If you want to attempt Exam 70-410, 70-411 and 70-412 for your MCSA (http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/cert-windows-server-MCSA.aspx), here are the proportionate:

Exam 70-410 Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012

Overview: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=70-410

Skills measured in their proportionate (in %) is here: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=70-410#tab2 and its MOC course is 20-410A with the following topics: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/Course.aspx?ID=20410A&Locale=en-us

Exam 70-411 Administering Windows Server 2012

Overview: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=70-411

Skills measured in their proportionate (in %) is here: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=70-411#tab2 and its MOC course is 20-411A with the following topics: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/Course.aspx?ID=20411A&Locale=en-us

Exam 70-412 Configuring Advanced Windows Server 2012 Services

Overview: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=70-412

Skills measured in their proportionate (in %) is here: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=70-412#tab2 and its MOC course is 20-412A with the following topics: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/Course.aspx?ID=20412A&Locale=en-us

For details on Exam 70-413 (MCSE Server Elective) , Exam 70-416 (MCSE Desktop Elective) and Exam 70-688 (MCSA on Windows 8), they are as follows: -

Exam 70-413 Designing and Implementing a Server Infrastructure

Overview: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=70-413

Skills measured in their proportionate (in %) is here: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=70-413#tab2 and its MOC course is 20-413A with the following topics: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/Course.aspx?ID=20413A&Locale=en-us. It mostly centers on designing and implementation topics on server infrastructure using Windows Server 2012, as said here (At course completion): http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/Course.aspx?ID=20413A&Locale=en-us

Exam 70-416 Implementing Desktop Application Environments

Overview: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=70-416

Skills measured in their proportionate (in %) is here: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=70-416#tab2 and its MOC course is 20-416A with the following topics: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/Course.aspx?ID=20416A&Locale=en-us. It centers on design, deployment and management of Windows 8 Enterprise applications in a physical and virtual environment as well as in the cloud, said in here (At course completion): http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/Course.aspx?ID=20416A&Locale=en-us  

Exam 70-688 Managing and Maintaining Windows 8

Overview: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=70-688#tab1

Skills measured in exam: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=70-688#tab2

Undoubtedly, sufficient hands-on knowledge is an integral part during the exam prep, here is where you can get the evaluations of Windows Server 2012: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/hh670538.aspx. It is available in both ISO and VHD. 

Also, for Microsoft Private Cloud Evaluation software, please go to http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/evalcenter/hh505660.aspx?wt.mc_id=TEC_103_1_33. 

For more self-guided learnings on other Microsoft products, you can go to http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com. There are a couple of new exciting Windows Server 2012 courses just added. If you are a travelling user and if enjoy doing some self-guided Windows Server 2012 hands-on labs in an “Anytime, Anywhere” basis, you can try out the Windows Server 2012 virtual labs at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/hh968267.aspx. They are cool and awesome, enjoy!

A relatively exciting question to all existing MCITP on Windows Server 2008 (Enterprise Administrator / Server Administrator): What should I focus on passing all required exams to upgrade my MCITP (Windows Server 2008) to MCSE Server Infrastructure on Windows Server 2012? (By the way, MCSE is now called Microsoft Certified Solution Expert).

The answer is you need to pass the 70-417 exam. So what topics should I focus particularly on this one to pass this exam? Exam 70-417 (Upgrading Your Skills to MCSA Windows Server 2012) is for existing MCSA (Microsoft Certified Solution Associate) on Windows Server 2008. You can take this exam of you are a MCITP on Virtualization Administrator, Enterprise Messaging Administrator (Exchange), Lync Server Administrator, Sharepoint Administrator or Enterprise Desktop Administrator (Windows 7) http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/cert-windows-server-MCSA.aspx

It is an upgrade exam that is a composite of three stand-alone exams: 70-410, 70-411, and 70-412. Its exam overview and topics covered are in http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=70-417. The percentage indication of  the relative weight of each major topic area on the exam can be found here: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=70-417#tab2. The corresponding MOC course details to prepare for exam 70-417 is at http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/Course.aspx?ID=20417A&Locale=en-us

For existing MCSA on Windows Server 2008 that have completed your 70-417 exam, you will earn your MCSA on Windows Server 2012. So you are now closer to your MCSE (Server Infrastructure 2012) journey. It’s not a bad idea at all to subsequently complete the remaining two elective exams to earn your MCSE (Server Infrastructure 2012), which are Exam 70-413 and Exam 70-414.

Exam info for Exam 70-413 is available at http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=70-413, with skills measured at http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=70-413#tab2; MOC topics at http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/Course.aspx?ID=20413A&Locale=en-us. Make sure you complete these topics during your exam preparation.

