Azure exams
At the event in September 2018, it was announced that the new exams of the AZ - *** series appeared, and the series 70-53 * would go into oblivion. The description was already there , but this article is about all the changes, and I would like to review only Azure. In addition, in December 2018 there were additional edits that are also not included in that article. And in the next article , there will be a list of resources to prepare for delivery.
From my point of view, the explanation was reasoned, it coincided with what I myself saw and heard.
The explanations were logical, but the community still has reasons for indignation.
From personal experience of delivery, if you have experience with Azure, the laboratory part makes delivery easier, and not harder. You may not remember right away the right answer to the question, but in the practical part, looking at the environment settings in Azure, you will find it.
From personal experience, the screen size, when passing exams, should be large enough so that the task and the portal itself can be seen. I really didn’t like scrolling.
To summarize what was said above, in my opinion, in terms of development, the platform and architecture became much better than it was, and most importantly, much closer to reality.
It's time to go to the review of the exams themselves.
AZ-900 was announced much later than the others, but I think this is the first thing to do. AZ-900 contains all the basic questions on Azure without reference to technical roles (developer / architect / itpro). Examples: what is CAPEX / OPEX, public / private / hybrid cloud, how does billing work, who owns the data, in 2 words you should be able to explain a couple dozen basic services, what is the difference between public data centers and Azure data centers in Germany / China / US GOV, etc. And at the exit, you can even get a basic certificate.
Finally, there was an exam for people who are still too early to take something serious or not at all, but they need a certificateof responsibility , that they are familiar with the topic. In my humble opinion, this exam must be passed to all managers and vendors who are involved in projects related to Azure . This is such a way to make sure that people understand what they are doing. Technical roles are also not a sin to pass this way at the very beginning of your path to certifications, since The exam covers questions on several dozens of basic services (what it is and why), and at the same time gives general reviews of the platform, which are usually overlooked.
After you have mastered the exam, you can think whether it is worth further “giving up” or not, because Each exam requires serious training.
With examinations in infrastructure, the situation is much clearer than with architecture.
I would recommend to pass these exams consistently , because Az-100 is the first step (“how to start”), and Az-101 is the next step (how to operate now).
In September 2018, 2 exams were announced: the exam on basic services - az-200 and the exam on advanced services az-201 .
I liked the concept, although there were questions to it. Some of which were taken into account by Microsoft, but not at all the way I would like.
On December 29 (2 days before the exits from Beta), Microsoft made a New Year's gift, namely: all 3 AZ-200 / AZ-201 / AZ-202 exams were transferred from the beta state to the retired state. But the new exam AZ-203 was published, in which the wishes of the community were “taken into account” ( blog article).
The AZ-203 exam asks for Web Apps , SQL Database , Functions , AKS , CosmosDB , Logic Apps , Event Grid , API Management , etc. I believe that this is the right set of services, reflecting the current state of Azure.
And I repeat once again: what is now is much better / fresher than what was in the 70-532 exam from 2015 to 2018(And if not for those who passed AZ-200/201/202, then everything would be very good.)
There are 2 such exams, for the delivery of both a Solution Architect-ora certificate is issued. In my opinion, donating one without the other is a rather strange idea, since This 2 points of view on the same.
I would not say that there is a one-to-one type of mirror correspondence between them. For example, in 301 under the word compute in the appropriate section can be meant and azure batch, and aks, and vmss. At the same time, in 300 there will be a clear division into 3 different parts (parallel processing, containers, vms).
I see no reason to translate here a list of services that you need to know. you need to know not only services, but also how they are interconnected and when to use what. And also because the list is very long, and the full version is not even on the pages with a description of the exams because The architect must know the subject widely (and the developer is deep).
I repeat: I recommend taking both exams and preparing for them in parallel .
AZ-400 Microsoft Azure DevOps Solutions is focused on a very wide range of issues. The exam requires, on the one hand, understanding processes and methodologies (working with a work item, planning, etc.), and on the other, knowing how to manage project dependencies, how to compile code, publish, how to use external utilities to analyze the code, how to get feedback from the user through Tula, etc.
To get an Azure DevOps Engineer Expert Certificate, you must first obtain a certificate for development or administration .
