Part 2 of “Q” 70-410 test prep Q & A

In part 2 of this 6 part set up. I would go for 3 tonight but I got a new book thats just begging for some attention tonight. The answers are a little
more personally worded as im starting to get comfotable with this set up. I have a tendency to be overly appologetic but none the less I hope you
dont mind the refferences (see jokes) and format.

11. Server1 is a new file server that store user data for your Stevie B’s Chicken A La King A La Carte. You have noticed that
Server1 is getting low on HD space. To fix the issue you decide to add a new 3 TB disk named Volume 4. What is the best way to configure Disk2
so that you can create a new 3-TB volume on Server1.

A. Format it as FAT

B. Use DiskPart and convert the disk to a
GPT disk.

C. Use the MBR partition
table when creating the volume(4)

D. Attach the new volume as a VHD

Answer: B is recomened for disks larger than 2TB in size. Doesnt work with older versions and when you add
a smaller disk its added as an MBR disk. If you really feel the need to convert a smaller disk to GPT you can do that
using diskpart as long as its blank.

12. You are planning to design a new storage space on a 2012 R2 server with four 2-TB disks. Your
goal is to maximize the amount of storage but also provide fault tolerance should a single disk fail. What kind
of storage space should you create?

A. Parity storage space

B. Mirror storage Space

C. Spanned Volume

D. Simple storage space

Answer: A Given that a mirror storage space is going to provide the most fault tolerance but the least
amount of efficiency we can rule that out. A spanned volume is simply two disks combined to make
one disk, so there’s no fault tolerance there. So that leaves us with Parity storage space given that
a simple volume has nothing to do with fault tolerance, it just limits the options as to the type of disks that you can create.

13. You have been asked to design a local storage solution that offers fast read and write access for
your files. Data protection is not a concern. Which RAID offers the highest read/write?

A. RAID-0

B. RAID-1

C. RAID-2

D. RAID-5

Answer: Raid 0 or A is clearly the winner here as it offers no redundancy. Ive noticed that this appears to be the same as a “spanned volume”

14. Several months after installing a new Windows Server 2012 R2 file server and configuring quotas for users in her
company’s AD DS domain, Ozzy notices that the hard disk on which users’ shared folders are located is quickly becoming full. Upon checking through
the contents he asks Sharon why she has so many photos of David Hasselhoff. Ozzy would like to prevent Sharon from storing Davids records on
the company drives. What should Ozzy do?

A. Use File Server Resource Manager (FSRM) To block audio/video file types and email Sharon informing her to use Spotify.

B. Use FSRM to generate an alert when ever Sharon saves saves audio file types

C. Modify disk quotas to reduce the amount of disk space avalible to users.

D. Modify the quota to block saving audio files

Answer: A, not sure why you would use a quota setting (i dont think its possible) to do what FSRM does.

15. You need to create a shared folder on your Windows Server 2012 R2 computer
that users on a UNIX server require access to. You want to configure access-denied assistance and
quotas on this share. Which of the following options do you pick in the New Share Wizard that you
started from server manager?

A. SMB Share-Quick (its really hard to find a consitant answer for these, Ill make a blog post and update)

B. NFS Share-Advanced

C. SMB Share-Advanced

D. NFS Share-Quick

E. SMB Share-Applications

Answer: If you want to configure all the options at setup its going to be B however you can chose the quick option and configure
settings after creation. At least thats my understanding from watching youtube videos as MSFT isnt exactly specific in TechNet articles yet this topic
appears frequently on practace tests. According to our source “Q” it is in deed B.

16. You have granted a user named Lemmy the read NTFS Permission on a folder named Sales. Lemmy is also a member of the BlueFinance group which was granted
explicitly denied the Full Control NTFS permission on the Sales folder. What is Lemmys effective
access to the folder? (obviously he doesnt care at this point but lets pretend he does)

A. Full Control

B. Lemmy does not have access to the folder.

C. Modify.

D. Read.

Answer: Proably D but these things are tricky. D is what it seems to indicate the goal his however
we may not have obtained our goal. According to our source material layering an explicit deny of full control
into this equasion would amount to server granting no access to the share so the answer is B. There is an interesting
bit about this in the server 2012 MCSA google + group which I highly recommend joining as all sorts of information is
shared amongst members. I think this link should get you there. Poke
around till you find some practace test Q & As.

