Microsoft AZ-800 Administering Windows Server Hybrid Core Infrastructure Exam Dumps and Practice Test Questions Set 6 Q76-90
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Question 76
You manage a hybrid Windows Server environment where users need to authenticate using the same credentials both on-premises and for Azure applications. Password hashes must sync securely to Azure while authentication continues to rely on on-premises Active Directory. Which solution should you deploy?
A) Azure AD Connect with Password Hash Synchronization
B) ADFS federation only
C) Workgroup authentication
D) Manual password synchronization scripts
Answer: A) Azure AD Connect with Password Hash Synchronization
Explanation:
Azure AD Connect with Password Hash Synchronization enables hybrid identity environments to authenticate using the same username and password across both local resources and Azure cloud services. This approach synchronizes password hashes securely from on-premises Active Directory to Azure AD using encryption, hashing, and secure transport mechanisms to ensure the safety of authentication data. Although authentication uses Azure AD for cloud applications, the identity source remains on-premises Active Directory, which maintains the environment’s existing authentication policies, group structures, and administrative workflows. This capability provides consistent access experiences for users, improves cloud application adoption, and reduces help desk requests for password resets. Azure AD Connect simplifies identity governance, ensuring user objects remain synchronized across environments and enabling hybrid access solutions like seamless single sign-on to operate effectively. Deploying this solution avoids administrative burden and enhances security posture while enabling modern authentication models, including conditional access and multifactor authentication.
ADFS federation only requires significant infrastructure, including federation servers and proxies, and introduces dependencies on local uptime because authentication entirely relies on on-premises servers being online. If the local environment fails, cloud authentication fails as well. It also does not copy password hashes into Azure; instead, it performs direct federation, which increases operational requirements and maintenance complexity.
Workgroup authentication does not provide any synchronization or shared identity store. Workgroup environments manage credentials independently on each machine, resulting in separate password stores, inconsistent authentication experiences, and an inability to support cloud authentication. It lacks directory services and does not meet hybrid identity requirements.
Manual password synchronization scripts represent a fragile, outdated, and insecure solution that cannot reliably enforce encryption standards, timely synchronization, or secure authentication workflows. They introduce high operational risk and lack compliance and efficiency features such as self-service identity capabilities and conditional access policies.
Azure AD Connect with Password Hash Synchronization is the correct solution because it securely synchronizes identities and passwords, provides unified credential usage for both cloud and on-premises environments, supports Azure security features, allows seamless sign-on, simplifies management, and strengthens hybrid identity governance. It balances security, cost, operational efficiency, and compliance for enterprises transitioning to hybrid Windows Server environments.
Question 77
You are responsible for securing administrator credentials in a hybrid Windows Server infrastructure. Administrators must not log in directly to workload servers using privileged accounts. Instead, they should use a secure management server that isolates administrative tasks and enforces MFA. Which solution should you use?
A) Windows Server Just Enough Administration and Privileged Access Workstations
B) Shared local admin credentials
C) Domain administrator accounts used on workload servers
D) RDP from any workstation with stored passwords
Answer: A) Windows Server Just Enough Administration and Privileged Access Workstations
Explanation:
Windows Server Just Enough Administration, combined with Privileged Access Workstations, offers a secure model for protecting elevated credentials in hybrid environments. Just Enough Administration limits administrative capabilities to precisely what is needed for specific tasks, reducing the attack surface by preventing over-privileged access. Administrators gain only granular permissions rather than full administrator control, protecting servers from widespread compromise if a credential is stolen. Privileged Access Workstations isolate administrative operations into hardened systems where internet browsing and risky activities are blocked. These workstations enforce strict policies such as multifactor authentication, secure credential storage, and endpoint protection measures. By preventing privileged access from unmanaged devices, attackers have far fewer opportunities to capture administrative credentials or session tokens. Restricting privileged logins to secure channels and separating privileged activities from standard computing environments dramatically improves compliance monitoring and reduces the risk of credential abuse. This hybrid approach supports zero-trust principles and security compliance requirements.
Shared local admin credentials severely increase risk by providing multiple users with identical high-privilege access that cannot be uniquely audited. If compromised, attackers can access many systems undetected, and credential rotation becomes complex and disruptive. It fails to enforce accountability or granular permissions.
Domain administrator accounts used directly on workload servers expose the most powerful credentials to attack. Any compromise of a single server risks full domain takeover. It violates least-privilege principles by providing excessive access far beyond the required task scope and increases credential replication across numerous servers.
