Category: Microsoft Learn

Start your Azure Certification today with easy steps 1..2..3

Theย #tokyoolympics2021ย is over – so you can start your ownย #certificationย Olympics withย Microsoftย Azure forย #freeย ๐Ÿ’ช๐Ÿšดโ€โ™‚๏ธ๐Ÿšดโ€โ™€๏ธ

How to get your Azure & Data Fundamentals (AZ-900 + DP-900) โ‰๐Ÿค”

(Attention:ย you could get aย free training + Azure exam voucherย by the end of this article)

Microsoft Azure is one of the fastest growing cloud solution providers in the world. It has an “Azure Fundamentals” certification – an entry level cloud certification. Candidates for this exam (AZ-900) should have foundational knowledge of cloud services and how those services are provided with Microsoft Azure.

Azure Fundamentals exam is an opportunity to prove knowledge of cloud concepts, core Azure services, Azure pricing, SLA, and lifecycle, and the fundamentals of cloud security, privacy, compliance, and trust.

Are you excited to start your Azure study?

Check these absolutely free resources below and get ready for this exam then ๐Ÿ™‚

Well, next step will be the exam registration, that has a $99 cost in the USA. You could take this exam online, proctored through Pearson VUE or other exam providers.

I have a good news for you – for limited time, Microsoft generously provides complementary exam vouchers for its virtual event attendees. Thank you Microsoft for empowering people on their #cloudjourney!

After completing one of these free training below, youโ€™ll be eligible to take theย Microsoft Azure Fundamentals certification examย at no cost.

Updated with new #free training opportunities + exam

First Option (AZ-900): After completing one of the free training below, youโ€™ll be eligible to take the Microsoft Azure Fundamentals certification exam at no cost.

Second Option (DP-900): Completion of a free Data training below, will make you eligible to take the  Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals certification exam at no cost.

Well, don’t look further, just register and guarantee your spot for this event and receive your complementary voucher after the event.

Hopefully, these tips will be an encouragement wave to start your #cloudjourney.

FแดสŸสŸแดแดก แดแด‡ ๐ŸŽฏ แด€ษดแด… become แด€ย #cloudmarathonerย โ›…๐Ÿƒโ€โ™‚๏ธ๐Ÿƒโ€โ™€๏ธ – ๐‹๐„๐“’๐’ ๐‚๐Ž๐๐๐„๐‚๐“ ๐Ÿ‘

Good Luck in your first steps!

New four services added to “Azure free services” catalog

Hi Cloud Marathoner friends!

Who would resist to learn Azure cloud and utilize free services that have been annnces this month?

Yes, you have read this correct, there are 4 more servics added to exisiting 25+ always free and 12 months set of free products, up to the monthly limits. 

Those services are listed on the infographic:

โœ”๏ธ Azure Key Vault
โœ”๏ธ Azure Database for PostreSQL
โœ”๏ธ Azure Media Services
โœ”๏ธ Azure Database for MySQL

Have you used these new services in your labs or projects yet?
If not, that is okay. Here is the brief description what you can do with these services listed above:

Azure Key Vault – helps teams to securely store and manage sensitive information such as keys, passwords, certificates, etc., in a centralized storage which are safeguarded by industry-standard algorithms, key lengths, and even hardware security modules.

Azure Database for PostreSQL – with Azure you can run your  PostgreSQL Server workloads in a hosted virtual machine infrastructure as a service (IaaS) or as a hosted platform as a service (PaaS). The PaaS option has multiple deployment choices, each with multiple service tiers that you can use with Azure Database for PostreSQL.

Azure Database for MySQL – take the model tha we described above and apply it to MySQL. That how simple it is..

Azure Media Services – lets you deliver any media, on virtually any device, to anywhere in the world using the cloud. The collection of services provide encoding, live or on-demand streaming, content protection and indexing for video and audio content.

Which products are free for 12 months?

These products are free for 12 months, up to the monthly limits. Availability is based on resource and region.

Check out the details about each of these services on Microsoft Azure’s website.

