Study room

Exam Plan

AZ-104 Exam Plan, Vouchers, Logistics, and How to Get Back to These Files

Saved 2026-09-03 from the session that built this study set, so nothing from our conversation is lost when we close out.

Section 1: The 14-Day Plan (4 hours/day, tuned for your background)

You are an experienced Azure infra engineer, so much of the material is review. The plan aims to hit 48-56 hours of prep, which is the sweet spot for someone at your level per Microsoft's own guidance (40-80 hours prep for AZ-104).

| Day | 4-hour block | |---|---| | 1 | Read 01-identity-governance.md end-to-end (50 questions). Skim MS Learn "Manage identities and governance" path, skipping modules you know cold. | | 2 | Do MS Learn Domain 1 sandbox labs (RBAC, Policy). Cover the 10 identity flashcards in 07-FLASHCARDS.md. | | 3 | Read 04-networking.md end-to-end (50 questions). | | 4 | Do MS Learn Domain 4 labs (VNet, peering, NSG, LB). Do lab 15 (traffic management) from the GitHub AZ-104 lab repo end-to-end. | | 5 | Read 03-compute.md end-to-end (50 questions). Do GitHub lab 09 (VMs) + lab 10 (VMSS). | | 6 | Read 02-storage.md end-to-end (48 questions). Do GitHub lab 06 (storage) + lab 08 (Files + Sync). | | 7 | Read 05-monitoring.md end-to-end (45 questions). Take the free Microsoft practice assessment (linked in 06-REFERENCES.md). Note your score by domain. | | 8 | Re-drill your weakest domain from the practice assessment. Watch John Savill AZ-104 study cram video on YouTube (skim if solid, deep-drill weak sections). | | 9 | Do GitHub lab 16 (Firewall) + lab 17 (VPN). Cover the 10 networking flashcards. | | 10 | Do GitHub lab 19 (Monitor) + lab 20 (Backup). Cover the 10 monitoring flashcards. | | 11 | Second practice test (MeasureUp AZ-104 recommended, ~US$100). Aim for consistent 80%+. | | 12 | Drill all 50 flashcards cold. Any card you miss, re-read the source question in the domain file. | | 13 | Third practice test. Review misses only. Rest early. | | 14 | Exam day. Book late morning local time (fresh but not too early). |

Range interpretation

  • 12 days (48 hrs) if practice tests consistently hit 80%+ by day 10. Compress review days.
  • 14 days (56 hrs) if practice tests hover at 70-75%. Use the extra 8 hours to re-drill.
  • Under 10 days is risky, even at your level, because the exam's "which pattern does Microsoft prefer" bias and the plane-confusion traps (Entra role vs Azure role) require deliberate flashcard-style memorization that only comes with time.

Section 2: Vouchers and How to Save Money

Standard voucher price

  • AZ-104 exam voucher: US$165 (US pricing; slightly varies by country)
  • Buy via https://learn.microsoft.com/credentials/certifications/exams/az-104/ (Schedule with Pearson VUE button)

Ways to get 50% off (or free)

1. Microsoft Cloud Skills Challenge events. Periodic (usually quarterly) Microsoft campaigns like "Microsoft Reactor Skills Challenge" or "Ignite Cloud Skills Challenge." Complete required Learn modules and get a 50% off voucher (US$82.50 for AZ-104). Watch https://developer.microsoft.com/offers and follow @MicrosoftLearn on LinkedIn. 2. Microsoft events (Ignite, Build). In-person attendees often receive a free exam voucher. Virtual attendees sometimes get discount codes. 3. Employer benefits. Many employers reimburse Microsoft certifications OR have a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement that includes exam vouchers. Ask HR / IT training coordinator. 4. Microsoft Partner Network. If your company is a Microsoft Partner (Silver / Gold / Solutions Partner), the partner benefits typically include exam vouchers. 5. Free retake. Buy "Exam Replay" bundle (about US$70 extra when you first schedule) which gives you one free retake if you fail the first attempt. Statistically worth it if you are cutting it close on practice tests.

Cost budget (worst case, no discounts)

| Item | Cost | |---|---| | Exam voucher (US pricing) | US$165 | | MeasureUp practice test (highly recommended, one attempt) | ~US$100 | | Optional Exam Replay (one free retake) | ~US$70 | | Everything else in this study plan (MS Learn labs, official practice, John Savill videos, this study set) | US$0 | | Total worst case | ~US$335 | | Total with 50% voucher + no retake bundle | ~US$182 |

Section 3: Exam Scheduling and Format

Where to schedule

Once you have a voucher: https://learn.microsoft.com/credentials/certifications/exams/az-104/ > Schedule exam. Handled by Pearson VUE. You will pick either online proctored (from home) or test center.