RDP from any workstation with stored passwords introduces risks from unmanaged devices, malware, credential theft attacks, and lateral movement. Saved passwords can be extracted, and compromised systems can hijack privileged sessions. This undermines security governance and elevates operational risk.
Windows Server Just Enough Administration with Privileged Access Workstations is correct because it implements secure isolation, least privilege controls, MFA enforcement, centralized auditing, and reduced attack surfaces. This ensures privileged access is closely governed, difficult to compromise, and aligned with hybrid Windows Server security best practices.
Question 78
Your organization wants to extend on-premises virtual machines to the cloud for burst capacity. The solution must allow existing VMs to migrate to Azure without reconfiguration while maintaining secure network communication between sites. Which solution should you implement?
A) Azure Site-to-Site VPN with Azure Migrate
B) NAT-only routing with public VM access
C) Full re-deployment of servers using new Active Directory domains
D) Manual virtual disk copying with no network integration
Answer: A) Azure Site-to-Site VPN with Azure Migrate
Explanation:
Azure Site-to-Site VPN with Azure Migrate provides a hybrid virtualization approach, enabling seamless migration and extension of on-premises workloads into Azure. Establishing a Site-to-Site VPN creates secure IP-based connectivity between on-premises and Azure networks, enabling virtual machines to communicate using internal addressing as though they remain in the same enterprise infrastructure. This connectivity supports Active Directory membership, secure access to local resources, group policies, and hybrid authentication without reconfiguration. Azure Migrate provides automated discovery, assessment, and migration of on-premises virtual machines to Azure, supporting both agentless and agent-based migration. Workloads move with minimal downtime and maintain their operating systems, applications, security configurations, and identity associations. This ensures compatibility while eliminating the need to redeploy servers or modify applications to function in the cloud environment. The solution supports burst capacity scenarios by allowing organizations to shift or scale workloads dynamically into Azure while keeping security policies and compliance intact.
NAT-only routing with public VM access exposes workloads to direct internet access and fails to maintain secure internal communication or domain-based identity. It requires reconfiguration of systems, DNS changes, and poses major security risks.
Full re-deployment using new Active Directory domains is costly, slow, and operationally disruptive because it forces re-architecting identity, re-joining machines, and re-configuring enterprise applications. It provides no benefit for short-term scaling or hybrid continuity.
Manual virtual disk copying lacks automation, migration readiness assessment, application-aware replication, or secure connectivity. Workloads would require complex manual reconstruction, reconfiguration, and networking fixes, which significantly increase risk and downtime.
Azure Site-to-Site VPN with Azure Migrate is the correct solution because it offers secure hybrid networking, automated workload migration, minimal downtime, seamless identity and resource access, and elastic cloud scalability. It aligns with hybrid cloud architecture strategies, improves operational flexibility, and reduces costs while maintaining security and efficiency.
Question 79
You are planning to implement a Windows Server Hybrid Active Directory environment. You need to ensure that authentication requests from Azure services can be validated against your on-premises domain controllers, even if users do not have synchronized password hashes in Azure AD. Authentication must still occur locally. Which authentication method should you configure?
A) Pass-through Authentication
B) Cloud-only accounts
C) Local workgroup authentication
D) Microsoft account login for domain services
Answer: A) Pass-through Authentication
Explanation:
Pass-through Authentication allows Azure Active Directory to validate passwords directly against on-premises domain controllers without storing password hashes in the cloud. When a user attempts to sign into an Azure service, Azure forwards the authentication request securely to an on-premises agent, which communicates with domain controllers for credential verification. This ensures that authentication continues to rely on the same policies, password configurations, and identity lifecycle as Active Directory on-premises. No password is stored in Azure AD, which helps businesses that have strict compliance or security mandates requiring all password verification to remain on-premises. This method supports hybrid cloud identity strategies by allowing Azure services such as Microsoft 365 to benefit from centralized authentication while maintaining security control locally. It also integrates seamlessly with single sign-on, enabling frictionless access for users. Pass-through Authentication maintains organizational governance while also enabling cloud adoption and scaling identity services beyond local infrastructure limits.
Cloud-only accounts separate identities from the on-premises environment. They are not linked to Active Directory domain services and require users to maintain independent cloud credentials. This approach results in inconsistent authentication policies and does not meet the requirement for hybrid authentication, where local identity control is still required.
