The 70-339 : Managing Microsoft SharePoint Server 2016 exam is the one and only SharePoint 2016 exam required to get your Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) Productivity Certification. As someone who got his MCSE Productivity certification by passing exam 70-339, this 70-339 study guide was creaed 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 that covers the exam

	Deploying SharePoint 2016: Best Practices for Installing, Configuring, and Maintaining SharePoint Server 2016 Learn how to install, configure, and maintain the latest release of Microsoft’s popular SharePoint Server, SharePoint 2016. This latest version brings with it many changes for IT professionals. With this book, you will learn how to create an efficient and stable SharePoint environment for your organization.Deploying SharePoint 2016 will help you: Learn the steps to install SharePoint Server 2016, using both the user interface provided by Microsoft, and PowerShell Understand your authentication options and associated security considerations Deploy add-ins, either from the store, or from your own custom app catalog Configure Search Service Application using either the provided user interface (UI) or PowerShell Configure business intelligence service applications such as SSRS, PowerPivot, and Performance Point Learn the steps to migrate to SharePoint Server 2016 from either SharePoint Server 2010 or 2013 Understand the approaches to high availability, disaster recovery, patching, and ways to monitor and maintain your SharePoint 2016 deployment once it’s up and running Links: Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/2et4cUh Amazon.ca: http://amzn.to/2eDzmsc Amazon.fr: http://amzn.to/2fST0GC Amazon.uk: http://amzn.to/2fSY7Xl Amazon.de: http://amzn.to/2fZR7XR
	Exam Ref 70-339 Managing Microsoft SharePoint Server 2016 Prepare for Microsoft Exam 70-339–and help demonstrate your real-world mastery of planning, configuring, and managing Microsoft SharePoint 2016 core technologies in datacenters, in the cloud, and in hybrid environments. Designed for experienced IT pros ready to advance their status, this Exam Ref focuses on the critical-thinking and decision-making acumen needed for success at the MCSE level.Links: Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/2etftnE Amazon.ca: http://amzn.to/2fD65T0 Amazon.fr: http://amzn.to/2fyPAER Amazon.uk: http://amzn.to/2fE7kgR Amazon.de: http://amzn.to/2fZUUUT
	The Ultimate SharePoint Performance Guide!  This is an ultimate guidance on performance for SharePoint Server 2013, 2016 and SharePoint Online inspired both by Microsoft’s best practices and real life experiences from countless deployments on the field.This book was Tech Reviewed by Microsoft MVP & RD Jussi Roine and includes an awesome foreword by SharePoint MVP Christian Buckley Links LeanPub: https://leanpub.com/SharePointPerformanceGuide Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/2nYTQD9 Amazon.ca: http://amzn.to/2Bs7SVz Amazon.fr: http://amzn.to/2o2vV4Q Amazon.uk: http://amzn.to/2HabNXq Amazon.de: http://amzn.to/2o6mrG3

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.

