This program provides complete, theoretical and practical vision of Virtualization: Windows Operating System, VMware ICM (Installation, Configuration & Maintenance) and Troubleshooting. Students will gain skills in DNS, DHCP, Active Directory, diagnose and supervise a virtual platform, and plan the migration to a virtual infrastructure, know how to install it and measure its performance. Upon successfully completion of the program students may pursue a career as VMware engineer and Virtualization engineer. Students will study subjects such as MCSA 2016, VMware vSphere 7 and VMware Troubleshooting 7.

Course content

MCSA 2016

Install Windows Servers in Host and Compute Environments

Install, upgrade, and migrate servers and workloads: 

• determine appropriate Windows Server 2016 editions per workloads
• install Windows Server 2016; install Windows Server 2016 features and roles
• install and configure Windows Server Core; manage Windows Server Core
• installations using Windows PowerShell, command line, and remote management capabilities
• implement Windows PowerShell Desired State Configuration (DSC) to install and maintain integrity of installed environments
• perform upgrades and migrations of servers and core workloads from Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2012 to Windows Server 2016
• determine the appropriate activation model for server installation, such as Automatic Virtual Machine Activation (AVMA), Key Management Service (KMS), and Active Directory-based Activation

Create, manage, and maintain images for deployment

• Plan for Windows Server virtualization
• assess virtualization workloads using the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit
• determine considerations for deploying workloads into virtualized environments
• update images with patches, hotfixes, last cumulative updates and drivers
• install roles and features in offline images
• manage and maintain Windows Server Core, and VHDs using Windows PowerShell

Implement Storage Solutions

Configure disks and volumes

• Configure sector sizes appropriate for various workloads
• configure GUID partition table (GPT) disks
• create VHD and VHDX files using Disk Management or Windows PowerShell
• mount virtual hard disks; determine when to use NTFS and ReFS file systems; configure NFS and SMB shares using Server Manager
• configure SMB share and session settings using Windows PowerShell
• configure SMB server and SMB client configuration settings using Windows PowerShell
• configure file and folder permissions

Implement server storage

• Configure storage pools
• implement simple, mirror, and parity storage layout options for disks or enclosures
• expand storage pools
• configure Tiered Storage
• configure iSCSI target and initiator
• configure iSNS
• configure Datacenter Bridging (DCB)
• configure Multi-Path IO (MPIO)
• determine usage scenarios for Storage Replica
• implement Storage Replica for server-to-server, cluster-to-cluster, and stretch cluster scenarios

Implement data deduplication

• Implement and configure deduplication
• determine appropriate usage scenarios for deduplication
• monitor deduplication
• implement a backup and restore solution with deduplication

Implement Hyper-V

Install and configure Hyper-V

• Determine hardware and compatibility requirements for installing Hyper-V
• install Hyper-V
• install management tools
• upgrade from existing versions of Hyper-V
• delegate virtual machine management
• perform remote management of Hyper-V hosts
• Using Windows PowerShell Direct
• implement nested virtualization

Configure virtual machine (VM) settings

• Add or remove memory in a running VM
• configure dynamic memory
• configure Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA) support
• configure smart paging
• configure Resource Metering
• manage Integration Services
• create and configure Generation 1 and 2 VMs and determine appropriate usage scenarios
• implement enhanced session mode
• create Linux and FreeBSD VMs
• install and configure Linux Integration Services (LIS)
• install and configure FreeBSD Integration Services (BIS)
• implement Secure Boot for Windows and Linux environments
• move and convert VMs from previous versions of Hyper-V to Windows Server 2016 Hyper-V; export and import VMs
• implement Discrete Device Assignment (DDA), Troubleshoot VM configuration versions

Configure Hyper-V storage 

• Create VHDs and VHDX files using Hyper-V Manager
• create shared VHDX files
• configure differencing disks
• modify virtual hard disks
• configure pass-through disks
• resize a virtual hard disk
• manage checkpoints
• implement production checkpoints
• implement a virtual Fibre Channel adapter
• configure storage Quality of Service (QoS)

