AZ-801: Configuring Windows Server Hybrid Advanced Services

Course Description:

The AZ-801: Configuring Windows Server Hybrid Advanced Services course teaches IT Professionals to configure advanced Windows Server services using on-premises, hybrid, and cloud technologies. The course demonstrates how to leverage the hybrid capabilities of Azure, how to migrate virtual and physical server workloads to Azure IaaS, and how to secure Azure VMs running Windows Server.

The course also covers how to perform tasks related to high availability, troubleshooting, and disaster recovery. The course highlights administrative tools and technologies including Windows Admin Center, PowerShell, Azure Arc, Azure Automation Update Management, Microsoft Defender for Identity, Azure Security Center, Azure Migrate, and Azure Monitor.

Audience Profile
This course was designed for Windows Server Hybrid Administrators that have experience working with Windows Server and want to extend the capabilities of their on-premises environments by combining on-premises and hybrid technologies. Windows Server Hybrid Administrators who already implement and manage on-premises core technologies want to secure and protect their environments, migrate virtual and physical workloads to Azure Iaas, enable a highly available, fully redundant environment, and perform monitoring and troubleshooting.

Job role
Administrator

Exam Code:
AZ-801

Skills gained

• Hardening the security configuration of the Windows Server operating system environment.
• Enhancing hybrid security using Azure Security Center, Azure Sentinel, and Windows Update Management.
• Applying security features to protect critical resources.

Module 1: Windows Server security
This module discusses how to protect an Active Directory environment by securing user accounts to least privilege and placing them in the Protected Users group. The module covers how to limit authentication scope and remediate potentially insecure accounts. The module also describes how to harden the security configuration of a Windows Server operating system environment. In addition, the module discusses the use of Windows Server Update Services to deploy operating system updates to computers on the network. Finally, the module covers how to secure Windows Server DNS to help protect the network name resolution infrastructure.
Lessons
• Secure Windows Sever user accounts
• Hardening Windows Server
• Windows Server Update Management
• Secure Windows Server DNS
Lab : Configuring security in Windows Server
• Configuring Windows Defender Credential Guard
• Locating problematic accounts
• Implementing LAPS

Module 2: Implementing security solutions in hybrid scenarios
This module describes how to secure on-premises Windows Server resources and Azure IaaS workloads. The module covers how to improve the network security for Windows Server infrastructure as a service (IaaS) VMs and how to diagnose network security issues with those VMs. In addition, the module introduces Azure Security Center and explains how to onboard Windows Server computers to Security Center. The module also describes how to enable Azure Update Management, deploy updates, review an update assessment, and manage updates for Azure VMs. The module explains how Adaptive application controls and BitLocker disk encryption are used to protect Windows Server IaaS VMs. Finally, the module explains how to monitor Windows Server Azure IaaS VMs for changes in files and the registry, as well as monitoring modifications made to application software.
Lessons
• Implement Windows Server IaaS VM network security.
• Audit the security of Windows Server IaaS Virtual Machines
• Manage Azure updates
• Create and implement application allowlists with adaptive application control
• Configure BitLocker disk encryption for Windows IaaS Virtual Machines
• Implement change tracking and file integrity monitoring for Windows Server • IaaS VMs
Lab : Using Azure Security Center in hybrid scenarios
• Provisioning Azure VMs running Windows Server
• Configuring Azure Security Center
• Onboarding on-premises Windows Server into Azure Security Center
• Verifying the hybrid capabilities of Azure Security Center
• Configuring Windows Server security in Azure VMs

Module 3: Implementing high availability
This module describes technologies and options to create a highly available Windows Server environment. The module introduces Clustered Shared Volumes for shared storage access across multiple cluster nodes. The module also highlights failover clustering, stretch clusters, and cluster sets for implementing high availability of Windows Server workloads. The module then discusses high availability provisions for Hyper-V and Windows Server VMs, such as network load balancing, live migration, and storage migration. The module also covers high availability options for shares hosted on Windows Server file servers. Finally, the module describes how to implement scaling for virtual machine scale sets and load balanced VMs, and how to implement Azure Site Recovery.
Lessons
• Introduction to Cluster Shared Volumes.
• Implement Windows Server failover clustering.
• Implement high availability of Windows Server VMs.
• Implement Windows Server File Server high availability.
• Implement scale and high availability with Windows Server VMs.
Lab : Implementing failover clustering
• Configuring iSCSI storage
• Configuring a failover cluster
• Deploying and configuring a highly available file server
• Validating the deployment of the highly available file server

Module 4: Disaster recovery in Windows Server
This module introduces Hyper-V Replica as a business continuity and disaster recovery solution for a virtual environment. The module discusses Hyper-V Replica scenarios and use cases, and prerequisites to use it. The module also discusses how to implement Azure Site Recovery in on-premises scenarios to recover from disasters.
Lessons
• Implement Hyper-V Replica
• Protect your on-premises infrastructure from disasters with Azure Site Recovery
Lab : Implementing Hyper-V Replica and Windows Server Backup
• Implementing Hyper-V Replica
• Implementing backup and restore with Windows Server Backup