For Exam 70-414, its exam overview info is available at http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=70-414, skills measured at http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=70-414#tab2; corresponding MOC topics and course details are available at http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/Course.aspx?ID=20414A&Locale=en-us. It is wise to review and complete these topics before aiming for your exam.        

For individuals that do not intend to aim at the upgrade path but instead, starting on a brand new journey towards your MCSE (Server Infrastructure 2012), all you need to do is to complete Exam 70-410, Exam 70-411 and Exam 70-412 (http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/cert-windows-server-MCSA.aspx).

MOC course topics for Exam 70-410 are available at http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/Course.aspx?ID=20410A&Locale=en-us. For Exam 70-411, they are available at http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/Course.aspx?ID=20411A&Locale=en-us. For Exam 70-412, they are at http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/Course.aspx?ID=20412A&Locale=en-us. It is a good idea to master these topics if you are aiming for these exams specifically.

The elective exams for MCSE (Server Infrastructure 2012) remain unchanged (70-413 and 70-414) for candidates that aim at pursuing your MCSE via this direct path (which is via a non-upgrade path from existing MCSA on Windows Server 2008). Either way, it is really a good idea to review and understand the topics and skills that will be measured before aiming at each exam.

Nonetheless, corresponding hands-on skills and knowledge on Windows Server 2012 is indispensable. Therefore, it is always the best to start try it out in a hands-on manner. To download an evaluation copy of Windows Server 2012, please visit http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/hh670538.aspx. It is available in both ISO and VHD format.

For Microsoft Private Cloud Evaluation software, please go to http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/evalcenter/hh505660.aspx?wt.mc_id=TEC_103_1_33.

For more self-guided learnings on other Microsoft products, you can go to http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com. There are a couple of new exciting Windows Server 2012 courses just added. If you are a travelling user and if enjoy doing some self-guided Windows Server 2012 hands-on labs in an “Anytime, Anywhere” basis, you can try out the Windows Server 2012 virtual labs at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/hh968267.aspx. They are cool and awesome, enjoy!

While we seldom manually do it, there may be time where one needs to do some fixes during troubleshoots of AD database file - The C:\Windows\NTDS\ntds.dit. DIT stands for Directory Information Tree. Here are some scenarios that one may see:

