System Engineering and Admin for Microsoft Windows Server Technology fundamentals

Understanding server installation

• Understand device drivers

• Installation, removal, disabling, update/upgrade, rollback, troubleshooting, Plug & Play,

• IRQ, interrupts, driver signing, managing through Group Policy

• Understand services

• Which statuses a service can be in, startup types, recovery options, delayed startup, Run

• As settings for a service, stopping or pausing a service, service accounts, dependencies

• Understand server installation options

• Choose the correct operating system version options; Server core vs. Desktop

• Experience, Nano Server installation, interactive installs; automated install using WDS; VHD/VHDX installation source, perform unattended installs; perform upgrades, clean installs, and migrations

Understanding server roles

• Identify application servers

• Mail servers, database servers, collaboration servers, monitoring servers, threat management

• Understand Web services

• IIS, WWW, and FTP, installing from Server Manager, separate worker processes, adding components, sites, ports, SSL, certificates

• Understand remote access

• Remote assistance, remote administration tools, Remote Desktop Services, multipoint services, licensing, RD Gateway, VPN, application virtualization, multiple ports

• Understand the file and print services

• Local printers, network printers, printer pools, web printing, web management, driver deployment, file, folder, and share permissions vs. rights, auditing, print job management

• Understand server virtualization

• Virtual memory, virtual networks, snapshots and saved states, physical to virtual conversions, virtual to physical conversions, VHD and VHDX formats, nested virtualization

 

Understanding Active Directory

• Understand accounts and groups

• Domain accounts, local accounts, user profiles, computer accounts, group types, default groups, group scopes, group nesting, understand AGDLP and AGUDLP processes to help implement nesting

• Understand organizational units and containers

• Purpose of OUs, purpose of containers, delegation, default containers, uses for different container objects, default hidden and visible containers

• Understand Active Directory infrastructure

• Domain controllers. forests, child domains, operation master roles, domain vs. workgroup, trust relationships, functional levels, deprecated functional levels, namespace, sites, replication, schema, Passport

• Understand group policy

• Group policy processing, Group Policy Management Console, computer policies, user policies, local policies

 

Understanding storage

• Identify storage technologies and their typical usage scenarios

• Advantages and disadvantages of different storage topologies, local storage, network storage, Fibre Channel, iSCSI hardware

• Understand RAID redundancy

• RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10 and combinations, hardware and software RAID

• Understand disk types

• Solid State Drive (SSD) and Hard Disk Drive (HDD) types and comparisons, ATA basic disk, dynamic disk, mount points, file systems, mounting a virtual hard disk, distributed file systems

 

Understanding server performance management

• Identify major server hardware components

• Memory, disk, processor, network, 32-bit and 64-bit architecture, removable drives, graphic cards, cooling, power usage, ports

• Understand performance monitoring

• Methodology, procedures, effect of network, CPU, memory and disk, creating a baseline, Performance Monitor, Resource Monitor, Task Manager, performance counters, Data Collector Sets

• Understand logs and alerts, Event Viewer

• Purpose of performance logs and alerts

 

Understanding server maintenance

• Identify steps in the startup process

• BIOS, UEFI, TPM, bootsector, bootloader, MBR, boot.ini, POST, Safe Mode

• Understand business continuity

• Backup and restore, disaster recovery planning, clustering, AD restore, folder redirection, data redundancy, uniterruptible power supply (UPS)

• Understand updates

• Software, driver, operating systems, applications, Windows Update, Windows Server Update Service (WSUS)

• Understand troubleshooting methodology

• Processes, procedures, best practices; systematic vs. specific approach, Performance

• Monitor, Event Viewer, Resource Monitor, Information Technology Infrastructure

• Library, central logging, event filtering, default logs

• Full lab live OS Microsoft Server