Pass Microsoft Azure AZ-204 Exam in First Attempt Easily

Introduction

1. AZ-203 vs AZ-204 Objectives comparison

Hi and welcome back. Now in this chapter, I just want to go through some quick differences between the AV 203 exam and the AV 204 exam. So remember that or note that it will retire on August 31, so students can still go ahead and take the AZ 203 exam, but then this exam is going to be replaced by a 204. Now, I've gone ahead and opened up the objectives for the Ad Two or Three exam that's given over here and the Ad Two or Four exam. Now, if you look at a quick comparison when it comes to the infrastructure service, that's the first section. So we don't have to worry about Azure disc encryption for virtual machines. Also, if I scroll down to containerized solutions, the entire section of batch jobs using batch services is no longer present as an objective in easy tofollow if I scroll down onto containerized solutions.So in containerized solutions in AZ Two or Four, the Azure Kubernetes service has been taken out of scope. So in exam AZ 2 or 4, if I go back to the objectives, we still have working with the Azure Container Registry, creating container images for your solutions, and the container instance, but we don't have a mention of Azure Kubernetes. Now, in exam AZ 203, in platform as a service, we had Azure Web apps. Now, Azure Web apps has now been clubbedin Ari 204 with the infrastructure service itself. So now this has become a section on developing Azure compute solutions. So in here itself, we have working off the appservice web apps, we also have implementing Azure function. So all this has now been combined into a compute section in the AR Two or Four exam; if I go back onto the AR Two or Three exam, all of this is no longer there. So no need of creating app service, mobileapps or even app service API apps. So this has all been removed. When it comes to web apps, we don't have web jobs, so that has also been removed. And how do you monitor theservice health using Azure Monitor? Now if I scroll down, let's go on to developing for Azure Storage. The storage solution for tables is now completely removed from the Easy Choreo exam when developing for Azure Storage. So I've been mentioning a lot that a lot of the syllabus has been removed from the AZ 204 exam, and that's probably good. So now you have a leaner objectiveswhen it comes to the aefore exam. What remains constant is that it is used as your Cosmos DB. So that's the same in both exams. The only thing in Azure Cosmos DB is that there are some more things that have been added. Currently, today is May 3, and Microsoft has just mentioned that there are some more updates to the 82 or 4 exam. So if I go and scroll down, they think that on May 18 there will be some more changes to the two or four objectives themselves. So what they are doing is that they are now adding the concept of remote access. You clearly mention that, as Kubernetes is out of scope, if you go and scroll down even further, I will go on to Azure Cosmos TV. So over here they have added the implementation of scaling and also implemented server-side programming. When it comes to Azure Cosmos DB in Blob storage, everything more or less remains the same, with the addition of implementing access tiers. So, if I go on to AV-203, if I go on to block storage, everything remains the same. Now again in AZ 204, there is no mention of developing solutions using a relational database. So this has also been removed from the Aztefore syllabus. Now, when it comes to implementing Azure security, again, if you do a comparison, there are some objectives that have been removed from here as well. So we don't have the implementation of authentication using certificates or multi-factor authentication. We also don't have claims-based access control if you go on to the monitoring section. So if you go on to auto-scaling in the AV 204 exam, the auto-scaling has actually been added on top for Azure web apps only over here, so we can see it over here in the web app section. Otherwise, auto scaling for Azure Kubernetes has been removed and is not in the scope of the exam. So Azure Redis remains the same, and it employs CDN as well as application insights. The only difference is that if I go to Easy to Four, they also mention configuring cache and expiration policies for the Fun Door service if you scroll down. Now, if you look at the section on consuming and connectingonto Azure services and third party services, so when you compareAZ 203 and 204 again both are the same. The only thing that is now gone is the entire section on Azure search. So in the AzTE, for example, you don't have to worry about working with Azure search, right? So in this chapter, don't try to give a quick comparison of both exams. So students do ask me, which exam should I take? Now for those who are already halfway down, or, let's say, three quarters down, the path of the AV 203 exam, then it just makes sense to go ahead and complete that exam. Now, at the time of recording this video, the AV 204 exam is still in the beta phase. So it's not been officially released. But for those who want to start fresh on, say, the Azure developer exam in the next couple of weeks, it might make sense to go ahead and attempt the exam again. That's my opinion. So the AV 204 exam has fresher objectives; it also has leaner objectives in comparison with the AV 203 exam, right? This marks the end of this chapter.

