Virtual Geek

I passed Architecting Microsoft Azure Solutions 70-535 Exam recently. Earlier 70-534 Architecting Microsoft Azure Solutions exam was no longer exist and it was been withdrawn by Microsoft. In my first attempt I had failed exam, and understood my weaker areas and where I need to work upon. Below is the official blueprint of the exam, I went thoroughly and had went through for each point on my Azure subscription, (I tested all the services on azure), Which helped me to pass the exam. Also I followed the book on https://amzn.to/2MzITRT. You can also try mva.microsoft.com for study.

Here below given is Official blueprint taken from and it is taken from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/exam-70-535.aspx. This link can also be used to register and schedule exam.

Exam Duration – 2.5 Hours 
Number of Questions – 58
Exam Pattern – Multiple Choice and Multiple Answer Questions, Proctored and Caselet based Questions
Passing score - 700

Design Compute Infrastructure (20-25%)

• Design solutions using virtual machines (VMs)
  • Design VM deployments by leveraging availability sets, fault domains, and update domains in Azure; use web app for containers; design VM Scale Sets; design for compute-intensive tasks using Azure Batch and Azure Batch AI; define a migration strategy from cloud services; determine when to use reserved instances; design for VMs in a DevTest Lab environment (including formulas, images, artifacts, claiming and un-claiming VMs); determine when to use Accelerated Networking; recommend use of Azure Backup and Azure Site Recovery including support for Linux in Azure Backup and integrating Azure Backup in the VM creation process; recommend when to use availability zones
• Design solutions for serverless computing
  • Use Azure Functions to implement event-driven actions; design data storage solutions for serverless computing; design for serverless computing using Azure Container Instances; design application solutions by using Azure Logic Apps, Azure Functions, or both; determine when to use API management service; design event routing solutions using Azure Event Grid; design solutions that integrate stream processing and bot messaging
• Design microservices-based solutions  
  • Determine when a container-based solution is appropriate; determine when container-orchestration is appropriate; determine when Azure Service Fabric (ASF) is appropriate; determine when Azure Functions is appropriate; determine when to use API management service; determine when Web API is appropriate; determine which platform is appropriate for container orchestration; consider migrating existing assets versus cloud native deployment; design lifecycle management strategies
• Design web applications
  • Design Azure App Service Web Apps; design custom web API; secure Web API; design Web Apps for scalability and performance; design for high availability using Azure Web Apps in multiple regions; determine which App service plan to use; design Web Apps for business continuity; determine when to use Azure App Service Isolated; design for API apps; determine when to use API management service; determine when to use Web Apps on Linux; determine when to use a CDN; determine when to use a cache, including Azure Redis cache
• Create compute-intensive applications
  • Design high-performance computing (HPC) and other compute-intensive applications using Azure Services; determine when to use Azure Batch; design stateless components to accommodate scale; design lifecycle strategy for Azure Batch; design solution that implement low priority batching and job task counting

Design Data Implementation (15-20%)

• Design for Azure Storage solutions
  • Determine when to use Azure Blob Storage, blob tiers (hot, cool, archive), Azure Files, disks, Azure Data Box, Azure Storage Service Encryption, and Azure StorSimple
• Design for Azure Data Services
  • Determine when to use Azure Data Catalog, Azure Data Factory, Azure SQL Data Warehouse, Azure Data Lake Analytics, Azure Analysis Services, and Azure HDInsight
• Design for relational database storage
  • Determine when to use Azure SQL Database and SQL Server Stretch Database; design for scalability and features; determine when to use Azure Database for MySQL and Azure Database for PostgreSQL; design for HA/DR, geo-replication; design a backup and recovery strategy; design optimization strategies for Azure SQL Data Warehouse columnar storage
• Design for NoSQL storage
  • Determine when to use Azure Redis Cache, Azure Table Storage, Azure Data Lake, Azure Search, Time Series Insights; design pipelines for managing recurring jobs
• Design for CosmosDB storage
  • Determine when to use MongoDB API, Azure Cosmos DB SQL API, Graph API, Azure Tables API; design for cost, performance, data consistency, availability, and business continuity

Design Networking Implementation (15-20%)

