AZ-800 Administering Windows Server Hybrid Core Infrastructure Question and Answers

In the Administering Windows Server Hybrid Core Infrastructure materials (hybrid security and IaaS management), Just-In-Time (JIT) VM access from Microsoft Defender for Cloud is the prescribed way to require approval-based, time-bound Remote Desktop access to Azure VMs. The guide explains that JIT “locks down inbound traffic to management ports (for example, TCP/3389) and opens them only on request, for a limited time and only from approved source IPs.” Administrators request access; upon approval, Defender for Cloud creates a temporary NSG rule that expires automatically—you specify the maximum allowed window (e.g., 2 hours) and the ports. This matches the requirement: “Ensure that server administrators request approval before they can establish a Remote Desktop connection to an Azure virtual machine. If the request is approved, the connection must be established within two hours.” Alternatives don’t meet this: PIM governs Azure roles, not VM RDP port exposure; Azure Bastion provides secure RDP/SSH over TLS without public IPs but doesn’t provide approval/time-boxed gating; the Remote Desktop extension is for classic Cloud Services and not for policy-driven approval windows. JIT is the least-privilege, policy-enforced solution aligned with the exam’s hybrid security objectives.

In Azure File Sync architecture (covered in Administering Windows Server Hybrid Core Infrastructure under “Implement and manage storage solutions”), the fundamental design points are:

Sync group – “A sync group defines a sync topology. Each sync group contains exactly one cloud endpoint (an Azure file share) and one or more server endpoints.” A server endpoint is a folder on a registered Windows Server. A server can participate in multiple sync groups so long as the server endpoints are different paths.

Storage Sync Service – “The Storage Sync Service is the top-level resource that maintains server registrations and houses your sync groups.” A Windows Server registers to one Storage Sync Service at a time, and that service can contain many sync groups and many servers.

Applying these rules to the requirement:

You have three Azure file shares: newyorkfiles, seattlefiles, and companyfiles. Because each sync group maps to one cloud endpoint, you need one sync group per share ⇒ 3 sync groups.

FS1 must sync with newyorkfiles and companyfiles; FS2 must sync with seattlefiles and companyfiles. Since one Storage Sync Service can host multiple sync groups and multiple servers, and a server must be registered to a single service, the most efficient design is a single Storage Sync Service containing all three sync groups and both servers.

To create a group-managed service account (gMSA) named gMSA1 and make it available on SRV1, you can follow these steps:

Step 1: Create the Key Distribution Services Root Key First, you need to create the KDS Root Key, which is required for the gMSA to function. You can do this with the following PowerShell command:

Add-KdsRootKey –EffectiveTime ((get-date).addhours(-10))

Note: The -EffectiveTime parameter is set to 10 hours in the past to ensure immediate effect.

Step 2: Create the gMSA Next, use the New-ADServiceAccount cmdlet to create the gMSA:

New-ADServiceAccount -Name gMSA1 -DNSHostName gmsa1.domain.com -PrincipalsAllowedToRetrieveManagedPassword SRV1$

Replace domain.com with your actual domain name.

Step 3: Install the gMSA on SRV1 Now, you need to install the gMSA on the server SRV1. Run the following command on SRV1:

Install-ADServiceAccount -Identity gMSA1

Step 4: Test the gMSA To ensure that the gMSA is installed correctly and ready for use, perform a test using:

Test-ADServiceAccount -Identity gMSA1

If the test returns True, the gMSA is correctly installed and ready for use on SRV1.

Step 5: Configure the Service to Use the gMSA Finally, configure the service that requires the gMSA to use gMSA1 by setting the service’s logon account to domain\gMSA1$ and leave the password field blank.

This will create and make the gMSA gMSA1 available on SRV1. Ensure that you have the necessary permissions and that SRV1 is properly joined to the domain before proceeding with these steps123.

The exam materials explain that to add a new domain controller to an existing AD DS forest in Azure, you deploy a Windows Server IaaS VM and then promote it: “To extend on-premises AD DS into Azure, provision a Windows Server VM in Azure and run AD DS to create an additional domain controller for the existing domain.” Conversely, Azure Active Directory Domain Services (Azure AD DS) provides a managed domain that is separate from and not writable by your on-premises administrators—you “do not get domain admin rights or access to DCs”—so it cannot be used to add a DC (dc3.corp.fabrikam.com) to the existing corp.fabrikam.com forest. Azure AD Application Proxy and Azure AD administrative units are unrelated to deploying DCs. Therefore, the correct implementation is to deploy an Azure virtual machine in Vnet1, install AD DS/DNS, and promote it to become DC3 in the existing domain.

The exam materials for Administering Windows Server Hybrid Core Infrastructure explain that when replacing private WAN links with Azure, Azure Virtual WAN (vWAN) can be used to centralize connectivity. For private connectivity, ExpressRoute integrates directly with a vWAN hub by deploying an ExpressRoute gateway in the hub. The gateway is the Azure resource that terminates ExpressRoute and enables hub-and-spoke routing to connected VNets (such as Vnet1). The guides emphasize: “In a Virtual WAN hub, use the ExpressRoute gateway to connect ExpressRoute circuits and propagate routes across the hub to your virtual networks.”