If you want certification on Azure / Cloud, then everything is fine for you. I would recommend first to pass AZ-203, because in it you will get an overview of some Azure services, and already in AZ-400 a whole section about Azure Kubernetes Services, Azure Container Registry, ARM, Azure CLI in the context of publication.
Well, if you want to give an exam, but publish not in Azure , you still have to familiarize yourself with Azure . You still have no choice(evil laughter) , because On December 31, 2018, Microsoft removed all 3 TFS exams from the test and now either the Cloud version or nothing.
All of the above exams are only the first step in change. In December, there was a blog announcement that all exams that are closely working with data will be Retired in six months, June 30, 2019. In this case, the logic is clear to me: these exams were created during the era of "Cloud First, Mobile First" , but This era ended about 1-1.5 years ago. Now in Microsoft it is a new time: " Cloud First, Artificial Intelligent First " . Microsoft is very much redefining its attitude to the storage and processing of data and various Artificial Intelligent based services, and this is followed by exams.
At the moment, it is not yet known what specific examinations there will be, what questions will be asked, methods of transition from current ones, etc. The main thing is to understand that exams will be replaced in the next 6 months.
And then you have to answer the question yourself (if this is relevant to you at all), whether it is worth preparing for exams (it doesn’t bother to study technology) that will soon disappear, or wait and pass new exams. And if you decide to take exams, which will be released in beta status, are you ready for the situation described above with examinations AZ-200/201/202/203 ?!
PS In the next article, there will be a selection of resources useful for exam preparation, but it will be more subjective.
From my point of view, the explanation was reasoned, it coincided with what I myself saw and heard.
Who is not interested in the reasons for the changes, skip this sect
I will try to list the key points:
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- There was no basic Azure exam (this is especially noticeable for non-technical roles). Previously, you immediately had to pass a fairly difficult exam on infrastructure / design / architecture.
- Now imagine that you have been using Sales for 5 years already, you don’t write code, you don’t pick up a server. To get any valid certification, you have to climb much deeper than you need in your role, and spend much more time, which is not rational. (I do not take into account certificates that are issued at one-day or even shorter seminars from Microsoft, because this is not about knowledge, but about the fact of attending the seminar)
- It is impossible to renew the exam for the third and third year and pretend that those who passed in 2015 and those who passed in 2018 have the same knowledge on a rapidly changing platform.
- There was an attempt to make an exam 70-535 for the replacement of 70-534 in architecture, but this was not enough.
- It is impossible to "shove" all the questions on infrastructure in one exam , in the other - all on development, and on the third - all on architecture. In Azure 100+ services. Obviously, the exams had to be split.
- Business (as well as developers, administrators, and architects) does not change as quickly as trends (and with them, Azure services, and Microsoft’s desires) change . Microsoft can at least add new services every day to follow new trends (Blockchain / IoT / Cognitive Services and AI, Quantum computing, etc.), but you don’t use them in your projects and don’t plan to use them, because these services are not needed in the project or are needed, but in another team. As a result, the relevance of the certificate began to fall with each new question on new topics . And this is true not only for traditional companies with a rather slow introduction of innovations, but also for super-innovative start-ups, which also need not everything.
- There were, of course, words about the fact that Microsoft wanted to make certificates that would correspond to real roles (positions for which hr are looking for people). Here I personally have nothing to say, because I did not hr and did not hear anything like it.
The explanations were logical, but the community still has reasons for indignation.
Community opinion on issues, if desired, can also be skipped
I will give those that I saw:
Up to this point there was nothing ordinary, since This has happened before. But there were unique reasons for resentment.
Probably, if both the transitional exams and the beta were free (for those who had already passed before), no one would be particularly indignant.
- Between 70-535 (replaced by 70-534 at the end of 2017) and on our architecture exams (az-30 *) less than a year passed . Probably, with the replacement of 70-534 (70-535) it was no longer possible to pull, because He was 2 years behind reality, but the problems were the same for all 3 exams, and only one was replaced.
- 3.5 months passed between the delivery of 70-535 in May and the announcement: it was a pity to spend time on preparation (The theory does not guarantee the ability to put into practice. Practice does not guarantee knowledge of the theory.)
