Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012 Exam Research & Evidence-Based Practice 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Industry research on Windows Server 2012 security baselines recommends setting the account lockout threshold to which value?
- 3 invalid attempts
- 5 invalid attempts (Correct answer)
- 10 invalid attempts
- No lockout
Correct answer: 5 invalid attempts
Security research and CIS benchmarks recommend 5 invalid logon attempts as the lockout threshold, balancing brute-force protection against operational disruption.
Question 2: Evidence-based practices for Windows Server 2012 DNS recommend enabling which feature to prevent DNS cache poisoning attacks?
- DNS Aging and Scavenging
- DNSSEC (Correct answer)
- DNS Forwarders
- DNS Round Robin
Correct answer: DNSSEC
DNSSEC (DNS Security Extensions) cryptographically signs DNS records, providing evidence-based protection against cache poisoning and spoofing attacks.
Question 3: According to deployment studies, which Windows Server 2012 feature allows administrators to evaluate the impact of Group Policy changes before applying them?
- Group Policy Modeling (Correct answer)
- Group Policy Results
- Group Policy Inheritance
- Group Policy Loopback Processing
Correct answer: Group Policy Modeling
Group Policy Modeling simulates the resultant set of policies without applying them, allowing evidence-based evaluation of policy changes before deployment.
Question 4: Research on Windows Server 2012 storage spaces recommends which resiliency type for a three-way mirror when one drive fails?
- Simple (no resiliency)
- Two-way mirror
- Three-way mirror (Correct answer)
- Parity
Correct answer: Three-way mirror
A three-way mirror in Storage Spaces requires at least 5 drives and can survive two simultaneous drive failures, providing the highest evidence-based resiliency.
Question 5: Based on Windows Server 2012 network performance research, which feature reduces CPU utilization by offloading TCP/IP processing to the network adapter?
- NIC Teaming
- TCP Chimney Offload (Correct answer)
- Receive Side Scaling
- NetDMA
Correct answer: TCP Chimney Offload
TCP Chimney Offload transfers TCP/IP connection processing from the CPU to a capable NIC, reducing server CPU load based on performance research evidence.
Question 6: Evidence-based Windows Server 2012 virtualization guidelines recommend setting Hyper-V virtual machine memory to which configuration for dynamic workloads?
- Static allocation matching peak demand
- Dynamic Memory with startup and maximum values (Correct answer)
- Minimum memory only
- Maximum memory only
Correct answer: Dynamic Memory with startup and maximum values
Hyper-V Dynamic Memory, configured with startup and maximum values, allows VMs to consume only what they need, improving host density based on research evidence.
Question 7: According to Microsoft security research, what is the recommended approach for managing local administrator accounts across Windows Server 2012 systems?
- Use a shared password for all local admin accounts
- Rename the Administrator account and use LAPS (Correct answer)
- Disable the Administrator account entirely
- Use a domain account for all local admin tasks
Correct answer: Rename the Administrator account and use LAPS
Microsoft's Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS) randomizes local admin passwords per machine; combined with renaming the account, this is the evidence-based best practice.
Industry research on Windows Server 2012 security baselines recommends setting the account lockout threshold to which value?