On-premises, each site (New York and Seattle) requires an ExpressRoute circuit connection provisioned via a connectivity provider. The circuit is the dedicated private connection from the customer edge to Microsoft’s edge and is what the office sites actually use; it’s then linked to the vWAN hub’s ExpressRoute gateway. The same materials note that Site-to-Site VPN is an alternative transport but is not required when ExpressRoute is mandated. Likewise, Application Gateway is a Layer-7 load balancer for HTTP/S traffic, and on-premises data gateway relates to Power BI/Power Platform hybrid connectivity, neither of which establishes network transport between offices and Azure.

Therefore, to meet the requirement “connect both on-premises offices to Vnet1 by using ExpressRoute,” configure an ExpressRoute gateway on the vWAN hub and ExpressRoute circuit connections in the offices.

In the Administering Windows Server Hybrid Core Infrastructure materials (AZ-800), Microsoft explains that Group Managed Service Accounts (gMSAs) are designed for services running on multiple servers and “provide automatic password management, simplified SPN management, and the ability to delegate the management to other administrators.” The guidance further states that before you can create any gMSA, “the domain must have a KDS root key so that the Key Distribution Service can generate and rotate strong, unique passwords for gMSAs on a schedule.” After the KDS root key is created, “use New-ADServiceAccount to create the gMSA and grant the computers (e.g., web servers) permission to retrieve the account password.” For IIS, the course notes specify that a gMSA can be used for app pools: “Configure the IIS application pool identity to a custom account and specify the gMSA name (ending with ‘$’) without a password; the password is managed automatically by AD and rotates by policy (for example, every 30 days).”

Mapping these requirements to the scenario: Webapp1 runs on WEB1 and WEB2 and must use the same service account with an automatic 30-day password change. Therefore, the correct sequence is: create the KDS root key, create the gMSA, and then set the IIS application pool to run under that account. This fulfills the security requirement while allowing both web servers to share the same, automatically-rotated credentials.

Within the hybrid governance section of Administering Windows Server Hybrid Core Infrastructure, Microsoft specifies that Azure Arc–enabled servers are the mechanism to bring on-premises and multi-cloud servers under Azure control to apply Azure Policy (Guest Configuration) and Defender for Servers. The prerequisite is installing the Azure Connected Machine agent (Azure Arc agent) on each server: “To manage servers with Azure Policy and configuration management, install the Connected Machine agent to onboard them to Azure Arc; once connected, you can assign Azure Policy guest configuration and monitor compliance just like Azure VMs.” Hybrid Azure AD Join is unrelated to Azure Policy assignment; the Azure Monitor agent provides telemetry but does not onboard to Arc for policy governance; a hybrid runbook worker is for Automation runbooks, not for enforcing Azure Policy. Therefore, to “use Azure Policy to enforce configuration management policies on the servers in Azure and on-premises,” deploy the Azure Connected Machine agent to all servers to Arc-enable them and then assign the desired policies.

The exam content for Group Policy processing stresses User Group Policy loopback processing for session hosts (RDS/AVD): “In environments like Remote Desktop Session Host (or Azure Virtual Desktop), enable loopback processing on the OU that contains the session host computers so that user settings from that GPO apply when users log on to those computers, regardless of the user’s own OU.” The requirement states: “Apply GPO4 to the Azure Virtual Desktop session hosts. Ensure that Azure Virtual Desktop user sessions lock after being idle for 10 minutes. Users must be able to control the lockout time manually from their client computer.” The idle-lock is a user configuration setting that must apply when users sign in to the session hosts, not to their personal devices. Therefore, enable loopback processing (Merge/Replace) in GPO4, which is linked to the VirtualDesktops OU containing the session hosts. Using security filtering or Enforced cannot make user settings in GPO4 override the user’s own OU without loopback. Loopback ensures the AVD hosts impose the 10-minute lock for sessions, while leaving users free to set their own client device policies independently—fulfilling least-impact design.

To run a container on SRV1 using the mcrmicrosoft.com/windows/servercofe/iis image, publish port 80 on the container to port 5001 on SRV1, and ensure it runs in the background, you can follow these steps:

Step 1: Pull the IIS Image First, pull the correct IIS image from the Microsoft Container Registry:

docker pull mcr.microsoft.com/windows/servercore/iis

Step 2: Run the Container Next, run the container with the required port mapping and ensure it runs in the background using the -d flag:

docker run -d -p 5001:80 --name iis_container mcr.microsoft.com/windows/servercore/iis

This command will start a container named iis_container using the IIS image, map port 80 inside the container to port 5001 on SRV1, and run the container in detached mode.

Step 3: Verify the Container is Running To verify that the container is running and the port is published, use the following command:

docker ps

This will list all running containers and show the port mappings.

Step 4: Access the IIS Server You can now access the IIS server running in the container by navigating to http:// :5001 in a web browser, where is the IP address of SRV1.

Note: Ensure that Docker is installed on SRV1 and that the port 5001 is open on the firewall to allow incoming connections1.