Module 5: Implementing recovery services in hybrid scenarios
This module covers tools and technologies for implementing disaster recovery in hybrid scenarios, whereas the previous module focuses on BCDR solutions for on-premises scenarios. The module begins with Azure Backup as a service to protect files and folders before highlighting how to implement Recovery Vaults and Azure Backup Policies. The module describes how to recover Windows IaaS virtual machines, perform backup and restore of on-premises workloads, and manage Azure VM backups. The module also covers how to provide disaster recovery for Azure infrastructure by managing and orchestrating replication, failover, and failback of Azure virtual machines with Azure Site Recovery.
Lessons
• Implement hybrid backup and recovery with Windows Server IaaS
• Protect your Azure infrastructure with Azure Site Recovery
• Protect your virtual machines by using Azure Backup
Lab : Implementing Azure-based recovery services
• Implementing the lab environment
• Creating and configuring an Azure Site Recovery vault
• Implementing Hyper-V VM protection by using Azure Site Recovery vault
• Implementing Azure Backup

Module 6: Upgrade and migrate in Windows Server
This module discusses approaches to migrating and updating Windows Server workloads running in earlier versions of Windows Server. The module covers the necessary strategies needed to move domain controllers to Windows Server 2022 and describes how the Active Directory Migration Tool can consolidate domains within a forest or migrate domains to a new AD DS forest. The module also discusses the use of Storage Migration Service to migrate files and files shares from existing file servers to new servers running Windows Server 2022. Finally, the module covers how to install and use the Windows Server Migration Tools cmdlets to migrate commonly used server roles from earlier versions of Windows Server.
Lessons
• Active Directory Domain Services migration
• Migrate file server workloads using Storage Migration Service
• Migrate Windows Server roles
Lab : Migrating Windows Server workloads to IaaS VMs
• Deploying AD DS domain controllers in Azure
• Migrating file server shares by using Storage Migration Service

Module 7: Implementing migration in hybrid scenarios
This module discusses approaches to migrating workloads running in Windows Server to an infrastructure as a service (IaaS) virtual machine. The module introduces using Azure Migrate to assess and migrate on-premises Windows Server instances to Microsoft Azure. The module also covers how migrate a workload running in Windows Server to an infrastructure as a service (IaaS) virtual machine (VM) and to Windows Server 2022 by using Windows Server migration tools or the Storage Migration Service. Finally, this module describes how to use the Azure Migrate App Containerization tool to containerize and migrate ASP.NET applications to Azure App Service.
Lessons
• Migrate on-premises Windows Server instances to Azure IaaS virtual machines
• Upgrade and migrate Windows Server IaaS virtual machines
• Containerize and migrate ASP.NET applications to Azure App Service
Lab : Migrating on-premises VMs servers to IaaS VMs
• Implementing assessment and discovery of Hyper-V VMs using Azure Migrate
• Implementing migration of Hyper-V workloads using Azure Migrate

Module 8: Server and performance monitoring in Windows Server
This module introduces a range of tools to monitor the operating system and applications on a Windows Server computer as well as describing how to configure a system to optimize efficiency and to troubleshoot problems. The module covers how Event Viewer provides a convenient and accessible location for observing events that occur, and how to interpret the data in the event log. The module also covers how to audit and diagnose a Windows Server environment for regulatory compliance, user activity, and troubleshooting. Finally, the module explains how to troubleshoot AD DS service failures or degraded performance, including recovery of deleted objects and the AD DS database, and how to troubleshoot hybrid authentication issues.
Lessons
• Monitor Windows Server performance
• Manage and monitor Windows Server event logs
• Implement Windows Server auditing and diagnostics
• Troubleshoot Active Directory
Lab : Monitoring and troubleshooting Windows Server
• Establishing a performance baseline
• Identifying the source of a performance problem
• Viewing and configuring centralized event logs

Module 9: Implementing operational monitoring in hybrid scenarios
This module covers using monitoring and troubleshooting tools, processes, and best practices to streamline app performance and availability of Windows Server IaaS VMs and hybrid instances. The module describes how to implement Azure Monitor for IaaS VMs in Azure, implement Azure Monitor in on-premises environments, and use dependency maps. The module then explains how to enable diagnostics to get data about a VM, view VM metrics in Azure Metrics Explorer, and create a metric alert to monitor VM performance. The module then covers how to monitor VM performance by using Azure Monitor VM Insights. The module then describes various aspects of troubleshooting on premises and hybrid network connectivity, including how to diagnose common issues with DHCP, name resolution, IP configuration, and routing. Finally, the module examines how to troubleshoot configuration issues that impact connectivity to Azure-hosted Windows Server virtual machines (VMs), as well as approaches to resolve issues with VM startup, extensions, performance, storage, and encryption.
Lessons
• Monitor Windows Server IaaS Virtual Machines and hybrid instances
• Monitor the health of your Azure virtual machines by using Azure Metrics Explorer and metric alerts
• Monitor performance of virtual machines by using Azure Monitor VM Insights
• Troubleshoot on-premises and hybrid networking
• Troubleshoot Windows Server Virtual Machines in Azure
Lab : Monitoring and troubleshooting of IaaS VMs running Windows Server
• Enabling Azure Monitor for virtual machines
• Setting up a VM with boot diagnostics
• Setting up a Log Analytics workspace and Azure Monitor VM Insights

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