AZ-304 or Microsoft Azure Architect Design is one of the most coveted, mid-tier cloud architecting certifications globally. To ace this exam, several third-party learning organizations offer AZ-304 training. This training can be free or paid for. Some training goes one step further and bundles hands-on labs, sample exam questions, and handy cheat sheets alongside instructor-led, module-by-module, structured learning.
Microsoft AZ-304 training helps participants prepare for Microsoft Azure Architect Design (AZ-304) exam. AZ304 prerequisites include subject matter knowledge to create effective and reliable cloud solutions in the cloud, based on the organization’s requirements.
Azure Design Monitoring covers about 10-15% of the AZ-304 exam questions. It is an essential skill for any cloud architect. Azure offers several industry-leading monitoring options for your cloud-native application and architecture – each specialized for different endpoints.
This article will look into three of them:
- Azure Monitor
- Azure Application Insights
- Azure Sentinel
Azure Monitor
Azure Monitor is a comprehensive solution for gathering, analyzing, and acting on telemetry from your on-premises and cloud environments. You can use this data to maximize the performance and availability of your cloud-native applications and services.
Some of the activities that can be performed using Azure Monitor are:
● Spot and investigate problems across applications and dependencies with Azure Application Insights.
● Further associate infrastructure problems with Container insights and VM insights to get a more comprehensive insight.
● Analyze the monitoring data in granular detail using Log Analytics. This helps you go several steps deeper into troubleshooting and diagnostics.
● Build decoupled, scalable architecture using intelligent alerts and automated actions.
● Build visualizations with Azure workbooks and dashboards.
Azure Application Insights
Application Insights is essentially a part of Azure Monitor. It is used as an Application Performance Management (APM) service for DevOps professionals and developers. Powerful analytics tools in application insights gather detailed performance metrics for your apps. This makes code optimization much more manageable, and you gain a valuable understanding of in-app user actions.
Application Insights works for a wide variety of platforms – including Node.js, .NET, Python, Java, to name a few. It also hosted agnostic, working for cloud-native, on-premises, and hybrid-hosted apps.
You can use Azure Application Insights for:
● Keeping an eye on live applications.
● Automatically pinpoints performance anomalies.
● Detecting issues and understanding in-app user activities to customize your app further
● Continuously improving performance and usability of applications.
● Combining with your existing DevOps process to improve CI/CD pipeline (Azure App Insights also has connecting points to various development tools).
● Monitoring and interpreting telemetry from mobile apps by combining with Visual Studio App Centre.
Azure Sentinel
Azure Sentinel is a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solution. It provides security insights at the cloud scale for your entire enterprise. Sentinel collects security data across your entire organization – cloud-native or hybrid, including devices, users, servers, and apps – on any cloud.
Sentinel uses state-of-the-art AI tools to identify security threats faster and requires no on-premises infrastructure of its own to run. You pay for what you use and do not need to worry about the underlying architecture.
Azure Sentinel can be used to:
● Collect user data across all users, devices, infrastructure, and applications at the cloud level. These apps can be on all clouds or hybrid.
● Pinpoint previously uncovered threats and reduced false positives using analytics and unmatched threat intelligence from Microsoft
● Search and find threats with Artificial Intelligence and take down unusual activities. Being cloud-native, Sentinel scales seamlessly.
● Provide quick responses to incidents with built-in composition and automation of usual tasks.
Conclusion
Microsoft recommends candidates for the AZ-304 exam to have subject matter expertise in designing and implementing Microsoft Azure-native solutions. You are tested in compute, network, storage, and security, including monitoring, besides administering Azure services and tools and DevOps. Most AZ-304 training covers all five pillars of the exam.
Design monitoring covers 10-15% of the skills tested in AZ-304 training. Azure Monitor, Azure Application Insights, and Azure Sentinel are three solutions that broadly come under monitoring in the cloud. Each specializes in a different type of telemetry for your apps and infrastructure. Knowing these tools in detail lets you answer the questions asked in the certification exam with ease – be it theoretical or situation-based.