Online proctored vs test center

| Factor | Online proctored | Test center | |---|---|---| | Convenience | High (from your desk) | Lower (drive to center) | | Environment control | You control it (quiet, lighting, tech) | Center controls it | | Failure mode | Tech issues (webcam, connection) can void an attempt | Rare | | ID + room scan | Yes, before start | Yes at reception | | Bathroom breaks | Not allowed (exam clock keeps running) | Not allowed | | Bathroom penalty | Same on both | | Best for | Solid home setup, quiet room, reliable internet | If home is noisy or you find test centers less stressful |

Format reminders (already in 00-INDEX.md)

  • 40 to 60 questions
  • About 100 minutes
  • Passing score 700 of 1000 (scaled)
  • Case studies present 5-7 questions on the same scenario; you cannot return to a case study once you exit. Answer all case study questions before moving on.
  • Non-case-study questions allow mark-for-review + navigation.

Exam day tech check (online proctored)

Run the Pearson VUE system test 24 hours before: https://home.pearsonvue.com/microsoft/onvue > System Test.

You will need:

  • Government photo ID (name must match your Microsoft Learn profile exactly)
  • Webcam + microphone
  • Reliable internet (min 3 Mbps up + down; ethernet preferred)
  • Quiet, private room (no other people, no phones, no notebooks, no second monitor unless disabled)
  • Cleared desk (no papers, no drinks, no snacks)
  • Water in a clear glass label removed is usually permitted but confirm on the Pearson VUE rules page

If you fail

  • Wait 24 hours, then reschedule (first retake). Subsequent retakes require 14-day waits.
  • Max 5 attempts per exam per 12 months.
  • Score report shows per-domain performance so you know where to focus.
  • If you bought Exam Replay bundle, first retake is free.

Section 4: What Shortens vs Lengthens Your Timeline

Things that shorten (all apply to you based on your prompt)

  • Strong PowerShell Az fluency: saves 4-6 hrs of syntax memorization
  • Prior work with RBAC + Entra + NSGs: saves 8-10 hrs of concept learning
  • Prior ExpressRoute + S2S VPN production experience: saves 4-6 hrs on networking
  • Storage account + File Sync in production: saves 3-4 hrs

Things that lengthen (assess honestly)

  • New material for AZ-104 that isn't in your day job:
  • Bicep syntax (if you use ARM JSON or Terraform, allocate 2-3 hrs)
  • Container Apps (2 hrs)
  • Azure Files identity-based auth details (2 hrs, three paths + Entra Kerberos)
  • RSV vs Backup Vault distinction (1 hr, mostly a memorize)
  • KQL beyond basic project/where/summarize (2-3 hrs if you have not written KQL)
  • Update Manager specifics (1 hr, mostly review since you know patching)
  • Case study format anxiety: worth doing at least one FULL TIMED practice test to acclimate to the pacing.
  • Test-taking style: if you second-guess and change answers, budget an extra day for flashcard drilling. First-instinct answerers usually match their practice test scores; second-guessers usually drop 5-10 points on the real exam.

Section 5: Confidence Assessment (my honest read)

Given your background + 4 hrs/day + this study set, a 14-day plan lands you at exam-ready with margin. Ten days is achievable but tight if you test well and do not second-guess.

The single biggest predictor of pass/fail is not your Azure knowledge (you have it), it is:

1. Whether you memorized the trap surface (the 50 flashcards) 2. Whether you can name the Microsoft-preferred pattern between two correct-looking answers (see "What the exam prefers" in 06-REFERENCES.md section 8) 3. Whether you can distinguish Entra roles from Azure RBAC roles by NAME ALONE

If you can do those three cold on day 13, book the exam.

Section 6: HOW TO GET BACK TO THESE FILES

Straight answer: this is not a web page. These files live on the ubuntu server that hosts OB, at this path:

/home/ubuntu/study/az104/

There are 8 markdown files:

00-INDEX.md
01-identity-governance.md
02-storage.md
03-compute.md
04-networking.md
05-monitoring.md
06-REFERENCES.md
07-FLASHCARDS.md
08-EXAM-PLAN-AND-ACCESS.md   <-- this file

Option A: SSH in and read them directly

The moment-to-moment way, if you are already at a terminal:

# List all files
ls -la /home/ubuntu/study/az104/


Read one with paging (space to page, q to quit)

less /home/ubuntu/study/az104/07-FLASHCARDS.md


Or just print

cat /home/ubuntu/study/az104/00-INDEX.md

Option B: View them nicely rendered in VS Code (recommended)

If you use VS Code with the Remote-SSH extension: 1. Open VS Code 2. Cmd+Shift+P > "Remote-SSH: Connect to Host" > your ubuntu server 3. Cmd+O > /home/ubuntu/study/az104/ 4. Open any .md file 5. Cmd+K then V opens the Markdown preview panel with rendered formatting, clickable links, and tables

Option C: Push to GitHub for browser + phone access (recommended for portability)

Best option if you want to study on your phone or laptop away from the server:

# Create a private GitHub repo (do this ONCE, on github.com)

Then, from the ubuntu server:

cd /tmp
git clone --no-checkout <your-empty-repo-url> az104-study
cd az104-study
git --git-dir=.git --work-tree=/home/ubuntu/study/az104 checkout HEAD .


