AZ-104 · DP-600 · DP-700 · AZ-305 — 24 weeks at 15–20 hrs/week
Use this as your daily command center: choose the current week, focus on one task, write blockers, and ask AI for the next best study move.
Choose a week, then build today's plan.
A prioritized product backlog for turning this roadmap into a full beginner-friendly learning platform. Track status, filter by category, export to Excel, and ask AI to create a build plan for any selected feature.
| Ctrl+K | Command palette |
| Ctrl+S | Save state |
| Ctrl+P | |
| ? | This shortcuts help |
| Esc | Close palette / modal |
| Space (in timer) | Start/pause Pomodoro |
| F | Flip flashcard |
| ← / → | Prev / Next flashcard |
| Ctrl+Shift+F | Focus mode |
Press Esc or click outside to close.
Sustainable pace: 15–20 hrs/week (vs 30) · Buffer weeks between exams · Added AZ-305 (Solutions Architect Expert) in months 5–6 · Hands-on portfolio projects alongside each cert · Dedicated review & mock-exam weeks before each exam.
1.5 hrs theory (MS Learn)
45 min hands-on labs
15 min flashcard review
2 hrs practice exams
1.5 hrs weak topic review
1 hr portfolio project
Rest or light review
Watch YouTube summaries
Community / networking
15–20 hrs/week instead of 30 — reduces burnout, improves retention
3 real-world projects on GitHub prove skills beyond cert badges
Solutions Architect Expert — the most-demanded Azure cert for senior roles
Recovery time between exams prevents knowledge decay and cramming
Practice with original scenario questions aligned to public AZ-104 measured skills. Use this for learning and readiness; do not paste secrets, tenant IDs, or private exam-dump content.
Start with one domain in practice mode, then move to mixed timed mode when your score is stable.
The attached zip contains 14 MicrosoftLearning lab markdown files. Use this page as your beginner-friendly control center: follow the lab order, mark completion, open the official GitHub lab, then export your progress to Excel.
Do one lab at a time. Preview the goal, build slowly, verify the result, clean up paid resources, then ask AI Tutor to explain anything confusing before moving to the next lab.
AZ-104-MicrosoftAzureAdministrator-master.zip is in this workspace. If you extract it, the matching files are under Instructions/Labs/. The buttons below open the official MicrosoftLearning GitHub version.Practice users, groups, administrative units, and identity basics. Beginner focus: understand who gets access and how accounts are organized.
Assign roles at the right scope and test access. Beginner focus: subscription, resource group, resource, and least privilege.
Create assignments, test compliance, and understand guardrails. Beginner focus: prevent mistakes before resources are deployed.
Deploy repeatable infrastructure from templates. Beginner focus: learn parameters, deployment validation, and why infrastructure as code matters.
Create VNets, subnets, DNS, and routing basics. Beginner focus: understand how Azure resources talk privately.
Practice peering, gateways, and hybrid-style connectivity concepts. Beginner focus: when to connect networks and how traffic flows.
Work with load balancing and traffic routing. Beginner focus: availability, frontend/backend pools, and health probes.
Create storage accounts, blobs, files, access controls, and redundancy. Beginner focus: choose storage options and protect data.
Deploy, resize, connect, and monitor VMs. Beginner focus: compute sizing, disks, networking, and cost cleanup.
Create App Service resources and deploy a simple app. Beginner focus: platform as a service, app settings, and deployment slots.
Run a container without managing servers. Beginner focus: image, container group, ports, DNS label, and logs.
Deploy containerized apps with managed scale. Beginner focus: container app environment, revisions, ingress, and scaling.
Practice backup and restore concepts. Beginner focus: Recovery Services vault, backup policy, restore point, and disaster recovery thinking.
Use Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, alerts, and diagnostics. Beginner focus: know what happened, when, and what to do next.
Capture what you built, errors, verification proof, cleanup status, and screenshots to collect later for your portfolio.
Builds on DP-600. Focuses on advanced data engineering — medallion pipelines, CI/CD, Spark optimisation, workspace governance, OneLake security, and Purview integration.
The capstone certification. Requires AZ-104 as prerequisite. Tests your ability to design complete Azure solutions — identity, data, infrastructure, BC/DR, and monitoring. The most-requested cert for senior/lead Azure roles.
