responsibilities for an Azure Solution Architect 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. 

A candidate for this exam should have advanced experience and knowledge of IT operations, including networking, virtualization, identity, security, business continuity, disaster recovery, data platform, budgeting, and governance–this role should manage how decisions in each area affect an overall solution. In addition, this role should have expert-level skills in Azure administration and have experience with Azure development and DevOps processes.” 

How long does it take to study for the AZ-303 exam? 

The AZ-303, is an EXPERT level certification. The curriculum has grown considerably from its early days, and you should be prepared to put some time in to your preparation. Before we discuss timing, think about how the exam is broken out. The AZ-303 test as of June 2020, covers 4 major areas as follows: 

  • Implement and monitor an Azure infrastructure (50-55%) 

  • Implement management and security solutions (25-30%) 

  • Implement solutions for apps (10-15%) 

  • Implement and manage data platforms (10-15%) 

The percentages indicated above give you an indication on how the test is broken out. This means, you should expect around 50-55% of your questions to focus on describing core Azure services. Take note of sections 1 and 2. Those sections alone can account for upwards of 80% of the entire exam curriculum. 

How hard is the AZ-303 exam?

The AZ-303 exam is a very difficult exam! You should go into the exam expecting multiple types of questions. Multiple choice, scenarios, labs etc. One key is not to be overwhelmed as you get into the exam. You will have lots of questions to go through and you can often come back to questions you didn’t fully grasp at first. Make extra sure to get hands on experience by following along with the demos and trying things out for yourself in your own lab. If you are looking for ways to keep your costs down while learning Azure, check out this article

AZ-303 Training Calendar 

Coming soon- We will put together a training calendar that indicates a sample study approach for you to follow. Expect to spend a significant amount of time in your preparation. On average many students spend 6+ months on their preparation and try to combine this with as much real world experience as they can get hold of. 

 

What is the pass mark for the AZ-303 test?

Microsoft certification exams are scored out of 1000. You need a 700 or higher to pass the AZ-303 exam and gain your Azure Expert Badge.  

How do I take the AZ-303 test?

Once you have completed your preparation, you will need to schedule your test online. Under normal circumstances you would take your test at a test center or online, but currently with the Covid-19 situation, only online testing is available. You can find details about the online test centers at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/certifications/exams/az-303 

Is the AZ-303 Azure exam worth taking? 

Absolutely! Ideally you will go on to take your AZ-304 exam as well to attain your certification badge and prove your skills to the world. Even if certification is not your goal, you will gain an incredible amount of experience learning Azure at a deep level that will help you in your current job, or perhaps the next move in your career. 

Does the AZ-303 exam expire?

The AZ-303 and AZ-304 exams will typically need to be renewed every 18 months. Microsoft will from time to time retire certifications however, and you may also find exam numbers evolve over time (this is what happened with the previous exam numbers now becoming 303/304) when Microsoft changes the curriculum substantially for the certification.  

AZ-303 Study Material 

Are you ready to do this? Are you committed? You won’t regret it. Let’s look at all the study material available. 

AZ-303 Certification Course

The Skylines Academy AZ-303 training course released in June 2020 now has hours of video content which focuses on the exam curriculum. The course is broken out into the following sections to match up with the Microsoft curriculum.  

  • Understand Azure Active Directory (AD) and Subscriptions 

  • Implement Virtual Networking 

  • Implement Virtual Machines for Windows and Linux 

  • Create and Manage Storage Accounts

  • Deploy Automation and Configure Resources 

  • Implement Azure AD 

  • Implement and Manage Hybrid Identities 

  • Configure Cloud Infrastructure Monitoring 

  • Implement and Manage Governance Solutions 

  • Implement Load Balancing and Network Security 

  • Manage Security for Applications 

  • Implement an Application Infrastructure 

  • Deploy Container-based Applications 

  • Implement and Manage Data Platforms 

This is the most structured way to work through the curriculum as it combines lectures with walkthrough demos so you can learn about the topic before seeing how it is implemented. 

In addition to the training videos, lab guides and practice questions (coming end of July), as well as the PowerShell and Azure CLI Administrators Guides will help solidify your knowledge. 

Study links and documents

Now for the major pieces of reading material. Below you will find all the links to relevant Skylines Academy blog posts and Microsoft documentation to cover the key topics. Consider all the links below essential reading for the exam unless they are marked as optional. Even if they are marked as optional, consider reading them to further clarify the subject matter and help you continue your learning path beyond the architect certification. 

  • Implement and monitor an Azure infrastructure (50-55%) 

Microsoft Docs AZ-303 study guide resources 

One thing I always used to prepare for my Microsoft exams is Microsoft Docs. Here are the relevant Microsoft Docs which I used to prepare and study for the AZ-303 exam. 

Implement and Monitor an Azure Infrastructure (50-55%) 

Implement cloud infrastructure monitoring 

Implement storage accounts 

Implement VMs for Windows and Linux 

Automate deployment and configuration of resources 

 

Implement virtual networking 

Implement Azure Active Directory 

  • configure user accounts for MFA 

 

Implement and manage hybrid identities 

  • Implement management and security solutions (25-30%) 

Manage workloads in Azure 

Implement load balancing and network security 

Implement and manage Azure governance solutions 

Manage security for applications 

 

  • Implement solutions for apps (10-15%) 

Implement an application infrastructure 

 

Implement container-based applications 

 

  • Implement and manage data platforms (10-15%) 

Implement NoSQL databases 

Implement Azure SQL databases 

GETTING HELP?

Make sure to join the Azure Study Group on Facebook and ask questions if you get stuck at all. Thousands of people are preparing to take this exam and there’s nothing better than helping each other out? 

 

Good luck!