Pass 70-417 MCSA Certification Exam Fast

70-417 Exam Has Been Retired

This exam has been replaced by Microsoft with new exam.

Microsoft 70-417 Exam Details

The Microsoft 70-417 test is crucial for those with interest to align their current skills with the associate-level MCSA: Windows Server 2012 certificate. Passing this test will enhance your skills in implementing the core infrastructure services of Server 2012.

Intended Audience

The creation of such a test was to capture the needs of IT specialists who yearn for capabilities in implementing the Windows Server 2012 infrastructure services but had initially earned previous certifications. These are qualifying certificates for Windows Server 2008, 2003, Windows XP, or 2000.

Exam 70-417 Details

The 40-60 questions in the Microsoft 70-417 test are to run for up to 120 minutes. The questions captured are majorly in MCQ format, but also includes build lists, active screen, best answer, mark review, short answer, etc. The qualifying points are 700 while registering for 70-417 costs $165.

Test Topics

Exam 70-417 captures the intentions of the three tests of the MCSA: Windows Server 2012 certification. These are exams 70-410, 70-411, and 70-412. Therefore, the topics lined up for it are the same as those for these three tests. They include:

  • Installing and Configuring Servers;
  • Configuring Server Roles & Features;
  • Constructing Hyper-V;
  • Installing & Administering Active Directory;
  • Deploying, Managing, and Maintaining Servers;
  • Building up Network Services & Access;
  • Configuring Server Infrastructure for Network Policy;
  • Applying and Managing Active Directory;
  • Arranging & Monitoring Group Policy;
  • Configuring and Controlling High Availability;
  • Composing File & Storage Solutions;
  • Implementing Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery;
  • Constructing Network Services;
  • Configuring Solutions for Access & Information Protection.

In the first topic, exam-takers will be expected to perform the installation and configuration of the server, and the arrangement of local storage. This takes care of tasks like server installation, server roles & upgrades, Server Core features, resource utilization optimization, and roles migration. Other tasks cover delegating administration, the addition and removal of features in offline images, service configuration, NIC teaming, and the deployment of roles on remote servers. Also, captured tasks are covering storage spaces, dynamic & basic disks, volume management, VHDs (Virtual Hard Disks), storage pools, disk pools, Master Boot Record (MBR) disks, GUID Partition Table (GPT) disks, and others.

The second objective covers the configuration of servers for remote management and includes WinRM, server configuration for daily tasks, down-level management, Server Core, Windows Firewall, multi-server management, and more.

For the third domain, candidates will be looking at creating and configuring settings for VM, designing & building storage for VM in addition to virtual networks. The concerned areas for this topic are dynamic memory, smart paging, Resource Metering, generation 1 & 2 VMs, enhanced session mode, and RemoteFX.

The fourth sector focused on installing and administering Active Directory includes executing domain controllers and looks at adding or removing controllers from domains, upgrading domain controllers, deploying AD infrastructure as a service (IaaS), and more. The fifth part about deploying, managing, and maintaining servers includes monitoring servers, which captures Data Collector Sets (DCS), alerts, controlling performance in real-time, scheduling performance control, etc.

The sixth segment captures the configuration of DirectAccess. This covers the implementation of server requirements, the implementation of client configuration, the arrangement of certificates aimed at DirectAccess, and the configuration of DNS targeted at DirectAccess.

The seventh portion concerns NAP (Network Access Protection) and is about SHVs (System Health Validators), health policies, NAP enforcement, NAP client settings, etc.

The eighth objective discusses the configuration of domain controllers. In particular, this is about transferring and seizing operations master roles, installing as well as configuring RODC (read-only domain controller), and the configuration of cloning for the domain controller. This part also discusses the maintenance of Active Directory and reviews backing up AD and SYSVOL, optimizing database for AD, managing AD offline, configuring snapshots for AD, doing the restore for AD, using the Recycle Bin for AD in restoring objects, and cleaning up of metadata.

In the ninth topic, candidates need to review the configuring of Group Policy processing. Issues to take into account include processing order in addition to precedence, blocking of inheritance, configuring and managing slow-link processing & Group Policy caching, forcing updates for Group Policy, security filtering, and WMI filtering.

The tenth domain to revise looks at failover clustering, its configuration, failover clustering roles management, and VM movement management.

The eleventh scope goes into the implementation of Dynamic Access Control (DAC). This concerns configuring the device and user claim types, implementing staging as well as changes for policy, performing access-denied remediation, file classification arrangement, Central Access policies, rule creation & composing, and resource lists in addition to properties configuration.

When it comes to the twelfth sector, the issues included here cover backup configuration and implementation. Tasks detail backups for Windows Server, Azure including the role-specific ones, and utilizing VSSAdmin in VSS settings management. Another issue is focused on configuring site-level fault tolerance, Hyper-V Replica, multi-site clustering, Global Update Manager, and multi-site failover cluster.

For the thirteenth domain, it has to do with deploying and managing IPAM (IP Address Management). It’s about manual provisioning of IPAM by utilizing Group Policy, monitoring how IP address space is being utilized, the configuration of server discovery, migration to IPAM, the creation and management of IP blocks & ranges, the management of IPAM collections, and the arrangement of database storage for IPAM.

The fourteenth and final objective regards the implementation of AD FS (Active Directory Federation Services). Tasks to execute here include the installation of AD FS, the implementation of claims-based authentication such as Relying Party Trusts, and configuring the authentication policies, multi-factor authentication, and Workplace Join.

Career Prospects, Job Positions, and Salaries

With the popularity of Microsoft in OS and computer hardware, most businesses are seeking to employ individuals who can competently offer the services related to the Windows Server infrastructure. As such, the aforementioned MCSA certification intends to avail opportunities at the intermediate level for individuals to work as systems administrators, network administrators, server technicians, server administrators, and IT systems administrators. The average compensation for MCSA certified individuals as PayScale.com mentions is around $76k yearly.

Next Certification

Passing the Microsoft 70-417 exam signals the beginning of great career opportunities. This can be enhanced even further through the pursuit of the MCSE: Core Infrastructure certification, which you can consider as your next stop after coming by the associate certificate.