I'm new to cloud and want to learn Azure or other major cloud platforms, especially cloud networking. I already have a solid networking background but very little hands-on cloud experience. What beginner-friendly resources would you recommend, such as videos, courses, or interactive labs? I'm looking for something structured and practical, similar to comprehensive networking courses for beginners.
4 Answers
The best way to make the material stick is to combine the courses with hands-on practice. Create a small Azure environment, deploy a virtual machine, work out how to connect to it, and try hosting a simple webpage. Before creating anything, check the pricing calculator and set a budget alert so you don't accidentally run up a bill.
Microsoft Learn has free, structured courses with interactive exercises. You can create Azure resources, use the portal and command line, and follow guided labs instead of only watching videos. The Azure Fundamentals learning path is a good starting point, especially if you want to work toward an entry-level certification.
If you have access to a paid training library, Pluralsight is another option. It has separate learning paths for roles such as networking, database administration and infrastructure engineering. It is useful if you prefer a more organized video-based curriculum.
John Savill's video courses are a great place to start with Azure. He explains the services clearly and has content ranging from fundamentals to more advanced certification topics.
A budget alert should probably be one of the very first things you configure. It is easy to forget about running resources when you're experimenting.