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70-334 Study Guide: Core Solutions of Microsoft Skype for Business 2015

The 70-334 : Core Solutions of Microsoft Skype for Business 2015 exam is one of the two Skype for Business 2015 exams required to get your Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) Productivity Certification. This 70-334 study guide was created to help you find materials to study, and ace the exam. I will share both free and paid options, whether books, video training or simply links to articles and blog posts. I will not share any dumps as those are against the Microsoft Terms of Service, and by using dumps, we decrease the value of our certifications.

Certification Path

Books

Skype for Business Unleashed
This is the most comprehensive, realistic, and useful guide to Skype for Business Server 2015, Microsoft’s most powerful unified communications system. Four leading Microsoft unified communications consultants share in-the-trenches guidance for planning, integration, migration, deployment, administration, and more.Links:

Enterprise Voice in Skype for Business Server 2015
If you are responsible for the roll out or support of Enterprise Voice in Skype for Business Server 2015 (or Lync Server 2013) then this is the book for you. This book covers every core feature in detail complete with a hundreds of screenshots and PowerShell examples. Topics ranging from adding a voice gateway to your Topology to enabling brand new features such as Shared Line Appearance are covered. Each chapter walks you through all of the background, detail, and steps required to full understand Enterprise Voice.Links:

Video Training for the exam

NOTE: Pluralsight is a paid resource unlike Channel9 and Microsoft Virtual Academy which are free. The quality they provide is also superior because of all the quality checks they go through, and the instructors are one of the best in the industry. The Pluralsight courses have a link to where you can get a free trial and decide for yourself if paying a subscription or not is worth it, but the 10-day free trial should allow you to view all those courses for free.

Skype for Business Server 2015: What’s New, Install, and Upgrade
Learn what’s new in Skype for Business Server 2015, how to perform an install, and upgrade from Lync Server.

Core Administration – Skype for Business Server
Skype for Business Server empowers seamless communications and data sharing anywhere from desktop to mobile. This course will teach you the core administrative aspects from system and user management to practical troubleshooting tips and tricks.

Installing and Configuring Office Online Server
Office Online Server is an Office Server Product that delivers browser-based versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote. Office Online Server also enables new features for SharePoint Server 2016 such as durable links, and is required for any company willing to use Business Intelligence features with SharePoint Server 2016. This course is designed to cover the deployment of Office Online Server, starting from planning through maintenance as well as how to connect it to SharePoint, Exchange and Skype for Business Server in order to benefit from all of its possible features.

Cert Exam Prep: Exam 70-334: Core Solutions of Microsoft Skype for Business 2015
This Certification Exam Prep session is designed for people experienced with Skype for Business who are interested in taking the 70-334 Core Solutions of Microsoft Skype for Business 2015 exam. Attendees of this session can expect to review the topics covered in this exam in a fast-paced format, as well as receive some valuable test taking techniques. Attendees leave with an understanding of how Microsoft certification works, what are the key topics covered in the exams, and an exhaustive look at resources for finalizing getting ready for the exam. The session is led by a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT), experienced in delivering sessions on these topics.

Instructor-led training (Microsoft Official Courses)

20334B: Core Solutions of Skype for Business 2015 (5 Days)
This course provides students with the knowledge and skills that are required to plan, deploy, configure, and administer a Skype for Business 2015 solution. Students will learn how to deploy a multi-site and highly available Skype for Business infrastructure that supports instant messaging, conferencing, Persistent Chat, archiving, and monitoring. Students will also learn how to manage and maintain the infrastructure and how to troubleshoot issues that might arise. This course focuses primarily on an on-premises Skype for Business deployment, but it does include information on how to integrate an on-premises deployment with Skype for Business Online and how to migrate from previous versions of Lync Server. This course helps students prepare for Exam 70-334.

Articles / Blog Posts per objective (Work in Progress)

Plan and design Skype for Business (35–40%)

Deploy and configure Skype for Business (30–35%)