Local workgroup authentication does not support centralized identity management. Workgroup accounts exist independently on separate machines, lacking directory synchronization, security policies, and role governance required by enterprise hybrid solutions. It also prevents users from accessing Azure services using their domain credentials.
Microsoft account login for domain services would require personal Microsoft identities instead of enterprise domain credentials. This is unsuitable for enterprise resource management, security enforcement, and hybrid identity governance. It disconnects employee authentication from the corporate identity platform, making auditing and lifecycle management extremely difficult.
Pass-through Authentication is the correct solution because it keeps authentication anchored to on-premises Active Directory, maintains full compliance over password validation, and ensures users can log into both on-premises and cloud services using one identity. It supports hybrid access, provides improved security posture, and enables modern cloud engagement without losing enterprise identity control.
Question 80
You are tasked with implementing a secure administrative model for a hybrid Windows Server environment. You must ensure that privileged credentials are never exposed to internet-connected workstations and that administrators perform elevated tasks only from secured environments with enforced MFA. Which strategy should you implement?
A) Dedicated Privileged Access Workstations
B) Allow Domain Admins to access servers from any workstation
C) Store administrative credentials in browser-based password managers
D) Use only local admin accounts for hybrid management
Answer: A) Dedicated Privileged Access Workstations
Explanation:
Dedicated Privileged Access Workstations are designed specifically to protect privileged credentials in enterprise environments with hybrid infrastructure. These workstations are fully isolated from standard user activities such as internet browsing, email access, and external application installations. By separating privileged work from general productivity computing, attack surfaces are significantly reduced, blocking malware, phishing, and credential theft vectors that frequently compromise administrative identities. These secure workstations enforce multifactor authentication and strict security baselines, including hardened access policies and restricted software execution. They ensure administrative credentials never reside on an insecure endpoint, making it extremely difficult for threat actors to capture tokens or passwords. This model supports zero-trust security, where administrative actions are controlled, monitored, and protected at all levels. Privileged Access Workstations integrate effectively with Windows Server management tools, Azure AD Privileged Identity Management, and conditional access controls to enforce just-in-time administration and audit trails. Implementing this strategy increases compliance visibility, strengthens cyber defense posture, and ensures secure consistency in managing hybrid Windows Server environments.
Allowing Domain Admins to access servers from any workstation greatly increases risk. Any compromised workstation becomes a gateway to full enterprise compromise, as attackers could harvest domain administrator tokens and use lateral movement techniques. This violates identity security best practices and exposes systems to advanced persistent threats.
Storing administrative credentials in browser-based password managers introduces vulnerability through browser exploitation, malicious extensions, and storage access attacks. These services lack enterprise governance for privileged accounts and provide an inadequate security boundary for critical identity assets.
Using only local admin accounts separates identity control across machines, complicates credential rotation and auditing, and fails to unify security policies. Local admin credentials are susceptible to pass-the-hash and do not provide enforced MFA or centralized access governance.
Dedicated Privileged Access Workstations are the correct solution because they enforce secure, isolated operational environments for privileged actions while supporting centralized identity protection and hybrid infrastructure compliance. This ensures administrative credentials remain protected from modern threats in both cloud and on-premises environments.
Question 81
Your company wants to optimize hybrid identity management in Windows Server. You need to allow users to log into Azure resources using their corporate credentials and require authentication requests to be served from Azure AD. Password verification should rely on pre-synchronized password hashes stored securely in the cloud. What should you implement?
A) Azure AD Connect Password Hash Synchronization
B) On-premises-only Active Directory Domain Services
C) Local user accounts on each server
D) Manual synchronization of password databases
Answer: A) Azure AD Connect Password Hash Synchronization
Explanation:
Azure AD Connect Password Hash Synchronization synchronizes password hashes from on-premises Active Directory to Azure Active Directory using a secure cryptographic transformation. This method allows Azure AD to authenticate users directly, even if local servers become unavailable. Hash synchronization ensures that passwords are not stored in plain text and that only highly protected hashed versions are transmitted securely to Azure. It enhances performance and reliability for users accessing cloud applications because authentication takes place locally within Azure’s global infrastructure without requiring routing back to on-premises data centers. It reduces dependency on on-premises identity systems and supports resilience while enabling cloud-first identity security features such as conditional access, hybrid single sign-on, and multifactor authentication. Password Hash Synchronization provides a smooth user experience across both environments with one identity, improving administrative efficiency and ensuring uninterrupted access during network outages or server failures. Organizations also gain centralized reporting, identity governance, and compliance dashboards across hybrid systems.
