Preparation Guide for Exam 70-646
PRO: Windows Server 2008, Server Administrator
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 | Exam news |
| Audience profile |
| Credit toward certification |
| Preparation tools and resources |
| Skills measured |
Exam news
The Microsoft Certified Professional (PRO) exam, Exam 70-646: PRO: Windows Server 2008, Server Administrator, became available in April 2008. This exam is available in English, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), French, German, Italian, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, and Spanish.
Audience profile
A server administrator is responsible for the operations and day-to-day management of an infrastructure of servers for an enterprise organization. Windows server administrators manage the infrastructure, Web, and IT application servers. The Windows server administrators use scripts and batch files written by others or those that they occasionally write themselves to accomplish tasks on a regular basis. They conduct most server management tasks remotely by using Terminal Server or administration tools installed on their local workstation. A server administrator’s primary tasks include:
| • | Managing the server operating system, file, and directory services |
| • | Software distribution and updates |
| • | Profiling and monitoring assigned servers |
| • | Troubleshooting |
Server administrators also support engineering projects. Server administrators are responsible for server builds and configuration. Their job role involves 60 percent operations, 20 percent engineering, and 20 percent support tasks.
Credit toward certification
When you pass Exam 70-646: PRO: Windows Server 2008, Server Administrator, you earn credit toward the following certification:
| • | Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP): Server Administrator |
Preparation tools and resources
To 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" section.
| Classroom training | Microsoft E-Learning | Microsoft Press books | Practice tests |
Course 6430: Planning and Administering Windows Server 2008 Servers | Collection 7245: Updating Your Windows Server 2003 Server Administrator Skills to Windows Server 2008 (16 hours; available August 2008) Collection PRO SA 1: Implementing Windows Server 2008 Server Administration (available November 2008) Collection PRO SA 2: Maintaining and Troubleshooting Windows Server 2008 Server Administration (available November 2008) | MCITP Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-646): Windows Server 2008 Administrator | Save 20 percent with MeasureUp (Measureup.com) Self Test Software (Selftestsoftware.com) |
Microsoft online resources
| • | Windows Server 2008 – Learning Portal: Find special offers and information on training and certification. |
| • | Product information: Visit the Windows Server 2008 Web site for detailed technology information. |
| • | 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. |
Skills measured
This exam measures your ability to accomplish the technical tasks listed in the following table. The percentages indicate the relative weight of each major topic area on the exam.
| Skills measured by Exam 70-646 |
| Planning for Server Deployment (19 percent) |
Plan server installations and upgrades. May include but is not limited to: Windows Server 2008 edition selection, rollback planning, Bitlocker implementation requirements |
Plan for automated server deployment. May include but is not limited to: standard server image, automation and scheduling of server deployments |
Plan infrastructure services server roles. May include but is not limited to: address assignment, name resolution, network access control, directory services, application services, certificate services |
Plan application servers and services. May include but is not limited to: virtualization server planning, availability, resilience, and accessibility |
Plan file and print server roles. May include but is not limited to: access permissions, storage quotas, replication, indexing, file storage policy, availability, printer publishing |
| Planning for Server Management (23 percent) |
Plan server management strategies. May include but is not limited to: remote administration, remote desktop, server management technologies, Server Manager and ServerManagerCMD, delegation policies and procedures |
Plan for delegated administration. May include but is not limited to: delegate authority, delegate Active Directory objects, application management |
Plan and implement group policy strategy. May include but is not limited to: GPO management, GPO backup and recovery, group policy troubleshooting, group policy planning |
| Monitoring and Maintaining Servers (20 percent) |
Implement patch management strategy. May include but is not limited to: operating system patch level maintenance, Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), application patch level maintenance |
Monitor servers for performance evaluation and optimization. May include but is not limited to: server and service monitoring, optimization, event management, trending and baseline analysis |
Monitor and maintain security and policies. May include but is not limited to: remote access, monitor and maintain NPAS, network access, server security, firewall rules and policies, authentication and authorization, data security, auditing |
| Planning Application and Data Provisioning (19 percent) |
Provision applications. May include but is not limited to: presentation virtualization, terminal server infrastructure, resource allocation, application virtualization alternatives, application deployment, System Center Configuration Manager |
Provision data. May include but is not limited to: shared resources, offline data access |
| Planning for Business Continuity and High Availability (19 percent) |
Plan storage. May include but is not limited to: storage solutions, storage management |
Plan high availability. May include but is not limited to: service redundancy, service availability |
Plan for backup and recovery. May include but is not limited to: data recovery strategy, server recovery strategy, directory service recovery strategy, object level recovery |
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.
| • | Learn more and download samples |