- Someone has already begun preparation for passing 70-53 * exams , and they were "pleased" that the exams are outdated, you need to restructure your preparation and pass other exams. (In theory, examinations are similar, but the process of passing is different due to the availability of practical laboratory work with a real Azure portal right during the exam, but there were no official courses at the beginning)
- Transitional exams are good, but transitive exams are paid (az- * 02). It turns out that someone could turn in 70-532 and spend $ 165 (in US $ 80 in Russia), and in a month find out that you need to prepare more money.
Up to this point there was nothing ordinary, since This has happened before. But there were unique reasons for resentment.
- Even the Beta versions of the exams (az-20 *, az-30 *) are paid (they say that before the beta exams were free, and people were willing to risk waiting a few months and find out if they passed or not, at the same time helping to make the exam better).
- There were voices on the topic: “Could they have done it right away ? AWS had no such problems. ” To this I have nothing to argue.
Probably, if both the transitional exams and the beta were free (for those who had already passed before), no one would be particularly indignant.
What has changed fundamentally?
- Complete replacement of existing exams with new ones is certainly a significant change, but it did not impress me.
- The fact that now for infrastructure and architecture there are 2 exams instead of one, this generally makes little difference, because in order to receive a certificate from an architect or an infrastructure specialist, you still need to pass both. Just become more exams.
- The biggest innovation was the addition of the practical part, where you are given access to the real Azure portal, given a real subscription, an account from which to work and several tasks to be performed. This is really super. exams began to test and practical skills of a person.
From personal experience of delivery, if you have experience with Azure, the laboratory part makes delivery easier, and not harder. You may not remember right away the right answer to the question, but in the practical part, looking at the environment settings in Azure, you will find it.
To summarize what was said above, in my opinion, in terms of development, the platform and architecture became much better than it was, and most importantly, much closer to reality.
It's time to go to the review of the exams themselves.
Azure for Dummies, or AZ-900
AZ-900 was announced much later than the others, but I think this is the first thing to do. AZ-900 contains all the basic questions on Azure without reference to technical roles (developer / architect / itpro). Examples: what is CAPEX / OPEX, public / private / hybrid cloud, how does billing work, who owns the data, in 2 words you should be able to explain a couple dozen basic services, what is the difference between public data centers and Azure data centers in Germany / China / US GOV, etc. And at the exit, you can even get a basic certificate.
Finally, there was an exam for people who are still too early to take something serious or not at all, but they need a certificate
After you have mastered the exam, you can think whether it is worth further “giving up” or not, because Each exam requires serious training.
Infrastructure (itpro / or trendy devops)
With examinations in infrastructure, the situation is much clearer than with architecture.
- Az-100 Microsoft Azure Infrastructure and Deployment - how and what you can do in Azure (create a machine, access resources, subscriptions, resource groups, work with objects of azure active directory, with networks, etc.)
- Az-101 Microsoft Azure Integration and Security more about how to assemble and secure it (extended networks, how to migrate resources from a local data center, how to manage access more securely, work with multi factor authentication)
I would recommend to pass these exams consistently , because Az-100 is the first step (“how to start”), and Az-101 is the next step (how to operate now).
Since the time of 70-533, many problems were solved with the contents of the exam by dividing it into 2 parts.
- At the time of the 70-533 exam, many complained that the “Azure Active Directory-Windows Active Directory integration” section took up too much space . The reason is simple: for small decisions and companies, this is an operation done once and a decade ahead by one person. Those. If there are several people in the staff, most of them will never have to deal with it. And the only one, even six months later, remembering what he did would be very difficult, because, I repeat, this is a one-time operation. In the tests of the az series, this problem was, in general, decided, since The hardest parts about Identity are mostly in az-101, and you can turn in az-100 without fully immersing into the topic of Identity. Yes, you will have to deal with federation and synchronization, but at least with az-101 identity protection, multi factor authentication can be prepared separately.
- There were also complaints that “ I am an admin, why do I need your PAAS Web Apps , I am a specialist on virtual machines, and there’s nothing to admin and configure in PAAS”. At the time of 70-533, the Web Apps / PaaS theme could not be circumvented: even the admin virtualok should have known how PaaS services work. The AZ and WebApps PaaS series exams are only in az-101 (advanced level, so to speak), and you can pass az-100 on infrastructure knowledge.
