Course description

Overview
This hands-on course teaches you how to design, deploy, and operate Windows Server in hybrid environments—bridging on-premises datacenters with Azure services. You’ll learn core infrastructure concepts (compute, storage, networking), identity integration with Active Directory and Azure Active Directory, secure remote and hybrid connectivity, and day‑to‑day operations that keep workloads resilient, compliant, and cost‑effective. By the end, you’ll be able to modernize existing servers, extend capabilities with cloud services, and confidently run hybrid architectures at scale.

What you’ll learn

• Plan and implement Windows Server roles for hybrid scenarios (AD DS, DNS, DHCP, file services).
• Integrate identity across on‑prem and cloud using Azure AD Connect, Kerberos/NTLM, and SSO patterns.
• Configure virtualization (Hyper‑V), containers, and workload placement decisions for hybrid deployments.
• Design and manage storage (Storage Spaces, SMB, DFS, ReFS) and failover clustering for high availability.
• Build secure networking: VLANs, routing, Windows Firewall, IPSec, VPN/ExpressRoute, and Azure Virtual Network peering.
• Implement hybrid management with Windows Admin Center, PowerShell, and Azure Arc for servers.
• Apply security baselines, Just‑Enough/Just‑In‑Time Administration, credential hardening, and patch management.
• Monitor, backup, and recover with Azure Monitor/Log Analytics, Azure Backup, and recovery strategies.
• Optimize costs and performance with right‑sizing, reservations, autoscale, and policy‑based governance.

Audience

• System administrators, infrastructure engineers, and IT pros responsible for Windows Server environments.
• Architects planning migrations or building hybrid solutions that extend on‑prem capabilities with Azure.
• Consultants and MCTs delivering enterprise trainings or modernization projects.

Prerequisites

• Fundamental knowledge of Windows Server administration (users, groups, file shares, TCP/IP).
• Basic understanding of virtualization and networking.
• Optional: an Azure subscription for labs (provided or BYO).

Course Outcomes
After completing this course, you will be able to:

1. Assess existing server estates and select appropriate hybrid patterns.
2. Implement identity synchronization and secure authentication across domains and Azure AD.
3. Deploy highly available storage, compute, and networking for mission‑critical workloads.
4. Manage hybrid servers centrally with Windows Admin Center, Azure Arc, and policy.
5. Establish observability, backup, and disaster recovery aligned to business RTO/RPO.
6. Document a migration roadmap and produce an operational runbook for hybrid operations.

Modules & Labs (suggested structure)

1. Hybrid Fundamentals & Architecture

   • Patterns: cloud‑attached, burst, DR‑to‑cloud, management‑from‑cloud.
   • Lab: Build a reference hybrid diagram and map workloads.

2. Identity & Access

   • AD DS design, forest/domain health, Group Policy.
   • Azure AD, Azure AD Connect, password hash vs. pass‑through, SSO.
   • Lab: Configure Azure AD Connect; test sign‑in flows and conditional access.

3. Compute & Virtualization

   • Hyper‑V hosts, VM sizing, clustering; Windows containers basics.
   • Lab: Create a clustered VM workload and validate failover.

4. Storage Services

   • Storage Spaces, ReFS/NTFS, DFS Namespaces/Replication, SMB security.
   • Lab: Build a resilient file service with DFS and test site‑aware replication.

5. Networking for Hybrid

   • Core routing, firewall, IPSec; Azure VNets, VPN/ExpressRoute.
   • Lab: Connect on‑prem to Azure VNet; test name resolution and latency baselines.

6. Hybrid Management & Automation

   • Windows Admin Center, Azure Arc, PowerShell Desired State Configuration.
   • Lab: Onboard servers to Azure Arc; apply policy and collect inventory.

7. Security, Compliance & Updates

   • Admin tiering, JEA/JIT, credential guard, auditing, defender.
   • Lab: Apply security baselines and simulate policy violations.

8. Monitoring, Backup & DR

   • Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, alerts; Azure Backup; recovery strategies.
   • Lab: Configure backup for a critical workload and perform restore drills.

9. Operations & Cost Optimization

   • Runbooks, documentation, SLAs, chargeback/showback, tagging.
   • Lab: Implement a minimal operations runbook and cost dashboard.

Projects & Assessments

• Capstone Project: Design and implement a small hybrid reference environment, including identity sync, secure connectivity, monitoring, and backup.
• Checkpoints & Quizzes: Short scenario‑based quizzes at the end of each module.
• Deliverables: Architecture diagram, runbook, and a remediation plan for common issues.

Duration & Delivery

• Duration: 3–5 days (24–32 hours) depending on lab depth.
• Format: Instructor‑led or self‑paced, with guided labs and solution accelerators.
• Materials: Slide deck, lab guides, scripts, and architecture templates.

Why this course
Hybrid is the reality for most enterprises. This course gives you the practical skills and patterns to operate Windows Server confidently while leveraging Azure for identity, management, resilience, and scale—without disrupting what already works on‑prem.

What will i learn?