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Starting with Azure (Optional)

1. Tools that will be used in this course

Hi and welcome back. Now in this chapter, I want to tell you about the tools that we are going to be using in this course. So first, and most importantly, you need to have an integrated development environment. So I'm more comfortable using Visual Studio. So I'm going ahead and using Visual Studio 2019, the community edition, since this is free of cost. Now, you can also go ahead and use Visual Studio code. Now, please note, as part of this exam, or as a prerequisite for taking this course as well, you need to be proficient in Net and C#. So the exam expects you to be proficient in at least one programming language. But in the exam, you'll have C# examples or code, and you'll be asked questions based on that. So you need to be proficient in C# and NET. Now, in this course, I'll show you how to have.NET and C# interact with your services using examples. But remember, you need to have at least some knowledge of Csharp.net.

You also have knowledge of developing Web applications. How do you deploy Web applications? How do web applications interact with, let's say, a data store such as a database? So all of these aspects are very, very important. Next, I'm going to be using another tool known as Postman. So this is a good tool for issuing API calls. So again, this is a freely available tool. So you can go ahead and download and install this tool. Once you go ahead and install the tool, this is what it looks like. You can actually go ahead and issue requests. So let's say you want to issue a request against Google.com. You can go ahead and do thatis where you get the response. So we'll be using this tool quite a lot to issue API calls. Another tool that we'll be using is Win SAP.This will be used for FTP, especially our lining space systems, and another tool we'll be using is Putty. Since I'm on a Windows platform, I'm actually going to use this to connect to our Linux virtual machines. Now please note, as part of this course, I doensure that whatever examples I create in net, I attachthat code has a zip file as a resource toa chapter so that you can go ahead and downloadthat code and try it out yourself. Right, so this marks the end of this chapter. I just want to give a rundown of the tools that we are going to be using in this course.

2. Azure Free Account

Hi and welcome back. Now in this chapter, I want to talk about the Azure free account. Now, obviously, if one wants to know more about Azure, then the best thing to do is to start working with the services that Azure has to offer. For now, Microsoft allows you to create a free Azure account. All you need is a Microsoft account in place, and then you can go ahead and create your free Azure account. Now, in your Azure free account, what do you get? So firstly, you get twelve months of some of the free services that are available on the Azure platform. Apart from that, you get $200 worth of credit that is available for 30 days. So when you start using the services in Azure, if there is any cost for the service itself, it is deducted from the $200 worth of credit that comes as part of your free account. Please keep in mind that this credit is only valid for 30 days.

If your credit runs out or the 30-day period expires, you'll have to convert your account or subscription to a pay as you go subscription. And therefore, from this point on, what happens is that you start paying for the services that you use in Azure. However, please keep in mind that some services are free for a period of twelve months when used with your free account. And there are some services that are always free. So you can always go to the Microsoft documentation and understand which services have become free as part of the year and which services are always free. So, if we scroll down here, you will see the products that are free for the duration of twelve months. So for example, if you spin up a virtual machine in Azure, what do you get? So you get 750 hours per month free. Please know that if you exceed 750 hours for a virtual machine, So if a virtual machine is running in Azure for more than 750 hours, then you get charged.

Now, when you create your Azure free account, you also have to specify your credit card number. So this is used not only as a kind of protection for your Azure free account, but also in case—remember that after your $200 worth of credit is over, you will be charged for a credit card if you continue using the services in Azure. So again, just a recap. So let's say you exceed 750 hours per month for the Azure virtual machine. So let's say you have 1000 hours. So whatever charge is in excess for the first month on your Azure free account will be deducted from the $200 worth of free credits so that you don't have to pay anything. But then I said that after a month or after you exhaust $200 worth of credit, if you continue using the Azure virtual machine and if it exceeds a thousand hours, then you will get billed on your credit card. Now, another important fact is that when you create a virtual machine in Azure, or if you use any service in Azure that is part of this free offering, you also have to make a note of the type of offering that has been given away for free as part of the service.