On-premises-only Active Directory does not support cloud authentication and isolates identity services to local systems. Users would need separate Azure credentials or a federation infrastructure, which does not meet the requirement for direct Azure authentication using synchronized credentials.
Local user accounts on each server create fragmentation, inconsistency, and security risks. User lifecycle management becomes difficult, and hybrid access needs cannot be met. Local accounts cannot authenticate users to Azure services.
Manual synchronization of password databases is insecure, unmanageable, and prone to failure. It does not provide secure hashing or seamless cloud authentication services required for hybrid architectures.
Azure AD Connect Password Hash Synchronization is the correct solution because it securely synchronizes identity credentials to Azure, enables cloud authentication services, improves redundancy and security, and supports modern identity protection features in hybrid Windows Server deployments.
Question 82
You manage a hybrid Windows Server environment that includes Azure File Sync deployed to multiple branch offices. You discover that users frequently access the same set of files from many locations, causing cloud recall delays. You need to improve file access performance at each location while maintaining centralized cloud-based management. What should you configure?
A) Cloud tiering with namespace-only caching
B) Branch office servers configured as Azure File Sync cache nodes
C) Disable sync and use local file servers only
D) Store all files exclusively in Azure Blob Storage
Answer: B) Branch office servers configured as Azure File Sync cache nodes
Explanation:
Configuring branch office servers as Azure File Sync cache nodes allows files stored in Azure Files to be cached locally on on-premises Windows Servers. This improves access performance because users retrieve frequently accessed files directly from local storage rather than waiting for full recall from the cloud. Cache nodes synchronize metadata and file changes with Azure, ensuring a consistent file state across environments without requiring independent file service management per site. This solution allows centralized administration, cloud backup resiliency, rapid local performance, and scalable hybrid data access. Each branch server becomes a synchronized endpoint, enabling low-latency access to shared data while Azure stores the authoritative file copy. This also reduces WAN dependency and provides continuity during temporary internet disruptions. Additionally, Azure File Sync integrates with tiering policies, backup strategies, and ACL inheritance to preserve file security and lifecycle compliance.
Cloud tiering with namespace-only caching leaves most files in the cloud and retains only metadata locally. While this reduces storage costs, it can cause delays when files must be recalled repeatedly by many users. It does not provide the necessary local access performance required in a multi-branch environment with frequent data access.
Disabling synchronization and using only local file servers isolates storage within each branch, which removes cloud advantages such as centralized management, resilience, and consistent data availability. Files could diverge between offices, creating versioning and operational chaos.
Storing files exclusively in Azure Blob Storage eliminates traditional file protocols like SMB and NTFS permissions used by Windows environments. Blob Storage requires application integration or REST APIs, making standard corporate file access much more complex. It does not satisfy the requirement for fast on-premises access or Windows-native file functionality.
Branch office servers configured as cache nodes provide the ideal balance between cloud governance and local performance. It enables multi-site hybrid access with fast retrieval times while keeping Azure as a single authoritative location for data consistency, compliance, and disaster recovery workflows. This approach ensures high operational efficiency in distributed workplaces by adopting a cloud-first server strategy.
Question 83
You are deploying Windows Server as an infrastructure for hosting virtual machines both on-premises and in Azure through Azure Arc. You need to ensure consistent governance, compliance, and configuration enforcement across hybrid servers. The solution must allow centralized policy control and secure remote management. What should you deploy?
A) Azure Arc-enabled servers with Azure Policy
B) Local Group Policy Objects on each server
C) Standalone servers without domain membership
D) Manual configuration and scripting per host
Answer: A) Azure Arc-enabled servers with Azure Policy
Explanation:
Azure Arc-enabled servers provide a unified management layer that allows Azure governance and automation capabilities to extend to on-premises and multi-cloud Windows Servers. When paired with Azure Policy, administrators can enforce configuration baselines, monitor compliance, and automate corrective actions across distributed environments. Azure Arc integrates these servers into Azure Resource Manager, enabling centralized visibility and lifecycle operations. This reduces drift between server configurations and supports advanced security features such as Microsoft Defender for Cloud assessments. Administrators gain the ability to apply consistent security rules, access controls, tagging structures, update enforcement, and compliance dashboards. Azure Arc also supports hybrid identity protection through Azure AD authentication, role-based access controls, and secure remote management capabilities via extensions and automation workflows. This approach ensures that both on-premises and cloud servers are governed uniformly with real-time policy reporting and remediation, enabling scalable and secure hybrid operations.