Configure Hyper-V networking

• Add and remove virtual network interface cards (vNICs)
• configure Hyper-V virtual switches
• optimize network performance
• configure MAC addresses
• configure network isolation
• configure synthetic and legacy virtual network adapters
• configure NIC teaming in VMs
• configure virtual machine queue (VMQ)
• enable Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) on network adapters bound to a Hyper-V virtual switch using Switch Embedded Teaming (SET)
• configure Bandwidth Management

Implement Windows Containers

Deploy Windows containers

• Determine installation requirements and appropriate scenarios for Windows Containers
• install and configure Windows Server container host in physical or virtualized environments
• install and configure Windows Server container host to Windows Server Core in a physical or virtualized environment
• install Docker Enterprise Edition on Windows Server
• configure Docker start-up options; install a base container image
• tag an image
• remove a container
• create Windows Server containers
• create Hyper-V containers

Manage Windows containers 

• Manage Windows containers by using Docker CLI
• manage container networking; manage container data volumes
• manage Resource Control
• create new container images using Dockerfile
• manage container images using DockerHub repository for public and private scenarios
• manage container images using Microsoft Azure

Implement High Availability

Implement high availability and disaster recovery options in Hyper-V

• Implement Hyper-V Replica
• implement Live Migration including Shared Nothing Live Migration
• configure CredSSP or Kerberos authentication protocol for Live Migration
• implement storage migration

Implement failover clustering 

• Implement Workgroup, Single, and Multi Domain clusters
• configure quorum
• configure cluster networking
• restore single node or cluster configuration
• configure cluster storage
• implement Cluster-Aware Updating
• implement Cluster Operating System Rolling Upgrade
• configure and optimize cluster shared volumes (CSVs)
• configure clusters without network names
• implement Scale-Out File Server (SoFS)
• determine different scenarios for the use of SoFS vs. File Server for general use
• determine usage scenarios for implementing guest clustering
• implement a Clustered Storage Spaces solution using Shared SAS storage enclosures
• implement Storage Replica
• implement Cloud Witness
• implement VM resiliency
• implement shared VHDX as a storage solution for guest clusters

Implement Storage Spaces Direct

• Determine scenario requirements for implementing Storage Spaces Direct
• enable Storage Spaces Direct using Windows PowerShell
• implement a disaggregated Storage Spaces Direct scenario
• implement a hyper- converged Storage Spaces Direct scenario

Manage failover clustering 

• Configure role-specific settings, including continuously available shares
• configure VM monitoring
• configure failover and preference settings
• implement stretch and site-aware failover clusters
• enable and configure node fairness

Manage VM movement in clustered nodes 

• Perform a live migration
• perform a quick migration
• perform a storage migration
• import, export, and copy VMs; configure VM network health protection
• configure drain on shutdown

Implement Network Load Balancing (NLB)

• Install NLB nodes
• configure NLB prerequisites
• configure affinity
• configure port rules
• configure cluster operation mode
• upgrade an NLB cluster

Maintain and Monitor Server Environments

Maintain server installations 

• Implement Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) solutions
• configure WSUS groups
• manage patch management in mixed environments
• implement an antimalware solution with Windows Defender
• integrate Windows Defender with WSUS and Windows Update
• perform backup and restore operations using Windows Server Backup
• determine backup strategies for different Windows Server roles and workloads, including Hyper-V Host, Hyper-V Guests, Active Directory, File Servers, and Web Servers using Windows Server 2016 native tools and solutions

Monitor server installations 

• Monitor workloads using Performance Monitor, Server Manager, Event Viewer
• configure Data Collector Sets
• determine appropriate CPU, memory, disk, and networking counters for storage and compute workloads
• configure alerts
• monitor workloads using Resource Monitor, manage and monitor Windows Server by using Windows Admin Center.