17. Which NTFS Quota configuration should you enable to actively notify users that they are nearing
their quota limit?

A. Set Warning level

B. Deny disk space to users exceeding quota limit

C. Limit disk space

D. Log event when user exceeds their warning level

Answer: A obviously, not sure if there is much need for links in the example.

18. Brian is the admin for Stevie B’s Chickin A La King A La Carte (I get it Contoso is shorter) which is currently opporating
and ADDS network with a single domain. The Pultry department (as opposed to the noodle & sauce departments, not to be confused) has
recently aquired a high-speed laser printer to handle their printing needs.
Brian has created three dom local groups on the print server for purposes of managing the printer, as follows: Designers
have print permissions, Supervisors have manage documents permissions, and managers have manager printer permissions. Brian needs
to give a staff memeber in the pultry department named Lloyd the ability to pause, resume and cancel documents printer by all staff
but not control the permissions assigned to other staff members on the printer. What group should Lloyd be a part of?

A. Supervisors

B. Designers

C. Managers

D. Brian does not need to add Lloyd to any of these groups she can performore these tasks by default.

Answer: A. Ok So clearly she needs to be a member of a group that manages document permissions and that group is Supervisors, A. For more information
about print permissions check here.

19. You have recently configured a new Windows Server 2012 R2 print server. you install a new high-ca=acity printer in one of your
satellite offices. For ease of administration the printer is shared on the print server located in the corporate office. All statlite
users are configured to use the shared printer Server1Printer1. Users in
one of the branch sites print to this printer over the corporate WAN link. You need to
ensure that users are able to print to the printer in the event of a WAN link failure. What can you
do to meet this requirement?

A. Disable Printer pooling

B. Install a second printer and share it as a server1Printer2 as a backup.

C. Enable Printer pooling

D> Enable Branch Office Direct Printing

Answer: D in the case of using a WAN link and having a failure its going to cause a failure but why a sat office would print to another physical
location is beyond me. Or print to another location then have that printer send the doc to a local print device. Thats scenario
is a perfect example of hard questions due to a lack of break fix methodology that lends its self more to a complete solution as opposed
to a partial answer. This problem isnt as bad on the real test but Ive noticed it to be a real pain on the practace tests. Its just outside
the relm of liner thinking which makes it much harder than it needs to be due to vague conceptual ideas that horrificly incomplete. WRITE COMPLETE
SNTENCZ PLZZZ! Tank u! domo!

20. Your network consist of a single Active Directory domain. Server1 is a windows server 2012 R2 server with the print and document
server role installed. Only one print device exists for the company. Sales, Finance and Marketing users all share the same
print device. You need to ensure that all usuers can print to this print device but that finance documents print before any other
department. What should you do?

A. Add three printers. Modify the priorities and security settings of each printer so that individual deparments have their own
printer to submit jobs to.

B. Purchase another print device and configure a Printer pool.

C. Add one printer, establish a priority on the printer and require all departments to submit jobs to this printer.

D. Add one printer. Configure the printer security settings to allow finance users to print. Deny all other users the abilty to print

Answer: A, just mod the print priorities and have all the docs go to the same printer. Any one in the group with the highest
priority will print first.

02-09-2016 0

Stevie B’s Practice test A La King from source Q

I decided to deviate from the WDS objective for a bit to focus on this test prep as the WDS content was requiring a lot of mental
calculation that I could honestly use a small break from. So much research is going into fully understanding the WDS product and WIM creation.
Any way this is a practice test that im going over and covering in 6 (ish) parts. Its from a source that im calling “Q” and deviating from slightly.
Hope your ok with the nomenclature and references.

I should get at least an additional 10 done tomorrow, hopefully making a trip to a museum and no idea how long that will take. If it doesnt take too long
maybe I can get in 20 questions in this type and link format.

1. Your network contains an AD dom named StevieBsChickenALaKingALaCarte.com. The domain contains three domain controllers named
SBDC1, SBDC2, SBDC3. You install a new server named SBDC4 & need to configure it as a domain controller. Which tool should you use?