By following these steps, you should be able to run the IIS container on SRV1 with the specified port mapping and have it running in the background. Please replace mcrmicrosoft.com/windows/servercofe/iis with the correct image name mcr.microsoft.com/windows/servercore/iis as shown in the commands above.

One possible solution to monitor the security configuration of DC1 by using Microsoft Defender for Cloud is to use the Guest Configuration feature. Guest Configuration is a service that audits settings inside Linux and Windows virtual machines (VMs) to assess their compliance with your organization’s security policies. You can use Guest Configuration to monitor the security baseline settings for Windows Server in the Microsoft Defender for Cloud portal by following these steps:

On DC1, open a web browser and go to the folder named \dc1.contoso.com\install. Download the Guest Configuration extension file (GuestConfiguration.msi) and save it to a local folder, such as C:\Temp.

Run the Guest Configuration extension file and follow the installation wizard. You can choose to install the extension for all users or only for the current user. For more information on how to install the Guest Configuration extension, see Install the Guest Configuration extension.

After the installation is complete, sign in to the Microsoft Defender for Cloud portal (2).

In the left pane, select Security Center and then Recommendations.

In the recommendations list, find and select Vulnerabilities in security configuration on your Windows machines should be remediated (powered by Guest Configuration).

In the Remediate Security Configurations page, you can see the compliance status of your Windows VMs, including DC1, based on the Azure Compute Benchmark. The Azure Compute Benchmark is a set of rules that define the desired configuration state of your VMs. You can also see the number of failed, passed, and skipped rules for each VM. For more information on the Azure Compute Benchmark, see Microsoft cloud security benchmark: Azure compute benchmark is now available.

To view the details of the security configuration of DC1, click on the VM name and then select View details. You can see the list of rules that apply to DC1 and their compliance status. You can also see the severity, description, and remediation steps for each rule. For example, you can see if DC1 has the latest security updates installed, if the firewall is enabled, if the password policy is enforced, and so on.

To monitor the security configuration of DC1 over time, you can use the Compliance over time chart, which shows the trend of compliance status for DC1 in the past 30 days. You can also use the Compliance breakdown chart, which shows the distribution of compliance status for DC1 by rule severity.

By using Guest Configuration, you can monitor the security configuration of DC1 by using Microsoft Defender for Cloud and ensure that it meets your organization’s security standards. You can also use Guest Configuration to monitor the security configuration of other Windows and Linux VMs in your Azure environment.

To run a container on SRV1 using the mcr.microsoft.com/windows/servercore/iis image, publish port 60 on the container to port 5001 on SRV1, and ensure it runs in the background, you can follow these steps:

Step 1: Pull the IIS Image First, pull the IIS image from the Microsoft Container Registry:

docker pull mcr.microsoft.com/windows/servercore/iis

Step 2: Run the Container Next, run the container with the required port mapping and ensure it runs in the background using the -d flag:

docker run -d -p 5001:60 --name iis_container mcr.microsoft.com/windows/servercore/iis

This command will start a container named iis_container using the IIS image, map port 60 inside the container to port 5001 on SRV1, and run the container in detached mode.

Step 3: Verify the Container is Running To verify that the container is running and the port is published, use the following command:

docker ps

This will list all running containers and show the port mappings.

Step 4: Access the IIS Server You can now access the IIS server running in the container by navigating to http:// :5001 in a web browser, where is the IP address of SRV1.

Note: Ensure that Docker is installed on SRV1 and that the port 5001 is open on the firewall to allow incoming connections1.

By following these steps, you should be able to run the IIS container on SRV1 with the specified port mapping and have it running in the background.

TASK 3

👉 Objective:

Create a user named Admin1 in contoso.com.

Admin1 must be able to back up and restore files on SRV1.

Follow the principle of least privilege.

Step-by-Step Guide

✅ Step 1: Create the User Account

Log in to a Domain Controller (e.g., DC1) with appropriate admin rights.

Open Active Directory Users and Computers (dsa.msc).

In the contoso.com domain:

Right-click the Users container or another OU where you want to create the account.

Select New > User.

Enter the following:

First name: Admin1

User logon name: Admin1

Click Next and set a password (ensure it meets the domain’s password policy).

Configure password options (e.g., User must change password at next logon, if required).

Click Finish.

✅ Step 2: Grant Backup and Restore Rights on SRV1

By default, Backup Operators have the ability to back up and restore files (without giving full admin rights).

Log in to SRV1 (the target server).

Open Computer Management (compmgmt.msc).

In the left pane, expand:

System Tools > Local Users and Groups > Groups.

Find and double-click the Backup Operators group.

Click Add.

In the Select Users, Computers, Service Accounts, or Groups window:

Type Admin1.

Click Check Names to resolve the user.

Click OK to add Admin1 to the group.

Click OK again to close the Backup Operators group properties.

✅ Step 3: Verify Access

Log in as Admin1 on SRV1 and test performing backup and restore operations using tools like Windows Server Backup.

Since Backup Operators can back up and restore data but do not have full administrative privileges, this follows the least privilege principle.