Implement Domain Name System (DNS)

Install and configure DNS servers

• Determine DNS installation requirements
• install DNS
• configure forwarders
• configure Root Hints
• configure delegation
• implement DNS policies
• Configure DNS Server settings using Windows PowerShell
• configure Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC)
• configure DNS Socket Pool
• configure cache locking
• enable Response Rate Limiting
• configure DNS-based Authentication of Named Entities (DANE)
• configure DNS logging
• configure delegated administration
• configure recursion settings
• implement DNS performance tuning
• configure global settings

Create and configure DNS zones and records 

• Create primary zones
• configure Active Directory primary zones
• create and configure secondary zones
• create and configure stub zones
• configure a GlobalNames zone
• analyze zone-level statistics
• create and configure DNS Resource Records (RR), including A, AAAA, PTR, SOA, NS, SRV, CNAME, and MX records
• configure zone scavenging
• configure record options, including Time To Live (TTL) and weight
• configure round robin
• configure secure dynamic updates
• configure unknown record support
• use DNS audit events and analytical (query) events for auditing and troubleshooting
• configure Zone Scopes
• configure records in Zone Scopes
• configure policies for zones

Implement DHCP and IPAM

Install and configure DHCP 

• Install and configure DHCP servers
• authorize a DHCP server
• create and configure scopes
• create and configure superscopes and multicast scopes
• configure a DHCP reservation
• configure DHCP options
• configure DNS options from within DHCP
• configure policies
• configure client and server for PXE boot
• configure DHCP Relay Agent
• implement IPv6 addressing using DHCPv6
• perform export and import of a DHCP server
• perform DHCP server migration

Manage and maintain DHCP

• Configure a lease period
• back up and restore the DHCP database
• configure high availability using DHCP failover
• configure DHCP name protection
• troubleshoot DHCP

Implement and Maintain IP Address Management (IPAM) 

• Provision IPAM manually or by using Group Policy
• configure server discovery
• create and manage IP blocks and ranges
• monitor utilization of IP address space
• migrate existing workloads to IPAM
• configure IPAM database storage using SQL Server
• determine scenarios for using IPAM with System Center Virtual Machine Manager for physical and virtual IP address space management, Manage DHCP server properties using IPAM
• configure DHCP scopes and options
• configure DHCP policies and failover
• manage DNS server properties using IPAM
• manage DNS zones and records
• manage DNS and DHCP servers in multiple Active Directory forests
• delegate administration for DNS and DHCP using role-based access control (RBAC)
• Audit the changes performed on the DNS and DHCP servers
• audit the IPAM address usage trail
• audit DHCP lease events and user logon events

Implement Network Connectivity and Remote Access Solutions

Implement network connectivity solutions

• Implement Network Address Translation (NAT)
• configure routing

Implement virtual private network (VPN) and DirectAccess solutions 

• Implement remote access and site-to-site (S2S) VPN solutions using remote access gateway
• configure different VPN protocol options
• configure authentication options
• configure VPN reconnect
• create and configure connection profiles
• determine when to use remote access VPN and site-to-site VPN and configure appropriate protocols
• install and configure DirectAccess
• implement server requirements
• implement client configuration
• troubleshoot DirectAccess

Implement Network Policy Server (NPS) 

• Configure a RADIUS server including RADIUS proxy
• configure RADIUS clients
• configure NPS templates
• configure RADIUS accounting
• configure certificates
• configure Connection Request Policies
• configure network policies for VPN and wireless and wired clients
• import and export NPS policies

Implement Core and Distributed Network Solutions

Implement IPv4 and IPv6 addressing 

• Configure IPv4 addresses and options
• determine and configure appropriate IPv6 addresses
• configure IPv4 or IPv6 subnetting
• implement IPv6 stateless addressing
• configure interoperability between IPv4 and IPv6 by using ISATAP, 6to4, and Teredo scenarios
• configure Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)
• configure IPv4 and IPv6 routing

Implement Distributed File System (DFS) and Branch Office solutions 

• Install and configure DFS namespaces
• configure DFS replication targets
• configure replication scheduling
• configure Remote Differential Compression (RDC) settings
• configure staging
• configure fault tolerance
• clone a Distributed File System Replication (DFSR) database
• recover DFSR databases
• optimize DFS Replication
• install and configure BranchCache
• implement distributed and hosted cache modes
• implement BranchCache for web, file, and application servers
• troubleshoot BranchCache