A. dcpromo.exe

B. Sever Manager

C. Active Directory Users and Computers(no 2012 specific article)

D. Active Directory Domains and Trusts

Answer: According to the source material “Q”: B, Server Manager is a MMC tool that replaces the CPU MAN console found in previous versions of server and adds “considerable
value” to the product in terms of functionality. Specifically it includes the management tools formerly part of the Manage Your Server blah blah blah (I dont know
previous versions of server so IDK about the reference) A is wrong because DCPROMO basically no longer exists. C & D have nothing to do with DC’s
(click the links for more info) and are only available after the CPU has been promoted to a DC (I hope your ok with the nomenclature or jargon
term CPU as its much shorter than typing out computer every time)

2. Your network consists of a single Active Directory domain named StevieBsChickenALaKingALaCarte.com.
The Domain contains 50 Win 8.1. boxes & 5 2012R2 boxes. You need to install
a new server that will provide mobile support and the ability for users to
connect to applications from anywhere. You install 2012R2 on a new machine
and name it S6. Which server role should you install to meet this need?

A. Terminal Server safely assuming this is RDP in 2012 as there is no reference to “terminal server” in 2012 from my research.

B. File & Storage Services

C. Web Server(IIS) obviously this is for hosting a website or integrating a customer (assuming for b. purp) portal with MSFT Dynamics

D. Remote Desktop Services (see previous “terminal server” link

Answer: D. RDP, given that this was two of the answers and the other two answers didnt really make any sense in light of the question seeming
to be slightly vague while pursuing the point of the question im not sure that much explanation is required in this case after
discussing the links within your self (if that concept makes any sense)

3. You are a consultant changed with the responsibility of deploying a computer
network to a new accounting firm. The owner would like you to install a Windows Server 2012 R2
computer to store data for the office network, which is not expected to grow
beyond a maximum of 10 computers including the server. The owner wants to keep
deployment costs as low as possible. Which editions (the new one obviously omg
these guys are HALARIOUS) of Windows Server 2012 R2 should you recommend?

A. Server 2012 R2 Essentials

B. Server 2012 R2 Foundation strange links to this guy

C. Server 2012 R2 Standard

D. Server 2012 R2 Datacenter (see standard link but it costs over 3 grand)

Answer: B. Foundations as it can support up to 15 AD client machines

4. Which of the following are valid charms (no good
TechNet links on basic UI features) available in the Server 2012 R2 interface?

A. Search

B. Find

C. Share

D. Delegate

E. Configuration

F. Settings

Answer: A,C,F. All of these are valid “charms” in 2012 R2 The Devices and Start charms are also
available. All other answers and invalid here.

5. You have recently installed Windows Server 2012 R2 Core and need to change windows update settings
using a command-line tool. What should you use?

A. Server Manager

B. RemoteConfig in this verbiage this isnt “real”

C. SConfig

D. Mstsc assuming this relates to XP

Answer: C. The sconfig command (the only viable answer if your familiar with server) enables you to perform basic Server Core configurations

6. Server1 is a full GUI installation of Windows Server 2012 R2. You decide
that you want to minimize the attack surface and reduce to Server Core. You
need to uninstall the GUI on Server1. How can you accomplish this? (each answer represents
a complete solution. Choose two).

A. Start Server1 with the installation media, and reinstall using the Server Core option.

B. From a Windows 8.1 workstation or another server access Server manager for
Server1 remotely and uninstall the User Interfaces and Infrastructure features.

C. From a PowerShell Session, execute the “Uninstall WindowsFeature server-gui-mgmt-infra, server-gui-shell” CMDLT

D. From PowerShell run “Install- WindowsFeature Server Core” CMDLT

Answer: B,C. To remove the User interfaces on a full GUI install these are the only two viable options as reinstalling would be inefficient
and installing server core as in example D is nonsense.

7. You receive reports that performance is poor while transferring files from your file server. You review the LAN switching
infrastructure and do not see any issues (yeah right like I would know that in my current dev state). You begin to look at your file server and notice
that your NIC is over utilized. You decide to increase throughput by configuring a NIC team. You add
two additional NICs and need to configure all three in a team. Which tool should you use?

A. Server Manager

B. Routing and Remote Access

C. NLB Manager

D. File Server Resource Manager

Answer: A is the only plausible place to create a NIC team. NLB has nothing to do with single server traffic but rather
splitting traffic across multiple servers.

8. You are the Systems Admin for Stevie B’s Chicken A La King A La Carte. Stevie B’s Chicken A La King A La Carte has
four servers as outlined in the following set up:

Server 1, CPU architecture: x86, Memory: 4 GB, OS: Server 2008 32 bit obvi

Server 2, CPU architecture: x86, x64 Memory: 2 GB, OS: Server 2008 32 bit

Server 3, CPU architecture: x64, Memory: 4 GB, OS: Server 2008 R2 64 bit obvi

Server 4, CPU architecture: x64, Memory: 2 GB, OS: Server 2008 R2 64 bit obvi

You need to ensure that the StevieBsChickenALaKingALaCarte.com domain contains only Server 2012 R2 installs. You need to minimize cost
and upgrade whenever possible. What should you do? (Each answer represents part of the solution Choose all that apply.)

