Finally, I passed the last required AZ-301 exam and became certified as Azure Solutions Architect Expert. I shared my thoughts on AZ-103 exam about two months ago, but now want to provide my feedback on AZ-301/AZ-300 and the certification path itself:
- If you thoroughly prepared yourself for AZ-300, you could take AZ-301 on the next day. And, most likely, it’d be pretty successfully. Azure infrastructure exams are partly overlapped. Only AZ-400 stands out from the “crowd” and AZ-103 together with AZ-300 are fundamental exams.
- AZ-300 has performance sections or simply labs. Be ready to spend 3 hours for taking the exam. More details are here
- AZ-301 includes 41 questions (2 case studies and test questions). The main topics I had: Azure SQL Database, Site Recovery, Backup, Cosmos DB, Azure migration tools, Azure AD, ExpressRoute, Application Gateway, VPN Gateway, Traffic Manager, Azure Storage, File Sync, Containers, Virtual Machines, Monitor, Logic Apps and Functions.
How to prepare?
- Gain a real Azure experience (external/internal projects)
- If you don’t have Azure subscription, request a trial, and then activate Azure AD Premium features to explore advanced Identity and Security management. Azure AD should be your start point.
- Check the list of free Azure certification training courses. I used Pluralsight, OpenEDX courses (they are based on MCT training guides) and completed Udemy AZ-300 paid course (it’s pretty good, but not required)
- If you are not familiar with some of the Azure Services, I’d highly recommend to purchase pBook or download FREE ebook “Learn Azure in a Month Of Lunches” that I reviewed a few months ago. It’s a great all-in-one guide to get started with almost everything in Azure.
- The certification will be valid only for 2 years, so keep learning and practice every day! I wish you good luck on the exam and may the force be with you.
UseIT | Roman Levchenko 
Take my congrats, Roman!
And thanks for the preparation materials!