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MCTS: Exam 70-640 Windows Server 2008 Active Directory Configuring

MCTS: Exam 70-640 Windows Server 2008 Active Directory Configuring

Published: March 06, 2008
Language(s): English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (Simplified)
Audience(s): IT Professionals
Technology: Windows Server 2008
Type: Proctored Exam

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Preparing for an Exam
The Microsoft Certification website and this preparation guide contain a variety of resources to help you prepare for an exam. Preparing for and Taking an Exam — FAQ provides answers to frequently asked questions about exam registration ,preparation ,scoring ,and policies , including:

The most effective way to prepare to take an exam.
The relationship between Microsoft training materials and exam content.
Microsoft policy concerning the incorporation of service pack and revision updates into exam content.
Exam question types and formats.
Exam time limits and number of questions asked.

We recommend that you review this preparation guide in its entirety and familiarize yourself with the FAQs and resources on the Microsoft Certification website before you schedule your exam.

Audience Profile
The Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) on Windows Server 2008 credentials are intended for information technology (IT) professionals who work in the complex computing environment of medium to large companies. The MCTS candidate should have at least one year of experience implementing and administering Windows Server 2008 R2 in an environment that has the following characteristics:

250 to 5,000 or more users
multiple physical locations, multiple domain controllers
network services and resources such as messaging, databases, file and print, firewalls, Internet access, an intranet, Public Key Infrastructure, remote access, remote desktop, virtualization, and client computer management
connectivity requirements such as connecting branch offices and individual users in remote locations to corporate resources, and connecting corporate networks


Credit Toward Certification
When you pass Exam 70-640: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuring, you complete the requirements for the following certification(s):
Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS): Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuration

Exam 70-640: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuring: counts as credit toward the following certification(s):
Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP): Enterprise Administrator
Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP): Server Administrator
Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA): Windows Server 2008

Skills Being Measured
This 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.

1. Configuring Domain Name System (DNS) for Active Directory (18%)
Configure zones.
May include but is not limited to: Dynamic DNS (DDNS), Non-dynamic DNS (NDDNS), and Secure Dynamic DNS (SDDNS); Time to Live (TTL); GlobalNames; Primary, Secondary, Active Directory Integrated, Stub; SOA; zone scavenging; forward lookup; reverse lookup
Configure DNS server settings.
May include but is not limited to: forwarding; root hints; configure zone delegation; round robin; disable recursion; debug logging; server scavenging
Configure zone transfers and replication.
May include but is not limited to: configure replication scope (forestDNSzone; domainDNSzone); incremental zone transfers; DNS Notify; secure zone transfers; configure name servers; application directory partitions

Configuring the Active Directory infrastructure (17 percent)
Configure a forest or a domain.
May include but is not limited to: remove a domain; perform an unattended installation; Active Directory Migration Tool (ADMT) ; change forest and domain functional levels; interoperability with previous versions of Active Directory; multiple user principal name (UPN) suffixes; forestprep; domainprep
Configure trusts.
May include but is not limited to: forest trust; selective authentication vs. forest-wide authentication; transitive trust; external trust; shortcut trust; SID filtering
Configure sites.
May include but is not limited to: create Active Directory subnets; configure site links; configure site link costing; configure sites infrastructure
Configure Active Directory replication.
May include but is not limited to: DFSR; one-way replication; Bridgehead server; replication scheduling; configure replication protocols; force intersite replication
Configure the global catalog.
May include but is not limited to: Universal Group Membership Caching (UGMC); partial attribute set; promote to global catalog
Configure operations masters.
May include but is not limited to: seize and transfer; backup operations master; operations master placement; Schema Master; extending the schema; time service

Configuring Active Directory Roles and Services (14 percent)
Configure Active Directory Lightweight Directory Service (AD LDS).
May include but is not limited to: migration to AD LDS; configure data within AD LDS; configure an authentication server; Server Core Installation
Configure Active Directory Rights Management Service (AD RMS).
May include but is not limited to: certificate request and installation; self-enrollments; delegation; create RMS templates; RMS administrative roles; RM Add-on for IE
Configure the read-only domain controller (RODC).
May include but is not limited to: replication; Administrator role separation; read-only DNS; BitLocker; credential caching; password replication; syskey; read-only SYSVOL; staged install
Configure Active Directory Federation Services (AD FSv2).
May include but is not limited to: install AD FS server role; exchange certificate with AD FS agents; configure trust policies; configure user and group claim mapping; import and export trust policies