So over here, it's saying that as part of the Windows virtual machine, there is a particular instance or an instant size that will be given free of cost. If you chose a different instance size, then you would be charged. So there is a separate chapter that we have when we look at the cost of a virtual machine. So I'll go through it in more depth when it comes to the cost of the virtual machine. But this has to give you a kind of upfront idea of the cost when it comes to the Azure free account. So you can go through all of the services, and if you're okay, you can then go ahead and start your free trial. So if you click on "Start Free," you can then go ahead and subscribe for your Azure free account. Now, since I've already logged in with an existing account that has a different subscription, that's why I cannot get the Azure free account. But if you have a Microsoft account, and if you have not yet signed up for an Azure free account, you will get the page to actually sign up and create a new Azure free account. So, if you want to start working with Azure, the best way is to go ahead and create an Azure account. Right? So this marks the end of this chapter.

3. Tour of the Azure Portal

Hi and welcome back. Now in this chapter, I just want to have a quick tour of the Azure Portal. So, when you create your Azure free account and sign in, this is the dashboard you will see. So let's have a quick tour of what the dashboard has to offer. Obviously, when you start using the services on the Azure Platform, it will become much more familiar to you as to how you can actually start using the different aspects that are available in the Azure Portal. So on the left-hand side, you have your quick links. So you could go on and hit on "Create a Resource." So this would go ahead and give you a page on which you could choose the different services that are available on the Azure Platform.

So, if you want, you could go out and create a Windows Server virtual machine, or you could go on to different categories over here. So if you go on to databases, you could go ahead and create a new SQL database. So when you go out and hit on Create a Resource, you actually get an entire directory of resources that are available in a place called the Azure Marketplace. Again, just keep this in mind. We'll go through this a little bit later on, apart from creating a resource. So if you go on to all services, again, you have all the services listed. If you go to all resources, you'll see the categories for these various services again. So this is the dashboard, where you have all the resources. Currently, I don't have any resources in place, so that's why it's blank. But if you want to go ahead and see all the resources over here, you can do so. And then, apart from that, you also have your quick links for these commonly used services.

So, for example, if you go on to "virtual machines," you will actually see if you have any virtual machines in place. So keep in mind that if you navigate to all resources, whether it's a virtual machine, a storage account, or a SQL database, you'll see them all here. But if you just want to see your virtualmachines, you can go on to the Virtual machinessection and you can just see your virtual machinesright on this form, the left hand side. So, if you continue to the top end, So here's your account. If you go on to your account itself, you can go ahead and switch on to a different account or a different directory. Now, apart from that, whatever you do in Azure—so whatever action that you perform in Azure—you'll actually see it as a notification. Over here, you also have the Azure Cloud Shell. So this is when you want to use PowerShell or you want to use Bash to work with the resources in the Azure Portal. For now, I'll just close it. And then you have your settings. It's pretty simple when it comes to working with the Azure Portal. So as we start moving and working with resources in Azure, this will all become much more familiar. For now, this marks the end of this chapter inwhich we looked at a tour of the Azure Portal.

4. Resources and Resource Groups

Hi and welcome back. Now in this chapter, I want to talk about resources and resource groups. Now, before we actually jump into resources and resource groups, let's first understand the Azure products. So if you look at this documentation page, you will see all the different products that Azure has to offer. So on the left hand side, you have the different categories, and then on the right hand side, you have the different services or the different products that Azure has to offer. Now, for example, if you go on to the compute section, if you want to learn more about virtual machines and the virtual machine service, you can go on, you can see the virtual machine service itself, you can look at the pricing details, and you can look at the documentation.