✅ Additional Notes

If you prefer using PowerShell, you can add the user to the group like this on SRV1:

Add-LocalGroupMember -Group "Backup Operators" -Member "contoso\Admin1"

To ensure that all computers in the domain use DNSSEC to resolve names in the adatum.com zone, you’ll need to configure both the DNS servers and the client computers. Here’s how you can do it:

Step 1: Sign the adatum.com Zone First, you need to sign the adatum.com DNS zone. This can be done using the DNS Manager or PowerShell. Here’s a PowerShell example:

Add-DnsServerSigningKey -ZoneName "adatum.com" -CryptoAlgorithm RsaSha256

Set-DnsServerDnsSecZoneSetting -ZoneName "adatum.com" -DenialOfExistence NSEC3 -NSEC3Parameters 1,0,10,""

This will add a signing key and configure DNSSEC for the zone with NSEC3 parameters.

Step 2: Configure DNS Servers Ensure that your DNS servers are configured to support DNSSEC. This includes setting up trust anchors for the zones that you want to validate and configuring the DNS servers to provide DNSSEC validation for DNS queries.

Step 3: Configure DNS Clients For DNSSEC validation to occur on the client side, the client computers must be configured to trust the DNS server’s validation process. This typically involves configuring the client’s DNS settings to point to a DNS server that supports DNSSEC.

Step 4: Validate Configuration You can validate that DNSSEC is working correctly by using tools like nslookup or dig to query DNS records and check for the presence of DNSSEC signatures in the responses.

Note: The exact steps may vary depending on your environment and the version of Windows Server you are using. Ensure that you have the appropriate administrative rights to make these changes and that you test the configuration in a controlled environment before deploying it domain-wide12.

By following these steps, you should be able to ensure that all computers in your domain use DNSSEC to resolve names in the adatum.com zone.

To deploy a new primary DNS zone named fabrikam.com to DC1 and sign the zone, you can follow these steps:

Step 1: Create the Primary DNS Zone Use the Add-DnsServerPrimaryZone PowerShell command to create the primary zone:

Add-DnsServerPrimaryZone -Name "fabrikam.com" -ZoneFile "fabrikam.com.dns" -DynamicUpdate Secure

This command creates a primary zone for fabrikam.com with a DNS file named fabrikam.com.dns and allows secure dynamic updates.

Step 2: Sign the Zone To sign the zone, you can use the DNS Manager or Windows PowerShell. Here’s how to sign the zone using PowerShell:

Add-DnsServerSigningKey -ZoneName "fabrikam.com" -Type KeySigningKey -CryptoAlgorithm RsaSha256

Set-DnsServerDnsSecZoneSetting -ZoneName "fabrikam.com" -DenialOfExistence NSEC3 -NSEC3Parameters 1,0,10,""

These commands add a signing key to the zone and set DNSSEC settings with NSEC3 parameters.

Step 3: Publish the Signed Zone After signing the zone, ensure that it is published and available for DNS queries. You can verify the zone signing status using the following command:

Get-DnsServerZone -Name "fabrikam.com"

Note: Ensure that you have the appropriate permissions to perform these actions on DC1 and that the DNS Server role is installed and properly configured. Also, replace "fabrikam.com.dns" with the actual path to your DNS file if it’s different12.

By following these steps, you should be able to deploy and sign the new primary DNS zone fabrikam.com on DC1.

To configure the domain to support the creation of gMSAs, you need to perform the following steps:

On a domain controller or a computer that has the Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) installed, open PowerShell as an administrator and run the following command to install the Active Directory module:

Install-WindowsFeature -Name RSAT-AD-PowerShell

Run the following command to create a Key Distribution Service (KDS) root key, which is required for generating passwords for gMSAs. You only need to do this once per domain:

Add-KdsRootKey -EffectiveImmediately

Wait for at least 10 hours for the KDS root key to replicate to all domain controllers in the domain. Alternatively, you can use the -EffectiveTime parameter to specify a past date and time for the KDS root key, but this is not recommended for security reasons. For more information, see Add-KdsRootKey.

After the KDS root key is replicated, you can create and configure gMSAs using the New-ADServiceAccount and Set-ADServiceAccount cmdlets. For more information, see Create a gMSA and Configure a gMSA.

One possible solution to configure SRV1 as a DNS server that can resolve names from the contoso.com domain by using DC1 and all other names by using the root hint servers is to use conditional forwarding. Conditional forwarding allows a DNS server to forward queries for a specific domain name to another DNS server, while using the normal forwarding or root hint servers for other queries. Here are the steps to configure conditional forwarding on SRV1:

On SRV1, open DNS Manager from the Administrative Tools menu or by typing dnsmgmt.msc in the Run box.

In the left pane, right-click on Conditional Forwarders and select New Conditional Forwarder.

In the New Conditional Forwarder dialog box, enter contoso.com as the DNS Domain name.

In the IP addresses of the master servers box, enter the IP address of DC1, which is the DNS server for the contoso.com domain. You can also click on Resolve to verify the name resolution of DC1.