Creating and maintaining Active Directory objects (18 percent)
Automate creation of Active Directory accounts.
May include but is not limited to: bulk import; configure the UPN; create computer, user, and group accounts (scripts, import, migration); template accounts; contacts; distribution lists; offline domain join
Maintain Active Directory accounts.
May include but is not limited to: manage computer accounts; configure group membership; account resets; delegation; AGDLP/AGGUDLP; deny domain local group; local vs. domain; Protected Admin; disabling accounts vs. deleting accounts; deprovisioning; contacts; creating organizational units (OUs); delegation of control; protecting AD objects from deletion; managed service accounts
Create and apply Group Policy objects (GPOs).
May include but is not limited to: enforce, OU hierarchy, block inheritance, and enabling user objects; group policy processing priority; WMI; group policy filtering; group policy loopback; Group Policy Preferences (GPP)
Configure GPO templates.
May include but is not limited to: user rights; ADMX Central Store; administrative templates; security templates; restricted groups; security options; starter GPOs; shell access policies
Deploy and manage software by using GPOs.
May include but is not limited to: publishing to users; assigning software to users; assigning to computers; software removal; software restriction policies; AppLocker
Configure account policies.
May include but is not limited to: domain password policy; account lockout policy; fine-grain password policies
Configure audit policy by using GPOs.
May include but is not limited to: audit logon events; audit account logon events; audit policy change; audit access privilege use; audit directory service access; audit object access; advanced audit policies; global object access auditing; “Reason for Access” reporting

Maintaining the Active Directory environment (18 percent)
Configure backup and recovery.
May include but is not limited to: using Windows Server Backup; back up files and system state data to media; backup and restore by using removable media; perform an authoritative or non-authoritative restores; linked value replication; Directory Services Recovery Mode (DSRM); backup and restore GPOs; configure AD recycle bin
Perform offline maintenance.
May include but is not limited to: offline defragmentation and compaction; Restartable Active Directory; Active Directory database mounting tool
Monitor Active Directory.
May include but is not limited to: event viewer subscriptions; data collector sets; real-time monitoring; analyzing logs; WMI queries; PowerShell

Configuring Active Directory Certificate Services (15 percent)
Install Active Directory Certificate Services.
May include but is not limited to: certificate authority (CA) types, including standalone, enterprise, root, and subordinate; role services; prepare for multiple-forest deployments
Configure CA server settings.
May include but is not limited to: key archival; certificate database backup and restore; assigning administration roles; high-volume CAs; auditing
Manage certificate templates.
May include but is not limited to: certificate template types; securing template permissions; managing different certificate template versions; key recovery agent
Manage enrollments.
May include but is not limited to: network device enrollment service (NDES); auto enrollment; Web enrollment; extranet enrollment; smart card enrollment; authentication mechanism assurance; creating enrollment agents; deploying multiple-forest certificates; x.509 certificate mapping
Manage certificate revocations.
May include but is not limited to: configure Online Responders; Certificate Revocation List (CRL); CRL Distribution Point (CDP); Authority Information Access (AIA)

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Preparation Tools and Resources
To help you prepare for this exam, Microsoft Learning recommends that you have hands-on experience with the product and that you use the following training resources. These training resources do not necessarily cover all of the topics listed in the "Skills Measured" tab.
Learning Plans and Classroom Training

6425C: Configuring and Troubleshooting Windows Server 2008 Active Directory Domain Services (5 Days)
6426C: Configuring and Troubleshooting Identity and Access Solutions with Windows Server 2008 Active Directory (3 Days)

Microsoft E-Learning
6426CE: Configuring and Troubleshooting Identity and Access Solutions with Windows Server 2008 Active Directory (14 Hours)
6425CE: Configuring and Troubleshooting Windows Server 2008 Active Directory Domain Services (16 Hours)

Microsoft Press Books
MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-640): Configuring Windows Server 2008 Active Directory (2nd Edition)

Practice Tests
Actualkey (Actualkey.com)
Certkingdom (Certkingdom.com)

Microsoft Online Resources
Learning Plan: Get started with a step-by-step study guide that is based on recommended resources for this exam.
Windows Server 2008 – Learning Portal: Find special offers and information on training and certification.
Product information: Visit the Windows Server 2008 Web site for detailed product information.
TechNet: Designed for IT professionals, this site includes how-to instructions, best practices, downloads, technical resources, newsgroups, and chats.
MSDN: Designed for developers, the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) features code samples, technical articles, downloads, newsgroups, and chats.
Microsoft Learning Community: Join newsgroups and visit community forums to connect with your peers for suggestions on training resources and advice on your certification path and studies.

