Are you worried about passing the AZ-801 exam? Do you need a study guide for a successful exam attempt? Since this exam was updated in May 2023, you might also be worried about getting the updated exam prep material. Take a sigh of relief because this blog will provide the best tips and tricks for passing the exam. Configuring Windows Server Hybrid Advanced Services Exam with the exam code AZ-801 is the passing criteria for earning the skill badge from Microsoft. Passing this exam is important for attaining the Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate certification.
Effective Pointers to Direct the AZ-801 Exam Preparation
Having a preparation guide will save you from facing any trouble in the preparation. Let’s unleash how to crack the exam successfully.
1. Learn What The Exam Is About
AZ-801 exam has 40-60 questions. The time to complete the exam is 120 minutes. The questions are either multiple-choice or multiple-responses. The exam is offered in various languages, including English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Korean, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (Traditional) and Italian. The cost of the exam registration is $165. The passing score on the exam is 700.
2. Learn What Skills Are Tested in AZ-801 Exam
You must clearly understand the skills that are required to pass the exam successfully.
- Deploy and manage AD DS in on-premises and cloud environments
- Manage Windows Servers and workloads in a hybrid environment
- Manage virtual machines and containers
- Implement and manage an on-premises and hybrid networking infrastructure
- Manage storage and file services
- Secure Windows Server on-premises and hybrid infrastructures
- Implement and manage Windows Server high availability
- Implement disaster recovery
- Migrate servers and workloads
- Monitor and troubleshoot Windows Server environments
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3. Be Clear About the Target Audience of AZ-801 Exam
This exam is designed for the candidates who wish to make their career in the following job roles:
- Administrator
- Identity And Access Administrator
- Information Protection Administrator
- Network Engineer
- Security Engineer
- Support Engineer
- Technology Manager
4. Keep in View the Detailed Course Outline
Following is the detailed course outline of the AZ-801 exam.
Secure Windows Server on-premises and hybrid infrastructures (25–30%)
Secure Windows Server operating system
- Configure and manage Exploit Protection
- Configure and manage Windows Defender Application Control
- Configure and manage Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
- Configure and manage Windows Defender Credential Guard
- Configure SmartScreen
- Implement operating system security by using Group Policies
Secure a hybrid Active Directory infrastructure
- Configure password policies
- Enable password block lists
- Manage protected users
- Manage account security on an RODC
- Harden domain controllers
- Configure authentication policy silos
- Restrict access to domain controllers
- Configure account security
- Manage AD built-in administrative groups
- Manage AD delegation
- Implement and manage Microsoft Defender for Identity
Identify and remediate Windows Server security issues by using Azure Services
- Monitor on-premises servers and Azure IaaS VMs by using Microsoft Sentinel
- Identify and remediate security issues on-premises servers and Azure IaaS VMs by using Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Secure Windows Server networking
- Manage Windows Defender Firewall
- Implement domain isolation
- Implement connection security rules
Secure Windows Server storage
- Manage Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption (BitLocker)
- Manage and recover encrypted volumes
- Enable storage encryption by using Azure Disk Encryption
- Manage disk encryption keys for IaaS virtual machines
Implement and manage Windows Server high availability (10–15%)
Implement a Windows Server failover cluster
- Implement a failover cluster on-premises, hybrid, or cloud-only
- Create a Windows failover cluster
- Implement a stretch cluster across datacenters or Azure regions
- Configure storage for failover clustering
- Modify quorum options
- Configure network adapters for failover clustering
- Configure cluster workload options
- Configure cluster sets
- Configure Scale-Out File servers
- Create an Azure witness
- Configure a floating IP address for the cluster
- Implement load balancing for the failover cluster
Manage failover clustering
- Implement cluster-aware updating
- Recover a failed cluster node
- Upgrade a node to Windows Server 2022
- Failover workloads between nodes
- Install Windows updates on cluster nodes
- Manage failover clusters using Windows Admin Center
Implement and manage Storage Spaces Direct
- Create a failover cluster using Storage Spaces Direct
- Upgrade a Storage Spaces Direct node
- Implement networking for Storage Spaces Direct
- Configure Storage Spaces Direct
Implement disaster recovery (10–15%)
Manage backup and recovery for Windows Server
- Back up and restore files and folders to Azure Recovery Services Vault
- Install and manage Azure Backup Server
- Back up and recover using Azure Backup Server
- Manage backups in Azure Recovery Services Vault
- Create a backup policy
- Configure backup for Azure VM using the built-in backup agent
- Recover VM using temporary snapshots
- Recover VMs to new Azure VMs
- Restore a VM
Implement disaster recovery by using Azure Site Recovery
- Configure Azure Site Recovery networking
- Configure Site Recovery for on-premises VMs
- Configure a recovery plan
- Configure Site Recovery for Azure VMs
- Implement VM replication to secondary datacenter or Azure region
- Configure Azure Site Recovery policies
Protect virtual machines by using Hyper-V replicas
- Configure Hyper-V hosts for replication
- Manage Hyper-V replica servers
- Configure VM replication
- Perform a failover
Migrate servers and workloads (20–25%)