Optionally, you can check the box Store this conditional forwarder in Active Directory, and replicate it as follows if you want to store and replicate the conditional forwarder in AD DS. You can also select the replication scope from the drop-down list.

Click OK to create the conditional forwarder.

Now, SRV1 will forward any queries for the contoso.com domain to DC1, and use the root hint servers for any other queries. You can test the name resolution by using the nslookup command on SRV1 or another computer that uses SRV1 as its DNS server. For example, you can run the following commands:

nslookup www.contoso.com

nslookup www.microsoft.com

The first command should return the IP address of www.contoso.com from DC1, and the second command should return the IP address of www.microsoft.com from a root hint server.

One possible solution to ensure that all DHCP clients that get an IP address from SRV1 will be configured to use DC1 as a DNS server is to use the DHCP scope options. DHCP scope options are settings that apply to all DHCP clients that obtain an IP address from a specific scope. You can use the DHCP scope options to specify the DNS server IP address, as well as other parameters such as the default gateway, the domain name, and the DNS suffix. Here are the steps to configure the DHCP scope options on SRV1:

On SRV1, open DNS Manager from the Administrative Tools menu or by typing dnsmgmt.msc in the Run box.

In the left pane, expand your DHCP server and click on IPv4.

In the right pane, right-click on the scope that you want to configure and select Properties.

In the Scope Properties dialog box, click on the DNS tab.

Check the box Enable DNS dynamic updates according to the settings below. This option allows the DHCP server to register and update the DNS records for the DHCP clients.

Select the option Always dynamically update DNS records. This option ensures that the DHCP server updates both the A and PTR records for the DHCP clients, regardless of whether they request or support dynamic updates.

Check the box Discard A and PTR records when lease is deleted. This option allows the DHCP server to delete the DNS records for the DHCP clients when their leases expire or are released.

Check the box Dynamically update DNS records for DHCP clients that do not request updates. This option allows the DHCP server to update the DNS records for the DHCP clients that do not support dynamic updates, such as legacy or non-Windows clients.

In the DNS servers section, click on the Add button to add a new DNS server IP address.

In the Add Server dialog box, enter the IP address of DC1, which is the DNS server that you want to use for the DHCP clients, and click Add.

Click OK to close the Add Server dialog box and return to the Scope Properties dialog box.

Click OK to apply the changes and close the Scope Properties dialog box.

Now, all DHCP clients that get an IP address from SRV1 will be configured to use DC1 as a DNS server. You can verify the DNS configuration by using the ipconfig /all command on a DHCP client computer and checking the DNS Servers entry. You can also check the DNS records for the DHCP clients by using the DNS Manager console on DC1.

The Administering Windows Server Hybrid Core Infrastructure learning path explains that onboarding Windows Server machines to Azure Monitor hinges on a Log Analytics workspace as the data store for logs and metrics, and an agent on the machine to collect and send data. The guide states that “Azure Monitor collects telemetry from Windows Server machines into a Log Analytics workspace,” and that for current deployments you should “install the Azure Monitor agent (AMA) on each computer and associate it with a workspace.” It further notes that “the AMA replaces the legacy Log Analytics agent” and “uses data collection rules (DCRs) to define which data to collect and to which Log Analytics workspace to send it.” Storage accounts, SQL databases, or analytics gateways are not required to onboard a standalone Windows Server to Azure Monitor. Likewise, Device Health Attestation is unrelated to Azure Monitor onboarding.

In short, to monitor an on-premises Windows Server from Azure you create a Log Analytics workspace in the subscription and install the Azure Monitor agent on the server. (In practice, you then configure a DCR to route data from the AMA to the workspace, but no additional Azure resources like SQL or Blob/Azure Files are needed for basic monitoring.)

The hybrid connectivity module details Azure Relay – Hybrid Connections for reaching on-premises services securely without inbound firewall rules. It states: “Hybrid Connections use WebSockets over outbound TCP 443 from both ends, enabling apps in Azure to connect to on-premises endpoints with no VPN and minimal firewall changes.” The setup sequence is: (1) Create an Azure Relay namespace, (2) Create a Hybrid Connection inside that namespace, and **(3) install the on-premises Hybrid Connection Manager to establish the outbound listener to Azure.” This approach meets the requirements: a WebSocket-based connection from App1 to SQL Server on Server1, minimizing open ports (only outbound 443) and administrative effort (no site-to-site VPN or complex routing). A VPN gateway would require additional configuration and more open ports; a WCF relay is a different relay type for WCF endpoints, not needed for generic TCP/WebSocket scenarios; and a hybrid connection cannot be created until a Relay namespace exists. Thus, the first object to create is an Azure Relay namespace.