	Planning for SharePoint Server 2016: Physical Topology and Services SharePoint Server 2016 brings a lot of changes to the Infrastructure Architecture, with new features such as MinRole and Microsoft Identity Manager. You’ll learn how to plan your SharePoint 2016 Infrastructure to answer your business needs. Link: http://spvlad.com/PlanningSP2016-Physical Free Pluralsight Trial: Get a free 10 day Pluralsight Trial!
	Planning for SharePoint Server 2016: Logical Architecture and Integrations This course will teach you how to plan your SharePoint 2016 logical architecture, SharePoint farm security, and how to plan for integration with Exchange Server 2016 and Project Server 2016. Link: http://spvlad.com/PlanningSp2016-Logical Free Pluralsight Trial: Get a free 10 day Pluralsight Trial!
	On-premises Installation of SharePoint 2016 SharePoint 2016 has a lot of great new features. This course gives you the knowledge and skills to get a SharePoint 2016 farm up and running in an on-premises environment so you can start using all the new features of SharePoint 2106 without delay. Link: http://spvlad.com/2FWxoBO Free Pluralsight Trial: Get a free 10 day Pluralsight Trial!
	Implementing a Hybrid SharePoint 2013/2016 Infrastructure SharePoint hybrid infrastructures are gaining popularity, so SharePoint IT professionals need to prepare. You’ll learn how to configure a hybrid infrastructure in either SharePoint 2013 or SharePoint 2016 to allow your users to be more productive. Link: http://spvlad.com/2EXQIO1 Free Pluralsight Trial: Get a free 10 day Pluralsight Trial!
	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. In this course, you will learn how to install and configure Office Online Server in your organization. Link: http://spvlad.com/LearnOfficeOnlineServer Free Pluralsight Trial: Get a free 10 day Pluralsight Trial!
	Provision and Configure Web Applications in SharePoint 2016 Web Applications are a core part of every SharePoint Server implementation. In this course, you’ll learn everything that you need to know in order to be create Web Applications in your SharePoint 2016 environment. Link: http://spvlad.com/SP2016WebApps Free Pluralsight Trial: Get a free 10 day Pluralsight Trial!
	Upgrading Your Farm to SharePoint 2016 Are you preparing to upgrade to SharePoint 2016? This course will teach you how to approach the project, evaluate your current state, and successfully upgrade from SharePoint 2013 to SharePoint 2016. Link: http://spvlad.com/2mVOAzC Free Pluralsight Trial: Get a free 10 day Pluralsight Trial!
	What’s new in SharePoint 2016 for IT Pros Start the New Year off right! Join Vlad Catrinescu, Microsoft MVP and president of vNext Solutions, as he helps you prepare for the coming release of SharePoint 2016. This latest version of SharePoint comes with a plethora of new features and promises greater stability and true hybrid readiness. As an IT Professional, you need to know what SharePoint 2016 has in it and how it will impact your SharePoint implementation. Link: https://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/vladcatrinescu/Whats-new-in-SharePoint-2016-for-IT-Pros

Instructor-led training (Microsoft Official Courses)

Articles / Blog Posts per objective

Design SharePoint infrastructure (15–20%)

• Design information architecture
  • Design an inter-site navigational taxonomy; design site columns and content types; design keywords, synonyms, promoted results, managed properties, durable links, and document library accessibility; plan information management policies; plan compliance features, such as document fingerprinting and item-level encryption; plan search for sensitive and non-sensitive content; plan managed site structures; plan term sets; plan for support of Open Document Format (ODF); plan mobile navigation
    1. Set Open Document Format (ODF) as the default file template for a library [Office Support]
    2. Plan navigation term sets in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
    3. Plan for managed metadata in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
    4. Overview of managed navigation in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
• Design a logical architecture
  • Plan application pools; plan web applications; plan for software boundaries; plan content databases; plan host-header site collections; plan Fast Site Collection creation; plan zones and alternate access mapping
    1. Planning for SharePoint Server 2016: Logical Architecture and Integrations [Pluralsight]
    2. Use Windows PowerShell cmdlets to manage sites in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
    3. Plan for Internet, intranet, and extranet publishing sites in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
    4. Overview of publishing to Internet, intranet, and extranet sites in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
    5. Database types and descriptions in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
    6. Manage databases in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
• Design a physical architecture
  • Design a server farm topology (traditional, streamlined, hybrid) by using MinRole (user roles, robot services roles, cache services roles); design Central Administration deployment; design a storage architecture, including ReFS; configure basic request management; define individual server requirements; define service topologies; plan server load balancing; plan a network infrastructure; plan for large file support; plan an app hosting model
    1. Planning for SharePoint Server 2016: Physical Topology and Services [Pluralsight]
    2. Overview of MinRole Server Roles in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
    3. Description of MinRole and associated services in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
    4. Planning for a MinRole server deployment in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
    5. Managing a MinRole Server Farm in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
    6. Hybrid for SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
• Plan an installation
  • Identify and configure installation prerequisites, implement scripted deployment, plan Access Services deployment, plan Project Server installation, implement patch slipstreaming, plan and install language packs, plan and configure service connection points, plan installation tracking and auditing, plan and install Office Online Server, implement managed paths for Office 365 migrations, configure SharePoint hybrid cloud settings
    1. Prepare for installation of SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
    2. Install SharePoint Server 2016[TechNet]
    3. Configure services and service applications in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
    4. Manage the Distributed Cache service in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
• Plan a hybrid cloud environment
  • Plan for deployment of Office Online; configure server-to-server authentication; configure OAuth; configure Audiences and hybrid features, to include Search, OneDrive for Business, Team Sites, extensible App Launcher, and hybrid picker tools
    1. Implementing a Hybrid SharePoint 2013/2016 Infrastructure [Pluralsight]
    2. SharePoint Server 2016 hybrid configuration roadmaps [TechNet]
    3. Plan SharePoint Server 2016 hybrid [TechNet]
    4. SharePoint hybrid sites and search [Office Support]
    5. Configure Office 365 for SharePoint hybrid [TechNet]
    6. Hybrid for SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]

