From Zero to Hero: My Azure Monitor Learning Path

For those who don't know me, I'm a former SCOM admin, and I blog regularly about monitoring and co-organise Experts Live India each year. As one of SquaredUp's tech evangelists, I've recently taken on the task of figuring out Azure Monitor and documenting my journey so that others can find my — sometimes torturous — journey less taxing. This write-up is for you, hope you enjoy!

If you've just made the move to Azure and are desperate to make Azure Monitor work for you, you’re not alone. Like you and many other IT Pros, I too have been looking to succeed with Azure Monitor. After months of learning, I am now well on my way, and I am here to help you. I’ve done some of the homework for you so that, with this guide, you won’t have to! Each post will be comprehensive, concise and easily digestible—it will hopefully be your one-stop-shop for Azure Monitor success!

Having said that, one thing to bear in mind is that this is all about Azure Monitor, not Azure administration or governance. Also, this is not intended to be another piece of “documentation”, but rather a journey where together, we explore Azure Monitor and how it works. If there are mentions of other Azure services, I will make sure to link some reading material without going into too much detail so as not to stray from our original purpose.

Now that that's out of the way, let's jump in!

Azure Monitor Learning Path

Part 1:What is Azure Monitor and how does it work?
What Azure Monitor is and how it works, with metrics and logs at its core.
Part 2: Azure Monitor Logs – getting started
Connecting different data sources to a log analytics workspace. Data sources include VMs, storage accounts, activity logs, etc.
Part 3: Azure Monitor Logs – Solutions
What solutions are, how to deploy and configure them, as well as the impact on cost.
Part 4: Working with Logs data using KQL
Running KQL queries in Azure Monitor query builder and utilizing pre-built queries from query explorer.
Part 5: Visualizing Log Analytics data with Azure Monitor
Visualizing data collected by Azure Monitor from different aspects - such as default views, dashboards, pinning views, workbooks, etc.
Part 6: Getting started with Application Insights
An overview of Application Insights. How to set up an AppInsights workspace and configure some quick availability tests for applications.
Part 7: Mastering APM with Application Insights
Using AppInsights as code-based and codeless APM.
Part 8: Alerting in Azure Monitor
Creating alert rules in Azure Monitor and setting up action groups.
Part 9: Azure Service Health
Monitoring the health and availability of Azure itself and setting alerts based on planned maintenance activities.

Through this series, you will learn:

• the basics (how Azure Monitor works and its core concepts)
• the available features (and how they can be used to achieve common monitoring goals)
• specific use cases (we’ll explore how to use the platform to support your operations and diagnose issues at scale)

By the end, both you and I will hopefully be comfortable with even the most advanced use cases and technical wizardry. Buckle up, your journey to becoming an Azure Monitor Superhero starts here!

Part 1: What is Azure Monitor and how does it work?