Course Summary:

The enterprise computing landscape is constantly changing and posing new challenges in server administration. Windows Server 2012 provides a strong foundation that addresses existing and new administrative challenges. In this course, you gain the practical experience needed to administer, secure and troubleshoot the Windows Server 2012 OS in an enterprise environment.

At the heart of the Microsoft Cloud Platform vision, Windows Server brings Microsoft’s experience delivering global-scale cloud services into your infrastructure with features and enhancements in virtualization, management, storage, networking, virtual desktop infrastructure, access and information protection, the web and application platform, and more.

With Windows Server you can scale to run your most important workloads with robust recovery options. You’ll achieve value quickly with a wide range of cost-effective, high-performance storage options and simplified delivery of multi-tenant IT services. You can build, deploy, operate, and monitor applications on premises and in the cloud. Empower users with secure access to corporate resources on the devices they choose..

Course Objectives:

• Administer, secure and troubleshoot Windows Server 2012 R2
• Configure a Branch Office Server
• Secure servers using the Windows Firewall, Group Policy and Dynamic Access Control
• Diagnose and repair system failures with recovery environments
• Build a high-availability environment

Course Outline

Employing Administration Tools

Managing the server

• Installing roles with Server Manager
• Configuring functionality with PowerShell

Enabling remote administration

• Identifying barriers to remote management
• Employing Group Policies to overcome issues
• Implementing Windows Remote Management
• Tuning the Windows Firewall
• Making use of Server Manager groups

Administering with PowerShell

• Managing Local and Remote Servers
• Leveraging the scripting capabilities of PowerShell

Deploying Server Core

• Reviewing the features and benefits of Server Core
• Preparing for a production environment
• Administering the core remotely
• Determining the most effective scenario for deployment

• Securing Windows Server 2012 R2

Defining security components

• Analyzing role-based security
• Testing Dynamic Access Control
• Safeguarding the server with the Windows Firewall

Building security policies

• Documenting server security
• Composing optimal Group Policies

Auditing the server

• Diagnosing security issues
• Creating an audit trail
• Filtering the security log

• Optimizing Server Performance

Assessing workloads

• Balancing applications and server roles
• Evaluating hardware and software components
• Reconfiguring the operating system

Monitoring server performance

• Analyzing system behavior with Resource Monitor
• Establishing baselines with Performance Monitor
• Designing Data Collector Sets

Detecting and resolving performance concerns

• Identifying Performance Monitor counters
• Solving the challenge of memory leaks
• Exploring the effect of services on server performance

• Troubleshooting Windows Server 2012 R2

Recovering from boot process failures

• Breaking down the pre-Windows boot process
• Appraising the Windows load sequence

Selecting the appropriate recovery environments

• Booting to the recovery console
• Leveraging WinRE to correct the problem

Repairing key Windows components

• Maintaining a stable registry
• Managing service accounts and privileges
• Identifying faulty drivers
• Solving network issues

Extracting information from the Event Viewer

• Collecting events from remote servers
• Attaching subscriptions to selected events

• Implementing a High-Availability Environment

Windows in the cloud

• Preparing Windows features for the cloud
• Producing a disaster recovery plan
• Scheduling Windows backups

Clustering Windows servers

• Meeting failover clustering requirements
• Recognizing the role of Quorums

Virtualizing servers

• Increasing scalability potential with Hyper-V
• Speeding up recovery with replicas
• Maintaining high availability with live migration