Plan authentication and security (15–20%)

• Plan and configure authentication
  • Plan and configure Windows authentication, plan and configure anonymous authentication, plan connection encryption (TLS, SMTP), plan and configure identity federation, configure claims providers, configure site-to-site (S2S) intra-server and OAuth authentication, configure connections to Access Control Service, configure authentication for hybrid cloud deployment
    1. Plan for user authentication methods in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
• Plan and configure authorization
  • Plan and configure SharePoint users and groups, plan and configure People Picker, plan and configure sharing (hints, one-click, create and share), plan and configure permission inheritance, plan and configure anonymous access, plan web application policies
    1. Configure People Picker in SharePoint [TechNet]
    2. People Picker and claims providers overview [TechNet]
    3. Plan for People Picker in SharePoint [TechNet]
• Plan and configure platform and farm security
  • Plan and configure security isolation, services lockdown, and antivirus settings; plan and configure certificate management; plan for Kerberos support for service applications; plan and configure information rights management (IRM), delegated farm administration, and delegated service application administration; plan and configure managed accounts; plan and configure blocked file types; plan and configure web part security, including WOPI support
    1. Plan security hardening for SharePoint [TechNet]
    2. Security planning for SharePoint farms [TechNet]
    3. Configure SQL Server security for SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
    4. Certain folders may have to be excluded from antivirus scanning when you use file-level antivirus software in SharePoint [Office Support]
• Create and configure a User Profile Service (UPA) application
  • Configure a UPA application, configure social permissions, plan and configure sync connections of MIM 2016 synchronization, configure profile properties, configure claims integration with UPA
    1. Overview & Setup of MIM Configuration as External Identity Manager in SharePoint 2016 [Blog Post]
    2. Install Microsoft Identity Manager for User Profiles in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
• Manage site and site collection security
  • Manage site access requests, manage App permissions, manage anonymous access, manage permission inheritance, configure permission levels, configure HTML field security
    1. Set up and manage access requests [Office Support Article]
• Provision and configure web applications
  • Create managed paths, configure Alternate Access Mappings (AAM), configure SharePoint Designer settings
    1. Provision and Configure Web Applications in SharePoint 2016 [Pluralsight]
    2. Web applications management in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]

Plan workload optimization (15–20%)

