Manage a Modern Network with Microsoft 365 Beginner Bootcamp

Explore the shift from legacy to modern networks, from desktop to remote work, and how data center design, VPN limits, and shadow IT reshape collaboration.

Explore data center design by defining a data center, and analyze resiliency, redundancy, and security—physical and virtual—while tracing the shift from single servers to virtualization and cloud concepts.

Explore cloud concepts, data centers, and as-a-service models while understanding Microsoft 365 and Azure, data at rest, in motion, and in use, zero-trust, and governance for compliance.

Explore as-a-service models, IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS, and learn how cost, time, and quality tradeoffs shape cloud decisions for data centers, storage, and hosted Microsoft 365 services.

Explore modern hybridization as the new norm enabling work from anywhere with Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive, while highlighting cost savings, increased talent pools, and KPI-based productivity.

Analyze Microsoft 365 licensing, from Microsoft 365 for business tiers to Office 365 E1/E3/E5 and frontline F3, weighing features, security, and consolidation opportunities.

Sign up for a Microsoft 365 trial and create your tenant. Set up an admin account, assign a license, and explore the Microsoft 365 admin center.

Explore how virtualization lets one server host multiple virtual machines, boosting resiliency and cutting costs. See cloud, data center, and workstation virtualization with Azure, Hyper-V, and VMware examples.

Create and configure a Windows Server 2019 virtual machine with VirtualBox, install the OS, set up initial settings, and prepare for future domain controller and DNS work.

Explore Active Directory domain services, compare domains with workgroups, and learn how domain controllers, replication, and a forest namespace organize users, computers, and policies.

Promote a Windows Server to a new Active Directory domain by installing Active Directory Domain Services, creating a forest and domain, and configuring DNS and NetBIOS.

Explore the domain name system as the lifeblood of Active Directory and the internet, covering name resolution, recursion, and core records like A, AAAA, MX, and CNAME.

Purchase a public domain name and attach it to your Office 365 tenant. Verify ownership with a TXT record and configure DNS records for Exchange Online and SPF, noting propagation.

Connect on-premise active directory with Azure Active Directory to deliver a unified sign-in for Microsoft 365. Learn password hash synchronization, pass-through authentication, and federation, with password hash synchronization as default.

Install and configure Azure AD Connect to link on-premises Active Directory with Azure Active Directory. Enable password hash synchronization and manage selective user synchronization for hybrid identity.

Upgrade your Office 365/Microsoft 365 license to Azure Active Directory Premium Plan 1 or 2 to enable advanced identity and access management, conditional access, and other security guardrails.

Explore role based access controls in Microsoft 365, covering enterprise, domain, and global admin roles, and apply the principle of least privilege with auditing and privileged identity management.

Learn to delegate access with role-based controls in Microsoft 365, using Azure AD and Office 365 admin centers to assign roles and audit changes for least privilege.

Explore group-based licensing in Azure AD for scalable Office 365 licensing, with onboarding and offboarding workflows, and data retention and e-discovery considerations.

Set up and configure group-based licensing in a lab, create a universal security group, and synchronize on-premises AD with Azure AD to assign EMS E5 licenses.

Explore how multi-factor authentication strengthens Azure Active Directory security, using two or more methods (password, trusted device, biometrics) and leveraging conditional access and end user self service to reduce risk.

Configure Azure AD password policies and self service password reset, enable password write back with AD Connect, and personalize branding to secure cloud and on premises access.

Create and test Azure AD conditional access policies to enforce admin and user MFA, block legacy authentication, and manage sign-in frequency with per-policy assignments.

Explore enterprise applications and single sign-on with Azure Active Directory, linking on-premises and cloud apps like Box, Salesforce, and SAP, using OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, and SAML 2.0.

Explore enterprise applications in the Azure Active Directory portal, configure the admin consent workflow, manage user and group consent, and apply conditional access policies to cloud apps.

Discover external identities as third-party collaborators and how Azure AD guest accounts simplify secure cross-organization collaboration for Teams, SharePoint, and other cloud resources.

Explore external identity security policies in Azure Active Directory, configuring guest invitations, domain restrictions, and B2B collaboration to control guest access and cross-tenant sharing.

Explore identity protection in Azure AD premium, analyzing sign-in and user risk with machine learning to detect atypical travel, hijacked tokens, and suspicious IPs for automated security responses.

Enable and tune Azure AD Identity Protection risk policies, including sign-in and user risk, require MFA for risk, trigger password changes, and review risk reports from risky sign-ins.