Or simpler: initialize a fresh repo from just the study folder

cd /home/ubuntu/study/az104
git init --separate-git-dir=/tmp/az104_studygit
git remote add origin [email protected]:<yourname>/az104-study.git
git add .
git commit -m "AZ-104 study set"
git push -u origin main

Then read on any device at github.com/<yourname>/az104-study (private repo, only you can see). GitHub renders markdown beautifully including tables and doc links.

Option D: Copy the whole folder to your laptop (simplest offline backup)

From your laptop terminal:

# scp everything down (replace <server> with the ubuntu hostname/IP)
scp -r ubuntu@<server>:/home/ubuntu/study/az104 ~/Documents/


Or rsync (better for incremental updates if we add more later)

rsync -avz ubuntu@<server>:/home/ubuntu/study/az104/ ~/Documents/az104/

Then open the folder in VS Code, Obsidian, iA Writer, Bear, or any markdown viewer on your laptop.

Option E: A tar bundle you can email to yourself

Absolutely simplest, one command:

tar czf /tmp/az104-study.tar.gz -C /home/ubuntu/study az104

Then scp /tmp/az104-study.tar.gz down, or upload to Google Drive, or attach to an email

Extracts on any system to a folder of markdown files.

Option F: Would you like a web view inside OB?

Not built. It would need a new Flask route (something like /admin/az104-study/<file>) that renders these markdown files. You told me not to touch OB app files for this task, so I did not build it. If you want that in a future session, say the word and I will add:

  • A read-only admin route (fuveges-only or Premium Plus gate)
  • Markdown rendering with syntax highlighting
  • A table of contents sidebar
  • Direct linking to specific questions or flashcards

Not doing it unprompted.

Section 7: What Happens If We Close This Session

Zero risk of losing anything from this session.

Everything is committed to git on the ubuntu server:

  • Commit f8384b80a - initial 143-question study set (6 files)
  • Commit bfded04be - +100 scenarios + REFERENCES map + inline doc links
  • Commit b2d7ae118 - +50 flashcards
  • Commit <this one> - this exam plan file

You can verify anytime with: 

cd /home/ubuntu && git log --oneline -- study/az104/

To roll everything back if you ever want to (you will not): 

git -C /home/ubuntu revert <commit-hash> --no-edit

Session-only ephemera that is NOT preserved unless captured somewhere durable:

  • Our chat conversation history (Claude sessions do not persist by default)
  • Any specific troubleshooting I did that did not land in a file

Everything I said in chat that mattered for your exam prep (the 14-day plan, voucher tactics, cost breakdown, confidence assessment, access instructions) is captured in THIS file. So closing the session is safe.

Section 8: Session Context (for Future Me)

If a new session picks this back up:

  • Task ID: #260903-2224-AZ104Study
  • Session ID (cca_logger): 695
  • Reference background: experienced Azure infra engineer (Entra ID, CA, App Proxy, RBAC, VNets/NSGs/route tables, ExpressRoute, S2S VPN, storage/File Sync, Azure Monitor, PowerShell Az)
  • Recommended prep time: 4 hours/day
  • Target timeline: 14 days from start
  • Scope lock: create new files only under study/az104/, no touches to OB app, not wired into Flask, no PROD deploy

Files created this session:

| File | Purpose | |---|---| | 00-INDEX.md | TOC, weights, study order | | 01-identity-governance.md | 30 core + 20 scenario Q | | 02-storage.md | 28 core + 20 scenario Q | | 03-compute.md | 30 core + 20 scenario Q | | 04-networking.md | 30 core + 20 scenario Q | | 05-monitoring.md | 25 core + 20 scenario Q | | 06-REFERENCES.md | Azure super-power reference map | | 07-FLASHCARDS.md | 50 flashcards for the trickiest questions | | 08-EXAM-PLAN-AND-ACCESS.md | This file: plan, vouchers, logistics, access |

Total: 243 questions + 50 flashcards + 1 reference file + 1 exam plan file.

Rules honored across the whole session: zero em dashes anywhere, zero en dashes anywhere, canonical Microsoft doc URLs only (no fabricated deep links), no OB app file touched, one commit per logical change, session logged to cca_activity.db and work log at /home/ubuntu/work_logs/20260903_2244_AZ104Study.md.