A. Replace Server1 and perform a clean installation of Windows Server 2012 R2.

B. Replace both Server1 & Server2 and perform a clean installation of Windows Server 2012 R2.

C. Perform an in place upgrade on Server3 and Server4 to Windows Server 2012 R2.

D. Perform a clean install of Windows Server 2012 R2 on Server2.

E. Replace Server2 and perform a new installation of Windows Server 2012.

F. Replace all servers and perform clean installs of Windows Server 2012 (why not just order machines with pre loaded software)

G. Install an additional 2 GB of RAM in Server4 and perform an in-place upgrade to Windows Server 2012 (no clue why “Q” is using servernospacenumber format)

Answer: A,C,D the objective being to minimize cost so we want to replace as little hardware as possible leaving B, E & F out. G is also
possibly a good idea yet not completely necessary.

9. Server1 is running Windows Server 2012 R2 and is configured as a WDS server.
C:testimagesChickenSauce.wim contains a Server 2012 Datacenter image named “Chicken Sauce Edition Server 2012 DC” that you need to update to include an additional feature. First you prepare
to mount the image to a Staging location of C:mountedimage. Which command can you use to mount the image?

A. Dism.exe /Mount-Image /ImageFile:C:testimageChickenSauce.wim /index:1 /MountDir:c:mountedimage

B. Dism.exe /Mount C:testimagesChickenSauce.wim /index1 /MountDir:c:mountedimage

C. Dism.exe /Mount-Image C:testimagesChickenSauce.wim /Name:“Chicken Sauce Edition Server 2012 DC” C:Mountedimage

D. Dism.exe /Mount C:testimagesChickenSauce.wim /Name:“Chicken Sauce Edition Server 2012 DC” /MountDir:c:mounted image

Answer: A, Not much explination other than thats the only correct choice. These can get super complicated/tricky with longer commands.

10. Using the principle of least privilege, which local built-in group can you use to delegate the ability to read performance counter data?

A. Administrators

B. Event Log Readers

C. Performance Log Users

D. Performance Monitor Users

Answer: D, C also seems like a good choice but “log users” comes with the ability to make changes.

02-09-2016 0

The never ending ET for Atari that is describing creating an image using MSFT tools

Ok so moving on to installing Win 10 on our 28 machines, started here,
Windows Deployment Services to do this. WDS is a powerful tool and we need to install the role on our server (I think I might be able to do this through
the MSFT lab environments Ill try and see how long the click through lasts) Im little nervous that my instructions may be less than accurate as I dont have
a test environ but ill do the best that I can.

Configuring WDS

We are going to do this through PowerShell rather than the GUI cause its easier to type out PowerShell instructions without the images a click
through WMCSM would require but in case your interested here’s a YouTube video that I that watched with an excellent narrator.

So, moving on from that bit of information I guess a good place to start might be some TechNet white pages no?

WDS TechNet

Lots of info there. So clearly we are going to have to work out what Steve B’s internal address ranges are and figure out what kind of a subnet
situation our machines are on. Not so fun, not good with that but given that this is super basic I should be able to handle calculating an address range.
Im thinking Stevie B’s is probably a class B range size company so we will work out a meaningful (lol) address in that range that’s probably all ready assigned
to some one. I guess I could take the time to find one that’s available. We will see how that goes as this progresses and I’ll leave it up to you
to check that out. I think that looking up hosts and things is actually interesting, hopefully you do to.

Oh is now a good time to tell you my trainer at my first tech jobs name was Steve Fritz and he was like my BFF cause any question I had was directed toward
him until I learned how to use a website database? Could be where the name came from. He honestly kind of looked and acted, and basically was Mr. Rodgers. Unless he
hadn’t had any candy that day then he was more like this:

I guess I can relate on some level. Any way back to the topic at hand. Going through this white paper, trying to grab some screen shots and figuring out
a plan for deployment! Obviously it would be really complicated to try and configure the DHCP/IP ranges through PowerShell, it may be possible but
Im going to go ahead and assume using a GUI is better for this situation. However, as noted in the TechNet article:

WDSUTIL command-line tool – enables you to manage the full functionality of the server. WDSUTIL also enables you to script common tasks.
We also have a Technet article with basic set boot image and so forth then another
more indepth article that has screenshots
of the fabulous blue screen of success (PowerShell)
So we are figuring out there are multiple ways to pre-stage a machine if you’ve been checking & following the links, through DHCP and/or MAC address (saying and/or due to MAC adddy being
tied into DHCP config) so here is a TechNet article about that
And before we get too far ahead of our selves we also need to talk about Sysprep in order to create the image we are going to push machines. There are alot of
YouTube videos about this but this is the only one with sound. I enjoy silence
as much as the next guy but verbal explications are helpful some times. The video is aimed specifically at Windows 10 (its also a little hard to follow but maybe if you where capturing the
image at the same time it would be easier) but that’s what we are installing & the only problem is he doesnt actually use sysprep to make a WIM. He does configure an answer file though, I suppose we will have to figure out if we need one of those.
This video starts to prove the existance og Sysprep but hes booting into an enviroment
then he launches some tool and we never see an actual .wim file created.

Ok, so given that there are lots of ways to create an image we are just going to say “create an image” using what ever technology is avalible &
tomarrow we will figure out how we are going to push out our wim files to a machine and how an answer file works. Im starting to see why im in the
sub 600s on the test, this seems so imple yet there are so many angles and ways to configure!

Hopefully the formatting is not too aweful, im really pushing the limits of tumblrs text editor, possibly, and the amount of text my machine is happy with navigating. Sorry, writing from a netbook (better than nothing).

Update: So Thanks to the help of a google group I found that Sysprep is indeed real and it works. Heres a video and a link to screen shots. The video is older but Im assuming the process should be the same!

Microsoft Deployment Tool Kit

Edit 2/11: I may drop this topic for the fore seeable future as its kind of a personal interest into how this tech works. Its not really covered that extensively on the test and I suppose rationally I should start to focus on the things that may help me to pass. Im kind of into this whole robotically retyping test Q’s as its kind of like going through flash cards.

Edit 2/15: Heres a hangout from the google group and of course some how my mug became the starting frame on youtube. Thank goodness my web cam works : |. Well its the starting frame on the group page, not sure if that loads the same every time or not?

01-30-2016 0

Ghastly ghost is missing a few outward facing spacely sprockets

So while doing research for Stevie B’s Chicken a’la King a’la Carte you realized that there wasn’t much material covering this Norton product
as an individual and not a corporate owner of the product. So you came to the conclusion that it must be a really easy product to use
or they have some phenomenal customer service if they ever plan on selling it. Any way here some links discussing the product since we cant
actually develop two action plans for implementation we will only make one, thats hopefully correct, using native Windows Server products.
In spite of that we still collected a few links (though we could probably pick up some links on what perspective to narrate from to ensure
that we use the correct pronouns while writing)

British guy talking in depth Mostly about backing up a pc
how to create an image
“going to Ghost a machine____shameless self promotion.”
Interestingly enough some official support documentation can be downloaded here
not sure why this site is hosting it or how good it is. I found an 80 page document on the Symantech site and it disappeared while writing this. Turns out this is not the driod im looking for. Poke around here for some blues clues or perhaps scooby snaks that may lead to answer for where that went.

01-28-2016 0

A case study in business class upgrades

Ok so lets make a fake scenario that I previously called a user story but thats not really correct nomenclature as that has to do with software dev
so I supposed we will call this a case study. Since im really new to HTML im going to be annoying with formatting for the sake of fun so please excuse.

Your company Stevie B’s Chicken A’la King A’la Carte (considering building a real website or possibly FB page for this fake business) has 60 machines all need to be upgraded to windows 10 pro (none of which are laptops because they are all being replaced in one
purchase order next year). Your domain is currently set at the Server 2012 R2 functional level as your company attempts to keep up with the latest technology.

basic requirement’s:

Min of 500 gig’s of harddrive space
Min 5 gigs of ram

So given that you have

32 vista total upgrades
Machine vendor of choice Dell
machine price per @ rec’d specs: $679 = $21,728

7 windows 7 machines need only 2 gigs of ram and an extra 250 gig hard drive
lics $199 X 7 = 1393

240 pin ddr3 2 gig (seemed to be the most common ram type currently in prod) $16 per unit for corsair value ram (showing brand preference here and inferring a problem with calculating exact shipping totals due to lack of current stock from our vendor of choice)
, a little better than the bottom of the line) x 7 = 111.93

For some reason management ok’d testing SSD drive durability in response to planning future laptop purchases
7 @ 87.59 per = 613.87

Assuming shipping to be $20.00 after creating a Newegg premiere account, current lack of information on savings due to current stock issues.