Track mock scores, weak domains, readiness checklists, and final exam decisions. Aim for 80%+ twice before booking or sitting an exam.
Ask plain-English questions, generate a weekly checklist, simplify hard topics, or turn a portfolio idea into step-by-step tasks. The app uses a free public text API by default and keeps a built-in guide available if the API is busy or offline.
Do not try to memorize everything first. For every topic, follow this loop: learn the idea, build one tiny lab, ask AI to explain mistakes, write 5 notes, then do 10 practice questions.
Create Microsoft Learn, Azure free account, GitHub, and Microsoft Fabric trial. Bookmark this roadmap and keep one notebook for commands, screenshots, and mistakes.
Install VS Code, Azure CLI, Git, Power BI Desktop, and optional Docker. Sign in to Azure CLI and GitHub before labs.
Read one Microsoft Learn unit, watch one short video, then ask the AI Tutor to explain it like you are new to cloud.
Create the smallest working version: one storage account, one VNet, one Lakehouse, or one pipeline. Screenshot every result.
Use AI to make 10 quiz questions, answer them yourself, then ask it to explain only the answers you missed.
For each project, publish a GitHub README with architecture diagram, setup steps, screenshots, lessons learned, and cost notes.
Ask the Tutor to explain each week, generate quizzes, summarize mistakes, and turn hard topics into beginner labs.
Use: every study dayPaste an Azure/Fabric error message and ask for likely cause, beginner explanation, and exact next checks.
Use: during labsGenerate README outlines, architecture explanations, project summaries, and LinkedIn post drafts from your project notes.
Use: after projectsGenerate role-specific questions for Azure Admin, Fabric Data Engineer, and Solutions Architect roles, then practice answers.
Use: Month 5+Generate quick local quiz questions, save weak topics, then hand the same topic to AI Tutor for deeper explanation.
Use AI at the points where beginners usually get stuck: before a lab to preview concepts, during a lab to explain errors, after a lab to quiz weak areas, and during portfolio work to turn notes into professional project documentation.
Place an AI button on every lab card. It prepares prerequisites, step-by-step instructions, verification checks, cleanup, and quiz questions.
Paste Azure Portal, CLI, or Fabric errors. The tutor explains the cause, safe checks, and a beginner-friendly fix path.
Use roadmap progress to create a realistic 7-day plan with theory, labs, review, and rest blocks.
Use Microsoft Exam Readiness links to generate focused questions by measured skill and explain why wrong choices are wrong.
Convert lab notes into README sections, architecture diagrams, LinkedIn summaries, and interview talking points.
Practice Azure Admin, Fabric Analytics Engineer, Fabric Data Engineer, and Solutions Architect interviews with progressive difficulty.
Choose one job first: explain, lab guide, error helper, quiz, portfolio writer, or interview practice. Keep each button focused.
Send the current cert, lab title, domain, completion progress, and the user question. Avoid sending secrets, tokens, or account IDs.
Tell AI to use Summary, Step-by-step, Practice task, Common mistakes, and Next question. This keeps answers consistent.
Use Pollinations text API for no-key browser demos. Keep a visible endpoint field so you can swap providers later.
If the public API is down or slow, show a built-in beginner checklist so studying can continue offline.
Save progress locally, and export milestones, labs, and editable notes to Excel for professional tracking.
Keep the current no-build HTML app. Build prompts, endpoint field, fallback answer, and local progress first.
Beginner friendlyConnect every AZ-104 lab card to the AI Tutor. Auto-fill the lab title and ask AI to generate guide, checks, and quiz.
High valueExport progress and notes to Excel so you can share with mentors, recruiters, or your own weekly review.
ProfessionalWhen ready, migrate to React/Vite with a small backend proxy for secure paid APIs. Keep the same prompt structure.
Future upgradeCerts prove knowledge, projects prove ability. NYC hiring managers want GitHub repos, architecture diagrams, and working demos. Each project aligns with a cert phase and compounds skills.
Turn each roadmap project into a recruiter-ready GitHub README, architecture story, LinkedIn post, and interview talking points.
Export all your study data as JSON or paste a backup to restore.