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VMware, Rackspace offer free or low-cost cloud trials

Moves are meant to encourage users to explore cloud options

Two of the bigger names in cloud computing -- VMware and Rackspace -- have each released today low-cost or free trial versions of their cloud offerings.

The news follows an announcement by Red Hat earlier this week that it too would offer a free version of its cloud computing platform. Red Hat's and Rackspace's offerings help users build private clouds based on the OpenStack software code, while VMware is offering a free trial version of its vCloud software, which allows access to public cloud resources.

The moves signal an effort by cloud service providers to entice businesses that may have virtualized environments to expand to a public or private cloud, one analyst says.

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VMware officials say they are hoping to lower the adoption barrier for its customers who are interested in expanding from an on-premise virtualized environment powered by VMware to a public cloud service offered by one of the more than 150 VMware-certified public cloud vendors. Through the swipe of a credit card on the vCloud portal at VMware.com, customers can launch a vCloud Service Evaluation, public cloud instance of Linux virtual machines that are hosted by a vCloud service provider that the company does not disclose. VMware announced the service today and it will be available in the coming weeks, says Joe Andrews, director of product marketing for vCloud Services. The VMs cost $0.04 per hour per gigabyte of memory.

VMware has not had this "instant gratification," says Gartner cloud analyst Lydia Leong, which has resulted in some VMware customers who want to experiment with public cloud services to do so at competitors such as Amazon Web Services and Rackspace. "This is a basic offering that doesn't really have any bells and whistles, but is a reasonable way to get the 'feel' of a VMware cloud," she says, noting that it's not meant to be a formal proof-of-concept evaluation tool.

Rumors have circulated in recent weeks that VMware will be releasing its own infrastructure-as-a-service offering, as opposed to the vCloud network of service providers the company currently works with. Andrews, the VMware spokesperson, says he couldn't comment on speculation, but says VMware will "continue to invest in our service provider ecosystem," noting that VMware is a "partner-led company." VMware's chief, Paul Maritz, is slated to step down from his role as president and CEO next month and he will be replaced by EMC President Pat Gelsinger.

Rackspace, meanwhile, is doubling down on the company's investment in OpenStack, including recently releasing a product fully powered by OpenStack, which is the largest OpenStack-powered public cloud deployment, Leong says. Rackspace's free private cloud software, code-named "Alamo," includes a Ubuntu operating system running a KVM hypervisor. The private cloud software can be deployed in a customer's own data center, in a Rackspace data center, or in a colocation facility, and Rackspace private cloud guru Jim Curry says the announcement is meant to encourage hybrid cloud deployments that would allow customers to have a private cloud that connects in with the company's OpenStack-powered public cloud.

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Greatest Tech Battles Ever Told

Greatest Tech Battles Ever Told
In honor of the patent war heating up between Apple and Samsung, we're looking back at epic tech battles. The one thing they all have in common: the future of the universe hung in the balance. (Okay, not the universe but a really big market.)

Oracle. Apple. Google. Facebook. Microsoft. SAP. We've seen some of the biggest names in some of the nastiest battles over the years. The balance of power shifts, markets move, and there's a disturbance in the Force. Call it Tech Wars.

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iOS vs. Android
It's iOS vs. Android with the future of mobile as the prize. Want more drama? Throw in the fiery words of the most admired CEO in history, the late Steve Jobs: "I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong. I'm going to destroy Android because it's a stolen product. I'm willing to go to thermonuclear war on this. They are scared to death because they know they are guilty."

PC vs. Mac
This is the greatest tech battle ever, played out on the small screen pitting the geeks against the cool kids. It is the battle from which all other battles have been judged. The words "I'm a PC, I'm a Mac" have become part of our culture. So who has won? Like Star Wars Jedi vs. Sith, the tide turns with every generation.

Oracle vs. SAP
Quick, what software can cost millions of dollars and take years to integrate? Hint: This complex software has derailed many CIO careers. There can be only one, of course, and it's enterprise resource planning, or ERP. Oracle and SAP have gone head-to-head for years at this high-stakes poker table.

Facebook vs. MySpace
In the super-hot social networking space, Facebook rules the empire. But it wasn't always that way. MySpace used to be the most visited social networking site in the world, riding pop culture, music and teenyboppers to lofty heights. Then came Facebook. It appealed to the young, college-educated professional and ushered social networking into the mainstream.