FแดสŸสŸแดแดก แดแด‡ ๐ŸŽฏ แด€ษดแด… become แด€ย #cloudmarathonerย โ›…๐Ÿƒโ€โ™‚๏ธ๐Ÿƒโ€โ™€๏ธ – ๐‹๐„๐“’๐’ ๐‚๐Ž๐๐๐„๐‚๐“ ๐Ÿ‘

#microsoftazureย 
#freeย #cloudservicesย 
#cloudskillsย 
#continuouslearning

Protecting against compromised user devices with Zero Trust Access Control?

Hello Cloud Marathoners,

I have been asked to expand upon set of available Microsoft Azure services that could help with compromised user devices. One way to deal with such scenarios is to temporarily suspend user access until endpoint is cleaned.

Taking into account that your user’s device is compromized, you can automate response either to restric or restore the access to the endpoint.

Option#1 – Retrict Access

To help with this scenarious you could use the Azure AD’s Conditional Access features. The Conditional Access knows about the device risks because Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (MDE) notified Intune, who then updated the compliance status of the device in Azure AD.

During this period, the user is restricted from accessing corporate resources. These applies to all new resource requests and will block any current access to resources that support continuous access evaluation (CAE).

Your user will still be able to do general internet productivity and research (like Wikipedia, external web resources and anything else that doesnโ€™t require corporate authentication), but wonโ€™t have access to corporate resources.

Option#2 – Restore Access

The second option (illustrated on infographic) mitigates the “Access restored” scenariou. This correspondce to sceanriou wher threat has been remediated and cleaned up, MDE triggers Intune to update Azure AD and Conditional Access restores the userโ€™s access to corporate resources.

Described two scenarious above, mitigate the risk to the organization by ensuring attackers who may be in control of these devices cannot access corporate resources, while minimizing the impact on user productivity to minimize disruption of business processes.

What is next?

Check this interesting references on Microsoft docs and learn about Continue Access Evaluation (CAE) – and other Common Conditional Access policies.

FแดสŸสŸแดแดก แดแด‡ ๐ŸŽฏ แด€ษดแด… become แด€ #cloudmarathoner โ›…๐Ÿƒโ€โ™‚๏ธ๐Ÿƒโ€โ™€๏ธ – ๐‹๐„๐“’๐’ ๐‚๐Ž๐๐๐„๐‚๐“ ๐Ÿ‘#microsoftazure 
#conditionalaccess 
#compromiseduser
#continuouslearning

Azure IoT Specialty exam certification Tips + Study Guide

Hello cloud marathoners,

Two weeks ago, I was able to clear the Azure specialty exam – “Azure IoT Developer” and get certified. More importantly, this was a good opportunity to learn about IoT technologies and services in Azure platform.

What is IoT?

An “Internet of Things” (IoT) device is typically made up of a circuit board with sensors attached that use WiFi to connect to the internet. Here are some examples of IoT devices and use cases:

  • A pressure sensor on a remote oil pump.
  • Temperature and humidity sensors in an air-conditioning unit.
  • An accelerometer in an elevator.
  • Presence sensors in a room.

The Azure Internet of Things (IoT) is a collection of Microsoft-managed cloud services that connect, monitor, and control billions of IoT assets. In simpler terms, an IoT solution is made up of one or more IoT devices that communicate with one or more back-end services hosted in the cloud.

Check out the following short video, if you never hear about applications of Internet of Things (aka, IoT).

Is there a comprehesive study guide to follow?

The short answer is YES!

As always start with simple and straight forward Microsoft Learn modules on IoT learning path. But that is not the only resource that i have used.

I personally found it very useful to check the Microsoft Tech community blog posts. The IoT sub-section has many tricks and trips and recommendations. Thus, check the following post that has very good information on exam resources:

AZ-220 IoT Developer Certification Study Guide – is an awesome post from Microsoft employee Paul DeCarlo. By following this post I got many answers on the following questions:

  • How do I know which topics to focus on, what skills does the AZ-220 exam measure?
  • Where can I learn how to apply the concepts measured on the AZ-220 exam in a practical / hands-on manner?
  • I prefer to learn at my leisure with video content, are there any resources that cover the materials in the official docs and Microsoft Learn that I can watch?
  •  Any thoughts on paid courses / practice exams, are there any recommendations?

Where can I get Azure IoT Samples in C# ?