Local Group Policy Objects apply policies only to individual or domain-joined devices without centralized cloud monitoring. They lack compliance dashboards, do not scale efficiently to multi-cloud environments, and require separate administrative overhead for each site with limited visibility.
Standalone servers without domain membership eliminate centralized identity and configuration oversight. This leads to unmanaged environments that lack enforceable governance, making it impossible to implement standardized security or compliance across a hybrid infrastructure.
Manual configuration and scripting are error-prone and resource-intensive. Drift occurs as configurations gradually deviate over time, leading to inconsistent security postures and operational difficulties in large-scale deployments.
Azure Arc-enabled servers with Azure Policy are the correct solution because they unify hybrid management, enforce security standards, ensure continuous compliance validation, and streamline remote administration for Windows Server estates spanning multiple locations and cloud environments.
Question 84
A company is modernizing its hybrid deployment by migrating some workloads to Azure Virtual Machines while keeping mission-critical services on-premises. They want secure, seamless remote desktop management and must enforce role-based access controls for support technicians from any network location without directly exposing servers to the internet. What should they implement?
A) Azure Bastion for secure RDP and SSH access
B) Public IP assignment on each Windows Server VM
C) VPN-less direct RDP over the internet
D) Consumer remote access tools outside enterprise control
Answer: A) Azure Bastion for secure RDP and SSH access
Explanation:
Azure Bastion provides secure remote access to Windows Server virtual machines within Azure without requiring public IP addresses or exposing RDP ports to the open internet. Access occurs over SSL via the Azure portal, enabling administrators to use native Remote Desktop functionality through a hardened, platform-managed security service. This reduces the attack surface and prevents common exploits like brute-force attacks against RDP endpoints. Azure Bastion integrates with Azure Active Directory identity controls, multi-factor authentication, and role-based access to enforce granular privileges for technicians. Sessions run entirely inside the browser, keeping credentials within the Azure fabric instead of passing them through external networks. No inbound firewall rules are needed, and compliance requirements are easier to meet due to centralized auditing and minimized exposure risk. This approach maintains a secure management pathway while enabling flexible hybrid operations, ensuring support personnel can safely manage VMs from any location.
Assigning public IPs to servers significantly increases attack risk. Even with firewalls, exposed RDP ports are frequent entry points for ransomware, credential attacks, and unauthorized browsing attempts.
VPN-less direct RDP from the internet offers no protection from interception, port scanning, or password brute force threats. It does not integrate with Azure governance capabilities or provide centralized identity enforcement.
Consumer remote access tools bypass enterprise security monitoring and policy enforcement. They introduce unknown data transmission paths, lack centralized administrative oversight, and can create compliance violations while presenting additional attack vectors.
Azure Bastion is the correct choice because it enables secure and governed remote server access, removes the need for public connectivity, enforces strong identity management, and protects hybrid Windows Server environments from prevalent RDP-targeted attacks.
Question 85
Your organization maintains a hybrid network environment with Windows Server DNS running on-premises and Azure DNS hosting cloud-based zones. Users report that cloud-hosted applications are not always resolving properly from internal networks. You need to ensure that internal clients can resolve both on-premises and cloud DNS namespaces seamlessly without manual DNS settings on each device. What should you configure?
A) DNS conditional forwarders pointing to Azure DNS private resolver endpoints
B) Disable local DNS servers and use only public Azure DNS
C) Require users to configure alternate DNS servers on their PCs
D) Host all DNS zones in the cloud and remove hybrid dependencies
Answer: A) DNS conditional forwarders pointing to Azure DNS private resolver endpoints
Explanation:
DNS conditional forwarders enable targeted DNS requests to be sent to authoritative servers responsible for specific DNS zones. By configuring conditional forwarding from on-premises DNS servers to Azure DNS private resolver endpoints, hybrid name resolution becomes seamless for internal clients. When users attempt to access cloud-hosted applications with DNS zones managed by Azure, the internal DNS server forwards the query to Azure DNS privately and securely. The result is unified name resolution without modifying device network settings. This also ensures that cloud DNS does not need to be exposed on public networks, preserving security boundaries between internal and cloud environments. Additionally, this method allows domain-joined clients to maintain group policy-controlled DNS while benefiting from automatic cloud resource resolution. The integration provides enterprise governance, operational consistency, and support for service discovery across hybrid infrastructures where workloads span multiple environments. Conditional forwards improve resiliency by ensuring that only cloud-related queries traverse the hybrid link, optimizing traffic performance, and preventing unnecessary exposure of internal namespaces to the internet.