So these are the different products and services that Azure has to offer. Now, when you go on to the Azure platform, let's say you're using the Virtual Machine service. So here I've gone ahead and created one virtual machine using the Virtual Machine service in Azure. Now, this becomes a resource on the Azure Platform. So in the Azure Portal, when you go to All Resources, this section, you can see all the resources that I have gone ahead and created in my account. So I have different types of resources. So this is what the fundamental concept of a resource is. So whatever you create in Azure—a product or a service that's available—becomes your resource. So if you create a SQL database, that's a resource. If you create a storage account, this becomes a resource on the Azure Platform. Next, we have resource groups. Now, resource groups are actually used to logically group the resources together. Now, for example, if you look at these resources over here, you can see that these resources are part of a resource group. That means all of these resources are part of this resource group. Now, one of the advantages of logically grouping these resources in a resource group is that you can manage these resources at the resource group level. So let's say you want to add fine-grained permissions to all of these resources, assigning those permissions one by one. You can actually assign the permissions at the resource group level, and that will be assigned to all the resources in the resource group.

Or perhaps you want to manage, or perhaps you want to delete all the resources, or perhaps you are testing it out and want to see how it works. So instead of again going ahead and deleting one resource after another, you can go ahead and delete the resource group, and that will automatically delete all the resources in the resource group, right? So resource groups are used to logically manage your resources. Now, in the Azure Portal, there is a separate section on resource groups. It's very simple to go ahead and create a resource group. You can click on "add," specify the subscription, mention the resource group name and the region, and just go ahead and click on "review and create." as simple as that. And if you go on to resource groups at any point in time, if you want to go ahead and delete a resource group, you can go to the resource group and delete the resource group from here. Right? So this is in terms of the resource groups. Now, there are many advantages to having resource groups, but just for now, just to give you that basic knowledge of what exactly a resource and a resource group are, this is what we have. So for now, this marks the end of this chapter.

5. Quick note on creating resources

This section is only for those who are unfamiliar with working with Azure. So I'm just showing you how to create a resource in Azure. So on the left-hand side, you can go ahead and click on Create a Resource. Over here in the Azure Marketplace, you have different types of services that are available on your platform. Now let's say that you want to create a storage account. You can click on the storage account. Now you will be presented with a visitor that allows you to go ahead and specify the properties of the storage account.

So for example, remember that each resource has to be part of a resource group. so you can choose the resource group. You can give a name to the resource. Now, the storage account name should be unique across all storage accounts because what happens is that a fully qualified domain name is given to your storage account. You specify the location of the resource, and then you specify what the different other properties of the resource are, and then you can go ahead and review and create the resource itself. So over here, you are actually going ahead and creating the resource from the Azure Portal itself. This is just a quick chapter just to explain to you how you can actually create a resource. So depending upon what type of resource you want to create, you can do it from the Azure Portal.

6. Monitoring your costs in Azure

Now we are working with resources in ISO, and especially if you are studying for an exam, it's always important to monitor the cost of your resources. Now, even though there are a lot of services that fall under the free account tier in Israel, sometimes you might need to spin up a resource that does not come under that free account tier. So you may want to experiment with something. So when you start working with such services in Azure, it's always important to monitor the cost aspect. So for that, it's very simple. You can go over to cost management and billing. So for your particular subscription, it will actually show you what the current cost being incurred is. So over here I can see that I'm currently rounding off to $18 for this particular month. If you go on to the subscription itself, you can actually go ahead and see a cost breakdown. So you can see a cost per resource. So remember, it's your responsibility to ensure that you monitor the cost of the resources that you consume on the Azure platform.

7. The Azure command line interface

Now, in order to use the Azure commandline interface, you first have to go ahead and install the tool on your machine. So, depending upon the platform, you choose the installer accordingly. So, since I am on a Windows machine, I've gone ahead and installed the Windows One version of the Azure command line interface. Now, to use the Azure command line interface, you first have to log into your Azure account. So you can do that via the Easy Login command. Now automatically, it's going to open a browser where you have to choose your account.

