410: Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012

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General preparation material

Skills Measured (Microsoft Learning)

Learning plans and classroom training

20410B: Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012 (5 Days)

Microsoft Press books

Exam Ref 70-410: Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012
By: Craig Zacker
Released: October 2012

Buy this book from (Official distributor of Microsoft Press)

Training Guide: Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012
By: Mitch Tulloch
Released: October 2012

Buy this book from (Official distributor of Microsoft Press)

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Microsoft Certification PREP Talk: Exam 410

In this episode of Prep tips from certification experts, James Seymour, Senior Product Planner, and Rick Claus, Senior Technical Evangelist, discuss the relevancy of the skills being measured on Exam 410.

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1 Install and Configure Servers

1.1 Install Servers

Plan for a Server Installation (TechNet Library)
Plan for Server Roles (TechNet Library) Familiarize yourself with the available Server Roles
Plan for a Server Upgrade (TechNet Library)
Server Core Overview (TechNet Library)
Install Server Core (TechNet Library)
Configure Features on Demand (TechNet Library)
Migrate Roles from Previous Versions of Windows Server (TechNet Library)
Familiarize yourself with an overview of the Server Migration Tools
Install, Use and Remove Windows Server Migration Tools (Whitepaper)
Demo: Installing Server Migration Tools (TechNet Library)
Based on Windows Server 2008 R2, but still relevant

1.2 Configure servers

Configure Server Core (TechNet Library)
Delegate Administration (TechNet Library)
Add and Remove Server Roles and Features (TechNet Library)
Convert Server Core to/from Full "Server with GUI" (TechNet Library)
Configure Services (TechNet Library)

1.3 Configure local storage

Windows Server 2012 "Early Experts" Challenge - Exam 70-410 - Storage Spaces (Blog - IT Pros ROCK! at Microsoft Keith Mayer)
Configure Storage Pools and Disk Pools (TechNet Library)
Deploy and Manage Storage Spaces with PowerShell (TechNet Library)
How to Configure a Clustered Storage Space in Windows Server 2012 (TechNet Library)
Implementing Disk Management (TechNet Library)
Overview of Storage Spaces (Blog - Building Windows Blog)
Windows Server 2012 Storage Spaces: Is it for you? Could be… (TechNet Library)
Thin Provisioning and Trim Provisioning Overview (TechNet Library)

2 Configure Server Roles and Features

3 Configure Hyper-V

3.1 Create and configure virtual machine settings

Hyper-V Dynamic Memory Overview (TechNet Library)
Hyper-V Dynamic Memory Configuration Guide‎ (Intended for Windows Server 2008 R2 but conceptually applies to) (TechNet Library)
Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Dynamic Memory Changes (Blog - Hyper-V MVP Aidan Finn)
Hyper-V Resource Metering Overview (TechNet Library)
Hyper-V Resource Metering in Windows server 2012 “Server 8 Beta” (Blog - Team blog of MCS @ Middle East and Africa)
I notice Windows Server 2012 virtual machines have a Smart Paging File Location–what is the Smart Paging File? (Article - Windows IT Pro)
Configuring Pass-through Disks in Hyper-V (TechNet Library)
Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Storage (Session: Senthil Rajaram, Taylor Brown @ TechEd North America 2012)
What’s New in Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012 (TechNet Library)
See the storage related items on this page.
Hyper-V Scalability in Windows Server 2012 (TechNet Library)
See the storage related items on this page.
Support for Large Sector Disks Overview (TechNet Library)
Hyper-V Virtual Hard Disk Format Overview (TechNet Library)
Planning Virtual Disks and Storage (TechNet Library)
Configuring Virtual Disks and Storage (TechNet Library)
Connecting a Physical Hard Disk to a Virtual Machine (TechNet Library)
Virtual Fibre Channel Overview (TechNet Library)
Virtual Machine Storage Migration (TechNet Library)
Using Virtual Machine Snapshots, Pausing and Saving (TechNet Library)
Live Storage Migration (TechNet Wiki)

3.2 Create and configure virtual machine storage

Configuring Pass-through Disks in Hyper-V (TechNet Library)
Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Storage (Session: Senthil Rajaram, Taylor Brown @ TechEd North America 2012)
What’s New in Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012 (TechNet Library)
Hyper-V Scalability in Windows Server 2012 (TechNet Library)
Support for Large Sector Disks Overview (TechNet Library)
Hyper-V Virtual Hard Disk Format Overview (TechNet Library)
Planning Virtual Disks and Storage (TechNet Library)
Configuring Virtual Disks and Storage (TechNet Library)
Connecting a Physical Hard Disk to a Virtual Machine (TechNet Library)
Virtual Fibre Channel Overview (TechNet Library)
Virtual Machine Storage Migration (TechNet Library)
Using Virtual Machine Snapshots, Pausing and Saving (TechNet Library)
Live Storage Migration (TechNet Wiki)