Disabling local DNS servers and relying solely on public Azure DNS would break internal Active Directory name resolution. Private services dependent on internal addressing schemes would no longer resolve correctly. Public DNS lacks knowledge of internal zones, so core enterprise applications could fail.
Requiring users to manually configure alternate DNS servers introduces inconsistency and high administrative overhead. Troubleshooting becomes difficult because each device could have different networking behavior. It also violates enterprise configuration governance and leads to unpredictable connectivity.
Hosting all DNS zones in the cloud removes support for Active Directory-integrated DNS structures that depend on internal replication. Internal-only services should not be exposed externally, and forcing cloud dependency fails when hybrid connectivity outages occur.
Conditional forwarding to Azure private resolver endpoints is the correct solution for enabling controlled, efficient, secure, and centralized hybrid DNS resolution for internal clients accessing external-hosted services.
Question 86
A company is implementing Windows Server Hyper-V in a hybrid model. They want to ensure virtual machines can fail over from on-premises to Azure using the same configuration and remain accessible with minimal downtime. The solution must provide replication, disaster recovery orchestration, and test failovers for compliance validation. What should the company deploy?
A) Azure Site Recovery for Hyper-V replication and failover
B) Local backup only with manual VM restore to Azure
C) Dedicated VPN and manual export of each VM before outage
D) Cluster Shared Volumes without cloud integration
Answer: A) Azure Site Recovery for Hyper-V replication and failover
Explanation:
Azure Site Recovery allows Hyper-V virtual machines to be replicated from on-premises datacenters to Azure with continuous synchronization. This ensures that standby instances of VMs are always up to date and ready to power on if the local infrastructure becomes unavailable. It provides full disaster recovery orchestration capabilities, including automated runbooks, dependency ordering between services, and configurable recovery point objectives. Site Recovery also supports test failovers so organizations can validate compliance without interrupting production workloads. This enables businesses to maintain service availability and meet regulatory requirements for continuity planning. When a failover event occurs, VMs launch in Azure and use replicated configurations, preserving service identity and workload consistency. Hybrid resiliency ensures minimal downtime while providing global accessibility to failed-over workloads. Operations teams can manage and monitor replication health centrally through Azure, applying cloud-based governance to local infrastructure.
Local backup with manual restore may allow eventual recovery but lacks automation, continuous replication, and the ability to orchestrate failovers with precise control. Downtime would be extended, data loss risk increases, and compliance validation cannot be performed systematically.
Manually exporting VMs into Azure before every outage is not a feasible or efficient disaster recovery strategy. It relies on guesswork, human intervention, and timing accuracy, creating high operational risk.
Cluster Shared Volumes enable redundancy within an on-premises cluster but provide no cloud-based disaster recovery. If the local cluster fails, services would remain offline and unrecoverable from Azure.
Azure Site Recovery is the correct solution because it provides a unified hybrid continuity system with automation, policy-driven protection, efficient cloud-based recovery orchestration, and real-time disaster readiness for Hyper-V workloads.
Question 87
You are responsible for securing privileged identity in a hybrid Windows Server environment. Administrators access both domain controllers and Azure virtual machines for routine management tasks. You must enforce the principle of least privilege, require just-in-time access, and ensure full auditing whenever elevated access is granted. What should you implement?
A) Azure AD Privileged Identity Management for role activation
B) Add all administrators permanently to Domain Admins
C) Use shared admin passwords stored in a text file
D) Grant global administrative access to avoid interruptions
Answer: A) Azure AD Privileged Identity Management for role activation
Explanation:
Azure AD Privileged Identity Management enhances security by providing just-in-time activation for privileged roles, requiring approval workflows, and enforcing limited-duration access to critical systems. Administrators receive elevated permissions only when needed, preventing the risks associated with always-on privileged accounts. The solution logs all activation actions, providing detailed auditing and compliance reporting. Multi-factor authentication is required during elevation, preventing exploitation of compromised credentials. This system enables tight governance over hybrid administrative tasks, including Azure infrastructure management, Windows Server identity operations, and privileged access to resources that interact across cloud and on-premises domains. Privileged Identity Management also supports notifications, access reviews, role expiry, risk-based identity policies, and separation of duty requirements, improving organizational control over sensitive operations. It ensures that potential attackers cannot misuse elevated accounts because access is temporary and traceable. This aligns with zero-trust security principles, which are essential in protecting hybrid server environments from increasing threats targeting administrative credentials.
