Welcome to the Study Guide of AZ-700, Azure Networking Solutions. I want to share my experiences with the AZ-700 exam in this article. This article may also be of interest if you are not going to take the exam but are curious about how to learn more about Azure networking.
Who is the exam for?
This exam is for the Azure administrator or Architect with reasonable to extensive experience with network connectivity on Azure.
Microsoft states that you “must” have experience planning, implementing, and managing Azure networking services, including hybrid networking. Once you pass the exam, you may call yourself an Azure Network Engineer.
My personal experience
I took the AZ-700 exam a while ago and recently renewed it for another year. Although it was a difficult exam, I found the questions straightforward, and there were few “turn-ons.” The scenario questions (1 scenario with multiple questions) can sometimes be tricky due to a large amount of text and the questions often being very similar, but take your time with these questions. Usually, there are only about 5 to 10 questions per case. Another thing I noticed was that I got almost no questions about Azure firewall, which I expected.
Also, in this blog post, I cannot share things not allowed by the NDA, but I can offer a few tips.
Make sure you can think about the things below :
- Log files (which ones are there, what are they called, and which ones are best to use when)
- Which Azure service is best to use in a specific case
- ExpressRoute (SKUs, configuration, what can and can’t be done)
- Peering (make sure you master vnet peerings)
- Can this communicate with that under a specific situation
- DNS (private, public, zones, auto register etc.)
- Virtual WAN
- Azure Traffic Manager (SKUs and capabilities)
- Load balancers
- Azure Frontdoor, in combination with WAF
- Azure VPN SKUs, configuration and troubleshooting, differences between P2S, S2S, and ExpressRoute
- Private Endpoints and Service Endpoints
- Routing and troubleshooting of Network Traffic
- NSG (Configuration, priority, flow logs)
This list is incomplete and gives no 100% guarantees, but I think it gives a good idea of what kind of questions and in what category you can expect.
Try to practice using a free or Visual Studio account as much as possible. Make sure you have deployed the services (you can do this through the portal, Infrastructure As Code is irrelevant to this exam) and start practicing the points. Microsoft has step-by-step explanations with print screens for all topics on learn.microsoft.com. Take your time for this and make sure you understand it. You don’t need a study book or training if you can go through the various resources (Microsoft Learn & Docs, youtube etc) on the internet.
Ensure that after you have deployed the various services, you remove them afterward to avoid unnecessary costs. Especially with networking services, this can quickly become expensive.
Skills measured
Microsoft indicates that the following topics will be tested during the exam :
- Design, implement, and manage hybrid networking (10–15%)
- Design and implement core networking infrastructure (20–25%)
- Design and implement routing (25–30%)
- Secure and monitor networks (15–20%)
- Design and implement Private access to Azure Services (10–15%)
Is it a difficult exam?
The AZ-700 exam is challenging but doable, provided you have sufficient practical experience and have prepared well for the exam. According to Microsoft, people spend 2 to 3 months preparing.
Are there labs in the exam?
Yes, there are labs in the exam. So make sure you have plenty of hands-on experience. My experience with the exam is that you (almost) don’t have to wait until the deployment is ready. For example, consider a VPN Gateway or an Application Gateway. Those are immediately available during the exam.
Do I also have to renew this exam every year?
Yes, you do. Except for the foundation exams (XX-900), the Microsoft exams must be renewed yearly. The renewal exam contains approximately 25 to 35 questions you can answer remotely. These questions correspond to the type of questions you get during the exam. You will not get labs at the renewal.
Are there any requirements for the exam?
No, there are not. You can book the exam without having already mastered another certification. However, it is recommended that you pass the AZ-104 exam. The exam does assume you have sufficient prior knowledge.
How do I best prepare myself?
Microsoft has created an excellent AZ-700 study guide. In this study guide, links and walkthroughs are shared for all topics. These are very useful and will give you a lot of practical experience.
Make sure you go through this document and the different links (for the topics)
Links:
Microsoft Learn
Pluralsight Designing and Implementing Microsoft Azure Networking AZ-700
John Savill AZ-700 Designing and Implement Azure Networking Study Super Guide
AZ-700 Exam website
Related Articles:
Microsoft Azure Security Technologies AZ-500 – Study Tips
Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions AZ-400 – Study Tips
Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect AZ-305 – Study Tips
Microsoft Azure Administrator AZ-104 – Study Tips
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