How did I pass the Microsoft AZ-103: Azure Administrator Exam with 82% with limited windows experience?
Today I passed the AZ -103 with 820/1000 marks. Just thought of sharing my experience with the exam and the tools and methods I used to study for the exam.
Just to give you a little bit of background about me, I am from a Telecommunications Engineering background with experience in System Administration (predominantly Linux) and Networking ( I have done my CCNA way back in 2010). The point is that my experience with Microsoft is low.
So, with the cloud craze, I was evaluating the options that I have. Since everyone is doing the AWS first, and Microsoft is aggressively focussing on the cloud with faster growth, ( I personally believe they will get closer in 2020) thought of giving Azure a try first.
So I started studying for the exam. Given that this is the first cloud exam that I was doing and my limited experience with the windows infrastructure echo system (though I am an avid windows desktop user) most of the concepts were new to me. However, the below resources helped me immensely to grasp the core concepts of cloud as well as prepare for the AZ 103 Exam.
Study Material
1. My Short note
The good news is that I am sharing this with all of you in word format so that not only you can refer to it, but also you can improve it further.
This was my primary “ external” source of study. (Because my note was my primary source) This series was very easy to follow and the explanations were crystal clear. Mahesh Khulbe, who’s the presenter did a fantastic job. This was my primary source of study. However, note that the final few chapters were not uploaded by the time I finished my studying.
3. Udemy Courses
The moment I decided to do this exam, I went ahead and purchased these two courses from Udemy. Each has its pros and cons.
This is the source I referred to when I have doubts about a specific area. At the end of the day, this is the single source of truth.
This was a good resource to try out the concepts that I have learned. However, in addition to this, I followed through all the labs that were covered in the above sources 1–4.
5. YouTube
I referred to YouTube a lot during my studies.
Before Exam
One week before the exam, I downloaded the official course outline and went through all the material that I referred to during my studying phase, by each topic. This really solidified my retention and gave me confidence that I am thorough with all the topics.
Exam
My initial preference was to do the exam at the study center. However, the available time slots for the exams, obtaining leave, traveling to the city, arrange to park, spending time in the traffic made me decide to do the exam at my office.
I selected the timeslot of 5.15 am since at that time there won’t be anyone in the office.
The exam covered almost all areas. I didn’t get any simulations questions even though I was looking forward to ace them. 😞 Completed the exam in 1 hr and 15 minutes and got 820/1000.
Please ensure that you abide by all the examination guidelines. Once, I reached to the heater to take it closer to me (Since it was early in the morning, it was really cold) and the proctor quickly reached out to me from the interface and asked what I was doing. I had to turn my laptop and show him the heater.
So if you have any specific questions or clarifications, please don’t hesitate to contact me via lwayaw@gmail.com.