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Microsoft Azure · initializing blades

Architecture

AZ-305 Architect Lab · v0.2.5

A drag-and-drop trainer I built while studying for AZ-305, the Azure Solutions Architect Expert exam. Drop Azure services on a canvas, connect them with typed links, pick a scenario, and check whether your design actually solves it. It's like a flight simulator for cloud architecture.

Open AZ-305 Architect Lab ↗ Source code ↗

The actual lab, running live: the global web app reference template loaded on the Architect canvas. Click anywhere to open it full size.

Why it exists

AZ-305 isn't about memorizing services, it's about choosing the right ones and wiring them together for a goal. Reading slides didn't make that click for me, so I built a place to practice it by hand. You drag out the services, draw the connections, and the lab tells you whether the design holds up.

It runs on the same React and TypeScript stack as this portal, with a hand-rolled SVG canvas. No diagram library. The whole thing is a static site on Azure Static Web Apps, billed to my Azure for Students credit.

What you can do

Drag 50+ real Azure services from a searchable, categorized palette onto the canvas
Wire services together with five typed links: data, network, identity, event, and monitoring
Pick a scenario challenge, then check whether your diagram is a complete solution
Get per-requirement feedback: what's met, what's missing, and what's wired the wrong way
Ask "Explain my architecture" and an AI walks your diagram in plain language
Practice with quizzes, case studies, performance-based questions, and flashcards too

Built from the source

Every scenario, quiz, and flashcard is grounded in Microsoft's official “Design Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions (AZ-305)” series and the exam blueprint. The content is weighted the way the real exam is, so the domains you see most are the domains that count most. The AI explainer uses my own Azure OpenAI resource, the same one that powers Johnny Copilot on this portal.

What's new v0.2.6 Beta

A running log of what shipped and when. The build history of this portal.

v0.2.6 Beta 2026-06-12 Foundry blade for the AI-103 Agent Lab

Added

New Foundry blade showcasing the AI-103 Agent Lab, an agent-building trainer for the brand-new Azure AI Apps and Agents Developer exam, with a live demo, feature rundown, and the story of why it exists: a Microsoft Cloud Solution Architect asked for it.
Added the AI-103 Agent Lab to Projects and to global search.

Changed

The Foundry preview lands on the multi-agent orchestration template, so new visitors see a built agent on the canvas instead of an empty grid.
Johnny Copilot now knows about the AI-103 Agent Lab and the Foundry blade, and can tell all three labs apart.

Infra

The lab runs on Azure Static Web Apps (Free tier) like the other labs, with its AI reviewer on the same rate-limited Azure OpenAI backend as Johnny Copilot.

v0.2.5 Beta 2026-06-11 Architecture blade for the AZ-305 Architect Lab

Added

New Architecture blade showcasing the AZ-305 Architect Lab, a drag-and-drop trainer for designing Azure solutions, with a live demo, feature rundown, and how it's built from Microsoft's official AZ-305 series.
Added the AZ-305 Architect Lab to Projects and to global search.
Both labs are now open source: the AZ-305 Architect Lab and Net+ Visual Lab repos are public, with docs on how they were built and what they cost to run.

Changed

The Architecture and Virtual networks blade previews are now the real labs running live in an embedded frame. The Architecture preview lands on a loaded reference diagram so new visitors see a built canvas.
The lab itself leveled up since the first cut: a Lucidchart-style canvas with undo/redo, snapping, and magnetic connectors, five reference architectures with guided data-flow walkthroughs, drag-to-order PBQs, full answer reasoning with Microsoft Learn links, and a live preview of this portfolio inside the lab.

Fixed

Johnny Copilot now knows the Architecture blade is the AZ-305 lab and no longer confuses it with the Net+ Visual Lab. Its knowledge moved to a master doc that updates with every release.

Infra

Deployed the AZ-305 Architect Lab to Azure Static Web Apps (Free tier), the same way the Net+ Visual Lab is hosted.
The lab's Explain and scenario-generation features run on the same Azure OpenAI backend as Johnny Copilot, with rate limiting and a bring-your-own-key fallback.

v0.2.4 Beta 2026-06-10 Virtual networks blade and a smarter Johnny Copilot

Added

New Virtual networks blade showcasing the Net+ Visual Lab, a mini Packet Tracer with a live demo, feature rundown, and the video that inspired it.
Johnny Copilot panel in the top bar. Ask public questions about my work, projects, certs, games, or cats.
Copilot suggests follow-up questions after each answer and understands follow-ups like asking for more detail.

