I85PREP
⌘ K
AZ-802 Windows Server Hybrid Administrator study materials
AZ-802 Windows Server Hybrid Administrator study resources

AZ-802 Windows Server Hybrid Administrator: Implementing and Managing Storage in Hybrid Scenarios

AZ-802 Windows Server Hybrid Administrator · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

All guide sections

Implementing and Managing Storage in Hybrid Scenarios

Core concepts

Hybrid storage spans on-premises Windows Server storage and Azure Storage. Know Storage Spaces Direct (S2D) and Storage Replica (server-to-server, stretch cluster, and cluster-to-cluster), Azure File Sync with cloud tiering, Azure Files (SMB and NFS), Azure Blob Storage tiers, Azure Managed Disks (Standard, Premium, Ultra), and Azure Backup with the Microsoft Azure Recovery Services (MARS) agent and Azure Backup Server.

Understand Data Deduplication, ReFS vs. NTFS capabilities, BitLocker for volume encryption, SMB encryption and SMB over QUIC, and share permissions vs. NTFS permissions (most restrictive wins). For Azure File Sync, know the Storage Sync Service, sync groups, cloud tiering policies, and that only NTFS volumes are supported for server endpoints.

Traps to watch

  • Azure File Sync requires the server endpoint volume to be NTFS; ReFS is not supported. Cloud tiering does not delete data; it recalls on access.
  • Storage Replica is asynchronous or synchronous and requires matching volumes; it is not a backup solution.
  • Azure Files authentication options differ: identity-based (AD DS or Entra Kerberos) vs. storage account key; questions often confuse which is needed for NTFS ACLs.
  • MARS agent backs up files and folders and system state, not full server images or running VMs; use Azure Backup for VMs or DPM/MABS for workloads.
  • Premium file shares require a specific account kind; not all redundancy options are available.

Rule of thumb

If the requirement is "extend a file server to Azure with tiering and multi-site sync," use Azure File Sync. If the requirement is "replicate volumes between sites for disaster recovery," use Storage Replica. If the requirement is "back up files and system state from a physical server," use the MARS agent.

Worked example

A branch office file server is running low on disk. Deploy Azure File Sync: create a Storage Sync Service, a sync group, add the Azure file share as cloud endpoint, register the server, then add the local NTFS volume as a server endpoint and enable cloud tiering with a policy such as 20 percent free space.