• Create and maintain site collections
  • Provision Fast Site Collection Creation, configure Host header site collections, configure self-service site creation, maintain site owners, maintain site quotas, configure site policies, configure a team mailbox, plan Sites Page Pinning
    1. Fast Site Collection Creation in SharePoint Server 2016 [Blog Post]
    2. SharePoint 2016 – Fast Site Creation [Blog Post]
• Plan SharePoint high availability and disaster recovery solutions
  • Plan for service distribution, plan for service instance configuration, plan for physical server distribution, plan for network redundancy, plan for server load balancing, plan for SQL Server aliases, plan for SQL Server clustering, plan for SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Groups, plan for SQL Server Log Shipping, plan for storage redundancy, plan for login replication
    1. Supported high availability and disaster recovery options for SharePoint databases (SharePoint Server 2016) [TechNet]
    2. Create a high availability architecture and strategy for SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
    3. Disaster Recovery best practices for SharePoint Server and Access Services [TechNet]
    4. Choose a disaster recovery strategy for SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
    5. High availability and disaster recovery concepts in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
• Plan backup and restore
  • Establish a SharePoint backup schedule, establish a SQL Server backup schedule, plan a non-production environment content refresh, plan for farm configuration recovery, plan for service application recovery, plan for content recovery, configure a recovery solution using SQL Database running in Azure and other Azure backup solutions
    1. Overview of backup and recovery in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
    2. Plan for backup and recovery in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
    3. Restore farms in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
    4. Back up customizations in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
    5. Restore service applications in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
• Plan and configure social workloads
  • Plan communities, plan My Sites, plan OneDrive redirection, plan social permissions, plan user profiles, plan activity feeds, plan connections, configure Yammer settings
    1. Overview of OneDrive for Business in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
    2. Overview of My Sites in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
    3. Plan for OneDrive for Business in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
    4. Plan for My Sites in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
• Plan and configure a Web Content Management (WCM) workload
  • Plan and configure channels, plan and configure product catalog and topic pages, plan and configure Design Manager, plan and configure content deployment, plan and configure display templates, plan and configure variations
• Plan and configure an Enterprise Content Management (ECM) workload
  • Plan and configure E-Discovery; plan and configure document routing; plan and configure co-authoring; plan and configure durable links; plan and configure record disposition and retention; plan large document repositories; plan and configure software boundaries; plan and configure Data Loss Prevention, In-Place Holds, and Document Deletion features
    1. Overview of data loss prevention in SharePoint Server 2016 [Office Support]
    2. Create a DLP query in SharePoint Server 2016 [Office Support]
    3. Configure DLP in SharePoint 2016 Step by Step Tutorial [Blog Post]
    4. Data Loss Prevention (DLP) in SharePoint 2016 and SharePoint Online [Blog Post]

Plan productivity solutions (15–20%)

• Evaluate content and customizations
  • Perform migration pre-check tasks, analyze content database test results, configure web application authentication for upgrade, resolve orphan objects, resolve missing file system components, resolve configuration conflict issues
    1. Create a plan for current customizations during upgrade to SharePoint [TechNet]
    2. Troubleshoot site collection upgrade issues in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
• Plan an upgrade process
  • Plan removal of servers in rotation, configure a parallel upgrade, configure read-only access for content, configure upgrade farms, measure upgrade performance, plan an installation sequence, plan and migrate SharePoint on-premises to SharePoint Online or a hybrid topology
    1. Get started with upgrades to SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
    2. Upgrade databases from SharePoint 2013 to SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
    3. Upgrade site collections to SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
• Create and configure app management
  • Create and configure the App Store, create and configure subscriptions, configure marketplace connections, configure DNS entries, configure wildcard certificates
    1. Configure an environment for apps for SharePoint [TechNet]
    2. SharePoint 2016 : Subscription Settings Service Application Step by Step [TechNet Wiki]
• Create and configure productivity services
  • Create and configure Office Online Server, Microsoft Access services, Microsoft Visio services, Microsoft Word Automation services, Microsoft PowerPoint Conversion services, and Translation Services; configure hybrid OneDrive for Business with Profile Redirection and Extensible App Launcher; plan and install Office Online Server, SharePoint Insights, and SharePoint Server Telemetry features
    1. Configure Office Online Server for SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
    2. Configure services and service applications in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
• Create and configure a Business Connectivity Service (BCS) and Secure Store application
  • Import and configure BCS models, configure BCS model security, configure BCS for search, generate a Secure Store master key, manage Secure Store target application permissions, create Secure Store target applications, configure hybrid BCS
    1. Deploy a Business Connectivity Services hybrid solution in SharePoint 2013 [TechNet]
    2. Creating a SharePoint 2016 External Content Type trough OData in VS 2015 with EF6 [Blog Post]
• Manage SharePoint solutions and applications
  • Manage sandbox solution quotas, configure sandbox solution management, deploy farm solutions, upgrade farm solutions, deploy Apps, upgrade Apps

