IamITgeek – aka Shabaz Darr

Tag: Exams

AZ-140: Configuring and Operating Windows Virtual Desktop on Microsoft Azure (beta) – Exam Study Guide — April 19, 2021

AZ-140: Configuring and Operating Windows Virtual Desktop on Microsoft Azure (beta) – Exam Study Guide

/IamITgeek/4 Comments

Salaam, Namaste, Ola and Hello!

It has been just over a week since I took the Beta exam for the AZ-140: Configuring and Operating Windows Virtual Desktop on Microsoft Azure. I decided to do a small write up with some of my thoughts, experiences and recommendations around study resources that I feel will help others prepare for the exam.

At the time of writing this post I am still waiting to find out if I have passed or not, as with Beta exams it takes up to 2 weeks before you find this information out. This post is not a break-down of the subjects that are covered on the exam as this information is available via Microsoft’s website at this link: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/certifications/exams/az-140

My thoughts: The following are some of my thoughts after taking the exam:

Three things I am I am glad I learnt:

  • FSLogix
  • Identity Management
  • Virtual Machine Sizing

Things I wish I had learnt:

  • WVD PowerShell commands

Most common question areas I got in my exam:

  • Identity Management (Azure AD, Azure AD Domain Services & Active Directory on-premises)
  • Azure Networking (VNET DNS, Peering and VPNs)
  • FSLogix

Least common question areas I got in my exam:

  • Image Deployment
  • Application publishing
  • Hostpool Deployment

I took this exam only a few days after it was released, therefore there was very little information around other people’s experience with this exam, only the information around what areas are covered from Microsoft (see link at the start of the post). In all honesty I was expecting more questions around Windows Virtual Desktop Services, like Hostpools, Application Groups, Load Balancing Algorithms and FSLogix, however only one of those topics (FSLogix) came up multiple times.

My experience and prep for the Azure Associate Administration exam probably helped me more when taking this exam as there is much more focus on Azure services that integrate with Windows Virtual Desktop (Identity Management, Azure Network, VM sizing and PowerShell commands). If you are not familiar with Azure at an Administration level at least, I would not recommend you take this exam as you will find it difficult.

Exam Breakdown: The following information is a breakdown of the types of questions I got in my exam and the amount of time I spent on them –

Order Section Time Spent (minutes) Difficulty /10? 
1 Case Studies 15 minutes 6 
2 General Multiple Choice Questions 30 minutes 7 
3 Scenario Based Questions 15 5 
4    
5    
 Total (minutes): 60/120  

As you can see from the above table the sections of the exam were pretty standard for a Microsoft exam (for those that have done one before). My exam consisted of 43 questions in total, 10 as part of the case study, 23 as part of the multiple choice questions and then 10 as part of the scenario based questions. I think due to my everyday exposure to Windows Virtual Desktop and Azure services in general I did not find there was anything that caught me out, however there were sections like the case studies where I did have to think about some of the answers.

Learning Resources

As I mentioned earlier in the post, I took the exam only a few days after it was released as a Beta exam, however here are a few really useful links I used in my preparation:

When it comes to preparation the only other advise I can give is go through the steps on creating a demo environment of Windows Virtual Desktop in Azure including all the integrated Azure services like Azure AD Domain Services, Azure VNET, FSLogix with Azure Files, Windows 10 multi-session image creation and Application publishing. Having some hands on experience will allow you to use your experience to answer the questions, as well as the information you have learnt from other resources.

Keep an eye out on m Twitter feed to see if I pass in the coming weeks ( https://twitter.com/ShabazDarr ). Hope you find this helpful, if you would like any more information feel free to tweet me @shabazdarr or ask a question in the comments section below!

MD-100: Modern Desktop Associate study guide & Exam prep — August 28, 2019

MD-100: Modern Desktop Associate study guide & Exam prep

/IamITgeek/3 Comments
Modern Desktop Administrator

Salaam, Namaste, Ola and Hello!

This is my first blog in a few months due to various different commitments, including spending more time around my learning. I have recently (the day of writing this in fact) passed my MD-100 exam and in this blog I will take you through my journey, including:

  • Study Resources
  • Topics you need to cover
  • Exam tips

For those who are not aware, the MD-100 is the first of two exams you need to gain the certification known as ‘Modern Desktop Associate Administrator’. This certification is all based around Windows 10, including upgrading from older OS versions, the different ways in which you can keep it updated and also the security that Windows 10 brings with it.

STUDY RESOURCES: There are a few different ways you can go about studying for an exam, either a tutor led course or self paced learning. For this specific exam I decided to go for the self paced learning approach and the best way I found to get started was the Microsoft Learning resources which are free and can be done at your own pace. To get started on my MD-100 journey I worked through the following course from the learning site:

There are a lot more resources around the Modern Desktop subject, but none that relate to this specific exam. The second free resource I found really useful is again thanks to Microsoft: https://partner.microsoft.com/en-us/asset/collection/modern-desktop-associate-certification-part-1-exam-md100#/

Again these are self paced training videos but much more interactive than the learning paths as you have labs as well as interactive activities you need to complete which can actually be quite fun! Another positive about this resource is that each module has a set of questions that you are graded on and at the end of the full course you have a final test and in some cases a lab which is marked. The reason this resource was probably the most useful was because of how interactive it was with the labs as well as the mark tests, as this gives you hands on practice and realistic questions which allows you to judge if the information you are learning is actually going in or not!

The final resource I used was a Plurasite course which was all video and reading based. Personally this was the most difficult to get through for me as I found the watching and reading only element very mundane. Some of the videos within the training were very useful however as they were based around real life engineers being interviewed and giving there experience around the subject matter, be it Windows update, Installing Windows or even the security side. Unlike the Microsoft learning site which are free, Plurasite is a subscription based site but again I highly recommend investing in it.

TOPICS YOU NEED TO COVER: You can find the main topics to cover on the Microsoft exam site: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/exam-md-100.aspx. Topics they suggest include Deploy Windows, Manage devices, Configure Connectivity and Maintain Windows. I recommend you cover all these as suggested, however the following should be covered in greater depth:

  • NTFS permissions
  • Windows permissions
  • Group Policy
  • Powershell Commands
  • AutoPilot
  • Bitlocker

EXAM TIPS: The new Microsoft exam format covers a few different question types, with your standard multiple choice, scenario based where they have multiple questions based on one big use case and finally practical labs. With this particular exam however I did not get any labs. The exam was 45 questions, 40 of which were multiple choice and 5 were based on one big scenario. I do not think there is anything new I can tell you about the multiple choice questions that you do not already know, however with the scenario based questions I was not to bothered about reading the full scenario in to much detail as you can always refer back to it. Once I skim read it, I looked at the question, found the relevant part in the scenario which I read in detail and then looked at the possible answers. I found this saved a lot of time and needless reading of information that is not really valid for the questions. One thing to note is that I had over 2 hours to complete the 45 questions in, which means you can take your time and even go back and review your answers before finally submitting them.

Hope you find this helpful, if you would like any more information feel free to tweet me @shabazdarr or ask a question in the comments section below! I am planning on doing the MD-101 exam in a few weeks so will follow that up with another post!

Until next time, ‘IamITGeek’ over and out!