MCSA (Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate 2016)

The Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA) is an entry-level IT certification that proves the proficiency of an individual in Installing, Storing, and Computing by using the Windows Server 2016. MCSA-certified personnel is expected to perform general Installation, creation, and management of images for Deployment purposes.

The certification helps in validating the knowledge about Microsoft’s products. MCSA is the second level of the Microsoft certification pyramid. The certification is designed in such a way that it results in leading the students to the more specialized, higher complex certifications.

Learning Objectives:

• Implement IT infrastructure for user groups, remote management, and upgrade management.
• Install, manage, and maintain networking services of Windows and Microsoft products.
• Deploy IPV6, IPV4, DHCP, DNS, and local storage services effectively.
• Install, configure, and maintain systems and servers efficiently.
• Advanced knowledge in designing, deploying, optimizing, and operating IT infrastructures.
• Proficiency in creating mobile and web applications and services with the help of Microsoft tools and technologies.

Course Content:

• Install Windows Servers in Host and Compute Environments
• Install, upgrade, and migrate servers and workloads: 
• determine appropriate Windows Server 2016 editions per workloads
• install Windows Server 2016; install Windows Server 2016 features and roles
• install and configure Windows Server Core; manage Windows Server Core
• installations using Windows PowerShell, command line, and remote management capabilities
• implement Windows PowerShell Desired State Configuration (DSC) to install and maintain integrity of installed environments
• perform upgrades and migrations of servers and core workloads from Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2012 to Windows Server 2016
• determine the appropriate activation model for server installation, such as Automatic Virtual Machine Activation (AVMA), Key Management Service (KMS), and Active Directory-based Activation
• Create, manage, and maintain images for deployment
• Plan for Windows Server virtualization
• assess virtualization workloads using the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit
• determine considerations for deploying workloads into virtualized environments
• update images with patches, hotfixes, last cumulative updates and drivers
• install roles and features in offline images
• manage and maintain Windows Server Core, and VHDs using Windows PowerShell
• Implement Storage Solutions
• Configure disks and volumes
• Configure sector sizes appropriate for various workloads
• configure GUID partition table (GPT) disks
• create VHD and VHDX files using Disk Management or Windows PowerShell
• mount virtual hard disks; determine when to use NTFS and ReFS file systems; configure NFS and SMB shares using Server Manager
• configure SMB share and session settings using Windows PowerShell
• configure SMB server and SMB client configuration settings using Windows PowerShell
• configure file and folder permissions
• Implement server storage
• Configure storage pools
• implement simple, mirror, and parity storage layout options for disks or enclosures
• expand storage pools
• configure Tiered Storage
• configure iSCSI target and initiator
• configure iSNS
• configure Datacenter Bridging (DCB)
• configure Multi-Path IO (MPIO)
• determine usage scenarios for Storage Replica
• implement Storage Replica for server-to-server, cluster-to-cluster, and stretch cluster scenarios
• Implement data deduplication
• Implement and configure deduplication
• determine appropriate usage scenarios for deduplication
• monitor deduplication
• implement a backup and restore solution with deduplication
   
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• Implement Hyper-V
   
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• Install and configure Hyper-V
• Determine hardware and compatibility requirements for installing Hyper-V
• install Hyper-V
• install management tools
• upgrade from existing versions of Hyper-V
• delegate virtual machine management
• perform remote management of Hyper-V hosts
• Using Windows PowerShell Direct
• implement nested virtualization
• Configure virtual machine (VM) settings
• Add or remove memory in a running VM
• configure dynamic memory
• configure Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA) support
• configure smart paging
• configure Resource Metering
• manage Integration Services
• create and configure Generation 1 and 2 VMs and determine appropriate usage scenarios
• implement enhanced session mode
• create Linux and FreeBSD VMs
• install and configure Linux Integration Services (LIS)
• install and configure FreeBSD Integration Services (BIS)
• implement Secure Boot for Windows and Linux environments
• move and convert VMs from previous versions of Hyper-V to Windows Server 2016 Hyper-V; export and import VMs
• implement Discrete Device Assignment (DDA), Troubleshoot VM configuration versions
• Configure Hyper-V storage 
• Create VHDs and VHDX files using Hyper-V Manager
• create shared VHDX files
• configure differencing disks
• modify virtual hard disks
• configure pass-through disks
• resize a virtual hard disk
• manage checkpoints
• implement production checkpoints
• implement a virtual Fibre Channel adapter
• configure storage Quality of Service (QoS)
• Configure Hyper-V networking
• Add and remove virtual network interface cards (vNICs)
• configure Hyper-V virtual switches
• optimize network performance
• configure MAC addresses
• configure network isolation
• configure synthetic and legacy virtual network adapters
• configure NIC teaming in VMs
• configure virtual machine queue (VMQ)
• enable Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) on network adapters bound to a Hyper-V virtual switch using Switch Embedded Teaming (SET)
• configure Bandwidth Management
• And more.