Azure AZ-104 Free AI Practice Exam: Step-by-Step Walkthrough (2026)

AZ-104 Exam Snapshot

The Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104) certification is the standard cloud-administrator credential for Microsoft's stack. It is the prerequisite mental model for every higher Azure cert (AZ-204 developer, AZ-305 architect, AZ-500 security) so getting AZ-104 right pays dividends.

The real difficulty of AZ-104 is not the breadth (it covers identity, governance, storage, compute, networking, monitoring) — it is the "least administrative effort" framing. Microsoft loves to give you four technically-correct answers and ask which one is best on operational simplicity or cost.

Why AI Practice Beats Static Question Banks for AZ-104

If you have studied AZ-104 with a static practice bank, you have probably seen this pattern: you get a question wrong, read the one-line explanation ("Use Azure Backup, not VM snapshots"), nod, and move on. A week later the same concept appears reframed as a cost question and you get it wrong again. The explanation never matched your mental model.

AI practice closes the loop. With ai.examcert.app, every question gets an explanation that walks through why each option is right or wrong, in the context of the specific scenario. Then you can ask "Why not Recovery Services Vault?" or "What changes if cost is not a factor?" and the AI keeps teaching.

ExamCertAI AZ-104 Walkthrough

ExamCertAI is a no-signup browser tool. Here is what happens end-to-end.

Step 1: Open ai.examcert.app and pick AZ-104

The home screen lists supported certifications. Click Azure Administrator (AZ-104). You see two modes: timed exam mode (mirrors the real Pearson VUE flow) and study mode (immediate AI explanations, follow-up questions, no timer).

Step 2: Take a baseline before you study

This is counter-intuitive but critical. Take a full-length AZ-104 sim cold. Do not pre-study. The score is irrelevant; what you want is the domain breakdown that ExamCertAI shows at the end. AZ-104 has five published domains, and your weakest one becomes your study target.

Step 3: Switch to study mode and review every miss

For each missed question, click "Explain" and read the AI breakdown. Then ask one follow-up. The follow-up is what makes the concept stick. Examples that work for AZ-104:

• "What is the difference between Azure Backup and Azure Site Recovery in this scenario?"
• "Why not a service endpoint instead of a private endpoint here?"
• "When would PIM be the wrong answer for this access scenario?"

Step 4: Track domain scores week-over-week

ExamCertAI logs your performance by domain so you can see which areas are improving. Repeat full-length sims weekly until every domain is at 75%+.

A Real AZ-104 Question, Reviewed With AI

Why the AI explains C as the right answer:

1. Service endpoints (B) keep traffic on the Azure backbone but use the storage account's public IP. The question explicitly asks for a private IP, so B fails on that constraint alone.
2. VPN Gateway (A) is over-engineered for a single VNet-to-storage connection in the same subscription, and adds gateway hours to the cost.
3. NAT Gateway (D) is for outbound public internet traffic from the VNet, not for connecting to a private resource.
4. Private endpoint (C) gives the storage account a private IP inside VNet1, integrates with Private DNS Zone for name resolution, and adds minimal cost compared to a VPN gateway.

The AI then offers: "Want me to walk through how this changes if the storage account were in a different region?" — and that follow-up is what builds the deep mental model.

The 5-Week AZ-104 Study Workflow

This is the workflow that consistently produces 80%+ practice scores in 5 weeks of part-time study (8-10 hours/week), pairing AI practice with Microsoft Learn paths and hands-on lab time in the Azure portal.

The Domains Most Candidates Underestimate

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the AZ-104 AI practice exam on ai.examcert.app actually free?

Yes. ExamCertAI is browser-based with no signup, no credit card, and no download. You get full-length AZ-104 simulations with AI explanations on every option, plus the ability to ask follow-up questions about Azure services, RBAC, networking, and identity.

How is AZ-104 different from the older AZ-103 exam?

AZ-104 replaced AZ-103 in 2020 and consolidates Azure Administrator skills. It places heavier weight on managing identities (Microsoft Entra ID), governance, virtual networking, storage, and compute. Practice questions written for AZ-103 are largely outdated.

Does AZ-104 still have hands-on lab questions?

As of 2026 most AZ-104 sittings are multiple-choice, drag-and-drop, and case-study only. The exam may include performance-based simulation questions; AI practice exams cover the question logic but cannot fully replicate live-portal labs.

What target score should I hit on AI practice tests before booking AZ-104?

Aim for 80%+ on two consecutive timed simulations. AZ-104 passing is 700/1000. An 80%+ practice average gives you exam-day buffer, especially since case-study questions on the real exam tend to score 5-10% lower than discrete questions.

ExamCert Team

Certified cloud professionals helping candidates pass AWS, Azure, GCP, and security certifications.