1. How do you perform an offline defragmentation of the AD database file? net stop ntds, activate instance ntds (This is provided that you are on a Windows Server version that has restartable AD, else if you are on an earlier version of Windows Server that doesn't support restartable AD such as Windows 2000 Server, reboot it into Directory Service Restore Mode, then goto ntdsutil, File, you will be prompted to File Maintenance prompt, type help and you will notice there are a different sets of commands available in here. Notice that there is a command that says compact to %s where %s refers to the new path of your compacted (defragmented) copy of the ntds.dit. So type compact to k:\ntds, where k:\ntds is the new location you will place the compacted (defragmented) copy of the ntds.dit after defragmentation. You will see a bar showing the defragmentation status until completion. This is a brief process. Then it will prompt you to copy the defragmented copy of the ntds.dit to its existing location, and you need to delete all log files at its existing location. Note that online defrag takes place every 12 hourly depends on Windows Servers versions and releases. Offline defrag, however, can free up space. You need to stop your AD service before doing this or boot into the Directory Service Restore Mode on earlier version of Windows Server running as a DC. 
2. How do you perform integrity check of your ntds.dit? Assuming in a restartable AD DC, follow the above steps, type ntdsutil, File, integrity, you will see the integrity scan process until completion, after which the tool will prompt you to perform a semantic database analysis. You can follow it.
3. This leads us to how do you perform a semantic database analysis of the AD database file? Answer: Go to ntdsutil, type semantic database analysis. If this is too long for typing, note that all commands and sub-commands in ntdsutil tool can be typed as abbreviated commands, i.e. semantic database analysis can be typed as sem data analy as long as the command is recognized as un-ambiguous. At the Semantic database analysis prompt, type go or go fixup. It will say Opening DIT database ...done. Summary is written into a log file dsdit.dmp. IDs scanned and records scanned are displayed.
4. How do you seize the FSMO (Flexible Single Master Operation) roles of your domain when a safe transfers of these roles doesn't work due to permanently shutdown / unavailability of DC holding these roles? Go to ntdsutil, type role. Type help so that you can see a list of specific commands associated with the role prompt. Note that before you can seize a particular FSMO role, you need to make connection to the remaining online DC that you intend to make it the FSMO role holder. In this case, for example, you would typically make connection back to the local machine/DC itself, therefore, type connection, then at the Server connect prompt, type connect to server <DCName in FQDN> i.e. connect to DC2.hello.com this is because all communications between DCs take place via FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name) instead f NetBIOS name. Note that for transferring of FSMO roles, you need to make connection. And to make connection, you need to make sure that the DC that you are going to make it the new FSMO role holder has its ADDS service started. Otherwise you will fail in making connection. Assuming that you have your ADDS started (unlike the above ntdsutil, File scenarios), type connection, type connect to server <FQDN>, then a message will pop up saying that you are connected to the target DC with the locally logged on credential. Then type q to quit back to prior prompt, namely FSMO maintenance prompt, type seize <FSMOName> i.e. Seize Infrastructure master, seize naming master (refers to Domain Naming Master), seize PDC (for PDC Emulator), seize RID master, seize schema master, for all the respective FSMO roles that you want to seize. Note that a Role Seizure Confirmation Dialog will appear, confirm it. You will see that it will attempt a safe transfer before seizure. If the transfer is successful, it's done otherwise a seizure will ensue.
5. How do you reset your DSRM (Directory Service Restore Mode) Administrator password? This is the password we typically assign during the DC promotion process. It is the password logon credential to be used in the event that your AD domain is shutdown, and you need a local credential to logon to the local machine, namely the DC, for troubleshooting purposes, for example, one that is using the NTDSutil tool. To do this, you don't need your ADDS service shutdown. Therefore just type ntdsutil, followed by set dsrm password, then type reset password on server localhost (Note that ocalhost is accepted). It will put you at the password reset prompt now. Type your desired password. Note that you will need to comply with the existing password policy requirements in your domain, namely the password complexity policy. Let say you type Pa$$w0rd and it is accepted, the tool will note that you with a password successfully set message.
6. How do you create installation media for writable and read-only domain controllers that run Windows Server 2008? Answer: Type ntdsutil, activate instance ntds, then type ifm. At the ifm prompt, you will have options to create IFM media for full AD DC or AD/LDS instance with or without defragmenting; you can also create IFM media for RODC (Read-only domain controller). At the same time, you can create IFM media with Sysvol for full AD DC with or without defragmenting into a folder.
7. How do you cleanup server metadata? On a DC, type ntdsutil, type metadata cleanup. The couple of options that you have are: Remove AD DS objects for selected domain, Remove objects for selected naming context, Remove objects for selected servers. You can choose to select operation target in here. Metadata cleanup removes data from Active Directory that identifies a domain controller to the replication system. This procedure is required only for Active Directory domain controllers that were not successfully demoted using Dcpromo. On a DC that is running Windows Server 2003 with SP1, metadata cleanup also removes File replication service (FRS) connections and attempts to transfer or seize any operations master roles that the retired domain controller holds.
8. Other configurable options in the NTDSutil tool on Windows Server 2012 are:

• Authoritative restore of the DIT database
• Change of AD DS/LDS Service Accounts
• Configurable settings management
• AD DS/LDS behavior
• Group membership evaluation
• Evaluating SIDs in token for a given user or group
• LDAP protocol policies
• Configuration of LDAP Port for an AD LDS instance
• Local RODC role management
• Directory partitions management
• Security account management - Duplicate SID cleanup
• Snapshot management
• SSL Port configuration for a AD LDS instance

Common question (Which doesn't need NTDSutil tool): How do you undefined the AD domain password policy i.e. Maximum password length, Minimum password age, Enforce password history? Set the threshold to 0 for each of these i.e. Maximum password length, Minimum password age, Enforce password history undefines them.

Ken Sim, Technical Evangelist, Microsoft Corporation, MCT

There are a couple of new MCSE (Microsoft Certified Solution Expert) certification available now, adding to the new existing MCSE on Private Cloud, Server Infrastructure, Desktop Infrastructure and SQL 2012. These are by specialization on Messaging (Exchange), Communication (Lync) and Sharepoint on the 2013 platform.  Go to http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/mcse.aspx for more details.

For existing MCITP holders (Windows Server 2008, SQL 2008, Messaging, SharePoint, Lync and Desktop), there are upgrade paths available for you to earn your new MCSE on your respective specialization platform. Basically people are going to upgrade their MCSA (Microsoft Certified Solution Associate) to 2012 platform.