Implement an Advanced Network Infrastructure

Implement high performance network solutions

• Implement NIC Teaming or the Switch Embedded Teaming (SET) solution and identify when to use each
• enable and configure Receive Side Scaling (RSS)
• enable and configure network Quality of Service (QoS) with Data Center Bridging (DCB)
• enable and configure SMB Direct on Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) enabled network adapters
• configure SMB Multichannel
• enable and configure virtual Receive Side Scaling (vRSS) on a Virtual Machine Queue (VMQ) capable network adapter
• enable and configure Virtual Machine Multi-Queue (VMMQ)
• enable and configure Single-Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV) on a supported network adapter

Determine scenarios and requirements for implementing Software Defined Networking (SDN) 

• Determine deployment scenarios and network requirements for deploying SDN
• determine requirements and scenarios for implementing Hyper-V Network Virtualization (HNV) using Network Virtualization Generic Route Encapsulation (NVGRE) encapsulation or Virtual Extensible LAN (VXLAN) encapsulation
• determine scenarios for implementation of Software Load Balancer (SLB) for North-South and East-West load balancing
• determine implementation scenarios for various types of Windows Server Gateways, including L3, GRE, and S2S, and their use
• determine requirements and scenarios for Datacenter firewall policies and network security groups

Install and Configure Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS)

Install and configure domain controllers

• Install a new forest
• add or remove a domain controller from a domain
• upgrade a domain controller
• install AD DS on a Server Core installation
• install a domain controller from Install from Media (IFM)
• resolve DNS SRV record registration issues
• configure a global catalog server
• transfer and seize operations master roles
• install and configure a read-only domain controller (RODC)
• configure domain controller cloning

Create and manage Active Directory users and computers 

• Automate the creation of Active Directory accounts
• create, copy, configure, and delete users and computers
• configure templates
• perform bulk Active Directory operations
• configure user rights
• implement offline domain join
• manage inactive and disabled accounts
• automate unlocking of disabled accounts automate password resets

Create and manage Active Directory groups and organizational units (OUs) 

• Configure group nesting; convert groups, including security, distribution, universal, domain local, and global
• manage group membership using Group Policy
• enumerate group membership
• automate group membership management using Windows PowerShell
• delegate the creation and management of Active Directory groups and OUs
• manage default Active Directory containers
• create, copy, configure, and delete groups and OUs.

Manage and Maintain AD DS

Configure service authentication and account policies

• Create and configure Service Accounts
• create and configure Group Managed Service Accounts (gMSAs)
• configure Kerberos Constrained Delegation (KCD)
• manage Service Principal Names (SPNs)
• configure virtual accounts
• configure domain and local user password policy settings
• configure and apply Password Settings Objects (PSOs)
• delegate password settings management
• configure account lockout policy settings
• configure Kerberos policy settings within Group Policy, configure Authentication Policies and Authentication Policy Silos

Maintain Active Directory 

• Back up Active Directory and SYSVOL
• manage Active Directory offline
• perform offline defragmentation of an Active Directory database
• clean up metadata
• configure Active Directory snapshots
• perform object- and container-level recovery
• perform Active Directory restore
• configure and restore objects by using the Active Directory Recycle Bin
• configure replication to Read-Only Domain Controllers (RODCs); configure Password Replication Policy (PRP) for RODC
• monitor and manage replication
• upgrade SYSVOL replication to Distributed File System Replication (DFSR)

Configure Active Directory in a complex enterprise environment 

• Configure a multi-domain and multi-forest Active Directory infrastructure
• deploy Windows Server 2016 domain controllers within a pre- existing Active Directory environment
• upgrade existing domains and forests
• configure domain and forest functional levels
• configure multiple user principal name (UPN) suffixes
• configure external, forest, shortcut, and realm trusts
• configure trust authentication
• configure SID filtering
• configure name suffix routing
• configure sites and subnets
• create and configure site links
• manage site coverage
• manage registration of SRV records
• move domain controllers between sites

Create and Manage Group Policy

Create and manage Group Policy Objects (GPOs)

• Configure a central store
• manage starter GPOs
• configure GPO links
• configure multiple local Group Policies
• back up, import, copy, and restore GPOs
• create and configure a migration table
• reset default GPOs
• delegate Group Policy management
• detect health issues using the Group Policy Infrastructure Status page

