AZ-104 Domain 3: Deploy and manage Azure compute resources (20-25%) - Complete Study Guide 2026

What Domain 3 Actually Tests

Domain 3-Deploy and manage Azure compute resources-shares the top weight band of the AZ-104 exam at 20-25%, tied with Domain 1 (identities and governance). That means roughly one in five questions you face on exam day will probe your ability to provision, configure, monitor, and troubleshoot Azure compute services. If you are planning your study time, this domain deserves the same investment as governance and identities.

The April 17, 2026 skills-measured update consolidated compute coverage into several practical sub-areas. At a high level, the domain spans:

• Creating and managing Azure Virtual Machines (Windows and Linux), including configuration, networking attachment, disks, extensions, and high availability
• Automating VM deployments using ARM templates, Bicep, Azure CLI, and PowerShell
• Configuring VM scale sets and understanding auto-scaling policies
• Working with Azure App Service plans, Web Apps, deployment slots, and scaling
• Managing Azure Container Instances (ACI) and the fundamentals of Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
• Understanding when to use each compute option and how to migrate or resize workloads

This is not a theoretical domain. Microsoft designs AZ-104 to validate that you can actually do the work of an Azure Administrator, and compute is where that operational expectation shows up most directly. For a broader picture of how this domain sits among the other four, see the AZ-104 Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 5 Content Areas.

Virtual Machines: The Core of This Domain

Azure Virtual Machines remain the anchor topic for Domain 3. The breadth of VM-related content is wide, and exam items tend to test configuration decisions rather than basic navigation. You need to understand not just how to create a VM, but why you would choose specific sizes, disk types, availability constructs, and networking configurations given a stated business requirement.

VM Creation and Configuration

Expect questions about VM image selection, VM sizes (compute-optimized vs. memory-optimized vs. general-purpose), and the relationship between VM size and the features available (such as premium SSD support or accelerated networking). Administrators must know how to configure:

• OS and data disks: managed disks, disk types (Standard HDD, Standard SSD, Premium SSD, Ultra Disk), caching policies, and disk encryption
• VM extensions: Custom Script Extension, Azure Monitor Agent, and the Desired State Configuration (DSC) extension
• Boot diagnostics and guest OS diagnostics for troubleshooting failed or unresponsive VMs
• Azure Bastion for secure, browser-based RDP and SSH without exposing public IP addresses

Availability and Redundancy

High availability architecture is a heavy hitter in exam questions. You must clearly distinguish between the following constructs and know when each is appropriate:

VM Scale Sets and Autoscaling

VM scale sets deserve their own focused study session. Exam items frequently ask you to interpret an autoscale rule configuration-understanding scale-out and scale-in conditions, cooldown periods, and the difference between metric-based and schedule-based scaling. You should also know the difference between Uniform mode and Flexible orchestration mode, as the exam has begun testing this distinction more frequently since the 2026 skills update.

Containers, App Services, and PaaS Compute

Domain 3 extends well beyond virtual machines. Azure's PaaS and container offerings are explicitly included, and candidates who focus exclusively on IaaS VMs consistently run into gaps on exam day.

Azure App Service

App Service is one of the most feature-rich services in the exam scope. Key areas to master:

• App Service Plans: The relationship between pricing tier (Free, Shared, Basic, Standard, Premium, Isolated) and features like custom domains, SSL, autoscaling, and deployment slots
• Deployment slots: Staging slots, slot swaps, and traffic routing percentages for gradual rollouts
• App Service scaling: Scale-up (changing the plan tier) versus scale-out (adding instances), and configuring autoscale rules
• App Service on Linux and Windows containers: Deploying container images directly to App Service
• Continuous deployment: Connecting App Service to GitHub Actions or Azure DevOps pipelines

Azure Container Instances and AKS

Azure Container Instances (ACI) is the fastest path to running a container without managing infrastructure. Exam questions about ACI typically focus on container group configuration, restart policies, environment variables, and mounting Azure Files shares as volumes.

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) is tested at an administrator-level depth-not developer depth. That means you need to understand node pools, cluster scaling, integrating AKS with Azure Container Registry (ACR), and using managed identities for AKS. You are unlikely to be asked to write Kubernetes manifests from scratch, but you should understand how to deploy a workload using kubectl apply and how AKS integrates with Azure Monitor and Azure Active Directory (now Microsoft Entra ID).

Automation, ARM Templates, and Infrastructure as Code

One of the most distinctive aspects of the AZ-104 exam is its emphasis on automation. The exam is explicitly designed for candidates who "have experience with operating systems, networking, servers, virtualization, PowerShell, Azure CLI, Azure portal, ARM/Bicep." That language in Microsoft's prerequisites directly signals the types of items you will encounter.