I have used the following GitHub repo in order to get hands-on expereince with Azure IoT. Azure IoT Samples for C# (.NET)

What is next?

Check this awesome IoT Event Learning Path.

It is designed for Solution Architects, Business Decision Makers, and Development teams that are interested in building IoT Solutions with Azure Services. The content is comprised of 5 video based modules that approach topics ranging from IoT device connectivity, IoT data communication strategies, use of artificial intelligence at the edge, data processing considerations for IoT data, and IoT solutioning based on the Azure IoT reference architecture.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading this post till this point.

Please, feel free to share your experience, as i am planning to keep this post up to date with your valuable contributions going forward. #keeplearning

How to become a Microsoft Security๐Ÿ›ก๏ธ Ninja โš” ???

Hello friends,

Recently, I have been asked about good refences to master security echo-system on Microsoft technologies, especially in Cloud security products and services. Thus, I dived into references and compiled following resources for everyone to enjoy ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘Œ

Learn about basic to advanced scenarios on network security, MCAS, Defender, Office365 and other security๐Ÿ›ก๏ธ๐Ÿ” services on Microsoft Azure – from following collection of blog posts:ย 

โœ”๏ธ Microsoft Cloud App Security Ninja Trainingย  https://aka.ms/MCASNinja

โœ”๏ธ Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Ninja Trainingย  https://aka.ms/MDENinja

โœ”๏ธ Azure Network Security Ninja Trainingย https://lnkd.in/g9qeMrT

โœ”๏ธ Azure Security Center Ninja Trainingย  https://aka.ms/ASCNinja

โœ”๏ธ Azure Sentinel Ninja Training https://lnkd.in/gpZb7kS

โœ”๏ธ Microsoft 365 Defender Ninja Trainingย  https://aka.ms/M365Ninja

โœ”๏ธ Microsoft Defender for Identity Ninja Trainingย https://aka.ms/DFINinja

โœ”๏ธ Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Ninja Trainingย https://aka.ms/MDONinja

In addition, you could easily join to the Microsoft Security Community, and get latest announcement from here: https://lnkd.in/gXdv7Sq

Stay tuned …. for upcoming announcements on Microsoft Azure, as all of them will be shared back here ๐Ÿ˜˜

#microsoftazure #continuouslearning #cybersecurity #networksecurity #informationsecurity #cloudsecurity

Get started with data transformation services in Azure – Global Azure 2021

Azure Global 2021 event in mid-April 2021

Hello friends,
I am back again, this time with another follow-up announcement of a second Global Azure 2021 session in Azure Data focus area, for ALL of you!

I am truly excited to present the following session on April 17th, live from my broadcasting studio in East Cost:)

This session will be a deep dive into different data movement scenarios using first-class tooling in Azure data echo-system and Azure Data Factory (ADF). We will learn about handy new features and data connectors, while copying and transforming datasets from a Data Lake and SQL Relational Database storages. Thus, tune in to learn about latest developments in Microsoft Azure data transformation services.

In my second session, I will share following journey with you:

Abstract of the upcoming session provided below ๐Ÿ˜‰

We will learn about what is ETL and ELT stands for in data world, and how Azure Data Factory (ADF) service could help you. Along the way, we will look into inner-workings and fundamentals of a cloud-based ETL and data integration service that allows you to create data-driven workflows for orchestrating data movement and transforming data at scale.

Finally, we will conclude the session with ADF demo and Q&A

TheCloudMarathoner ๐Ÿ™‚

Please let me know, what topics are you interested in?

What is a good service to perform data transformation in Azure?๐Ÿค”

Hello friends and data marathoners!


I am excited to annonce my next Cloud Lunch and Learn tech meetup session with you.

During the previous session, you have learned about how to up-skill existing data and SQL skills with the new Data engineering mindset ๐Ÿ‘Œ๐Ÿ‘

Updated: Check out the recorded event session on YouTube: https://youtu.be/h3AaL9AhuXI

I am glad to invite you all – to learn how to get started with Data Transformation services inย Microsoft Azure โ„ขย 


Thanks you ๐Ÿ™ Cloud Lunch and Learn for organizing this session.