  • Configure and publish topology
    • Create Skype for Business roles; create gateways and trunks; add/remove server features; deploy Edge Server; deploy SQL HA options, create Office Online Server
  • Configure conferencing
    • Create PIN policy, regions and conference dial-in access numbers, meeting configuration, conference policies, mediation server co-location, and trunks and gateways; configure Skype Meeting Broadcast
  • Configure Skype for Business remote and external access
    • Configure federation, including Skype consumer connectivity, Skype for Business Online, and XMPP; configure mobility policies and remote user access policies; configure load balancing, DNS, and reverse proxy
  • Deploy and configure clients
    • Configure Skype for Business client features, client policies, and client security options; deploy Skype for Business users for VDI; deploy Skype for Business room system
  • Migrate and upgrade from previous versions and/or Skype for Business Online
    • Consolidate servers to a supported single version; move users; migrate Response Groups or LIS; move CMS or File Share Data; transition to SQL AlwaysOn; perform in-place upgrade; configure clients for Skype for Business Online; enable or move users to Skype for Business Online; migrate user settings; migrate to Skype for Business Online
  • Configure HA/DR
    • Configure pool pairing, configure Geo DNS for site failover, configure SQL HA
  • Deploy and configure monitoring and archiving services
    • Deploy monitoring reports; configure CDR and Quality of Experience; configure archiving storage; configure archiving and eDiscovery with Exchange including Exchange Online, archiving policies, Media Quality Dashboard (MQD), and server-side conversation history
  • Deploy and configure Persistent Chat servers
    • Implement chat history, room management URLs, HA and DR, user policies, room design, and ethical boundaries

Manage and troubleshoot Skype for Business (30–35%)

  • Manage and troubleshoot conferencing and application sharing
    • Manage and troubleshoot Conferencing Auto Attendant (CAA), Conference Announcement Service (CAS), contact objects, and conference directories; troubleshoot web scheduler, multipoint control unit (MCU) health, simple URLs (join launcher), UC add-in for Microsoft Outlook; manage and troubleshoot multi-party video, server resources, media relay, and third-party interop; troubleshoot Microsoft PowerPoint presentation connections, Office Web App server configurations, and dataproxy; troubleshoot Skype Meeting Broadcast.
  • Manage and troubleshoot sign-in, presence, and client configuration
    • Manage and troubleshoot DNS, certificates, registration, network connectivity including ExpressRoute, authentication, and auto-discover; manage and troubleshoot aggregation (OOF, calendar, machine, and user), enhanced privacy, subscriptions, contact list, and privacy relationship; manage and troubleshoot file transfer, policy assignment, URL filtering, client version filtering, GPO, and Skype for Business Online
  • Manage and troubleshoot federation and remote access
    • Manage and troubleshoot federation, including Skype consumer connectivity, XMPP, and Skype for Business Online federation types (open, direct, and enhanced), federation policy, and legacy interop; troubleshoot mobile auto-discover issues, mobile device usage issues, mobile callback feature, push notification, call establishment, and mobile conference data
  • Manage and troubleshoot Address Book
    • Configure Address Book; troubleshoot normalization, local versus web lookup, internal file download, external file download, Address Book generation, and contact merge
  • Manage and troubleshoot high availability and resiliency
    • Manage and troubleshoot the backup service, server storage replication, and file share replication by using DFS; manage single server failure (Skype for Business, SQL); manage data center failure, including CMS and branch survivability; backup and restore application service data; manage filestore data and contacts; maintain and recover Skype for Business topology; recover CMS
  • Identify issues by using troubleshooting tools
    • Interpret Skype for Business monitoring reports, and identify potential issues; configure synthetic transactions; test connectivity with PowerShell Test cmdlets; configure core reliability and media quality monitoring; verify service health and CMS replication; recover from failed server build; analyze event viewer; enable Best Practice Analyzer; verify name resolution; identify issues using CLSlogging Scenarios; use Snooper for log analysis; identify issues using a network packet analyzer, CLS Logger, Event Viewer, and Performance Monitor; analyze signaling and media call flow for Skype for Business for online users; validate connectivity for online users; use Microsoft Online Services Diagnostics and Logging Support Toolkit
  • Manage and troubleshoot topology and dependent infrastructure
    • Enable or move Skype for Business users; configure role-based access control (RBAC); manage and troubleshoot DNS; manage RGS delegated administration; troubleshoot database synchronization issues, including SQL HA and LYSS replication, topology replication, IIS, user placement, and RBAC rights assignment; troubleshoot certificates
  • Manage and troubleshoot Persistent Chat servers
    • Manage categories, scope, chat rooms, room access, compliance, and add-ins

Additional Tips

I think the best thing that you can do after reading this, or even meanwhile, is to prepare some Virtual Machines either on your computer, or in Azure, and try to install SharePoint Server 2016, and play with those features, follow the tutorials and you shouldn’t have any problems with the exam!

Did I miss any cool links in this guide? Let me know in the comments!

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Leave a comment and don’t forget to like the Vlad Talks Tech Page   on Facebook and to follow me on Twitter here  for the latest news and technical articles on SharePoint.  I am also a Pluralsight author, and you can view all the courses I created on my author page.

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