3.3 Create and configure virtual networks

Hyper-V Network Virtualization Overview (TechNet Library)
Hyper-V Virtual Switch Overview (TechNet Library)
Understand and Troubleshoot Hyper-V Virtual Network Switch-Whitepaper
What’s New in the Hyper-V Virtual Network Switch? (TechNet Library)
Hyper-V Virtual Network Switch Types Explained – External, Internal and Private (Blog - John Howard - Senior Program Manager Hyper-V Team)
Configuring Hyper-V Virtual Networks (TechNet Library)
Implementing Hyper-V Network Virtualization (Blog - IT Pros ROCK! at Microsoft Keith Mayer)
Q’s Common Configurations (TechNet Library)

4 Deploy and Configure Core Network Services

4.1 Configure IPv4 and IPv6 addressing

IPv6 Bootcamp: Get Up to Speed Quickly (Session: Edward Horley @ TechEd North America 2012)
IPv4 – Core Network Guide (TechNet Library)
IPv6 Technology Overview (TechNet Library)
IPv6 Addressing At-A-Glance (TechNet Library)
Using Windows Tools to obtain IPv6 Configuration Information (TechNet Library)
Best Current Operational Practices on IPv6 Subnetting (TechNet Library)
Introduction to IPv6 Transition Technologies (TechNet Library)
Using IPv6 and Teredo (TechNet Library)
Intra-site Automatic Tunnel Addressing Protocol (ISATAP) Deployment Guide (Whitepaper)
Test Lab Guide – Implementing IPv6 (Test Lab Guide)

4.2 Deploy and configure Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) service

What is DHCP? (TechNet Library)
How DHCP Works (TechNet Library)
Authorize a DHCP Server (TechNet Library)
Create and configure scopes (TechNet Library)
Configure a DHCP reservation (TechNet Library)
Configure DHCP options (TechNet Library)
Configure a Client and Server for PXE Boot (BOOTP) (TechNet Library)
Configure IPv4 DHCP Relay Agent (TechNet Library)
New in Windows Server 2012 – DHCP Failover (Blog - IT Pros ROCK! at Microsoft Keith Mayer)
What’s New in DHCP in Windows Server 2012? (TechNet Library)
Configure DHCP for Failover (Blog - IT Pros ROCK! at Microsoft Keith Mayer)
Step-by-Step: Configure DHCP and Policy-based Assignment (TechNet Library)
Step-by-Step: Configure DHCP for Failover (TechNet Library)

4.3 Deploy and Configure DNS Service

How the Domain Name System (DNS) works (YouTube - Series/playlist by Barry Brown)
DNS Overview (TechNet Library)
What's New in DNS (TechNet Library)

5 Install and Administer Active Directory

5.1 Install domain controllers

What's new in Active Directory Domain Services ( ADDS ) Installation (TechNet Library)
Install Active Directory Domain Services ( ADDS ) (TechNet Library)
Install a Domain Controller in an Existing Domain (TechNet Library)
Demoting Domain Controllers and Domains (TechNet Library)
Upgrading Domain Controllers to Windows Server 2012 (TechNet Library)
Virtualization-safe Technology and Domain Controller Cloning (Blog - IT Pros ROCK! at Microsoft Keith Mayer)
Step-by-Step: Install Active Directory Domain Services ( ADDS ) (Whitepaper)

5.2 Create and manage Active Directory users and computers

Overview of Active Directory Simplified Administration (TechNet Library)
Using the updated Active Directory Administration Center ( ADAC ) (TechNet Library)

5.3 Create and Manage Active Directory Groups and Organizational Units

Overview of Active Directory Simplified Administration (TechNet Library)
Using the updated Active Directory Administration Center ( ADAC ) (TechNet Library)

6 Create and Manage Group Policy

These resources apply to all the following sub-objectives of this objective, so we merged them:

Create and Manage Group Policy Objects ( GPOs )
Configure Security Policies
Configure Application Restriction Policies
Configure Windows Firewall

What’s New in Group Policy in Windows Server 2012 (TechNet Library)
Group Policy Setting Reference for Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 (TechNet Library)
Group Policy Cmdlets in Windows PowerShell 3.0 (TechNet Library)
Getting the Most Out of the Power of Group Policy (Session: Jeremy Moskowitz @ TechEd North America 2012)
Planning and Deploying Group Policy (TechNet Library)
Deploying and Managing OS and Application Settings with Group Policy Preferences (TechNet Library)
Planning and Deploying AppLocker via Active Directory Group Policy (TechNet Library)
Step-by-Step Guide: Deploying Windows Firewall via Active Directory Group Policy (TechNet Library)
Best Practices for Designing Group Policy for Performance and Security (Session: Darren Mar-Elia @ TechEd North America 2012)
Group Policy Analysis and Troubleshooting (TechNet Library)
Group Policy Update Utility (GPUPDATE) (TechNet Library)
Group Policy Resultant Set of Policy (RSoP) Utility (GPRESULT) (TechNet Library)
Group Policy Domain Fixup Utility (GPFIXUP) (TechNet Library)
Group Policy Reporting and Analysis with Windows PowerShell (Session: Jeffery Hicks, Jeremy Moskowitz @ TechEd North America 2012)
Total Desktop Lockdown: Your Action Plan (Session: Jeremy Moskowitz @ TechEd North America 2012)
Configuring Firewall Port Requirements for Group Policy (TechNet Library)
Configure an Internet Explorer 10 Item via Group Policy (TechNet Library)

Server Certification Exam Prep Resources