- I, like many non-real admins, have always had a problem with the Backup / Site Recovery theme. I didn’t back up anything industrially, I never saw a tape drive, I knew Hyper-V quite superficially, I didn’t work on real storage on the NAS, I learned about VMM only by starting to work in Microsoft Rus. And when you do not do all this, it is quite difficult to understand the moments associated with replication. Fortunately, in the AZ series exams, these questions are assigned to az-101, and, in fact, are excluded from az-100 (except for the basic part of the backup in azure). In general, you can not be an admin, but you can pass an exam (and also deploy your resources to virtual machines into the clouds) by infrastructure.
Although in the exam of the az-100/101 there is something to get to the bottom, but this is more of a nagging than a problem with the exams.
- I, for example, have little idea of ITpro , which throws itself on the workflow portal based on logic apps for automation and reaction to some events or messages. This, of course, is not programming, as in C ++ / Java / etc, but in the visual editor one should also understand cycles, conditions, etc. And it is very different from the usual scripting languages. Of course, Microsoft will explain that everyone should learn, move away from “poking wires” to higher-level things, but we are not yet in that “wondrous new world”, where everything can write simple code.
- There is a question on Azure Active Directory (AD) Privileged Identity Management (PIM) , but it is very much connected with money. I often heard at my trainings that this is a very expensive thing, because requires Azure AD Premium, and there for each user per month you need to pay a couple of dollars, which can be expensive. However, on the other hand, in a large organization where Azure is actively used, bottlenecks can occur when using PIM, since the speed of performing actions is lost (someone must give approve directly on the portal), and the principle of self-service is lost, because again, approver is needed. As a result, some people think that they are forced to study a topic that is not useful in real life. This opinion has the right to life.
Development
In September 2018, 2 exams were announced: the exam on basic services - az-200 and the exam on advanced services az-201 .
I liked the concept, although there were questions to it. Some of which were taken into account by Microsoft, but not at all the way I would like.
On December 29 (2 days before the exits from Beta), Microsoft made a New Year's gift, namely: all 3 AZ-200 / AZ-201 / AZ-202 exams were transferred from the beta state to the retired state. But the new exam AZ-203 was published, in which the wishes of the community were “taken into account” ( blog article).
The community was not quite such a step.
The full version can be read directly in the comments below the article .
For those few who passed the exam, it was a powerful blow:
For those few who passed the exam, it was a powerful blow:
- Those who passed AZ-200 / AZ-201 can hope that their result will be recalculated, and they will be given AZ-203 based on the results of passing the current exams. Personally, I would not hope for such an outcome, since this contradicts the logic that “it was necessary to introduce a new exam that would re-evaluate knowledge”.
- AZ-202, after the disgruntled comments under the announcement, had somehow somehow counted together with the 70-532 exam together and someone could get the coveted certificate without additional efforts. But there is a feeling that the recalculation is not enough to get a certificate, which means an innovation, made the trip to the exam simply useless, and $ 99 was simply thrown to the wind. Preparation time may be useful for the next exam, but the sediment remains.
The AZ-203 exam asks for Web Apps , SQL Database , Functions , AKS , CosmosDB , Logic Apps , Event Grid , API Management , etc. I believe that this is the right set of services, reflecting the current state of Azure.
What did Az-203 lose relative to az-200 / az-201
It is a pity that questions about Cognitive Services, Bots and IoT were deleted regarding AZ-201, but probably there was already too much content for one exam and we decided to donate these topics as the least frequently encountered, although extremely fashionable.
AZ-203 has preserved 3 of 8 problems that I noted for AZ-200 / AZ-201
- Why did Batch Services get into the exam? Is it really impossible to live without a number crusher (WebJobs / Functions is enough if you don’t need Compute Intensive operations).
- Why do I need Mobile Apps from Microsoft in 2019, I also do not understand. Microsoft lost the fight for its mobile platform, and when you do not have your mobile platform, then the services for its support are not in demand. But they are included in the core exam.
- I really like the instructions for setting up Notification Hub for Android, which sounds like this: “before creating Notification Hub for Android, create a Firebase (which can send notifications to Android / IOS for free)”.
- Claim Based / Role based authorization is a question about Asp.Net Core and stands out from the general number because in the same Node, this is implemented differently, but you need to know the code (Microsoft has been trying to make its services cross-platform in recent years) and is not directly related to Azure.
