Azure Administrator Lab Series

Lab Collection Overview

The Azure Administrator Lab Series gives you direct access to 25 guided labs focused on everyday Azure administration and configuration — no subscription required.

Each lab includes built-in audio and visual guidance. You can pause, explore, and repeat as needed, making it easy to reinforce key skills.

Across this collection you'll perform common tasks such as deploying virtual machines, configuring storage, managing users and groups in Microsoft Entra ID, setting up networking components, and applying role-based access control.

This hands-on training is designed for anyone looking to practice practical Azure skills — from IT professionals preparing for the AZ-104 exam, to system administrators new to the cloud.

Module 1

Identity & Access Management

Manage identities and access within Microsoft Entra ID. Create and manage users, groups, and licenses, configure self-service password reset, and manage user properties — foundational skills for any Azure administrator.

Create a Security Group in Microsoft Entra ID

Create a security group, add members, and assign owners to control access to resources.

Configure Self-Service Password Reset in Entra ID

Enable and configure SSPR so users can reset their own passwords without IT support.

Manage User Properties in Microsoft Entra ID

Modify user attributes including job title, company name, and group memberships.

Assign License to Microsoft Entra ID User

Assign Microsoft 365 and Azure licenses through both the Entra and M365 Admin Centers.

Create a User in Microsoft Entra ID

Create and configure a new user account in the Microsoft Entra Admin Center.

Module 2

Access Control & Governance

Control access and enforce governance across Azure. Assign RBAC roles, apply resource locks, tag resources, and work with Azure Key Vault to secure secrets and access credentials.

Assign RBAC Roles in Microsoft Azure

Assign the Virtual Machine Contributor role to a user and verify the role assignment.

Add and Remove Resource Locks in Azure

Apply a Delete lock to a VM, test its effectiveness, and then remove the lock.

Tag Resources in Microsoft Azure

Tag multiple resources and use tags to filter and manage your Azure infrastructure.

Create a New Key Vault in Microsoft Azure

Deploy an Azure Key Vault and configure it to securely store secrets and access keys.

Module 3

Azure Storage

Master Azure storage management — create and configure storage accounts, file shares, and blob containers, and learn how to generate SAS tokens for secure, scoped access.

Create and Configure an Azure Storage Account

Set up a storage account and configure redundancy, network access, and blob versioning.

Create an Azure File Share in Microsoft Azure Storage

Create and configure a fully managed file share with appropriate access tiers.

Create and Configure a Container in Blob Storage

Create a blob container, configure access permissions, and enable anonymous blob access.

Create a SAS Token in an Azure Storage Account

Generate a SAS token with time-bound, scoped permissions for secure storage access.

Module 4

Virtual Machines

Deploy and manage Azure Virtual Machines with confidence. Provision new VMs, resize them to match workload requirements, move them between resource groups, and configure scale sets for high availability.

Deploy and Configure an Azure Virtual Machine

Create a VM, configure availability zones, security, networking, and disk attachments.

Resize an Azure Virtual Machine

Adjust CPU and memory allocation on an existing VM to match changing workload needs.

Move an Azure VM to Another Resource Group

Relocate a VM and its associated resources to a different resource group in Azure.

Deploy and Configure a VM Scale Set in Azure

Deploy a VMSS, configure auto-scaling based on CPU usage, and attach storage.

Module 5

Networking

Build secure and connected Azure environments. Create virtual networks, configure NSGs, establish vNet peering, deploy load balancers, and set up Azure Bastion for secure VM access.

Create and Configure an Azure Virtual Network

Create a vNet, configure address spaces, subnets, encryption, and resource tags.

Create and Configure an NSG in Microsoft Azure

Create an NSG, define inbound/outbound security rules, and associate it with a subnet.

Create and Configure vNet Peering in Azure

Set up bi-directional peering between two virtual networks for low-latency communication.

Deploy an Internal Load Balancer in Azure

Configure frontend and backend pools, inbound rules, and health probes for a load balancer.

Manually Deploy and Configure Azure Bastion

Deploy Azure Bastion for secure RDP/SSH access to VMs without a public IP address.

Module 6

Backup & Recovery

Protect critical workloads with Azure backup and recovery solutions. Create Recovery Services Vaults, configure Backup Vaults, apply backup policies to VMs, and perform full VM restores.

Create a Recovery Services Vault in Azure

Deploy a vault, configure storage redundancy, and set up private endpoints for secure access.

Create a Backup Vault in Microsoft Azure

Deploy a Backup Vault and configure geo-redundancy and cross-region restore options.

Backup Azure VMs with an Azure Backup Policy

Configure an automated backup policy and assign it to multiple virtual machines.

Restore a VM in Azure with Azure Backup

Select a recovery point and perform a full VM restoration to a previous stable state.

Series	Profile	Use
B	Burstable	Dev/Test
D	General	Web/App
E	Memory	DB / Analytics
F	Compute	Batch / CPU Heavy
Ls	Storage IO	NoSQL / Throughput
M	High RAM	SAP HANA
N	GPU	AI / ML / Rendering

Disk	Perf	When
Standard HDD	Low	Archive / Rare
Standard SSD	Medium	General Workloads
Premium SSD	High	Production Apps
Premium SSD v2	High+	Tunable Perf
Ultra Disk	Extreme	Critical DB I/O

Mode	Profile	Best For
Flexible	Standard Azure VMs	New workloads (default)
Uniform	Identical VMs	Legacy large-scale workloads

Feature	Flexible	Uniform
Standard VM APIs	Yes	No
Mix instance types	Yes	No
RBAC per VM	Yes	No
Azure Backup	Yes	No
Site Recovery	Yes	No
Fault domains	1–3	1–5

Type	Layer	Best For
Internal LB	L4	Backend pools
Public LB	L4	External traffic
App Gateway	L7	HTTP/HTTPS + WAF

Azure Administrator Lab Series

Lab Collection Overview

Ready to Get Started?

Azure Virtual Machines — Quick Reference

VM Sizing (Workload Fit)

Disk Selection

Networking

Availability / Resilience

Security

Pricing Models

Azure VM Scale Sets — Quick Reference

Core Benefits

Orchestration Modes

Orchestration Comparison

Autoscaling Metrics

Load Balancing

Availability & Zones

Upgrade Policies (Uniform)

Application Deployment

Planned Maintenance & Health

An Introduction to Microsoft Entra ID

Azure vNets Explained

Ask The Author

VMs Made Easy: A Deep Dive Into All VM Settings

Policy	Rollout	Use
Automatic	Batch	App can tolerate disruption
Rolling	Controlled	Gradual, managed updates
Manual	On-demand	Full control; explicit API calls