ARM Templates and Bicep

You do not need to memorize entire template schemas, but you must be able to read an ARM template or Bicep file and answer questions about what it deploys, what parameters it requires, and how to modify it to meet a new requirement. Common exam scenarios include:

• Identifying the correct dependsOn relationship to ensure a VM is created after its NIC
• Understanding the difference between parameters, variables, and outputs in ARM templates
• Using @allowed decorators in Bicep to constrain parameter values
• Deploying templates using az deployment group create or New-AzResourceGroupDeployment

Azure CLI and PowerShell for Compute

Lab and performance-based tasks on the AZ-104 exam may present a live Azure environment where you must complete a configuration task. Compute-related lab tasks frequently involve creating or modifying VMs, configuring scale sets, or deploying resources from the CLI. Make sure you are fluent with commands like:

• az vm create, az vm resize, az vm deallocate, az vm generalize
• az vmss create, az vmss scale
• New-AzVM, Set-AzVMOSDisk, Update-AzVmss
• az webapp create, az webapp deployment slot create

For a comprehensive view of how difficult candidates find the lab components and interactive item types, the How Hard Is the AZ-104 Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 breaks down the challenge by section type.

How Compute Questions Are Formatted on Exam Day

The AZ-104 uses multiple item types, and Domain 3 content appears across almost all of them. Understanding the format helps you practice effectively. The exam includes approximately 40-60 questions (including any lab tasks) within a 100-minute window, though your total appointment time will be longer due to check-in, tutorial, and survey components.

The AZ-104 exam fee in the United States is typically $165 USD, with regional pricing variation. Given that investment-plus the 100-minute clock-practicing in the actual Azure portal rather than relying solely on flashcards is one of the highest-return preparation activities you can take for compute topics specifically. You can run through scenarios on the AZ-104 practice test platform to build familiarity with the question formats before your appointment.

A Focused Study Sequence for Domain 3

Because Domain 3 is both broad and hands-on, a sequenced approach works better than reading linearly through documentation. The following four-week block assumes you are dedicating focused time to this domain specifically within a larger AZ-104 preparation plan. For a full timeline across all five domains, the AZ-104 Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt provides a complete framework.

Where Candidates Lose Points in This Domain

Based on the structure of the exam objectives and the nature of the interactive items, several areas produce consistent difficulty for candidates. Understanding these gaps before you sit for the exam is more valuable than reviewing content you already know well.

Confusing Capture Workflows

Capturing a VM as a reusable image requires running Sysprep (Windows) or waagent (Linux) to generalize the OS, then deallocating and generalizing the VM in Azure, then creating the image. Many candidates know individual steps but cannot correctly sequence the full workflow under exam pressure-which is exactly what build-list items test.

App Service Plan Tier Restrictions

Deployment slots are only available on Standard tier and above. Autoscale is only available on Standard tier and above. Custom domain with SSL requires at least Basic. These tier-based restrictions generate wrong answers when candidates assume a feature is universally available across all pricing tiers.

VMSS Orchestration Modes

The difference between Uniform and Flexible orchestration in VM scale sets is a newer exam topic. Uniform mode is optimized for large-scale stateless workloads with identical VMs; Flexible mode supports mixed VM types and integrates better with availability zones. Candidates who studied older materials may not have encountered this distinction.

Bicep Syntax vs. ARM JSON

As Bicep matures, exam items increasingly present Bicep syntax rather than ARM JSON. If your study materials are more than a year old, revisit this area. You should be able to read a Bicep module definition and identify what resources it deploys, what required parameters it exposes, and what its outputs make available to parent templates.

Domain 3 connects directly to several other domains. Networking configuration (covered in AZ-104 Domain 4: Implement and manage virtual networking (15-20%) - Complete Study Guide 2026) affects how VMs communicate, what load balancers protect scale sets, and how App Service integrates with virtual networks. And identities-covered in AZ-104 Domain 1: Manage Azure identities and governance (20-25%) - Complete Study Guide 2026-determine which managed identities your compute resources use to authenticate to other services. Study these domains in parallel rather than in strict isolation.

Once you earn the certification, it remains valid for 12 months. Renewal is free through a Microsoft Learn online assessment-no re-examination required. That renewal model makes the certification a low-friction, high-value credential to maintain, which is one reason employers across cloud operations, DevOps, and infrastructure roles actively seek it. For a detailed look at what kinds of roles this certification supports, see the AZ-104 Jobs guide.

Frequently Asked Questions