Domain 1: Getting Started with OCI
- Cloud service models (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) and deployment models (public, private, hybrid).
- OCI's distributed cloud: public cloud Regions, Dedicated Region, Cloud@Customer, and Roving Edge Infrastructure.
- The hierarchy of Regions, Availability Domains (ADs), and Fault Domains (FDs), and how they support high availability and disaster recovery.
- Choosing a region for latency, data residency, and service availability.
- Navigating the OCI Console and identifying the right service for a business scenario.
- The shared responsibility model at a high level: Oracle secures the cloud, the customer secures what runs in it.
Domain 2: Core OCI Services
- Compute: virtual machine and bare metal instances, flexible shapes, preemptible instances, instance pools, and autoscaling.
- Cloud-native compute: Container Engine for Kubernetes (OKE), Functions (serverless), and the Container Registry (OCIR).
- Networking: a Virtual Cloud Network (VCN) with public and private subnets, and gateways - Internet, NAT, Service, and Dynamic Routing Gateway.
- Load balancing (Layer 7 Load Balancer vs Layer 4 Network Load Balancer) and hybrid connectivity (Site-to-Site VPN, FastConnect).
- Storage: Block Volume, Object Storage tiers (Standard, Infrequent Access, Archive), File Storage, and Archive Storage, and choosing the right one for an access pattern.
- Database: Autonomous Database (ATP for transactions, ADW for analytics), Base Database, Exadata, and MySQL HeatWave, and autonomous versus co-managed selection.
Domain 3: Security Services
- The OCI shared security model and how responsibility shifts across IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS.
- Identity and Access Management: tenancy, compartments, users, groups, dynamic groups, policies, and identity domains.
- Cloud Guard for detecting misconfigurations and threats, and Security Zones for enforcing policy on a compartment.
- Vault and Key Management for encryption keys and secrets (Oracle-managed vs customer-managed keys).
- Bastion for secure access to private resources, Web Application Firewall for web protection, and Vulnerability Scanning.
- The Audit service for recording API activity.
Domain 4: Governance and Administration
- Pricing models: Pay-As-You-Go, Annual Universal Credits, and Bring Your Own License, plus Always Free resources.
- Cost management: the Cost Estimator, Cost Analysis, Budgets and alerts, Usage Reports, and Cloud Advisor.
- Organizing resources with compartments and tags (defined and free-form) for isolation and cost tracking.
- Quotas and service limits, and how to request increases.
- Support plans and Service Level Agreements (availability, manageability, and performance).
- Monitoring and Notifications for operational awareness, and billing basics.
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure 2025 Foundations Associate (1Z0-1085-25) exam tips
- This is a broad, non-technical exam. Focus on knowing what each OCI service is for and which service fits a described need, rather than how to configure it. Core OCI Services is the largest area, so make sure you can tell Compute, Networking, Storage, and Database options apart.
- Memorize the Region, Availability Domain, and Fault Domain hierarchy and how they deliver high availability. Distributing across fault domains and availability domains is a recurring theme.
- Learn the gateways cold: Internet Gateway (public in and out), NAT Gateway (private egress only), Service Gateway (private access to OCI services like Object Storage), and Dynamic Routing Gateway (VPN, FastConnect, and peering). They make excellent distractors for one another.
- Know the pricing and cost story: Pay-As-You-Go vs Annual Universal Credits vs BYOL, Always Free resources, and the cost tools (Cost Analysis, Budgets, Cloud Advisor). Governance questions lean heavily on these plus compartments and tags.
- Remember the shared responsibility model and the security services (Cloud Guard, Security Zones, Vault, Bastion, IAM). Generative AI is out of scope here - do not expect OCI AI or LLM questions on this exam.
Study guide FAQ
How much does the exam cost and is it proctored?
The OCI Foundations Associate exam is free and unproctored - you take it online at your convenience through Oracle MyLearn. It has about 55 multiple-choice questions in 90 minutes and is non-technical, with no hands-on lab component.
Do I need any experience or prior certification?
No. There are no prerequisites. It is designed as an entry point for anyone new to OCI, including non-technical roles, and it is not required before taking higher-level OCI certifications such as the Architect Associate.
Does this exam cover AI or generative AI?
No. Oracle keeps AI and generative AI content out of the core Foundations exam and tests it in separate certifications (OCI AI Foundations and OCI Generative AI Professional). Prepare for cloud, service, security, and governance fundamentals here.
What is the difference between this and the Architect Associate?
Foundations is a broad, conceptual, entry-level exam about what OCI offers. The OCI Architect Associate (1Z0-1072-25) is a deeper, scenario-based exam about designing and implementing solutions across IAM, Networking, Compute, and Storage.
Is CertGrid practice official Oracle material?
No. CertGrid is an independent practice platform and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Oracle. These questions are original and written to mirror the current exam objectives so you can rehearse them. Always confirm the current exam topics on Oracle's certification site before your exam.