AZ-801: Configuring Windows Server Hybrid Advanced Services
Configure and manage advanced Windows Server services in hybrid and cloud environments, focusing on high availability, disaster recovery, security, migration, and monitoring.
Official Exam Specification & Quick Facts
Question Difficulty Breakdown
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Exam Guidelines & Simulation Rules
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
The AZ-801 exam features 45-60 advanced technical questions over 120 minutes. Cost is $165 USD with a passing threshold of 700/1000 (70%).
Domains include: (1) Secure Windows Server on-premises and hybrid infrastructures (~25-30%), (2) Implement and manage Windows Server high availability (~10-15%), (3) Implement disaster recovery in hybrid environments (~10-15%), (4) Migrate servers and workloads (~20-25%), and (5) Monitor and troubleshoot Windows Server environments (~20-25%).
Storage Replica enables synchronous and asynchronous block-level volume replication between servers or clusters across distances for high availability and disaster recovery.
ASR replicates on-premises physical and virtual Windows Server workloads continuously to Azure managed disks, enabling non-disruptive disaster recovery testing and cutover migration.
Quorum models (such as Cloud Witness in Azure Blob storage) ensure that a cluster requires a majority of votes to remain operational, preventing partition divergence during network splits.
Credential Guard uses virtualization-based security (VBS) to isolate NTLM and Kerberos credential secrets in an isolated virtual container, preventing malware from extracting credentials from LSASS memory.
Azure Update Manager provides a centralized SaaS solution to assess, schedule, and deploy OS updates across Windows Servers in Azure, on-premises (via Arc), and other clouds without local WSUS infrastructure.
SMS orchestrates discovery, data transfer, and identity cutover from legacy Windows/Linux file servers to modern Windows Server 2022 or Azure Files with zero client reconfiguration.
WDAC restricts the execution of untrusted executable files, scripts, and DLLs by enforcing cryptographic code integrity policies at the kernel level.
Cloud Witness uses low-cost Azure Blob Storage as a quorum arbitration vote, eliminating the need for a separate physical witness site or shared witness disk.
The certification is valid for one year and must be renewed annually for free through an assessment on Microsoft Learn.
AZ-801 certifies Senior Systems Engineers, Enterprise Infrastructure Architects, and Disaster Recovery Specialists earning average US salaries between $125,000 and $160,000.