Permanently adding all administrators to Domain Admins creates excessive privilege exposure. Attackers who compromise one workstation could escalate to a full domain breach. It eliminates least privilege policies and creates compliance violations.
Shared passwords in unsecured storage represent one of the highest-risk patterns in identity security. There is no auditing of access, no user accountability, and no password lifecycle control. A single leaked credential could compromise global systems.
Granting global administrative access for convenience increases operational speed but destroys security boundaries entirely. Unauthorized activities become nearly impossible to track, and every privileged user becomes a severe security liability.
Azure AD Privileged Identity Management is the correct solution because it enforces controlled privilege elevation, ensures complete audit visibility, and protects hybrid identity processes with advanced identity governance capabilities.
Question 88
Your company operates a hybrid Windows Server environment with workloads both on-premises and in Azure. You need to centralize update management to ensure that security patches are deployed consistently across all servers, regardless of physical location. The solution must allow reporting, patch scheduling, and integration with automation capabilities. What should you implement?
A) Azure Update Manager for hybrid update orchestration
B) Manual patching using local administrators
C) Windows Servers configured without updates to prevent downtime
D) Third-party patch management without Azure integration
Answer: A) Azure Update Manager for hybrid update orchestration
Explanation:
Azure Update Manager provides centralized update administration for Windows Servers deployed across hybrid infrastructures, including cloud VMs and on-premises machines connected through Azure Arc. It enables consistent policy enforcement, update schedule configuration, and compliance reporting from a unified management plane. Servers send update metadata to Azure, allowing real-time evaluation of missing patches and vulnerability status. Update Manager supports automated deployment rings, maintenance window planning, and pre- and post-script orchestration to ensure workloads remain operational during updates. It helps organizations enforce security baselines and comply with patch management requirements while minimizing the risk of outage or inconsistent configuration across environments. Administrators can group servers into logical sets to organize update rollouts and reduce service interruption. The tool also integrates with Azure Monitor to provide alerting, dashboard insights, and detailed historical compliance information. Using Azure Update Manager reinforces zero-trust operations by ensuring systems remain fully patched, whether workloads run locally or in the cloud. The solution also reduces dependency on distributed manual tasks and lowers operational overhead.
Manual patching using local administrators is inefficient, prone to error, and impossible to scale properly within hybrid environments where large numbers of machines exist across remote locations. This approach offers no consistent compliance reporting or automation.
Configuring servers without updates to prevent downtime leaves systems exposed to known vulnerabilities, putting the organization at significant risk of ransomware infection, lateral movement exploits, and targeted attacks that exploit unpatched weaknesses.
Third-party patch tools without Azure integration may provide some automation but increase management complexity and often lack unified compliance visibility across both Azure and on-premises environments. Synchronization gaps can lead to inconsistent update deployment patterns.
Azure Update Manager is the correct solution because it maintains a centralized operational posture, automates hybrid update deployment, enforces security policies, and supports compliance validation throughout hybrid Windows Server infrastructures.
Question 89
An organization wants to deploy Windows Server virtual machines in Azure while synchronizing authentication with the on-premises Active Directory domain. They require automated device identity creation in Active Directory when VMs are deployed and full policy enforcement based on domain membership. What should they configure?
A) Azure AD Domain Services for cloud domain-joined servers
B) Disable Active Directory and manage identities manually
C) Local accounts only on each VM
D) Standalone workgroup configuration for all cloud servers
Answer: A) Azure AD Domain Services for cloud domain-joined servers
Explanation:
Azure AD Domain Services enables domain join capabilities inside Azure that remain compatible with traditional Active Directory-based authentication. It synchronizes identities from on-premises through Azure AD Connect, maintaining centralized user and device lifecycle management. When new servers are deployed in Azure, they can join the cloud domain automatically, inheriting security policies through domain membership. Azure AD Domain Services supports Kerberos, NTLM authentication, and Group Policy Objects, allowing consistent administrative behavior between cloud-based and local servers. This approach reduces dependency on on-premises domain controllers while preserving critical Windows Server authentication models in the cloud. The solution improves service continuity because user authentication for cloud systems does not rely on network stability between Azure and local datacenters. It also supports hybrid application hosting scenarios, simplifies operational management, and strengthens compliance through unified identity governance. Azure AD Domain Services ensures that domain-joined servers benefit from central security enforcement such as password policies, role assignment, and object lifecycle tracking.