For Site-to-Site VPNs, the exam guide states that “the on-premises address spaces and the Azure virtual network address spaces must not overlap.” Overlapping prefixes prevent route advertisement and creation of connections. Your on-premises network uses 10.0.0.0/23, which spans 10.0.0.0–10.0.1.255. The current VNet1 space is 10.0.1.0/24, which sits inside the on-premises supernet and therefore overlaps. The guidance instructs: “Before configuring gateways and connections, ensure VNet address ranges are unique and non-overlapping with any local networks.” Options like deploying Bastion or Azure Extended Network don’t change IP topology and won’t resolve the overlap. Subnetting VNet1 to 10.0.1.128/25 also still overlaps the 10.0.0.0/23 range. The correct first step is to change VNet1’s address space to a non-overlapping range, such as 10.0.2.0/24, and then proceed to deploy the virtual network gateway and the S2S connection. This aligns with the required prerequisite in the study material that unique address spaces are mandatory for successful S2S VPN routing.

ï‚· Disk1: NTFS only

ï‚· Disk2: NTFS or ReFS only

The Windows Server Hybrid Core Infrastructure objectives specify that disk (volume) quotas—the classic per-user/per-volume quota feature exposed in the volume’s properties—are a capability of NTFS. The guidance states that “NTFS supports user and volume quotas that can be configured per volume; ReFS does not implement the legacy NTFS disk-quota mechanism.” Therefore, to meet the requirement that Disk1 must support disk-level quotas, the volume must be formatted as NTFS.

For Data Deduplication, the storage module explains that Data Deduplication is a file-system feature available on modern Windows Server versions and that it is “supported on NTFS volumes and on ReFS volumes beginning with Windows Server 2019/2022 scenarios.” The same materials emphasize that exFAT doesn’t support Windows Server features such as quotas or dedup. Consequently, to satisfy the requirement that Disk2 must support Data Deduplication, you can format Disk2 as NTFS or ReFS; both file systems are valid for dedup workloads on current Windows Server releases, while exFAT is not.

Thus:

Disk1 → NTFS only (to enable disk-level quotas).

Disk2 → NTFS or ReFS only (to enable Data Deduplication).

Server1 - Set-Item

Server4 - Enable-PSRemoting

The AZ-800 content covering Active Directory Sites and Services clarifies that site, subnet, and site-link objects live in the Configuration partition. The guides emphasize that administration of the Configuration naming context is restricted to Enterprise Admins and to Domain Admins of the forest-root domain. In the context of changing replication topology parameters—such as editing the replication schedule on site links—the documentation notes: “Only Enterprise Admins or administrators in the forest-root Domain Admins group have default permissions to modify site and site-link objects,” because these objects affect replication forest-wide.

Applying this to the scenario:

Contoso\Admin1 (Enterprise Admins) has forest-wide rights to modify site links.

Contoso\Admin2 (Domain Admins in contoso.com, the forest-root domain) also has the required rights to change site-link schedules.

Canada\Admin3 (Domain Admins in canada.contoso.com) does not have default permissions in the Configuration partition for forest-wide site-link administration.

Thus, to meet the technical requirement to change all site links to a 30-minute schedule, the users who can perform the task are Admin1 and Admin2.

In the AZ-800 “Administering Windows Server Hybrid Core Infrastructure” objectives for Active Directory, server promotion is governed by forest/domain administrative roles. The materials state that promoting a member server to a domain controller in a given domain requires membership in either the Enterprise Admins group or the Domain Admins group of the target domain. The Configuration and Domain naming contexts that DCPromo touches (NTDS settings, SYSVOL/DFS-R readiness, DC computer account, and associated service SPNs) are protected so that “Enterprise Admins have full rights forest-wide, and Domain Admins have full rights within their respective domain.”

In this case, the requirement is to promote Server1 to a domain controller in canada.contoso.com. From the identities table:

Contoso\Admin1 is a member of Enterprise Admins (forest-wide authority).

Canada\Admin3 is a member of Canada\Domain Admins (authority within canada.contoso.com).

Contoso\Admin2 is Domain Admins (contoso.com) only, which does not grant administrative authority in the canada.contoso.com child domain.

Therefore, the users who can currently perform the required task for Server1 are Admin1 and Admin3.

n the Administering Windows Server Hybrid Core Infrastructure guidance for managing AD DS, Microsoft emphasizes using OU-level delegation to satisfy administrative needs while adhering to the principle of least privilege. The documentation explains that the Delegate Control wizard on an OU lets you grant a user or group only the specific permissions required for common tasks, including “Modify the membership of a group”. This grants the write permission to the member attribute on group objects contained in that OU, without giving broader account-management rights across the domain.

By contrast, placing a user in Account Operators or Server Operators provides elevated, domain-wide capabilities far beyond what is required. Account Operators can create, delete, and modify many account types across the domain (except for protected admin accounts), which violates least-privilege for a task that only needs to change group membership in one OU. Server Operators is unrelated to group membership and is intended for server administration tasks. Creating a delegation at the domain root would similarly be excessive because it applies broadly to all containers and OUs.

Therefore, to meet the requirement “Ensure that User1 can manage the membership of all the groups in Contoso\OU3,” you should delegate control on OU3 and assign the built-in task “Modify the membership of a group” to User1, achieving the minimal permissions necessary.