Manage search capabilities (10–15%)

• Create and configure Enterprise search
  • Plan and configure a search topology, plan and configure content sources, plan and configure crawl schedules, plan and configure crawl rules, plan and configure crawl performance, plan and configure security trimming, choose and configure hybrid search
    1. Administer search in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
• Create and configure a Managed Metadata Service (MMS) application
  • Configure proxy settings for managed service applications, configure content type hub settings, configure sharing term sets, plan and configure content type propagation schedules, configure custom properties, configure term store permissions, configure managed metadata service (MMS) imports
    1. Configure the Managed Metadata service [TechNet]
• Manage search
  • Manage result sources; manage query rules; manage display templates; manage Search Engine Optimization (SEO) settings; manage result types; manage a search schema; manage federated search, including integration with Delve and Office Graph
    1. Administer search in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
• Manage taxonomy
  • Manage site collection term set access, manage term set navigation, manage topic catalog pages, configure custom properties, configure search refinement, configure list refinement
• Plan and configure a search workload
  • Plan and configure search result relevancy, plan and configure index freshness, plan and configure result sources, plan and configure the end-user experience, plan and configure a search schema, analyze search analytics reports
    1. Administer search in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]

Plan and configure cloud services (5–10%)

• Plan and configure a BI infrastructure
  • Plan and configure Performance Point, plan and configure reporting services, plan and configure PowerPivot, plan and configure Excel Services (Office Online only), plan and configure PowerView, plan and configure BI security
    1. Deploying SQL Server 2016 PowerPivot and Power View in a Multi-Tier SharePoint 2016 Farm [WhitePaper]
• Create and configure work management
  • Configure a connection to Exchange, activate and configure a connection to Microsoft Project Server 2016, manage trusts, plan Exchange configuration for E-Discovery
    1. Install and configure Project Server 2016
• Plan and configure cloud and federated hybrid search
  • Plan and configure on-premises and Office 365 search and encrypted metadata when content is transferred to the search index in Office 365, configure user specific queries and inbound/outbound or bi-directional hybrid topologies
    1. Implementing a Hybrid SharePoint 2013/2016 Infrastructure [Pluralsight]

Monitor and optimize a SharePoint environment (10–15%)

• Monitor a SharePoint environment
  • Define monitoring requirements, configure performance counter capture, configure page performance monitoring, configure usage and health providers, monitor and forecast storage needs, monitor SharePoint hybrid cloud deployments
    1. Monitor health in SharePoint 2016 [TechNet]
• Tune and optimize a SharePoint environment
  • Plan and configure SQL optimization, execute database maintenance rules, plan for capacity software boundaries, estimate storage requirements, plan and configure caching and a caching strategy, tune network performance, plan and configure Zero Downtime Patching
    1. Maximizing SQL 2012 Performance for SharePoint 2013 [Whitepaper]
    2. Software boundaries and limits for SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
    3. SharePoint Server 2016 Zero-Downtime Patching demystified [Blog Post]
    4. Video demo of Zero Downtime Patching in SharePoint Server 2016 [TechNet]
• Troubleshoot a SharePoint environment
  • Establish baseline performance, perform client-side tracing, perform server-side tracing, analyze usage data, enable a developer dashboard, analyze diagnostic logs, troubleshoot SharePoint hybrid cloud issues
    1. View diagnostic logs in SharePoint 2016
    2. View health reports in SharePoint 2016
    3. Configure usage and health data collection in SharePoint 2016
    4. View data in the logging database in SharePoint 2016
    5. Configure diagnostic logging in SharePoint 2016

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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