Exam 70-417:

Upgrading Your Skills to MCSA Windows Server 2012

Published:	September 21, 2012
Language(s):	English, Japanese
Audience(s):	IT Professionals
Technology:	Windows Server 2012
Type:	Proctored Exam

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Overview

Preparing for an Exam

The Microsoft Certification website and this preparation guide contain a variety of resources to help you prepare for an exam. Preparing for and Taking an Exam — FAQ provides answers to frequently asked questions about exam registration, preparation, scoring, and policies, including:

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Exam question types and formats.
Exam time limits and number of questions asked.

We recommend that you review this preparation guide in its entirety and familiarize yourself with the FAQs and resources on the Microsoft Certification website before you schedule your exam.

Exam Topics Covered

Exam 70-417 is an upgrade exam that is a composite of three stand-alone exams: 70-410, 70-411, and 70-412. Exam 70-417 validates skills related to the core technology features and functionality of Windows Server 2012, from the existing knowledge base of a Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA) on Windows Server 2008. The topics from each source exam, plus the percentage of material per topic for each exam component, are noted in the following lists.

Exam 70-410: Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012

Install and Configure Servers (25%)
Configure Server Roles and Features (24%)
Configure Hyper-V (25%)
Install and Administer Active Directory (26%)

Exam 70-411: Administering Windows Server 2012

Deploy, Manage, and Maintain Servers (20%)
Configure Network Services and Access (20%)
Configure a Network Policy Server Infrastructure (17%)
Configure and Manage Active Directory (22%)
Configure and Manage Group Policy (21%)

Exam 70-412: Configuring Advanced Windows Server 2012 Services

Configure and Manage High Availability (20%)
Configure File and Storage Solutions (19%)
Implement Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (22%)
Configure Network Services (21%)
Configure Identity and Access Solutions (18%)

(See the "Skills Measured" section of this page to learn more about the detailed test objectives of Exam 70-417)

Audience Profile

Exam 70-417 is intended for IT professionals who currently hold one of the following certifications:

MCSA: Windows Server 2008
MCITP: Virtualization Administrator on Windows Server 2008 R2
MCITP: Enterprise Messaging Administrator 2010
MCITP: Lync Server Administrator 2010
MCITP: SharePoint Administrator 2010
MCITP: Enterprise Desktop Administrator on Windows 7

At least one of these certifications are prerequisite for this exam. Without that, your transcript will show that you passed the exam but will not show credit for the resulting certification.

Candidates for this exam are Information Technology (IT) Professionals who have Windows Server 2012 operating system knowledge and experience and want to validate the skills and knowledge necessary to implement the Windows Server 2012 core infrastructure services.

Credit Toward CertificationWhen you pass Exam 70-417: Upgrading Your Skills to MCSA Windows Server 2012, you complete the requirements for the following certification(s):

MCSA: Windows Server 2012

Exam 70-417: Upgrading Your Skills to MCSA Windows Server 2012: counts as credit toward the following certification(s):

MCSE: Server Infrastructure

MCSE: Desktop Infrastructure

Note This preparation guide is subject to change at any time without prior notice and at the sole discretion of Microsoft. Microsoft exams might include adaptive testing technology and simulation items. Microsoft does not identify the format in which exams are presented. Please use this preparation guide to prepare for the exam, regardless of its format.

Skills Measured

Skills Being MeasuredThis exam measures your ability to accomplish the technical tasks listed below.The percentages indicate the relative weight of each major topic area on the exam.The higher the percentage, the more questions you are likely to see on that content area on the exam.

The information after “This objective may include but is not limited to” is intended to further define or scope the objective by describing the types of skills and topics that may be tested for the objective. However, it is not an exhaustive list of skills and topics that could be included on the exam for a given skill area. You may be tested on other skills and topics related to the objective that are not explicitly listed here.

Exam 70-410

Install and Configure Servers (25-30%)

Install Servers.

This objective may include but is not limited to: Plan for a server installation; plan for server roles; plan for a server upgrade; install Server Core; optimize resource utilization by using Features on Demand; migrate roles from previous versions of Windows Server

Configure servers.

This objective may include but is not limited to: Configure Server Core; delegate administration; add and remove features in offline images; deploy roles on remote servers; convert Server Core to/from full GUI; configure services; configure NIC teaming

Configure local storage.

This objective may include but is not limited to: Design storage spaces; configure basic and dynamic disks; configure MBR and GPT disks; manage volumes; create and mount virtual hard disks (VHDs); configure storage pools and disk pools

Configure Server Roles and Features (20-25%)

Configure servers for remote management.

This objective may include but is not limited to: Configure WinRM; configure down-level server management; configure servers for day-to-day management tasks; configure multi-server management; configure Server Core; configure Windows Firewall

Configure Hyper-V (25-30%)

Create and configure virtual machine settings.

This objective may include but is not limited to: Configure dynamic memory; configure smart paging; configure Resource Metering; configure guest integration services

Create and configure virtual machine storage.

This objective may include but is not limited to: Create VHDs and VHDX; configure differencing drives; modify VHDs; configure pass-through disks; manage snapshots; implement a virtual Fibre Channel adapter

Create and configure virtual networks.