VHS vs. Beta
VHS and Beta are pretty much gone now, but the two technologies sparked the first battle for the living room -- specifically, home movies. VHS, of course, won. It was the machine that launched a thousand rental stores across the country.

But nothing lasts forever, and VHS itself became victim to the DVD, which, in turn, is succumbing to streaming movies. Meanwhile, rental stores are getting torn down as quickly as a bad VHS machine chewed up the edges of a tape.

Internet Explorer vs. Netscape Navigator
If you were following the tech scene in the 1990s, you'd remember the browser war between Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator -- one that drew in the Department of Justice and put Microsoft in the crosshairs of a precedent-setting antitrust case. It led to the surreal sight of Bill Gates testifying and saying over and over, "I don't recall." That's right, the same guy with the brilliant mind.

Database War
Only techie publications cared much about the great decade-long Database War between Oracle, Sybase, Informix, IBM and others. According to tech writer Eric Lai, the war started a fixation on performance measured by artificially enhanced benchmarks, which has "led to a distrust of benchmarks that lingers to this day." Oh, Oracle won.

Bookstores vs. Amazon
Pity the humble, independent bookstore and even the mega bookstore. Book readers saunter in, explore different titles, gaze through books and then… whip out their iPhone and order it on Amazon. The massive online bookstore took a wrecking ball to the brick-and-mortar bookstore and upended an industry. The mayhem continues to this day. Heck, Amazon brought the phrase "brick-and-mortar" into modern-day vernacular.

Google vs. Yahoo
Remember when "search" was a neat little Web tool from companies with cute sounding names? It didn't take long for search to become a powerful market driven by search engines with complex algorithms that generate tons of dollars of online advertising. Google stomped on Yahoo and became one of the biggest, baddest tech companies on the planet. Struggling Yahoo has had five CEOs in five years and now hopes ex-Googler Marissa Mayer can lead a comeback.

War Games (Nintendo, Xbox and Playstation)
Nintendo, Xbox and PlayStation have been battling it out in the gaming industry for years, from home video consoles to mobile platforms. It's been fun to watch and play, and if you've got kids, you've probably paid for them all. The intense competition has led to grand advancements in gaming, including epic online adventures, awesome first-person shooting campaigns and the Wii. Gaming now is one of the biggest markets for consumer tech.

Google Apps vs. Microsoft Office
When Google Apps first appeared on the Web to go head-to-head with the venerable Microsoft Office suite, it didn't look like a fair fight. Google Apps were quirky to use and didn't feel ready for prime time. But tech wars can turn on a dime. Google Apps has since cut a swath out of Microsoft's market share, although Office is likely to continue to dominate the all-important productivity market for the foreseeable future.

Jedi Yoda vs. Darth Sidious
Epic tech battles have the feeling of the universe hanging in the balance, kinda like when Jedi Master Yoda took on the Darth Sidious, Dark Lord of the Sith. In some tech battles, good did not always triumph over evil. In Star Wars, Yoda got his butt kicked, narrowly escaped, and slumped off into exile telling us what we already knew. "Failed, I have."

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Microsoft staffs up for Windows 8 Xmas rush

Microsoft seeks IT pros to play the equivalent of Apple geniuses in its stores

Microsoft release of Windows 8 is timed to coincide with holiday shopping, and the company is in the throes of staffing up its permanent Microsoft Stores as well as a host of holiday stores that sound like they might not survive far into the New Year.

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The company is advertising on Taleo.net to fill a cookie cutter set of positions including technical adviser, store teacher, product adviser and community development and events specialist.

CONTEXT: Windows 8 is looking forward to Christmas

MORE: Microsoft's sales model for Surface tablets is unfriendly to enterprises

The job postings include an even dozen holiday stores scattered around the U.S. and Canada, with two in Massachusetts and two in Florida, as well as 14 permanent Microsoft Stores that are listed as "coming soon" on the Microsoft Store location page.

The job requirements vary. A retail product adviser sounds like a sales clerk, requiring two years retail experience, superior customer service skills and passion for Microsoft technologies. Microsoft certifications are a plus. "Lifting with or without assistance (loading and unloading all those great products and carrying purchases out for our customers may be required!)" is also listed.