• Design Azure virtual networks
  • Design solutions that use Azure networking services: design for load balancing using Azure Load Balancer and Azure Traffic Manager; define DNS, DHCP, and IP strategies; determine when to use Azure Application Gateway; determine when to use virtual network (VNet) service endpoints; determine when to use multi-node application gateways, Traffic Manager and load balancers
• Design external connectivity for Azure Virtual Networks
  • Determine when to use Azure VPN, Azure ExpressRoute and Virtual Network Peering architecture and design; determine when to use User Defined Routes (UDRs); determine when to use VPN gateway site-to-site failover for ExpressRoute; determine when to use the Container Networking Interface (CNI) plugin; design solutions that use Global VNet Peering
• Design security strategies
  • Determine when to use network virtual appliances; design a perimeter network (DMZ); determine when to use a Web Application Firewall (WAF), Network Security Group (NSG), and virtual network service tunneling; organize resources by designing solutions that use service tags
• Design connectivity for hybrid applications
  • Design connectivity to on-premises data from Azure applications using Azure Relay Service, Azure Data Management Gateway for Data Factory, Azure On-Premises Data Gateway, Hybrid Connections, or Azure Web App’s virtual private network (VPN) capability; identify constraints for connectivity with VPN; identify options for joining VMs to domains

Design Security and Identity Solutions (20-25%)

• Design an identity solution
  • Design AD Connect synchronization; design federated identities using Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS); design solutions for Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA); design an architecture using Active Directory on-premises and Azure Active Directory (AAD); determine when to use Azure AD Domain Services; design security for Mobile Apps using AAD
• Secure resources by using identity providers
  • Design solutions that use external or consumer identity providers such as Microsoft account, Facebook, Google, and Yahoo; determine when to use Azure AD B2C and Azure AD B2B; design mobile apps using AAD B2C or AAD B2B
• Design a data security solution
  • Design data security solutions for Azure services; determine when to use Azure Storage encryption, Azure Disk Encryption, Azure SQL Database security capabilities, and Azure Key Vault; design for protecting secrets in ARM templates using Azure Key Vault; design for protecting application secrets using Azure Key Vault; design a solution for managing certificates using Azure Key Vault; design solutions that use Azure AD Managed Service Identity
• Design a mechanism of governance and policies for administering Azure resources
  • Determine when to use Azure RBAC standard roles and custom roles; define an Azure RBAC strategy; determine when to use Azure resource policies; determine when to use Azure AD Privileged Identity Management; design solutions that use Azure AD Managed Service Identity; determine when to use HSM-backed keys
• Manage security risks by using an appropriate security solution
  • Identify, assess, and mitigate security risks by using Azure Security Center, Operations Management Suite Security and Audit solutions, and other services; determine when to use Azure AD Identity Protection; determine when to use Advanced Threat Detection; determine an appropriate endpoint protection strategy

Design Solutions by using Platform Services (10-15%)

• Design for Artificial Intelligence Services
  • Determine when to use the appropriate Cognitive Services, Azure Bot Service, Azure Machine Learning, and other categories that fall under cognitive AI
• Design for IoT
  • Determine when to use Azure Stream Analytics, Azure IoT Hubs, Azure Event Hubs, real-time analytics, Azure Time Series Insights, Azure IoT Edge, Azure Notification Hubs, Event Grid, and other services that fall under IoT
• Design messaging solution architectures
  • Design a messaging architecture; determine when to use Azure Storage Queues, Azure Service Bus, Azure Event Hubs, Azure Event Grid, Azure Relay, Azure Functions, and Azure Logic Apps; design a push notification strategy for Mobile Apps; design for performance and scale
• Design for media service solutions
  • Define solutions using Azure Media Services, video indexer, video API, computer vision API, preview, and other media related services; design solutions that use file-based encoding or Azure Media Analytics

Design for Operations (10-15%)

• Design an application monitoring and alerting strategy
  • Determine the appropriate Microsoft products and services for monitoring applications on Azure; define solutions for analyzing logs and enabling alerts using Azure Log Analytics; define solutions for analyzing performance metrics and enabling alerts using Azure Monitor; define a solution for monitoring applications and enabling alerts using Application Insights
• Design a platform monitoring and alerting strategy
  • Determine the appropriate Microsoft products and services for monitoring Azure platform solutions; define a monitoring solution using Azure Health, Azure Advisor, and Activity Log; define a monitoring solution for Azure Networks using Log Analytics and Network Watcher service; monitor security with Azure Security Center; design TCP connections
• Design an operations automation strategy
  • Determine when to use Azure Automation, Chef, Puppet, PowerShell, Azure Automation (DSC), Event Grid, and Azure Logic Apps; define a strategy for auto-scaling; define a strategy for enabling periodic processes and tasks; define an update management strategy