This objective may include but is not limited to: Implement Hyper-V Network Virtualization; configure Hyper-V virtual switches; optimize network performance; configure MAC addresses; configure network isolation; configure synthetic and legacy virtual network adapters

Install and Administer Active Directory (25-30%)

Install domain controllers.

This objective may include but is not limited to: Add or remove a domain controller from a domain; upgrade a domain controller; install Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) on a Server Core installation; install a domain controller from install from media (IFM); resolve DNS SRV record registration issues; configure a global catalog server

Exam 70-411

Deploy, Manage, and Maintain Servers (20-25%)

Monitor servers.

This objective may include but is not limited to: Configure Data Collector Sets (DCS); configure alerts; monitor real-time performance; monitor virtual machines (VMs); monitor events; configure event subscriptions; configure network monitoring

Configure Network Services and Access (20-25%)

Configure DirectAccess.

This objective may include but is not limited to: Implement server requirements; implement client configuration; configure DNS for Direct Access; configure certificates for Direct Access

Configure a Network Policy Server Infrastructure (15-20%)

Configure Network Access Protection (NAP).

This objective may include but is not limited to: Configure System Health Validators (SHVs); configure health policies; configure NAP enforcement using DHCP and VPN; configure isolation and remediation of non-compliant computers using DHCP and VPN; configure NAP client settings

Configure and Manage Active Directory (20-25%)

Configure Domain Controllers.

This objective may include but is not limited to: Configure Universal Group Membership Caching (UGMC); transfer and seize operations masters; install and configure a read-only domain controller (RODC); configure Domain Controller cloning

Maintain Active Directory.

This objective may include but is not limited to: Back up Active Directory and SYSVOL; manage Active Directory offline; optimize an Active Directory database; clean up metadata; configure Active Directory snapshots; perform object- and container-level recovery; perform Active Directory restore

Configure and Manage Group Policy (20-25%)

Configure Group Policy processing.

This objective may include but is not limited to: Configure processing order and precedence; configure blocking of inheritance; configure enforced policies; configure security filtering and WMI filtering; configure loopback processing; configure and manage slow-link processing; configure client-side extension (CSE) behavior

Exam 70-412

Configure and Manage High Availability (20-25%)

Configure failover clustering.

This objective may include but is not limited to: Configure Quorum; configure cluster networking; restore single node or cluster configuration; configure cluster storage; implement Cluster Aware Updating; upgrade a cluster

Manage failover clustering roles.

This objective may include but is not limited to: Configure role-specific settings including continuously available shares; configure VM monitoring; configure failover and preference settings

Manage Virtual Machine (VM) movement.

This objective may include but is not limited to: Perform live migration; perform quick migration; perform storage migration; import, export, and copy VMs; migrate from other platforms (P2V and V2V)

Configure File and Storage Solutions (15-20%)

Implement Dynamic Access Control (DAC).

This objective may include but is not limited to: Configure user and device claim types; implement policy changes and staging; perform access-denied remediation; configure file classification

Implement Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (20-25%)

Configure and manage backups.

This objective may include but is not limited to: Configure Windows Server backups; configure Windows Online backups; configure role-specific backups; manage VSS settings using VSSAdmin; create System Restore snapshots

Configure site-level fault tolerance.

This objective may include but is not limited to: Configure Hyper-V Replica including Hyper-V Replica Broker and VMs; configure multi-site clustering including network settings, Quorum, and failover settings

Configure Network Services (20-25%)

Deploy and manage IPAM.

This objective may include but is not limited to: Configure IPAM manually or by using Group Policy; configure server discovery; create and manage IP blocks and ranges; monitor utilization of IP address space; migrate to IPAM; delegate IPAM administration; manage IPAM collections

Configure Identity and Access Solutions (15-20%)

Implement Active Directory Federation Services 2.1 (AD FSv2.1).

This objective may include but is not limited to: Implement claims-based authentication including Relying Party Trusts; configure Claims Provider Trust rules; configure attribute stores including Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS); manage AD FS certificates; configure AD FS proxy

Preparation Materials

Preparation Tools and ResourcesTo help you prepare for this exam, Microsoft Learning recommends that you have hands-on experience with the product and that you use the following training resources. These training resources do not necessarily cover all of the topics listed in the "Skills Measured" tab.

Learning Plans and Classroom Training

20417B: Upgrading Your Skills to MCSA Windows Server 2012 (5 Days)

Microsoft E-Learning There is no Microsoft E-Learning training currently available.

Microsoft Press Books

Exam Ref 70-417: Upgrading Your Skills to MCSA Windows Server 2012

Practice Tests There are no practice tests currently available.

Microsoft Online Resources

Learning Plan: Get started with a step-by-step study guide that is based on recommended resources for this exam.

TechNet: Designed for IT professionals, this site includes how-to instructions, best practices, downloads, technical resources, newsgroups, and chats.

MSDN: Designed for developers, the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) features code samples, technical articles, downloads, newsgroups, and chats.

Microsoft Learning Community: Join newsgroups and visit community forums to connect with your peers for suggestions on training resources and advice on your certification path and studies.

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