In the Windows Server Hybrid Core Infrastructure objectives for Active Directory group design, group scope and type determine valid membership and usage. The study guidance for group scopes states that a Domain Local group is used to assign permissions in its own domain and “can contain accounts, computer objects, global groups from any domain, and universal groups; it can also contain other domain local groups from the same domain only.” Security-type restrictions also apply: “Security groups can contain only security principals; distribution groups cannot be nested into security groups for access control.”

Applying these rules to Group3 (contoso.com Domain Local Security): it can accept security groups of compatible scopes. From the lists, Group1 (contoso.com Universal Security) and Group2 (contoso.com Global Security) are valid. Distribution groups (Group4, Group5, Group6) are not valid members of a security group used for authorization. Therefore, Group3 ⇒ Group1 and Group2 only.

For Group5 (canada.contoso.com Global Distribution), the scope rule for Global groups is: “Global groups can include user accounts and other global groups from the same domain only; they cannot include universal or domain local groups.” Hence, the only eligible group from the same domain and scope is Group4 (canada.contoso.com Global Distribution). Group6 is domain local (invalid), and cross-domain globals (Group2) are not permitted. Therefore, Group5 ⇒ Group4 only.

In Windows Server AD DS, group scope determines which groups/accounts can be members. The AZ-800 study materials summarize: “Domain Local groups can include accounts, Global groups, and Universal groups from any domain and Domain Local groups from the same domain only. Global groups can include accounts and other Global groups from the same domain only. Universal groups can include *accounts, Global groups, and Universal groups from any domain.” In addition, distribution vs. security does not change the scope membership rules; it only affects whether the group can be assigned permissions.

Applying the rules: Group3 is a Domain Local security group in contoso.com. Therefore it can contain Universal (Group1), Global from any domain (Group2 in contoso.com and Group4/Group5 in canada.contoso.com), but cannot contain a Domain Local from another domain (Group6 in canada.contoso.com). Hence: Group1, Group2, Group4, and Group5 only.

Group5 is a Global distribution group in canada.contoso.com. A Global group can only contain accounts or Global groups from the same domain. From the list, only Group4 (Global distribution, canada.contoso.com) fits. It cannot contain Group1 (Universal), Group2 (Global but different domain), or Group6 (Domain Local). Therefore: Group4 only.

In the Windows Server exam materials for Administering Windows Server Hybrid Core Infrastructure (AZ-800), Microsoft documents that Data Deduplication is supported only on data volumes and specifically on NTFS-formatted volumes, and it cannot be enabled on the system or boot volume. The study text states: “Data Deduplication is applied at the volume level and supports NTFS data volumes. You cannot enable deduplication on the system or boot volume.” It further clarifies unsupported targets: “ReFS volumes and FAT/exFAT volumes are not supported for Data Deduplication in general-purpose server scenarios,” and emphasizes that deduplication is “not available for the operating system volume.”

Applying these rules to VM3:

C: NTFS but it is the OS/system volume → not eligible.

D: NTFS data volume → eligible.

E: ReFS → not supported for general-purpose dedup in this context.

F: exFAT → not supported.

Therefore, the only volume on which you can enable Data Deduplication to meet the requirement is volume D.

In the Administering Windows Server Hybrid Core Infrastructure materials under Hyper-V management, Microsoft specifies that Enhanced Session Mode changes VMConnect from a raw console attach to a connection that uses Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) to the guest. The guide states that Enhanced Session Mode “uses RDP to establish the VMConnect session so the user must supply credentials for a logon to the guest operating system,” and further that it “prevents a second administrator from inheriting an already signed-in console session” because the connection is treated as a new interactive sign-in. In contrast, the default basic console session “attaches directly to the active console without prompting for credentials,” which is exactly the current problem described for VM2.

The same objective area clarifies that other options do not meet the requirement: Guest Services integration only enables file copy and certain host-guest interactions; Credential Guard protects secrets inside Windows by isolating LSASS but does not affect Hyper-V console connection behavior; Shielded VMs provide fabric-level protections and encryption but are not required merely to force credential prompts for VMConnect.

Therefore, to force users to provide credentials when they connect to VM2 and to eliminate inherited console sessions, you should enable Enhanced Session Mode on the Hyper-V host (and ensure the guest supports RDP).

In the Administering Windows Server Hybrid Core Infrastructure objectives for managing Hyper-V, enabling nested virtualization is the required step when you must “run virtual machines inside a virtual machine.” The referenced guidance states that Hyper-V on a VM is supported only when the host exposes hardware virtualization features to the guest. The prescriptive step is: “Turn off the VM and run Set-VMProcessor -VMName <VMName> -ExposeVirtualizationExtensions $true to enable nested virtualization.” The module further notes that this action “passes through Intel VT-x/AMD-V to the guest so the guest OS can install the Hyper-V role and create VMs.” It also clarifies that “the setting is applied on the parent host for the target VM and requires the VM to be powered off before the change is committed.”

Because the technical requirement says “Ensure that you can run virtual machines on VM1”, VM1 must be able to host Hyper-V while itself running as a VM on Server2. The first and essential cmdlet is therefore Set-VMProcessor with the -ExposeVirtualizationExtensions switch set to $true against VM1. Other optional settings (for example, MAC spoofing on the vNIC or static memory) may be configured later if needed, but exposing virtualization extensions is the enabling prerequisite that satisfies the requirement.

