70-659 Microsoft Server Virtualization Certification Everything You Need To Know to PASS! Blog Post Series

 tagged 100 / 200 / 300 / 70-659 / Certification / Cloud / GURU-Tip / Management / resources / SCVMM / System Center / Systems Management / Verified / Virtual Machine Manager / Virtualization / Windows Server 2008 R2

Happy New Year!  Do you have certification on your New Years Resolution list?  If so, you are going to LOVE This!  The Microsoft East Region ITE’s (IT Pro Evangelists) will, over the next couple months, be putting out a blog post series to give you all the information you need to take and pass the 70-659 Microsoft Server Virtualization Exam.  To join the ranks of the most skilled IT virtualization professionals, make your first (or next) certification goal begin with Exam 70-659: MCTS: Windows Server 2008 R2, Server Virtualization.

exam659-cert_160x160Passing this exam earns you the Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) certification and proves your technical expertise in server virtualization.  We will point you to the material you need to get up to speed quickly.  We will help you setup your lab environment (including giving you the software).  We will be building the content for you to make sure there are no gaps.  Not only that, but we are scheduling a monthly “Q & A” real-time chat so if you get stuck setting up your lab, you will have someone to help you keep moving forward.  In case you were wondering about the cost, It’s FREE!  Think you might want even more in-depth hands-on training?  We’ll provide information on how you can get this from some of our training partners, and possibly even provide some discounts.Smile

So what does this program look like? 

We broke down the content that is covered on the exam and each of us has committed to finding that online content and linking to it, or building it, if it does not already exist.  We will publish the content in the sequence it is displayed (more or less) in the “Skills Measured” under the 70-659 Exam Information page.  If we get requests to post the content faster (like as it is ready) we may not post in order.  If you want to follow it in sequence, that is fine too. We have leveraged the skills measured page to create this post which we will use as a reference page to the 70-659 content.  A copy of this post can always be found at http://aka.ms/70-659.  We will update each line in the list below with a link to the actual content as the content is published (expected date for first technical post 1/9/2012 [give or take Smile]). We expect new content to come online (almost) daily [with the exception of some weeks that are filled with national events] so we would hopefully get all content published sometime in February (we hope) or March at the latest. We will include all items listed below as well as other things that you might find on the test.  Getting certified is more than knowing the technical content. We will also share some test taking tips, studying tips and other things we think you will find helpful as you get certified on Windows Server 2008 R2, Server Virtualization.

Skills Being Measured…What’s on the Exam?

This exam measures your ability to accomplish the technical tasks listed below. The percentages indicate the relative weight of each major topic area on the exam. The higher the percentage, the more questions you are likely to see on that content area on the exam.
The information after “This objective may include but is not limited to” is intended to further define or scope the objective by describing the types of skills and topics that may be tested for the objective. However, it is not an exhaustive list of skills and topics that could be included on the exam for a given skill area. You may be tested on other skills and topics related to the objective that are not explicitly listed here.

70-659 Certification Series Overview

 

We will add links to this post as the content is created…

1) Installing and Configuring Host and Parent Settings {Dan Stolts “ITProGuru”}

    • This objective may include but is not limited to: deploying Virtual Machine Manager Agent, configuring firewall rules, configuring Virtual Network Manager settings
  • 1.3-Add the Hyper-V role on Windows Server 2008 R2.MicrosoftLearning-logo
    • This objective may include but is not limited to: installing and configuring Hyper-V on Server Core, verifying BIOS settings (i.e. DEP), adding the Hyper-V role using Virtual Machine Manager, configuring Hyper-V Server R2, identifying hardware requirements
  • 1.4-Configure virtual networks and VLAN security.
    • This objective may include but is not limited to: configuring Media Access Control (MAC) address pools, configuring network locations, configuring VLAN tags, configuring VLAN security, configuring virtual networks
  • 1.5-Configure storage.
    • This objective may include but is not limited to: configuring Multi Path Input Output (MPIO), executing the mpiocpl.exe command, dynamic I/O redirection, iSCSI initiator, executing the iscsicli.exe command