Here is the ram and harddrives that we chose to use

Total = $2,138.8

21 machines only require a new Windows license’s
license’s $199 x 21 = $4,179

Norton ghost license cost/efficiency (is still a thing, its been a while since I did an upgrade at the one that I did was through
a company that spent in a lavish manor when technology was involved) close to a 1k per 20 machines http://buy.symantec.com/estore/clp/productdetails/pk/ghost-solution-suite

Total cost using native imaging solutions and machine upgrades for all machines:

60 machines = $28,045.80 + ~1k if we use Norton Ghost

I realize that the organizational structure isnt perfect but its the best I can do given my current limitational understandings of HTML formatting.
So im doing my best to make it look nice and organized. Perhaps we could insert a table here but not sure how tumblr will respond to that slice of code

So next we need to figure out exactly how we propose to implement all this.

Edit: so after trying to make the formatting better and drinking a few cups of coffee Stevie B’s Chickin A’la King A’la Carte decided that It would be a good idea (to switch to a wordpress site) to go a head and purchase the the 20 licenses from Symantec because we’ve been around a while and Norton was good to us back in the day but they really faced some stiff competition from other anti-virus products. So we decided to go ahead and buy the licenses because as a respectable company/organization we like to show respect to other respectable company’s. We may or may not use this softwear depending upon how well we are able to roll out in a test envroment using native Windows tools.

01-22-2016 0

On to the Azure situation….

Ok so we have established that I use the word “also” when conjoining two major ideas but this whole post kind of feels like an
“also” running in tandem with the last set of ideas concerning Hyper-V. After doing some reading it would seem that the way you connect/setup
Azure servers and the way that you connect and set-up Hyper-V servers are similar. Not exactly the same as the interfaces are vastly
different but conceptually it seems like the same idea and in my naive state of understanding the depths of both technologies
I can only assume that the two would share the same concerns and growing pains. I feel confident that there is an attitude that one is
a superior technology among those who have been following a long for a while in spite of the fact that they both appear to be very similar.
Other than the obvious fact of Azure being hosted off site providing more of a “terminal” solution or interface for end users.

I feel like the long term goal, as I’ve said before is to remove physical hardware from offices and have a mostly off site based
solution. I dont disagree with this concept of having basic walmart style server farms that work with small business (under 60 users) any thing
larger than that might cause a problem resulting in a hybrid solution. Any way this is all math thats well outside my gustimation
of cost and band width support mentality. Regardless of my current notion of the big picture its still an interesting thing
to muse on.

I suppose we should move on with assumptions and start with some links so you perhaps have a frame of reference to work from? I am generally writing with the
assumption that you, the reader, are as ignorant on these subjects as I and that maybe together we can come up with an understanding
of these technologies by way of conversational dialogue. Boy that fact sure took a long time to establish didnt it? Any way, here are
some links

Step by step installation of Windows Azure pack for Windows Server

I got really excited about this cause I was like Yeah I love that kid

Then I was all like dang that’s Boy Meets World not Step By Step but if it was a 90s version of an H.G. Wells novel (certainly not above the musings of television writers) its possible that Ben Savage looks like
a young Patrick Duffy.

Am I getting off topic here? Possibly. I’m easily distracted by these sorts of things and its good to keep your “pop culture quotient” high, as “they” (whoever “they” is) say.

Any way this guy goes through a basic install that left me kind of confused as to the whole process. Some one more
experienced than I might understand this picture a little better. He starts to discuss setting up DNS records for off site servers?

Actually its pretty straight forward until this point, right here I start getting confused, before that its the typical screen shot
fodder that makes tech books seem overly elongated.

“7. On the Database Server Setup page, enter the name of the database server or instance of Microsoft SQL Server. For single machine express deployments, this is the same machine you’re currently installing to (WAPPortal, for example”

FML, when did we start having to have a SQL database to login to instances of servers or what ever the hell we are doing here
This doesnt seem like it should more complicated than Hyper-V from a logical standpoint now my world has been set a doom.
Shouldn’t we be able to build a machine, have a web portal or a desktop icon, have a user login to it then have the environment
displayed? Im assuming we could have an in house DHCP server and then connect to a cloud DC for authentication and application of
GP? Establish a connection via some sort of secure channel, im assuming there would have to be some sort of in house DNS solution for this.
Obviously this puts effort on maintenance to a much a smaller level which may or may not be a good thing. Any way, some thing seems
wrong or missing about this. I think the point made here is Azure is not for low level nerds, such as my self, to understand.

