Managing Azure Storage
Implementing and managing storage is the second skill area of the AZ-104 exam, covering the creation, configuration, and security of Azure Storage accounts, Blob Storage, and Azure Files. Candidates must demonstrate hands-on ability to manage data access through shared access signatures and stored policies, implement lifecycle management and tiering strategies, and secure storage using encryption keys and network controls.
Required skill for certification: Azure Administrator Associate
Details
Managing Azure Storage is a core competency for Azure administrators and covers the provisioning, configuration, and protection of cloud-based data repositories that serve as the backbone for applications, backups, and file sharing across organizations. Unlike traditional on-prem storage that requires physical hardware and maintenance, Azure Storage delivers virtually unlimited capacity with built-in redundancy, encryption, and tiering.
Azure storage administration involves working with storage accounts as the top-level namespace, then configuring the appropriate services within them: Azure Blob Storage for unstructured data like documents and media, Azure Files for cloud-native SMB/NFS file shares, Azure Tables for NoSQL data, and Azure Queues for message-based communication between application components. This requires mastery of access control mechanisms, including shared access signatures (SAS), stored access policies, access keys, and Azure AD-based authorization, alongside data protection strategies such as soft delete, versioning, immutable blobs, and encryption.
For the AZ-104 certification exam, this skill requires candidates to demonstrate practical ability in creating and configuring storage accounts, managing data lifecycle through tiering, implementing Azure File Sync for hybrid cloud scenarios, and securing storage through network rules and access controls.
Courses on Managing Azure Storage
The AZ-104 Certification
Managing Azure Storage is an official required skill for the AZ-104 certification exam. Mastering this skill is important, because it is one of the measured skills you will be tested on during the exam.
The AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator Associate certification is an associate-level credential that validates your ability to configure, manage, secure, and administer cloud services in Microsoft Azure, and requires annual renewal to maintain active status