So I'm going to choose my account. I'll go ahead and sign in with the account I gave my password to. So now you can see that you are now logged into your Azure account from the Azure command-line interface. And now you can go ahead and issue commands that work with resources in Azure. So this is a very efficient way for IT administrators to create scripts that can automatically work with your resources. So let's say you want to just list down the storage accounts in your subscription. You can go ahead and issue this command. It will go ahead and give you a JSON output of the storage accounts in your particular subscription. So this is how you can actually use the Azure command-line interface.

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Develop Azure Infrastructure as a Service compute solutions

1. AZ-203/204 - The Virtual Machine Service

Hi. Welcome back. Now, in this chapter, I want to have a brief introduction to the virtual machine service. So, the Virtual Machine Service allows you to deploy your virtual machines on the Azure platform. Now, what's one of the major benefits of the Azure virtual machine service? Let's break this down with a quick use case scenario. So, let's say a company wants to spin up a set of virtual machines. So let's say they want to have one virtual machine that hosts an app server and another virtual machine that hosts a database server.

Now, first, the company has to go out and buy a physical server with storage and networking devices to ensure that everything is in place, and then they have the capability of spinning up virtual machines and then installing the different workloads on these virtual machines. But the benefit of the virtual machine service is that the underlying infrastructure is completely managed by Zero. So you don't need to manage the underlying physical server via a web interface such as the Azure Portal. You can go ahead and spin up your virtual machines, and then you can go ahead and install whatever workload that you want on these virtual machines.

Another benefit is that at any point in time, you can just go ahead and delete these virtual machines. So, if you don't need them, you can terminate them if you had to do the same thing over here. So let's say you don't need these virtual machines. Remember, the company has gone ahead and bought this infrastructure. So if they don't use this infrastructure to deploy anything, it's a total waste of money. So the biggest advantage is that you get to use the services, such as a virtual machine service, on a pay-as-you-go as you go model.So you only pay for what you consume. If you don't need it, you don't need to go and use the service. Write us a quick introduction to the virtual machine service.

2. AZ-203/204 - Deploying a virtual machine

Hi and welcome back. Now, in this chapter, I want to go through what goes into deploying a virtual machine. Now, when you deploy a virtual machine on the Azure platform, yes, it does deploy the virtual machine resource, but there are a number of other resources that get deployed along with the virtual machine. So first, a virtual network. So the virtual machine needs to reside on a virtual network. So this is like a home for the Virtual Machine. Now, there is a separate section that we have on virtual networks. Now, in addition to the Virtual Network, we also have the underlying disks. So there is an OS disc that is assigned to the virtual machine.

So this is used for holding the OS-level data, and you can add your own data discs to the virtual machine. Apart from that, there is a Virtual Network Interface Card that is assigned to the Virtual Machine. So all of the packets of data that are sent by the virtual machine and received by the virtual machine go via this network interface, and the network interface can get a private and a public IP address. And then finally, we also have a network security group. So this is assigned to the network interface card. So this is like a firewall. This is used to decide the type of traffic that flows into and out of the virtual machine. So before we actually go into the weeds of deploying a virtual machine, I thought it would be a good idea first to get a basic understanding of the different resources that will be deployed via the virtual machine services.

3. AZ-203/204 - Lab - Building Windows Virtual Machines

So here we are in Azure. Now we're going to go ahead and create a virtual machine in the Azure Portal. Now, you can go ahead and add a resource from the All Resources section, or you could go on to the Virtual Machine Blade over here, and you can go ahead and add a virtual machine from here itself. So if you go on to All Resources, if you go ahead and create a new resource, over here you'll get the two most popular virtual machines that are available.

So you have Windows Server 2016 VM and Ubuntu Server 184. Also, if you go on to virtual machines, you can add a virtual machine from here. So if you go on to the image here, you'll be able to see the various underlying images that are available when you want to go ahead and spin up your virtual machine. So let's go ahead and do that right now. So let's create a virtual machine. Now, remember, the virtual machine needs to be part of a resource group. If you don't have a resource group, you cango ahead and create a new resource group. But I already have a resource group in place. I'll go ahead and choose that resource group. Next, you go ahead and give the water machine a name.