Ok so moving on past that heart-breakingly disappointing article we have to check TechNet and see if there is any thing better.
I realize this a completely new technology but its on the 70-410 and I would like to pass that test at some point. Any way here’s the
TechNet series of articles on the situation, links at the top take you through the series (you get the general idea)

Installing and configuring Azure

I like this series a lot but I think conceptually “contoso” is a little straining. They go into great detail about organizational structure in
test questions but there is no organizational information listed in this which makes it a little hard to “visualize” if you will. Also the disclaimer on that
page is a nice touch. There really isnt much else for me to possibly explain or muse upon here that isnt listed in that article series.
So until I learn some more, the pluralsite videos where slightly helpful from an introductory series stand point and paired with this
it makes a nice vague base platform to work from, im going to leave it at this point. We may revisit this in the future but as we venture
once more into the breach, dear friends, I fear it may be a while before you see another post from me. Hopefully Ill get some more books and continue to learn, Network + seems like
a really good idea as im not every strong in that section
and get yet another 70-410 book
(the lab manual situation seems like a waste of money in my case) if there is any degree of cooperation hopefully they will be obtainable. If not uha, I guess ill memorize the ones I have?
Until next time friends. Hopefully there will be a “next time” where I get to be a social person again. My life’s out of my hands though
and honestly wouldnt have it any other way. I realize im being vague but I have to move to a rural site without an internet connection
while on the brink of becoming an employed person in an urban area. Its rather exciting tail, I know, we cant all live the high life. Some
of us have to go to work every day 😉

As a side note tumblr is getting more accepting of the OL html situation. Its still hard to do lists within lists but it feels a little more reponsive to the code? Maybe im on html “tire kicker” at a used car lot too “would you look at that” haha

01-18-2016 0

Whats this Azure situation and where are we going with this?

Im not even really sure what Windows Azure is capable of or exactly where Microsoft is headed with this product.
It seems like it has the capability to completely remove the concept of the in house domain controller on physical
hardware at any location given that internet connectivity is fast enough. I suppose in house DHCP could always be a factor though.
Im sure that too, with time, will pass. So given that we arent exactly sure what this product is and we need at least a basic
understanding of it because there are a few questions on the test about this product perhaps we should start with the basics like
this wikipedia page. So if im understanding it right its an advanced
terminal server type of situation with the option to back up your in house servers. They seem to be pushing the idea of using
azure in dev environments for VMs however the price point seems a little lacking when considering that you could just use in house hosted
VMs. The only way that I can see this product not being somewhat less than cost effective in the current market would be as a backup
solution for complete in house severs. For example if you have an in house machine with an instance of sql or hyper V it would be amazing
to be completely revive the machine by connecting to your azure subscription from a rebuilt machine. I feel almost certain that MSFT
would have this solution available it just comes with the question of security (more trust than security) and price point. Ok so now given that
in the future we may navigate our servers in an fashion that was forecasted by Jurassic Park.

oh look there’s my PDC for my corp.corp.kandinsky.com domain that I use to replicate

or:

Oh look theres my machine that houses all my Hyper V instances.

I think this is very interesting but as far as actual implementation ive got a ways to go before I understand much of the current build
of this product. Well as far as the parts of that im concerned about learning such as the connection to the cloud and building/implementing
cloud VM solutions. I did start to watch a Pluralsite video series about this situation and found it to be somewhat less than helpful
as most of the technology displayed is way over my head involving really long powershell scripts. Perhaps youtube videos and technet articles
will get my connection chops up to speed. Ill dig around this week and see what I come with and perhaps post a part two of this situation.

Edit: Powershell is such an awesomely powerful and beautiful interface. It has the look and feel of playing a vintage guitar for all the right reasons unfortunatly im not overly skilled at this particular style at this time beyond just basic chords and I still struggle with landing a C shape

Edit: note to self, never directly link images from Google to a PhotoBucket, as it can be hazardous in the display/loading process

01-11-2016 0

Retake Failure

I took my test again after a month of studying, most on IPv4 configurations and subnetting. I suppose I could post some of the links
of sites that I used as study resources however they might not all be here as I had computer failure not long after taking the test.
I found a great video series on youtube that helped me to mostly memorize an IPv4 subnetting table and after watching it I felt like
I understood the basics. DHCP is real killer though. I had a really tuff and involved DHCP question that basically involved a screen with a
block of ip configurations and subnet blocks as sort of a multi question what goes where type of thing. I dont think I did too well on that
section. However I did do fairly well in a couple areas (scoring in the 90s)over all I failed. As you hopefully can see in the picture (also shown
some upcoming concerts im excited about haha)I got a 563 this time.

