Passed my TS: Windows Server 2008 R2, Server Virtualization (70-659) exam

I passed my TS: Windows Server 2008 R2, Server Virtualization (70-659) exam today. I have to say it  was the hardest Microsoft exam I have had to write because of the different types of exams questions that were presented. While I can’t really talk about the exam I can say that if I had to go back and do anything different during studying I would have spent even more time on High Availability and how it relates to Hyper-V as well as Remote Desktop Services (RDS).

Another thing that I plan on getting better at is Powershell. It’s amazing how much Microsoft is focusing on scripting and powershell commands. This is great and us Windows admins should get out of comfort zone and embrace scripting more as well.

I want to thank Microsoft for the training and free exam voucher. It was a nice kick in the rear end. A month to study and learn this stuff was very demanding and it was great to have my young family’s support. Thanks Delila and Micah!

From the Microsoft Exam website here is the skills being measured for this exam:

Skills Being MeasuredThis 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.

Installing and Configuring Host and Parent Settings

• Add the Hyper-V role on Windows Server 2008 R2.
• 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
• Enable remote management.
• This objective may include but is not limited to: deploying Virtual Machine Manager Agent, configuring firewall rules, configuring Virtual Network Manager settings
• 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
• 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

• Configure child resources.
• This objective may include but is not limited to: configuring disks, networks, CPU, and memory
• 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
• 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)
• 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

Managing and Monitoring Virtual Environments

• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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

• Manage snapshots.
• This objective may include but is not limited to: taking, reverting, merging, deleting, and applying snapshots; configuring storage locations
• 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)
• 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
• 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

• 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
• 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
• 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

• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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