Course Introduction
The Advanced Windows Server Administration training program is designed to provide IT professionals and system administrators with advanced knowledge and practical skills required to manage, secure, monitor, and troubleshoot modern Windows Server environments.
The program focuses on advanced server administration, Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), Group Policy, DNS, DHCP, virtualization, storage, security, high availability, backup and recovery, PowerShell automation, and server performance optimization.
Participants will develop practical capabilities through hands-on exercises, real-world scenarios, troubleshooting activities, and administrative tasks designed to strengthen their ability to manage enterprise Windows Server infrastructures efficiently and securely.
General Objectives
By the end of the program, participants will be able to:
- Understand advanced concepts and best practices in Windows Server administration.
- Configure, manage, and troubleshoot Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS).
- Design and implement effective Group Policy configurations.
- Administer enterprise DNS and DHCP services.
- Manage Windows Server storage, file services, and permissions.
- Implement server virtualization and understand Hyper-V administration.
- Apply advanced Windows Server security and access-control mechanisms.
- Monitor server performance and troubleshoot system and network issues.
- Implement backup, recovery, and disaster recovery strategies.
- Use PowerShell to automate administrative and repetitive tasks.
- Configure and manage high-availability solutions.
- Apply best practices for maintaining reliable, secure, and efficient Windows Server environments.
Course Outline
Day 1: Advanced Windows Server Architecture and Active Directory Administration
- Advanced Windows Server architecture and enterprise server roles.
- Windows Server deployment and configuration best practices.
- Active Directory Domain Services architecture and components.
- Managing domains, forests, organizational units, and domain controllers.
- Active Directory replication and site topology.
- Managing users, groups, computers, and service accounts.
- Advanced Active Directory administration and troubleshooting.
- Operations Master Roles (FSMO) and their management.
- Active Directory backup and recovery concepts.
- Practical exercises: Active Directory administration and troubleshooting.
Day 2: Group Policy, DNS, DHCP and Network Services
- Advanced Group Policy architecture and management.
- Designing and implementing Group Policy Objects (GPOs).
- Group Policy inheritance, enforcement, filtering, and delegation.
- Security policies and administrative templates.
- Troubleshooting Group Policy using appropriate diagnostic tools.
- Advanced DNS concepts and Windows DNS administration.
- DNS zones, records, delegation, forwarding, and troubleshooting.
- DHCP scopes, reservations, options, and failover.
- Integration of DNS and DHCP with Active Directory.
- Practical exercises: GPO configuration and network-services troubleshooting.
Day 3: Storage, File Services, Virtualization and PowerShell Administration
- Windows Server storage architecture and management.
- Storage Spaces and storage optimization.
- File and folder permissions and access control.
- Advanced file services and sharing.
- Distributed File System (DFS) concepts and implementation.
- Introduction to Hyper-V architecture and virtual machine management.
- Virtual networking and virtual storage.
- Managing virtual machines and resource allocation.
- PowerShell fundamentals for advanced server administration.
- PowerShell commands, scripting, automation, and remote administration.
- Practical exercises: storage configuration, Hyper-V management, and PowerShell automation.
Day 4: Windows Server Security, Monitoring and Troubleshooting
- Windows Server security architecture and best practices.
- Identity and access management.
- Authentication and authorization mechanisms.
- Managing privileged accounts and administrative access.
- Windows Defender and server security configurations.
- Advanced auditing and security event monitoring.
- Event Viewer and Windows Server diagnostic tools.
- Performance monitoring and resource optimization.
- Troubleshooting CPU, memory, disk, network, and service-related issues.
- Identifying and resolving common Active Directory and server problems.
- Practical troubleshooting scenarios and case studies.
Day 5: High Availability, Backup, Disaster Recovery and Advanced Administration
- High-availability concepts and Windows Server solutions.
- Failover Clustering concepts and configuration.
- Network Load Balancing and service availability.
- Windows Server backup and recovery strategies.
- System State backup and Active Directory recovery.
- Disaster recovery planning and business continuity.
- Server migration and upgrade considerations.
- Advanced PowerShell automation for administrative tasks.
- Server health monitoring and preventive maintenance.
- Developing a comprehensive Windows Server administration strategy.
- Final practical exercise: enterprise Windows Server administration and troubleshooting scenario.