The full playlist is available below as individual video embeds. (If you prefer the combined playlist player, open it on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9HBlbKg4DavosJmnJ8UTk4dHxeQbY-3V)
Overview
This post embeds the “Azure Hands-On Lab” playlist published on the Neural Universe Lab YouTube channel and summarizes what’s included and the hands-on steps I performed while following the series. The playlist is intended as a practical companion to the AZ-104 Microsoft Azure Administrator objectives.
Note: the playlist is embedded above. If the playlist does not appear due to YouTube restrictions, you can open it directly: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9HBlbKg4DavosJmnJ8UTk4dHxeQbY-3V
What the playlist covers (high-level)
The playlist focuses on the core AZ-104 administrative tasks and typical hands-on labs you would expect when preparing for the Azure Administrator role. Typical topics covered include:
Managing Azure subscriptions and resources (resource groups, tags, cost-management basics)
Implementing and managing storage accounts, blobs and file shares
Creating and configuring virtual machines (Linux/Windows), availability sets and scale sets
Configuring virtual networks, subnets, network security groups, and peering
Managing identities: Azure AD users, groups, and role-based access control (RBAC)
Implementing and managing Azure Monitor, diagnostics, and alerts
Backup and restore strategies and using Azure Backup
Managing and configuring Azure Load Balancers and Application Gateways
Implementing basic automation using ARM templates, CLI, and PowerShell
What I did (hands-on steps I performed)
Below is a concise summary of the practical tasks I completed while following the labs in this playlist. These are written as actionable steps you can reproduce:
Provisioned a dedicated resource group to keep the labs isolated.
Created and configured Storage Accounts; uploaded test blobs and experimented with access tiers.
Deployed Virtual Machines (Windows and Ubuntu), configured SSH/RDP, and applied OS updates.
Attached and mounted additional data disks to a VM and validated persistence after reboot.
Created Virtual Network(s), added subnets, and applied network security groups to enforce inbound/outbound rules.
Configured private IP addressing and tested connectivity between VMs using ping and network utilities.
Set up Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) roles for a secondary user to practice least-privilege assignments.
Enabled diagnostic logging & metrics for VMs and Storage Accounts, then created alerts in Azure Monitor.
Tested simple automation scripts using the Azure CLI and PowerShell to automate VM start/stop and snapshot creation.
Implemented a backup policy using Azure Backup and tested restore to ensure reliability.
What’s included in this post
Embedded YouTube playlist (above).
High-level summary of topics covered in the playlist.
Short, reproducible list of hands-on steps I performed while following the lab videos.
Links and next steps for readers who want to try the labs themselves.
Suggested next steps for readers
Clone or create a new Azure subscription (use a free trial or sandbox) and create a resource group for the labs.
Follow the playlist videos in order — pause frequently and replicate each step in your own subscription.
Use Azure Cloud Shell or locally installed Azure CLI to run commands shown in the videos.
Rotate any credentials and clean up resources after completing the labs to avoid unexpected charges.
Per-video breakdown (Embedded)
Below are the individual videos from the playlist embedded separately with a short note about what each lab covers and the hands-on steps I performed while following it. Visitors can play each video directly on this page.
Lab 5 — Implement Virtual Networking
Short summary: configuring Virtual Networks, subnets, route tables, and validating connectivity between VMs. Hands-on steps I ran: created a VNet with multiple subnets, deployed two VMs, tested NSG rules, and verified cross-subnet communication.
Lab 6 — Implement Intersite Connectivity
Short summary: implementing VNet peering and VPN/ExpressRoute style connectivity patterns for hybrid scenarios. Hands-on steps: configured VNet peering, verified routing, and tested site-to-site connectivity scenarios using simulated on-prem endpoints.
Lab 7 — Implement Network Traffic Management
Short summary: configuring load balancing, traffic manager, and application gateway basics. Hands-on steps: deployed a Load Balancer, created backend pools and health probes, and tested traffic distribution.
Lab 8 — Manage Azure Storage
Short summary: storage account creation, blob/container operations, access tiers, and snapshots. Hands-on steps: created storage accounts, uploaded blobs, experimented with access tiers and lifecycle rules, and validated restores.
Lab 9 — Manage Virtual Machines
Short summary: VM provisioning, OS images, extensions, and disk management. Hands-on steps: provisioned Windows/Linux VMs, attached data disks, used the Azure portal and CLI to snapshot and resize disks.