 Configure Group Policy processing

• Configure processing order and precedence
• configure blocking of inheritance
• configure enforced policies
• configure security filtering and Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) filtering
• configure loopback processing; configure and manage slow-link processing and Group Policy caching
• configure client-side extension (CSE) behavior
• force a Group Policy update

Configure Group Policy settings 

• Configure software installation
• configure folder redirection
• configure scripts
• configure administrative templates
• import security templates
• import a custom administrative template file
• configure for administrative templates

Configure Group Policy preferences 

• Configure printer preferences
• define network drive mappings
• configure power options
• configure custom registry settings
• configure Control Panel settings
• configure Internet Explorer settings
• configure file and folder deployment
• configure shortcut deployment
• configure item-level targeting

Implement Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS)

 Install and configure AD CS

• Install Active Directory Integrated Enterprise Certificate Authority (CA)
• install offline root and subordinate CAs
• install standalone CAs
• configure Certificate Revocation List (CRL) distribution points
• install and configure Online Responder
• implement administrative role separation
• configure CA backup and recovery

Manage certificates 

• Manage certificate templates
• implement and manage certificate deployment, validation, and revocation
• manage certificate renewal
• manage certificate enrolment and renewal for computers and users using Group Policies
• configure and manage key archival and recovery

Implement Identity Federation and Access Solutions

Install and configure Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS)

• Upgrade and migrate previous AD FS workloads to Windows Server 2016
• implement claims-based authentication, including Relying Party Trusts
• configure authentication policies
• configure multi-factor authentication
• implement and configure device registration
• integrate AD FS with Microsoft Passport
• configure for use with Microsoft Azure and Office 365
• configure AD FS to enable authentication of users stored in LDAP directories

Implement Web Application Proxy (WAP)

• Install and configure WAP
• implement WAP in pass-through mode
• implement WAP as AD FS proxy
• integrate WAP with AD FS
• configure AD FS requirements
• publish web apps via WAP
• publish Remote Desktop Gateway applications
• configure HTTP to HTTPS redirects
• configure internal and external Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDNs)

 Install and configure Active Directory Rights Management Services (AD RMS)

• Install a licensor certificate AD RMS server
• manage AD RMS Service Connection Point (SCP)
• manage AD RMS templates
• configure Exclusion Policies
• back up and restore AD RMS

VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage [V7]

Course Introduction

• Introductions and course logistics
• Course objectives

Introduction to vSphere and the Software-Defined Data Center

• Explain basic virtualization concepts
• Describe how vSphere fits into the software-defined data center and the cloud infrastructure
• Explain how vSphere interacts with CPUs, memory, networks, and storage
• Recognize the user interfaces for accessing the vCenter Server system and ESXi hosts
• Describe the ESXi host architecture
• Navigate the Direct Console User Interface (DCUI) to configure an ESXi host
• Recognize ESXi host user account best practices
• Install an ESXi host
• Use VMware Host Client™ to configure ESXi host settings
• Describe how to proactively manage your vSphere environment using VMware Skyline

Virtual Machines

• Create and provision a virtual machine
• Explain the importance of VMware Tools™
• Install VMware Tools
• Identify the files that make up a VM
• Recognize the components of a VM
• Recognize virtual devices supported by a VM
• Describe the benefits and use cases for containers
• Identify the parts of a container system

vCenter Server

• Describe the vCenter Server architecture
• Discuss how ESXi hosts communicate with vCenter Server
• Deploy and configure vCenter Server Appliance
• Use vSphere Client to manage the vCenter Server inventory
• Add data center, organizational objects, and hosts to vCenter Server
• Use roles and permissions to enable users to access objects in the vCenter Server inventory
• Back up vCenter Server Appliance
• Monitor vCenter Server tasks, events, and appliance health
• Use VMware vCenter Server® High Availability to protect a vCenter Server Appliance

Configuring and Managing Virtual Networks

• Create and manage standard switches
• Describe the virtual switch connection types
• Configure virtual switch security, traffic-shaping, and load-balancing policies
• Compare vSphere distributed switches and standard switches