To earn your MCSE Server Infrastructure on the 2012 platform, you can start from your MCSA 2012 or if you have existing upgradeable certifications, you can opt for the upgrade exams, among the upgradeable certifications are MCITP Virtualization Administrator, Enterprise Messaging Administrator, Lync Server Administrator, Sharepoint Administrator and Enterprise Desktop Administrator, for details, please go to http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/mcse-server-infrastructure.aspx

To earn your MCSE Desktop Infrastructure on the 2012 platform, you just need to add on an additional 2 more exams, if you have an existing MCSA certification on Windows Server 2012; for details, please refer to http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/mcse-desktop-infrastructure.aspx

For MCSE Private Cloud, you just need to complete 2 more exams if you have an existing MCSA on 2008 or 2012 platforms, this is certainly a great news for many people! These 2 exams are on System Center 2012: One is on the monitoring and operation of a Private Cloud using System Center 2012, another one is on the configuration and deployment of a Private Cloud using System Center 2012. The exam codes are 70-246 and 70-247 respectively. So don’t miss it!

It is definitely a good idea to have the required hands-on experience/knowledge on a product before you aiming at a certification exam, so you need to practice with it! For Windows Server 2012 evaluation, please go to http://aka.ms/winsrv2012; for System Center evaluation, go to http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/hh505660.aspx. There is also System Center 2012 Service Pack 1 in beta now, at http://www.microsoft.com/en us/download/details.aspx?id=34607

Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012 is everything feasible in terms of technical, economical (financial) and operational. As such, it is entirely the wisest decision of all to deploy Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012 from whatever hypervisors platform that one is currently using. Several undisputed justifications are as follows: -

Economical (Financial) Feasibility of Hyper-V 2012

A strong huge majority of Virtualization users are highly impressed by the SMB3 cluster of Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012. Customers now have an option to avoid investing on expensive hardware SAN storage or they can opt for the SMB3 file share that makes SMB3 cluster deployment in Windows Server 2012 without expensive SAN investment.

However, for uses that already have existing SAN investment, they can go for the new Virtual Fiber Channel in the new Hyper-V Manager in Windows Server 2012 so as to fully leverage their existing SAN investment, therefore this posts no bad news to these users as well.

Another next big thing of Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012 is its support for Shared Nothing Live Migration, where no shared infrastructure is required between 2 hosts to live migrate a VM or a VHDX. This saves considerably large amount of investments in terms of dollars and cents.

Technical Feasibility of Hyper-V 2012

For Hyper-V replica, customers that do not previously deploy Hyper-V due to this can unhesitantly do it now in Hyper-V of Windows Server 2012.

In terms of offloading the host processor’s load, IPsec offloading comes in just handy enough for this.  For improved performance of VM, VMQ & SR-IOV appears to be impressive too. A good blog on SR-IOV is here  http://blogs.technet.com/b/matthts/archive/2012/10/13/windows-server-2012-hyper-v-and-sr iov.aspx

In another context of technical feasibility, Dynamic memory / RAM & Dynamic bandwidth management (either via UI or Powershell) are now truly and readily available in Windows Server 2012’s Hyper-V.  

Operational Feasibility of Hyper-V 2012

The UI of Hyper-V 2012 looks very much the same as in Hyper-V R2. Of course with a couple of impressive improvements that are given thumbs-up by many Virtualization experts. Simplicity of management is the key here; One doesn’t matter-of-factly need much training to learn/start using Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012 intuitively, as its interface is extremely user-friendly. This awesome piece of product is engineered based on extreme ease of use and simplified management in mind, fitting it perfectly well in datacenters, clouds, hosting company environments where multi-tenancy is a concern.

In the nutshell, based on dynamically changing business requirement  in today’s cloud centric industry scenarios, be it datacenters, clouds, hosting providers and many more, it is wise to opt for Windows Server 2012’s Hyper-V 2012 as the pick of your choice.

This is because Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012 prevails in terms of technical feasibility, operational feasibility as well as economical (financial) feasibility, which are the main key factors in all businesses ranging from SMBs to MNCs. When these 3 feasibility studies are affirmative, there is a green light for this project (Transitioning to Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V).

For Feature Comparison Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V and Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V, there is a comprehensive guide in PDF here download.microsoft.com/download/2/C/A/2CA38362-37ED-4112-86A8-FDF...

To try out the new Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012, you can download an evaluation copy of Windows Server 2012 in here http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/hh670538.aspx

Also, for Microsoft Private Cloud Evaluation software, please go to http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/evalcenter/hh505660.aspx?wt.mc_id=TEC_103_1_33

For more self-guided learning on other Microsoft products, you can go to http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com. There are a couple of new exciting Windows Server 2012 courses just added. If you are a travelling user and if enjoy doing some self-guided Windows Server 2012 hands-on labs in an “Anytime, Anywhere” basis, you can try out the Windows Server 2012 virtual labs at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/hh968267.aspx. They are cool and awesome, enjoy!