And I repeat once again: what is now is much better / fresher than what was in the 70-532 exam from 2015 to 2018
Architecture
There are 2 such exams, for the delivery of both a Solution Architect-ora certificate is issued. In my opinion, donating one without the other is a rather strange idea, since This 2 points of view on the same.
- In the case of az-300 Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies, we go from specific services (azure active directory, azure storage, virtual machines)
- And in the case of az-301 Microsoft Azure Architect Design, we go from the key logic blocks (authorization, storage, compute).
I would not say that there is a one-to-one type of mirror correspondence between them. For example, in 301 under the word compute in the appropriate section can be meant and azure batch, and aks, and vmss. At the same time, in 300 there will be a clear division into 3 different parts (parallel processing, containers, vms).
I see no reason to translate here a list of services that you need to know. you need to know not only services, but also how they are interconnected and when to use what. And also because the list is very long, and the full version is not even on the pages with a description of the exams because The architect must know the subject widely (and the developer is deep).
I repeat: I recommend taking both exams and preparing for them in parallel .
Azure DevOps on Azure Services
AZ-400 Microsoft Azure DevOps Solutions is focused on a very wide range of issues. The exam requires, on the one hand, understanding processes and methodologies (working with a work item, planning, etc.), and on the other, knowing how to manage project dependencies, how to compile code, publish, how to use external utilities to analyze the code, how to get feedback from the user through Tula, etc.
To get an Azure DevOps Engineer Expert Certificate, you must first obtain a certificate for development or administration .
Personal opinion
Personally, I would have made the exam similar to AZ-30 * (divided into 2 parts: processes & practice / devops' handicraft part), but the authors know better. /
Probably from the point of view of the Microsoft concept, everything is correct. On the other hand, I have little idea of ​​DevOps of an engineer who came out of admins and learned how to build and publish applications. Therefore, in my personal opinion, having an option with infrastructure certification is superfluous, but we leave it on Microsoft’s conscience.
Probably from the point of view of the Microsoft concept, everything is correct. On the other hand, I have little idea of ​​DevOps of an engineer who came out of admins and learned how to build and publish applications. Therefore, in my personal opinion, having an option with infrastructure certification is superfluous, but we leave it on Microsoft’s conscience.
If you want certification on Azure / Cloud, then everything is fine for you. I would recommend first to pass AZ-203, because in it you will get an overview of some Azure services, and already in AZ-400 a whole section about Azure Kubernetes Services, Azure Container Registry, ARM, Azure CLI in the context of publication.
Well, if you want to give an exam, but publish not in Azure , you still have to familiarize yourself with Azure . You still have no choice
Data Platform Examinations
All of the above exams are only the first step in change. In December, there was a blog announcement that all exams that are closely working with data will be Retired in six months, June 30, 2019. In this case, the logic is clear to me: these exams were created during the era of "Cloud First, Mobile First" , but This era ended about 1-1.5 years ago. Now in Microsoft it is a new time: " Cloud First, Artificial Intelligent First " . Microsoft is very much redefining its attitude to the storage and processing of data and various Artificial Intelligent based services, and this is followed by exams.
- For example, from 2016 (maybe even from 2017) there was the role of Cloud Solution Architect - the person responsible for the growth in consumption of Azure by customers. This role had 2 directions (which then appeared, then merged again): App Platform and Infrastructure (we are not considering O365 now because I am not an expert in this). In 2018, we began to hire DSA - Data Solution Architect . These are the same CSA, only for them are important projects for storing / processing large amounts of data and all sorts of cognitive services, bots, machine learning.
- In addition, one of the reasons for abolishing az-200 / az-201 and replacing them with az-203 was that the questions on bots and cognitive services relate more to the “Data & AI” domain, and not to the development and therefore from the exams for developers removed them.
At the moment, it is not yet known what specific examinations there will be, what questions will be asked, methods of transition from current ones, etc. The main thing is to understand that exams will be replaced in the next 6 months.
And then you have to answer the question yourself (if this is relevant to you at all), whether it is worth preparing for exams (it doesn’t bother to study technology) that will soon disappear, or wait and pass new exams. And if you decide to take exams, which will be released in beta status, are you ready for the situation described above with examinations AZ-200/201/202/203 ?!
PS In the next article, there will be a selection of resources useful for exam preparation, but it will be more subjective.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/435166/
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