Migrate on-premises storage to on-premises servers or Azure
- Transfer data and share
- Cut over to a new server by using Storage Migration Service (SMS)
- Use Storage Migration Service to migrate to Azure VMs
- Migrate to Azure file shares
Migrate on-premises servers to Azure
- Deploy and configure Azure Migrate appliance
- Migrate VM workloads to Azure IaaS
- Migrate physical workloads to Azure IaaS
- Migrate by using Azure Migrate
Migrate workloads from previous versions to Windows Server 2022
- Migrate IIS
- Migrate Hyper-V hosts
- Migrate RDS host servers
- Migrate DHCP
- Migrate print servers
Migrate IIS workloads to Azure
- Migrate IIS workloads to Azure Web Apps
- Migrate IIS workloads to containers
Migrate an AD DS infrastructure to Windows Server 2022 AD DS
- Migrate AD DS objects, including users, groups and Group Policies using AD Migration Tool
- Migrate to a new Active Directory forest
- Upgrade an existing forest
Monitor and troubleshoot Windows Server environments (20–25%
Monitor Windows Server by using Windows Server tools and Azure services
- Monitor Windows Server by using Performance Monitor
- Create and configure Data Collector Sets
- Monitor servers and configure alerts by using Windows Admin Center
- Analyze Windows Server system data by using System Insights
- Manage event logs
- Deploy Azure Monitor agents
- Collect performance counters to Azure
- Create alerts
- Monitor Azure VMs by using Azure diagnostics extension
- Monitor Azure VMs performance by using VM Insights
Troubleshoot Windows Server on-premises and hybrid networking
- Troubleshoot hybrid network connectivity
- Troubleshoot on-premises connectivity
Troubleshoot Windows Server virtual machines in Azure
- Troubleshoot deployment failures
- Troubleshoot booting failures
- Troubleshoot VM performance issues
- Troubleshoot VM extension issues
- Troubleshoot disk encryption issues
- Troubleshoot storage
- Troubleshoot VM connection issues
Troubleshoot Active Directory
- Restore objects from AD recycle bin
- Recover Active Directory database using Directory Services Restore mode
- Recover SYSVOL
- Troubleshoot Active Directory replication
- Troubleshoot Hybrid authentication issues
- Troubleshoot on-premises Active Directory
Read more: Tips to pass az-800 Exam
5. Know Which Two Exams Are Important
Passing the AZ-801 exam will make you eligible for the Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate certification. This certification is earned by passing two prerequisite exams given below:
- Exam 1: Administering Windows Server Hybrid Core Infrastructure exam (AZ-800)
And
- Exam 2: Configuring Windows Server Hybrid Advanced Services (AZ-801)
You have to pass both exams to earn the credential badge.
6. Choose a Study Course
Preparation for the AZ-801 exam with a study course is helpful. You may choose either a self-paced study path or an instructor-led study course. Self-paced courses are free, while instructor-led courses are paid. If you have previous knowledge about the course topics, you can use the self-paced. However, if you feel that you will better work under an instructor’s guidance, then instructor-led will be more useful.
7. Practice Reliable Questions
Practice questions are useful for understanding the concepts. You will learn how to apply the learned concepts. You will also get a clear idea of the exam questions such as what type of questions are expected. It is not advised to learn the practice questions. Just take the idea of the exam questions and use them for the purpose of concept clarification. Dumpsgate practice questions are most reliable as they are according to the recent exam updates.
8. Join Discussion Forums
Various discussion forums are available online. These forums are useful for discussing any questions or queries about the AZ-801 exam. The participants in these forums are either the experts who have passed the exam or the candidates preparing to take the exam. The concerns and problems are discussed, and an appropriate solution is provided which is beneficial for all. People with the same aim also turn out to be motivational sources for one another.
9. Validate Your Preparation Level
Before taking the AZ-801 exam, it is important that you validate the level of your preparation. The most useful way is to take a mock test. Mock tests are available on the official Microsoft site. These practice tests are free of cost. You can take their multiple attempts. Check which questions are getting wrong. Prepare the topics again that lack preparation.
10. Revise and Link the Concepts
Revision gives a final furnish to your concepts. You must revise the exam topics so that your chances to pass the exam are maximized. Next to learning, you must also link the concepts. Linking will help you organize and memorize the concepts comprehensively.
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Final Wording…
Preparing for an exam without proper guidance may not produce the desired results. The tips in this blog will help you to attain the desired results. Following the study path is always more fruitful than haphazard learning. Many study materials are available to prepare the AZ-801 exam but choosing the right material is important. Make sure that you have the most authentic stud material.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to prepare for the AZ-801 exam?
It would take about 2 weeks to prepare for the exam. If you have some prior knowledge or experience with windows server hybrid, you can prepare for the exam in less time.
How difficult is the AZ-801 exam?
AZ-801 exam is not much hard. It does not require any coding for this exam. The topics can be easily prepared. You must use a proper study path for the preparation of the exam.
Is the AZ-801 worth it?
Yes, Az-801 is an extremely beneficial exam if you are interested in making your career in Microsoft administration. Microsoft credentials are highly recognized, and they have a vast scope in terms of learning topics and income benefits.