Ignore the pall Mall coupons, im really trying to quit. To be quite honest im not sure why im including it other than I need to straighten out those
tickets if im going to save them!

ok so here you can actually see what my score was. Without all the irrelevant information. Clearly IPv4 configuration and DHCP
is a struggle for me. Im going to continue to study but it might be good to seek a Network + certification so I have a little better
background in what im doing here (studying things that are way over my head at this point it time but giving it my best. I would have assumed
that I would have done better on the GP and AD sections. Not sure how those got so low but either way its some thing to study.

IPv4 links

clearly my studies didnt help all that much in terms of on paper test scores as I spent most of the month between exams studying this topic
alone but these resources are very helpful. Im not sure if any one is less excited about how much IPv6 we will see in the next version of server
than I am. I dont see IPv4 very clearly yet but as a guitar player I could understand that after you fully understood it you could begin
to see ip address ranges and almost the entire internet as a guitar fret board with intent behind the theory. That is very exciting to me.
However coming into it after not having learned to play an easy guitar fully and then being handed an 8 string is quite a scary proposition.

so here is the recommended video series, there’s lots of stuff out there about subnetting and most of it is helpful. However this is
guys is from Nashville and I lived there for a while so maybe im just partial. Also its honestly worth it to watch the whole thing and take notes the entire time and do
the exercises while pausing. It may not get you extra points on the 70-410 but at least you will have a better understanding of subnetting.

Ok, thats all for now. Theres also a few questions Ive seen centered around integrating Azure with an in house AD solution so up next
I suppose Ill muse on that for a while. Oh yeah and also attempt to figure out how and why the technology actually works.

And in case the youtube video doesnt frame in correctly here is the direct link:

Subnetting Demystified

01-08-2016 0

I havent updated this in a while, havent had much info to share. Attempted my test for the first time and unsurprisingly failed by a decent margin. I got a 538
as you can see in this photo where I gave it my best Honey Boo Boos mom face.

Im feeling like im kind of in limbo at the moment waiting on my retake. I did a acquire a new book and have worked about half way through it
Its this guy right here.
Decent books covers some things that the Panek/Sybex book doesnt cover. Still about another thousand pages of essentially cliff notes.
However booth books are tremendously helpful to server new comers in the regard that they do offer a direction in which to study.

Ok so great, now I have to retake my test again soonish and im probably not going to do a whole lot better but the good news is that I
do feel like its passable at this point. At first I wasn’t entirely sure it was possible from my vantage point, now im not so sure.

Currently studying IPv4 sub netting, feeling some what confident about DNS and less so about DHCP. When first approaching subnetting
I was completely overwhelmed because book reference isn’t that helpful and my teach in class wasn’t too keen on answering questions. Thankfully
I found this video series

Here is the link in case the iFrame doesnt load. Subnetting Demystified

Super thankful for this dude and for this free resource hes made available to schlubs such as my self attempting to acquire the wisdom of
the wizards of Sever and interneting technologies. So im still working through that series and trying to use this as practice with a little help from this
for the sake of comprehension. Upon first approach it seemed like a random number generator but the Ip calculator proved me wrong.
After watching a few times and doing some practice trying to understand the numbers show in the calculators formula I think I should be able to understand.
Its also surprisingly fun once you put a little effort into it. Its a nice break from memorization of conceptual and practical terms/data.

Going to have to really milk the practice tests for all they are worth because I believe those go away for me in January and they are a
huge huge help in terms of direction and every thing else. I have literally no money but I might try to find a way to extend the time line
in which those are available to me if its not overly expensive. So for now we are working on getting down DHCP technologies and brining up
that bottom number quite a bit.

12-09-2015 0

Free resources

Windows Server 2012 inside out: an ok book with some usefull info, long and free.

TCP/IP Fundamentals This was kind of buried in a post but worth sharing.
Mastering PowerShell resident older book on powershell, some outdated info but lost of good stuff. A classic i suppose

09-06-2015 0