Configuring and Managing Virtual Storage

• Identify storage protocols and storage device types
• Discuss ESXi hosts using iSCSI, NFS, and Fibre Channel storage
• Create and manage VMFS and NFS datastores
• Explain how multipathing works with iSCSI, NFS, and Fibre Channel storage
• Recognize the components of a VMware vSAN™ configuration

Virtual Machine Management

• Use templates and cloning to deploy new virtual machines
• Modify and manage virtual machines
• Create a content library and deploy virtual machines from templates in the library
• Use customization specification files to customize a new virtual machine
• Perform vSphere vMotion and vSphere Storage vMotion migrations
• Describe the Enhanced vMotion Compatibility feature
• Create and manage virtual machine snapshots
• Examine the features and functions of VMware vSphere® Replication™
• Describe the benefits of VMware vSphere® Storage APIs – Data Protection

Resource Management and Monitoring

• Discuss CPU and memory concepts in a virtualized environment
• Describe what overcommitment of a resource means
• Describe methods for optimizing CPU and memory usage
• Use various tools to monitor resource use
• Create and use alarms to report certain conditions or events

vSphere Clusters

• Describe the functions of a vSphere DRS cluster
• Create a vSphere DRS cluster
• Monitor a vSphere cluster configuration
• Describe options for making a vSphere environment highly available
• Explain the vSphere HA architecture
• Configure and manage a vSphere HA cluster
• Examine the features and functions of VMware vSphere® Fault Tolerance
• Describe the function of the vSphere® Cluster Service

vSphere Lifecycle Management

• Recognize the importance of vCenter Server Update Planner
• Describe how VMware vSphere® Lifecycle Manager™ works
• Describe how to update ESXi hosts using baselines
• Validate ESXi host compliance using a cluster image
• Describe how to upgrade VMware Tools and VM hardware
• Describe VMware vSphere® Lifecycle Manager™ and VMware vSAN™ integration

VMware vSphere: Troubleshooting [V7]

Course Introduction

• Introductions and course logistics
• Course objectives

Introduction to Troubleshooting

• Identify the effects of a system problem
• Define the scope of troubleshooting
• Use a structured approach
• Discuss the principles of troubleshooting
• Follow a logical troubleshooting procedure
• Examine examples of troubleshooting

Troubleshooting Tools

• Use command-line tools to identify and troubleshoot problems
• Use vSphere CLI
• Find and interpret important log files
• Use vRealize Log Insight for log aggregation, efficient log search, and problem analysis

Troubleshooting Virtual Networking

• Identify the symptoms of network-related problems
• Analyze and resolve standard switch and distributed switch problems
• Analyze virtual machine connectivity problems and fix them
• Examine common management network connectivity problems and restore configurations
• Identify and prevent potential problems

Troubleshooting Storage

• Troubleshoot storage (iSCSI, NFS, VMware vSphere VMFS, VMware vSAN, and VMware vSphere Virtual Volumes) connectivity problems
• Analyze storage-related logs
• Analyze hardware malfunction and software misconfiguration scenarios
• Identify multipathing-related problems, including permanent device loss (PDL) and all paths down (APD)
• Analyze possible causes, recover from faulty conditions, and restore storage visibility

 Troubleshooting vSphere Clusters

• Identify and recover from problems related to vSphere HA
• Analyze and troubleshoot various types of vSphere vMotion problems related to virtual machine migrations
• Discuss and recover from vSphere DRS problems to achieve proper function and balanced resource use
• Examine vSphere cluster failure scenarios and possible solutions

Troubleshooting Virtual Machines

• Analyze and resolve common virtual machine snapshot problems
• Identify possible causes and resolve virtual machine power-on problems
• Troubleshoot virtual machine connection state problems
• Resolve problems seen during VMware Tools™ installations
• Examine failure scenarios and provide solutions

vCenter Server and ESXi

• Describe the vCenter Server and VMware Platform Services Controller™ architecture in vSphere 6.x
• Identify and resolve authentication problems
• Troubleshoot VMware Certificate Authority and certificate problems
• Analyze and fix problems with vCenter Server services
• Analyze and fix vCenter Server database problems
• Identify VMware vCenter Server® High Availability problems
• Examine ESXi host and vCenter Server failure scenarios and resolve the problems

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