Disabling Active Directory and managing identities manually would be inefficient, error-prone, and insecure. Workflows like privilege escalation, password expiry enforcement, and lifecycle oversight would require manual effort and leave the environment vulnerable.
Local accounts on each VM isolate authentication and eliminate centralized security control. There would be no Group Policy, no password synchronization, and no ability to enforce enterprise identity protections across cloud workloads.
A standalone workgroup configuration prevents seamless integration with internal applications that depend on domain trust relationships. Policy enforcement would be fragmented, and identity access anomalies would become common.
Azure AD Domain Services is the correct solution because it brings traditional AD capabilities to the cloud while preserving hybrid identity synchronization and allowing cloud servers to operate under enterprise governance.
Question 90
A hybrid infrastructure team needs to migrate several mission-critical Windows Server workloads to Azure. The workloads require automatic resource optimization, including disk performance scaling and backup capabilities, while ensuring minimal downtime during migration. The solution must continuously synchronize changes until the moment of cutover. What should the team use?
A) Azure Migrate Server Migration for seamless workload transfer
B) Manual data copy using file transfer tools
C) Shut down all on-premises services before migration begins
D) Export VM disks and upload to Azure Storage without replication
Answer: A) Azure Migrate Server Migration for seamless workload transfer
Explanation:
Azure Migrate Server Migration enables automated assessment and migration workflows for Windows Server VMs into Azure while minimizing service interruption. It provides continuous replication that keeps cloud instances updated with real-time changes until cutover, ensuring that migrations can take place without extended downtime. The migration engine can resize resources in Azure to match performance demands dynamically and supports application-aware replication to maintain data integrity. Azure Migrate also integrates with Azure Backup and other operational services to optimize the environment after transfer. Administrators can perform test migrations to validate VM behavior, network configurations, and security compliance before final deployment. The platform offers unified dashboards that monitor migration progress and identify performance improvements, making it easier to align workloads with Azure resources. It reduces the need for risky manual intervention and protects mission-critical workloads by ensuring business continuity throughout the migration process. The ability to maintain synchronization until cutover limits data loss and ensures that service availability remains intact.
Manual data copying is a basic method for moving files from one system to another, but it introduces significant challenges that make it unsuitable for reliable data migration or ongoing operational use. Because files must be manually selected, transferred, and sometimes overwritten, the process is slow and vulnerable to human error, such as missing important folders, copying outdated versions, or accidentally deleting data. There is no built-in synchronization capability, meaning that once the initial copy is performed, any new or modified data must be copied again manually or it will be lost, creating inconsistencies between the source and destination environments. In a live production system where data is constantly updated, this lack of synchronization creates a major risk that recent changes will not be included in the final transfer. To ensure file integrity during manual copy operations, organizations often must stop services and prevent users from accessing data until the operation is complete, leading to long periods of downtime. This downtime disrupts business operations, reduces productivity, and may violate service-level agreements or operational requirements in environments where constant availability is crucial. Additionally, manual data copying cannot ensure data integrity or security without additional steps, and verifying that data has been transferred completely and accurately requires extra time and effort. The longer a manual migration takes, the greater the chance that unexpected issues—such as hardware failures, network interruptions, or operator mistakes—will occur, forcing the process to be restarted. For large datasets or systems that must remain online, these limitations make manual copying an impractical and risky approach. Modern migration solutions are designed to automate synchronization and minimize downtime, whereas manual data copying results in inefficiency, higher operational risk, and unacceptable service interruptions during migration activities.
Shutting down all services before migration disrupts business operations and significantly increases migration complexity. It also prevents testing the migrated environment beforehand and provides no fallback plan if issues occur.
Exporting disks and uploading them to Azure without replication creates static copies that become outdated immediately. Cutover becomes risky due to data drift, requiring lengthy outages to reconcile changes.
Azure Migrate Server Migration is the correct solution because it automates the migration process, allows transparent replication, enables testing, reduces downtime, preserves data integrity, and ensures efficient modernization of hybrid Windows Server workloads.