Changed

Copilot answers pick the best-matching topic instead of the first keyword hit, and type out as they arrive.
Copilot now slides in under the top bar and squeezes just the page content, the way Azure Portal does.
New Copilot icon built from the site's Azure-style A mark with an AI sparkle.
Removed the dead conversation-list button from the Copilot header.
Rewrote the Virtual networks copy and enlarged the video thumbnail to match the rest of the site.

Fixed

Copilot no longer stalls for two seconds before every answer when the model API is unavailable.
The video credit card on Virtual networks now lays out side by side on desktop.

Infra

Wired up Cloudflare Web Analytics. The beacon activates once its token lands.
Johnny Copilot now runs on Azure OpenAI (gpt-5-mini) with real reasoning, rate limiting, and the local engine as backup.

v0.2.3 Beta 2026-06-03 Dashboard, tenant views, and skills refresh

Added

All services is now a pinned-tile dashboard. Each tile previews its blade, and the Regions tile shows the US map.
The Regions tile on All services is now a solid 3D map with real thickness. Drag it to spin and tilt the view.
Added a first-visit chooser for Recruiter view versus Administrator view.
The top-right profile menu now switches portfolio tenants like Azure Portal directory switching.
Tenant switching now shows an Azure-style loading screen and returns visitors to Home.
Recruiter view gets a simplified home page focused on skills, experience, certifications, projects, and resume actions.
The Users blade now includes an Administrator visitor role.

Changed

Recruiter view now leads with a refreshed cloud, security, and AI skills snapshot from the current resume.
Guided tours are now view-specific, with separate recruiter and administrator walkthroughs.
Refreshed the Security blade's recommendations.
Removed the hover-tilt from the dashboard tiles.
Reorganized this changelog into date-based releases grouped by Added, Changed, and Fixed.

Fixed

Fixed the search results dropdown: icons no longer render oversized and the rows are styled correctly.
The What's new drawer scrolls with the mouse wheel again.
Cleaned up the initials avatar alignment in the top-right profile control.

v0.2.2 Beta 2026-06-02 Portal polish, mobile support, and core blades

Added

A working light/dark theme picker in Settings that remembers your choice and matches Azure's dark portal.
The loading splash now follows your theme.
App launcher (top-left grid) with links to MS Learn, Azure Portal, GitHub, LinkedIn, VS Code, and my resume.
Virtual machines blade listing my lab VMs.
Resume is a real download, plus an az vm list command in Cloud Shell.
Regions blade: a US map of where I'm based and where I'd relocate, with a regions table.
Storage blobs open a viewer to browse the photos inside.
Security blade lists my lab backlog: Sentinel, Conditional Access, PIM, Defender, Key Vault, and a honeypot VM.
A custom social card and clearer link preview when the site is shared.
Added Network+ to Certifications (exam scheduled June 2026).
The « button collapses the left nav to an icon rail, and it remembers your choice.

Changed

Merged Resume and Contact into one blade. The public resume leaves out my phone and email.
Rewrote the site copy in my own voice.
Tidied the search results: type icons, cleaner rows, a Run tag on commands, and a result count.
Shortened the search box placeholder so it fits on a laptop.
Dropped the hover-tilt from the tiles; cards keep a subtle lift.

Fixed

Made the whole portal responsive. On phones the left nav slides in from a menu button and nothing runs off the screen.
The Security+ Verify credential link now goes straight to the CompTIA record.
The notification bell clears once you open What's new, and returns only for a new release.
Removed the duplicate Dashboard nav item.
Scrollbars now match the page colors.

v0.1.0 Beta 2026-06-01 First public release

Added

Azure Portal shell: blue top bar, left resource nav, boot splash, and Cloud Shell drawer.
Guided first-visit tour of the portal. Replay it from the Help (?) button.
This What's new drawer and a version pill in the top bar.
Global search across pages, projects, certs, storage, and CLI commands (Ctrl + /).
Mock az CLI Cloud Shell (Ctrl + `) that answers against the site's data.
Content blades: Projects, Certifications, Storage, Security, Users, Resume, and About.
Certification cards with Verify credential links.
SEO and social: per-page titles, OpenGraph and Twitter cards, and a sitemap.

Changed

Set the light theme as the default to match Azure Portal; dark is opt-in.

Infra

Deployed to Azure Static Web Apps with a GitHub Actions pipeline; every push to main ships.
Connected johnnynguyen.cloud through Cloudflare DNS with automatic SSL.