No

Yes

Yes

In Administering Windows Server Hybrid Core Infrastructure, Microsoft states that the domain password policy for domain user accounts is determined by the GPO that wins at the domain root (commonly the Default Domain Policy). GPOs linked to OUs do not change the domain password policy for user accounts in those OUs; they only affect local accounts on computers within those OUs unless Fine-Grained Password Policies (PSOs) are used and scoped to users/groups. The case shows Default Domain Policy in contoso.com sets Minimum password length = 10. Therefore, both Admin1 (a domain user in Contoso\OU1) and User1 (in Contoso\OU3) fall under the 10-character minimum; the OU-linked GPO1 (14) does not override the domain password policy for their domain accounts → Admin1: No, User1: Yes.

For member servers and local accounts, the documentation explains that password policy settings in a GPO linked to the OU containing the computer apply to that computer’s local Security Accounts Manager (SAM). In the scenario, Server1 resides in Member Servers and GPO2 linked to Member Servers specifies Minimum password length = 8. Thus, when Admin1 creates a local account on Server1, the enforced minimum is 8 characters → Yes. This approach follows least privilege and standard precedence: domain-level for domain accounts, OU-linked GPOs for local accounts, unless PSOs are explicitly defined.

The Administering Windows Server Hybrid Core Infrastructure content notes that Microsoft Entra Connect cloud sync uses lightweight agents and supports synchronizing specific OUs from multiple forests into a single tenant. The guide highlights that cloud sync “is designed for multi-forest or cross-organization scenarios and allows scoping to selected OUs and groups,” enabling granular onboarding of just the identities you need. The requirement says “the users in the Marketing OU (in Fabrikam’s forest) must have access to storage1.” Granting access to Azure Files using Entra-based authorization requires that those users exist in the same Entra tenant. Cloud sync enables importing only the Fabrikam Marketing OU into A. Datum’s tenant without establishing full trust for all users. Azure AD Connect in active or staging mode would target the A. Datum forest and isn’t intended for selectively bringing in a separate partner forest OU; AD FS is a federation solution and does not create tenant objects for ACLs on Azure resources like Azure Files. Therefore, implement Microsoft Entra Connect cloud sync and scope it to the Marketing OU to meet the requirement.

To meet the requirement that VM3 be configured for per-folder quotas, the Windows Server file services module directs you to install File Server Resource Manager (FSRM). The course content explains: “FSRM provides quota management, file screening, and storage reporting. Quotas can be applied to volumes and to specific folders, enabling administrators to control the space consumed.” None of the other features listed deliver folder-level quota capability: Enhanced Storage and Windows Standards-Based Storage Management relate to storage management/SMI-S, and iSNS Server concerns iSCSI discovery services. Therefore, the first step is to install FSRM on VM3; after installation, you can create per-folder quota templates and assignments to enforce the desired limits.

Disk1 (three-way mirror): 2 disks; Disk2 (parity): 1 disk

\In the Administering Windows Server Hybrid Core Infrastructure materials on Storage Spaces resiliency, Microsoft describes how each resiliency type determines simultaneous disk-failure tolerance. The guide explains that mirror spaces keep multiple copies of data: “Two-way mirror writes two copies and can sustain a single disk failure; three-way mirror writes three copies and can sustain the loss of any two disks without data loss.” It also differentiates parity spaces, which stripe data with parity information: “Parity provides capacity efficiency comparable to RAID-5 and tolerates a single disk failure (use dual parity to withstand two failures).”

Applying these to SSPace1:

Disk1 uses a three-way mirror across eight physical disks. By definition, a three-way mirror survives two concurrent disk failures and remains online, satisfying the “always available” requirement.

Disk2 is configured as parity across twelve physical disks. Standard parity (single parity) is equivalent to RAID-5 and survives one disk failure; only dual parity would allow two, but the configuration provided specifies parity (not dual parity).

Therefore, the maximum simultaneous physical disk failures while maintaining availability are 2 for Disk1 and 1 for Disk2.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation with all Administering Windows Server Hybrid Core Infrastructure documents: =

In the Administering Windows Server Hybrid Core Infrastructure study materials, Automanage for Azure VMs is described as a service that “onboards supported Azure virtual machines into a curated set of best-practice services automatically.” The guide notes that Automanage supports Azure IaaS VMs running Windows Server (2012 R2 and later) and common Linux distributions (for example Ubuntu/RHEL), while unsupported operating systems such as Windows client SKUs or older Windows Server releases are excluded. The same content emphasizes that Automanage targets “only supported Azure VMs” and does not extend to machines that don’t meet OS prerequisites.

Given the scenario, Server1 (supported Linux server) and Server2 (supported Windows Server) meet Automanage prerequisites, whereas the remaining Azure VMs are not in the supported matrix (client OS or an older/unsupported server release). Therefore, enabling Automanage on Server1 and Server2 only satisfies the technical requirement to “use Azure Automanage on all supported Azure virtual machines.”