Next, you have to go out and choose the underlying region that you want to host your water machine in. So I'll choose the Central US. Now, there is an option for availability. So in Availability, you can go ahead and add your washing machine as part of an availability zone or an availability set. So we'll leave that for now. We'll go on to other chapters, wherein we'll look at availability sets and availability zones. Following that is your underlying operating system. So I'm going to choose Windows Server 2016 Data Center. The next thing is the size. Now we can go ahead and change the size of the virtual machine. So over here, I'm going to choose a D, two S, and an underscored V three.So this has two virtual CPUs, it has eight gigs ofRam, and it has the capability to hold four data disks. So over here, you can actually go ahead and choose what the size of the virtual machine should be. Obviously, the price per month will vary depending on the size you select. So, obviously, if you choose a VM size that has a high number of vCPUs and a high number of RAM, you'd be paying more. So let me go ahead and choose the D two V three. I'll give you the username and password if you click "select." So this is the username and password that will be used to log into our virtual machine. Now, please note, over here there are some restrictions when it comes to the password. So please make sure that you create a password based on these constraints. Following that, we have the question of what inbound port rules you want to include in the network security group. So the network security group is used to control the inbound and outbound traffic on your virtual machine. Now, we'll be covering network security groups in a separate chapter.

For now, let's go ahead and ensure that we can at least RDP into our virtual machine. So this will go ahead and add a rule for port 3389. Now, I'll go on to Next for the disk. Please note that if you have an existing Windows Server licence, you can make use of that and also save on the overall costs for the virtual machine. Next, you get the option of determining what the discs are for your underlying virtual machine. So by default, you get an OSDs type. So the options that you have are premium SSD, standard HD, and standard SSD. So we'll go through this in another chapter. Now, if you go ahead and scroll down now, you also have the option of choosing what should be the underlying data disk. So over here, you can go ahead and add a new data disc to your virtual machine. For now, I'll leave it as it is. Let me go on to Next for networking. Now in the networking section, it's going to go ahead and create a new virtual network for you by default. It will also create a new subnet for you and assign a public IP address.

Now, if you want to go ahead and create your own virtual network, you can do so. So you can go ahead and click on the Create New button to go ahead and create a new virtual network. But for the time being, I'll leave everything alone and proceed to Next for management. So I'll leave the management hazards aside except for boot diagnostics. So if you want to ensure that you get diagnostic information during the boot-up process for your virtual machine, all of the diagnostic information can be directed towards a storage account. But just for now, I'll just turn off board diagnostics. Let me go on to Next for an advance. As a result, I abandon the risky advance. If you want, you can add tags. I'll leave it as it is. Go on to review and create. Now, in Review and Create, please make a note of what you're going to be charged per hour for the virtual machine. You can then go ahead and review allof these settings and once you're okay, youcan go ahead and create the virtual machine. Now, let's come back once we have the virtual machine in place. Now, once your deployment is complete and you can go ahead and use the resource, please note that you will also get a notification when the deployment is a success. So let's go on to all our resources.

So now you can see that in addition to the virtual machine that we have, we also have a number of other resources that have also been created. So what are the resources that we have? So we have the virtual network. We have the virtual machine itself. We have a public IP address. It is a separate resource that has been assigned to the virtual machine. We have the network security group, which is used to control the inbound and outbound traffic on the virtual machine. We have the network interface, and then finally, we have the disk, which is assigned to the virtual machine. You can go on to the Virtual Machine resource. So in the overview, you can go ahead and see all the information about the Virtual Machine. You can see the subnet and the virtual network into which the virtual machine has been launched. You can also see what the public IP is. address that has been assigned to the virtual machine is the private IP. Address what resource group the virtual machine belongs to and what the size of the virtual machine is. Right now, this marks the end of this chapter, wherein we have looked at building a virtual machine only as your platform.

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