But retail business specialists must be IT pros with Microsoft certifications in order to go after customers from local businesses with 25 employees or less. They're supposed to do outreach in the local business community and steer them toward Microsoft products and services. "Must be MCTS, MCSE, or MCITP certified or have equivalent professional experience," the job description reads. "Minimum of three years of experience managing IT projects (network installation, multi-client setup, etc.) and troubleshooting computers."

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has said Windows 8 Surface tablets will be available only in Windows Stores and online -- not in big-box retail stores. Even VARs and integrators have to buy at retail from the stores and online, he says. This won't help enterprises much since their high-volume purchasing is generally done via VARs or some other consultant, with discounts available.

There are 43 stores planned including the permanent and holiday stores based on listings on the Microsoft site and the job site.

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Microsoft tool shows whether apps pose danger to Windows

Attack Surface Analyzer can identify multiple classes of weaknesses introduced by newly installed programs

IDG News Service - Microsoft has released Attack Surface Analyzer 1.0, a free tool that can help system administrators, IT security professionals or software developers understand how newly installed applications can affect the security of a Windows OS.

The tool scans for classes of known security weaknesses that can be introduced by the files, registry keys, services, Microsoft ActiveX controls and other parameters created or changed by new applications.

It can identify executable files, directories, registry keys, or processes with weak access control lists (ACLs). It can also flag processes that don't mark memory regions as non-executable (NX), which could result in the bypassing of the Data Execution Prevention (DEP) Windows security feature. The tool also identifies services with fast restart times that could be attacked to bypass address space layout randomization (ASLR), as well as changes to the Windows Firewall rules or Internet Explorer security policies.

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These and many other weaknesses that the tool identifies can facilitate various types of attacks, including some that could allow attackers to gain control of the system, execute malicious code or gain access to sensitive data.

The tool is already being used by internal product groups at Microsoft and a public beta version has been available to download since January 2011. The 1.0 stable version released on Thursday contains significant performance enhancements and bug fixes.

"Through improvements in the code, we were able to reduce the number of false positives and improve Graphic User Interface performance," the Microsoft Security Development Lifecycle (SDL) team said in a blog post. "This release also includes in-depth documentation and guidance to improve ease of use."

The tool has 32-bit and 62-bit versions and supports Windows Vista and newer versions of Microsoft's OS, including Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 that hit the RTM (release to manufacturing) milestone on Tuesday.

Attack Surface Analyzer 1.0 is not compatible with the beta version of the tool, so existing users need to perform new "clean" system and post-application-installation scans -- known as the baseline and product scans respectively.

Attack Surface Analyzer requires .NET Framework 4 or higher present on the system in order to compare and analyze scan results. However, performing the actual scans can be done from the command line interface without .NET Framework.

Microsoft kissing Hotmail goodbye

The company aims to draw users away from Gmail and Yahoo Mail

Microsoft on Tuesday began publicly previewing a new webmail service for consumers called Outlook.com that will eventually replace Hotmail.

Microsoft also expects that Outlook.com will draw people away from competing consumer webmail services like Google's Gmail and Yahoo Mail.

MORE FROM MICROSOFT: 12 new network features in Windows 8

With Outlook.com, Microsoft set out to "reimagine personal e-mail -- from the datacenter all the way to the user experience," wrote Microsoft official Chris Jones in a blog post.

Outlook.com features what Microsoft describes as "clean" and "intuitive" user interface that gives more prominence to messages and less to other elements, like headers and search boxes. It doesn't include display ads.

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With Exchange ActiveSync, Outlook.com accounts can be synchronized across a variety of devices, and it features native integration with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google and, in the near future, Microsoft's own Skype.

This means that users can access content and notifications from those social media accounts within the Outlook.com interface.

Outlook.com also sorts messages of different types into separate buckets, so that e-mail from contacts, newsletter subscriptions, e-commerce notifications and social media content is arranged into different groups.

The new webmail service also includes Office Web Apps, the online versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote along with the SkyDrive cloud storage service.

Once Outlook.com exits its test phase, it will replace Hotmail's user interface, although users will be able to retain their @hotmail.com, @live.com and @msn.com addresses as well as their contacts, messages, password and rules.

"While today's preview is just the start, Outlook.com is ready now to become your primary email service. We're expecting millions of people to try it out. Starting today, you can get an @Outlook.com email address, and we've also made it easy to get started with your current email address if you want to," Jones wrote.

Outlook.com is not to be confused with the Outlook email and calendaring PC application, nor with Outlook Web App, which gives Exchange users access to their accounts via a browser.