Event detail: 24 March @ 18:00 UTC
Open registration ๐Ÿ‘‰ https://lnkd.in/dNb5vUr#SharingIsCaringโค๏ธ

FแดสŸสŸแดแดก แดแด‡ ๐ŸŽฏ แด€ษดแด… ๊œฑแด›แด€ส€แด› สแดแดœส€ แด„สŸแดแดœแด… โ˜ แดŠแดแดœส€ษดแด‡ส – ๐‹๐„๐“’๐’ ๐‚๐Ž๐๐๐„๐‚๐“ ๐Ÿ‘
#microsoftazure#CloudLunchLearn#azuredata#upskilling#cloud#dataengineering#datatransformation#gettingstarted#continuouslearning

What is an Azure administrative unit and its benefits? ๐Ÿค”

The Administrative Units (AU) are Azure AD resources which can contain only users and groups.

AUs could manage permissions ๐Ÿ›ก๏ธ๐Ÿ” in a role to any segment of your organization. For example, you could use AUs to delegate the User Administrator role to regional support specialists, so they can manage users only in the region that they support.

The AUs are especially helpful when an organization whose IT department is scattered across globe and wants to categorize and define relevant geographical boundaries.

Currently, supported scenarious from Azure AD portal are:

  • Create administrative units
  • Add users and groups members of administrative units
  • Assign IT staff to administrative unit-scoped administrator roles.

In addition, assigned users can easily manage their AU users from mystaffย Microsoftย website ๐Ÿ‘‰ https://mystaff.microsoft.com/

Check out the following Microsoft docs post for more details and use ases๐Ÿ‘‰ย https://lnkd.in/dXMMncJ #SharingIsCaringโค๏ธ

Now, if you end up loving this story and want to lean about managing your sers with “My Staff” – then check out this handy post on Micrsoft docs page:

FแดสŸสŸแดแดก แดแด‡ ๐ŸŽฏ แด€ษดแด… become the #cloudmarathoner โ›…๐Ÿƒโ€โ™‚๏ธ๐Ÿƒโ€โ™€๏ธ – ๐‹๐„๐“’๐’ ๐‚๐Ž๐๐๐„๐‚๐“ ๐Ÿ‘

Exam Guide Tips AND prep resources: 2-in-1 sweet combo

My little intro – well, skip this as it might be boring ๐Ÿ™

Let’s start with a little bit of background to my somewhat unorthodox journey into Azure Developer cert way back in 2018.

Three years ago, I got a beta exam invite for Azure Core Developer (AZ-200) certification. At the time, there were no readily availiable study materials to learn from and prepare. My focus was on the exam objectives document, with a special highlight on Azure services that I did not have a chance to work with.

Long story short, at the end of the exam I did not know if it was a PASS โœ… or not โŒ, as it was a beta exam. However, good and somewhat unexpected “pass news” with a cert email came back in 2 months. I was over the moon ๐ŸŒœ and delighted to be one of the few candidates to succeed. Later, this exam was retired, as most cert nowadays…

Back to the current time, Feb 2021

Today, I was feeling excited & pumped to go after Azure Developer cert (AZ-204) ๐Ÿƒโ€โ™‚๏ธ๐Ÿšดโ€โ™‚๏ธ๐ŸŠโ€โ™‚๏ธ๐Ÿ’ช – and yes, I posted earlier that I will share the result – either pass or fail.

Well, the good news is – I did not have to wait 2 months to learn the result ๐Ÿ˜ƒ It was a pass – and not an easy one though, as there were 60% more materials and more detail oriented questions on different inner workings of Azure services.

Let’s give a round of applause ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘ to Microsoft Learn modules and Learning path tracks – as they are getting better and better – and help me to cover this material in a somewhat fun way….

How was my actual exam experience?

The overall experience was exciting ๐Ÿ˜ฒ and scary ๐Ÿ˜ฑ at the same time. Mainly, because of the two case studies appearing at different sections of the exam. Well, at the end of the exam I shared this non pleasant experience by providing feedback โœ. I think every exam participant should be willing to share their experience, as it will be a good set of metrics for exam creators to assess and modify the exam experience to make it better overall.

