How I Passed AZ‑104 on My First Attempt (And What Actually Helped)

There is something satisfying about seeing “Passed” appear after weeks of preparation — especially when it happens on the first try.

A few days ago, I passed AZ‑104: Microsoft Azure Administrator Associate on my first attempt, and I wanted to share what I studied, what worked, what didn’t, and a few things I wish I had known earlier.

For anyone preparing for this certification, I hope this saves you some time.

What AZ‑104 Is Really About

Before preparing, I thought AZ‑104 was mainly a cloud fundamentals exam with a few Azure services.

I was wrong.

AZ‑104 is very practical and covers the day‑to‑day responsibilities of an Azure Administrator. It is not only about memorizing services. You need to understand how Azure components interact and how to make decisions in realistic scenarios.

Topics included:

• Storage Accounts
• Virtual Machines
• Azure Virtual Networks
• Network Security Groups (NSGs)
• Load Balancers
• Azure Entra ID
• RBAC and permissions
• Monitoring and backups
• Governance and subscriptions
• App Services and compute resources

What surprised me most was that many questions combined multiple concepts together.

For example:

“You have a VM inside a VNet with specific NSG rules and storage requirements. What should you configure?”

So understanding the relationships between services matters more than memorizing definitions.

My Preparation Path

I followed a preparation flow that ended up working really well.

Philit Playlist ↓ John Savill Review ↓ Microsoft Practice Tests ↓ Tutorial Dojo Practice Exams ↓ Tutorial Dojo Flashcards ↓ Exam Day ↓ Passed

Step 1: Philit YouTube Playlist

My main learning resource was Philit’s AZ‑104 playlist.

Even though the content is in French, it explains Azure concepts very clearly and goes through many services in a practical way.

I watched almost the entire playlist and took notes.

What I liked:

• explanations are beginner friendly
• practical demonstrations
• real Azure Portal examples
• concepts explained progressively

I would not skip this phase because it builds the foundation.

Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoGL_Q7ihG8&list=PLxf9spw2semSHqq8XvRaiT9HNWzO054MT

Step 2: John Savill’s Exam Cram

After finishing the fundamentals, I watched John Savill’s AZ‑104 review video.

This was one of the most valuable resources.

Instead of teaching concepts from zero, it acts as a huge review session.

It helps connect topics together and quickly identifies weak areas.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Knf9nub4-k

I highly recommend watching it near the end of preparation.

Step 3: Microsoft Practice Tests (Many Times)

Then I repeatedly did Microsoft’s official practice tests.

Not once.

Multiple times.

The goal wasn’t memorization.

The goal was understanding:

• why an answer is correct
• why others are wrong
• what concepts repeatedly appear

This helped identify recurring patterns.

Step 4: Tutorial Dojo Practice Exams

This was probably one of the biggest reasons I felt confident during the exam.

I repeated the Tutorial Dojo timed exams several times.

Doing these repeatedly helped me identify weak points and get comfortable under time pressure.

And one interesting surprise:

I actually found around 3–4 questions very similar to Tutorial Dojo questions during the real exam.

Not identical copy‑paste questions, but the same concepts and reasoning patterns.

That alone made the investment worth it.

Step 5: Tutorial Dojo Flashcards

This was useful during the final phase.

Flashcards helped me revise:

• service limits
• Azure terminology
• storage options
• networking details
• quick facts

Perfect for short revision sessions.

One Thing People Forget: MS Learn During The Exam

Another thing I intentionally prepared with was MS Learn, because it is available during the exam.

Many people know this.

Few people actually practice with it.

The exam version is more limited than normal browsing and does not work like having an AI assistant beside you.

So during preparation I intentionally practiced navigating documentation and searching quickly.

That helped reduce stress.

MS Learn should not replace preparation.

But knowing where things are can save time.

Exam Day

Going into the exam I felt nervous but relatively confident.

Mainly because:

• I had already repeated many practice exams
• I had reviewed weak areas
• I was familiar with question formats

During the exam:

• manage time carefully
• flag difficult questions
• avoid overthinking
• eliminate obviously wrong answers first

Sometimes two answers look correct.

Azure exams often test the best solution, not simply a valid one.

The Result

And finally:

Passed.

On the first attempt.

That feeling after weeks of preparation was worth it.

Final Advice

If I had to summarize my preparation:

1. Learn concepts first
2. Use practice exams repeatedly
3. Review mistakes carefully
4. Use Tutorial Dojo seriously
5. Watch John Savill near the end
6. Practice using MS Learn
7. Don’t memorize blindly

AZ‑104 is absolutely passable.

You don’t need years of Azure experience.

You mainly need repetition, understanding, and enough exposure to Azure scenarios.

Good luck to everyone preparing for it.

You’ve got this.