2) Configuring Child Settings {John Baker}

  • 2.1-Configure child resources.
    • This objective may include but is not limited to: configuring disks, networks, CPU, and memory
  • 2.2-Configure child storage.
    • This objective may include but is not limited to: configuring Dynamic VM storage, creating differencing disks, configuring pass-through disks, taking snapshots, managing GUIDs, managing logical unit numbers (LUNs), editing VHDs, copying physical disks to VHDs
  • 2.3-Configure child network adapters.
    • This objective may include but is not limited to: creating synthetic and emulated network adapters, configuring MAC spoofing, configuring VLAN ID, configuring Jumbo frame, configuring TCP Offloading Engine (TOE)
  • 2.4-Create and deploy virtual machines.
    • This objective may include but is not limited to: creating, cloning, deploying, and saving virtual machines using Virtual Machine Manager; creating virtual machines using Hyper-V Manager, configuring Self-Service Portal, scripting and deploying virtual machines using Windows PowerShell

3) Managing and Monitoring Virtual Environments {TBD}

  • 3.1-Solve performance and resource issues.
    • This objective may include but is not limited to: configuring Performance and Resource Optimization (PRO), monitoring the environment by using System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2, configuring event triggers, allocating resources by using Virtual Machine Manager, monitoring performance and diagnosing issues by using Performance Monitor or Resource Monitor
  • 3.2-Configure delegation of rights.
    • This objective may include but is not limited to: creating user policies for Self Service Portal, creating and managing templates, managing and replicating libraries in Virtual Machine Manager 3.4
  • 3.3-Create roles and configure authorization rights.
    • This objective may include but is not limited to: creating roles and delegating rights using Authorization Manager (AzMan), delegating rights manually
  • 3.4-Manage non-Hyper-V-aware virtualization hosts.
    • This objective may include but is not limited to: managing ESX/VI3 VMware hosts by using Virtual Machine Manager, managing Virtual Server 2005 R2 hosts using Virtual Machine Manager

4) Ensuring High Availability and Recoverability {Blain Barton}

  • 4.1-Manage snapshots.
    • This objective may include but is not limited to: taking, reverting, merging, deleting, and applying snapshots; configuring storage locations
  • 4.2-Manage backups.
    • This objective may include but is not limited to: managing online and offline backups by using DPM, Windows Server Backup, or Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS)
  • 4.3-Perform non-clustered migrations.
    • This objective may include but is not limited to: performing a SAN migration of child partitions, performing a network migration of child partitions
  • 4.4-Configure quick and live migrations.
    • This objective may include but is not limited to: configuring network and storage for clustered Hyper-V setup, enabling Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV), configuring dynamic I/0 redirection

5) Performing Migration {Bob Hunt}

  • 5.1-Perform physical-to-virtual (P2V) migration.
    • This objective may include but is not limited to: configuring Virtual Machine Manager Intelligent Placement, performing online and offline migrations
  • 5.2-Perform virtual-to-virtual (V2V) migration.
    • This objective may include but is not limited to: configuring Virtual Machine Manager Intelligent Placement, performing online and offline migrations
  • 5.3-Perform import/export migration.
    • This objective may include but is not limited to: migrating virtual machines between Hyper-V hosts using the Export/Import feature in Hyper-V

6) Configuring Remote Desktop (RD) Role Services Infrastructure {Yung Chou}

  • 6.1-Configure RD session host.
    • This objective may include but is not limited to: configuring session host settings, network-level authentication settings, license settings; restricting users to single remote session; allowing time zone redirection; configuring resource redirection, configuring encryption, configuring multi-monitor support
  • 6.2-Configure RD licensing.
    • This objective may include but is not limited to: activating and deactivating Remote Desktop License Service, installing and revoking client access licenses (CALs), reporting on CAL usage
  • 6.2-Configure RD Connection Broker.
    • This objective may include but is not limited to: installing the RD Connection Broker, configuring DNS for Connection Broker, configuring Connection Broker farms, integrating with RD Virtualization Host role service
  • 6.4-Configure RD Gateway.
    • This objective may include but is not limited to: configuring RD Gateway, integrating RD Gateway with network access protection (NAP), configuring authentication authorization
  • 6.5-Configure RD Web Access.
    • This objective may include but is not limited to: configuring RD Web Access, configuring authentication options (forms, single sign-on), configuring per-user RemoteApp program filtering, configuring public and private computer options

Please help us make this a great program by spreading the news and offering comments on how we can make it better!

Brought To You By Your East Region IT Pro Evangelists:

 

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Need more help?  Take Course 10215A: Implementing and Managing Microsoft Server Virtualization

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