Upgrading Your Skills to MCSA Windows Server 2012 Exam Ref 70-417

Introduction

This book is written for IT professionals who want to earn the MCSA: Windows Server 2012 certification by passing the Microsoft exam “Exam 70-417: Upgrading Your Skills to MCSA Windows Server 2012.” Exam 70-417 serves as a path to the Windows Server 2012 MCSA for those who have already earned the Windows Server 2008 certification that is named alternately “MCITP: Server Administrator” and “MCSA: Windows Server 2008.” The book is therefore written specifically for IT professionals who have already earned this Windows Server 2008 certification and maintain the associated level of expertise in Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2.

Exam 70-417 also serves as an upgrade path to the Windows Server 2012 MCSA from certifications other than the Windows Server 2008 MCSA. These other certifications include MCITP: Virtualization Administrator, MCITP: Enterprise Messaging Administrator, MCITP: Lync Server Administrator, MCITP: SharePoint Administrator, and MCITP: Enterprise Desktop Administrator certifications. However, the assumed knowledge for this book is only MCSA-level expertise in Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2.

One of the first things you need to understand about Exam 70-417 is that it is a condensed version of three others: Exam 70-410, Exam 70-411, and Exam 70-412. This set of three exams allows you to earn the Windows Server 2012 MCSA from scratch, without any prior certification. Together, these three exams include 18 domains of broader skills and 62 more specific objectives. Because the exams are intended for people who haven’t yet earned Windows Server certification, they test both new features in Windows Server 2012 and features that haven’t changed since Windows Server 2008 or even earlier.

On the 70-417 exam, just 14 of the original 18 domains and 22 of the original 62 objectives have been taken from these three source exams. This smaller subset of material corresponds generally to the features that are new in Windows Server 2012. Approximately 80 percent of the questions you will encounter on the 70-417 exam in fact will involve new Windows Server 2012 features in some way. The remaining 20 percent will be “review”-type questions about features that have not changed since Windows Server 2008, questions you could have seen when you earned your existing certification. This 20 percent can be taken from any of the 62 original objectives on Exams 70-410, 70-411, or 70-412.

To keep this book brief, we’ve focused on the 80 percent of material that is new to Windows Server 2012 and that forms the core of Exam 70-417. After all, the remaining 20 ercent draws on knowledge in which you have already demonstrated expertise by earning your Windows Server 2008 certification. However, it’s possible you will need to brush up on some of these older topics, and when appropriate we’ve provided guidance throughout the book about which of these older features might require special review.