Speaking about the exam, I got approximately 50 questionsโ”; where two case studies contained approx. 5-7 questions each. My surprise was to discover ๐Ÿ‘€, one case study right in the beginning, and another one right at the end of the exam. It threw my timing a little bit off.

So, be prepared to save enough time for exam case studies (yes, there might be more than one, and I had three in the Microsoft exams last year), no matter what, as they consume a considerable chunk of your time and could cause your brain to start steaming โ™จ – due to time constraints.

If you are a Cloud Solutions Architect (aka, CSA) you may find certain questions too technical in nature, like knowing the exact sequence of operations to place each task correctly. Well, if you never played with that specific feature then don’t panic. Just focus on the question and use your #quizskills. As an example: I had several educated guesses โ‰ – on what might be the right order of operations without knowing 100%.

In the real world, you could easily find your way with a quick search on your favorite engine… but an exam is an exam… and you are not penalized for wrong answers.

Good news is: a certain number of questions are high level, and your current CSA experience will be very handy; like assessing/suggesting the workload for the most effective Azure service or solution based on customer requirements.

Exam duration is180 minutesโฐ or 220 min including the feedback time. Generally speaking, this should be enough with a small caveat: You have to plan your time carefully and watch for the exact # of potential questions and remaining case studies of the exam. That said, there were several questions with true/false options, many drag-and-drop scenarios, and multi-select choices that seemed easy and tricky at the same time.

Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate

Where should I start my Azure Developer journey?

The official exam page AZ-204 is a really good place to start. Followed by the suggested learning track and modules in the bottom of the page.

The exam page AZ-204 gets even better with a final section on “Exam resources“. I consider this section a REAL “gem” ๐Ÿ’Ž๐Ÿ’Ž๐Ÿ’Ž

Dear friends, stay tuned – as your information on how to earn a #free exam voucher is included in this post. Look into Microsoft’s “Cloud Skills Challenge” program below.

Any other tips or resources for study?

Labs and practice material suggestions

  • Reference to the AZ-204 lab exercises GitHub repo
  • Quick start references on Microsoft Docs

FREE exam voucher through Microsoft Cloud Skills Challenge (Expired – Not a Valid anymore)

For a limited time, Microsoft Learn provides a free, interactive way of learning by combining short step-by-step tutorials, browser-based interactive coding and scripting environments, and task-based achievements to help you advance your technical skills while earning achievements.

What are you waiting for? Register today via this link ๐Ÿ‘

That is it folk, I tried to share and illustrate my exam experiences in this post. I hope you will find it helpful and apply to your “Azure developer” certification journey.

Please, feel free to share your experience or thoughts, as i am planning to keep this post up to date with your contributions going forward. #keeplearning

Stay safe and be the 4th with you … #nevergiveup #keeppushing

What is “Cloud native”, how you could define it?


So what is “Cloud Native”? ๐Ÿค”๐Ÿ‘€/

My approach is to hit on Re-FRESH โ™ป before thinking about Cloud Native; as it is an evolving space that at minimum includes following components:


โœ”๏ธ Modern Design
โœ”๏ธ Microservices
โœ”๏ธ Containers
โœ”๏ธ Backbone Services
โœ”๏ธ Automation

By the way, check out the official CNCF definition (Cloud Native Computing Foundation) definition for clarity.

Cloud-native technologies empower organizations to build and run scalable applications in modern, dynamic environments such as public, private, and hybrid clouds. Containers, service meshes, microservices, immutable infrastructure, and declarative APIs exemplify this approach.

These techniques enable loosely coupled systems that are resilient, manageable, and observable. Combined with robust automation, they allow engineers to make high-impact changes frequently and predictably with minimal toil.

CNCF

More on this topic ๐Ÿ‘‰ https://lnkd.in/eUkgs9P#SharingIsCaringโค๏ธ

FแดสŸสŸแดแดก แดแด‡ ๐ŸŽฏ แด€ษดแด… ๊œฑแด›แด€ส€แด› สแดแดœส€ แด„สŸแดแดœแด… โ˜ แดŠแดแดœส€ษดแด‡ส – ๐‹๐„๐“’๐’ ๐‚๐Ž๐๐๐„๐‚๐“ ๐Ÿ‘