Over the past few months, I have been working diligently to learn more about Azure. As a result of my studies, I have successfully passed the Implementing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions certification exam (70-533). By far, this is the hardest exam I have taken to date.
Over the past 15+ years I have worked very hard to learn as much as possible about SQL Server and the Windows operating systems that it runs on, but that knowledge only took me so far within Azure. I had to look at Azure as an entire suite of products that seamlessly work together, and to successfully pass the exam, I had to learn about each one of them. I found the content around websites to be the toughest to understand. I’m pretty comfortable with how websites are hosted, but I needed to know more on the internals of features such as application settings, diagnostic logs, and monitoring. And of course we can’t forget PowerShell. It wouldn’t be an accurate test without a few PowerShell syntax questions.
The skills we learn over the years tend to be forgotten if we don’t use them. That’s why I’d like to welcome you to the Azure edition of Everyday SQL. I thought the best way to keep my skills up-to-date would be to host a portion of my blog within Azure. Going forward, I plan to post more articles about using SQL Server and other features within Azure.
Before I end this article, there is one thing that does bug me from time to time. It’s the correct way to pronounce “Azure”. It’s a little hard to type out, so I’ll provide you will a link to the Cambridge Online Dictionary where you can play the US version of the pronunciation.