Explore entitlement management with access packages and access reviews to govern the lifecycle of access for guests and users, under Azure AD premium licensing.

Explore identity governance in Office 365 with entitlement management, access packages, catalogs, and resources, then implement approval workflows and access reviews to manage guest access and lifecycle.

Elevate your standard account to privileged roles via just-in-time, time-bound access in Azure Active Directory, enforced by approvals and MFA, with audits, access reviews, and last global admin protection.

Configure privileged identity management in Azure AD for a single user, switching from eligible to active, enforcing multi-factor authentication and justification, and auditing activations via notifications.

Explore device management in Azure Active Directory with Intune, covering registered, joined, and hybrid joined states to secure access with conditional access and protect Office 365 data.

Create a Windows 10 enterprise client in VirtualBox, join to on-premises Active Directory, and configure hybrid Azure AD join using Azure AD Connect and MFA exclusions.

Explore how Intune enables Windows, Mac, and mobile device management via hybrid join and Azure Active Directory enrollment, with compliance, configuration, app protection, and selective wipe to protect corporate data.

Learn to enable automatic enrollment of Windows 10 devices into Microsoft Intune via Azure Active Directory, configure MDM scope and hybrid join, and verify enrollment in Intune.

Explore Defender for Endpoint to detect, respond to, and auto-remediate threats across devices and servers using bi-directional telemetry and comprehensive exposure insights.

Upgrade to Microsoft 365 E5 licensing via a one-month trial, assign licenses to users, and explore Defender for Endpoint, Purview, and other E5 services as the tenant activates.

Enroll a device in Defender for Endpoint using a simple onboarding script, and explore the endpoint portal, device inventory, vulnerability management, and Intune and Office 365 integration.

Learn the fundamentals of email delivery, including smtp, common ports (25, 587, 2525), dns mx routing, and how exchange online and on-premise exchange handle mail flow.

Explore how Exchange handles mail flow and transport, from front-end and transport services to mailbox delivery, including domains, connectors, and recipient types.

Explore transport rules in exchange online, manage mail flow, aliases, and shared mailboxes, and configure distribution groups and archives within the exchange admin center.

Master mail hygiene in Microsoft 365 by distinguishing good from bad emails, understanding phishing types, and applying SPF, DKIM, DMARC, quarantine policies, MFA, and Defender for Office 365.

Extend on-premises exchange to exchange online using the hybrid configuration wizard for a mostly seamless two-organization coexistence with remote routing addresses and scoped mail flow.

In Lab 19, explore Defender for Office 365 policies in the security center, configure anti-phishing, impersonation protection, anti-spam, SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and phishing simulations.

Explore client access in Office 365, focusing on Outlook desktop, Outlook on the web, and mobile Outlook apps; learn Autodiscover, modern authentication, and secure connections over port 443.

Explore client access in Microsoft 365: install Office, use Outlook web and desktop, configure Autodiscover, manage mail with rules, and coordinate calendars via Free/Busy, delegation, and Teams meetings.

Explore the modern collaboration architecture (MoCA) in Office 365, detailing file collaboration, meetings, and the me, we, them, and us spaces.

Learn modern file collaboration in Microsoft 365 using OneDrive for business and SharePoint Online. Explore coauthoring, version history, simplified permissions with Microsoft 365 groups, and cloud-first document storage.

Explore how OneDrive for Business and SharePoint enable secure co-authoring and file sharing, including external access controls, version history, and admin policies.

Explore modern Microsoft 365 communications with SharePoint online communication sites, Yammer communities, and Teams to broadcast internal communications and engage users.

Explore building SharePoint communication sites with templates from the Lookbook, configure permissions, and integrate Yammer communities for bi-directional collaboration, publishing, and site analytics.

Explore presence, chats, and meetings in Teams for seamless collaboration. Learn about OneDrive file sharing, meeting notes, recording, live captions, and at mentions.

Shows how to create and manage teams in Microsoft 365, configure channels and permissions, integrate with Exchange and SharePoint, and use forms, Planner, and OneNote for collaboration.

Secure your Microsoft Teams environment by installing and regulating third party apps via the admin center, enforcing guest, external access, and governance policies.

Understand how Microsoft’s global network and front doors connect Teams, how VPN, proxies, and DNS affect real-time voice quality, and explore PSTN calling, auto attendant, call groups, queues, and presence.

Explore real-time communications in Microsoft Teams by enabling PSTN calls, assigning domestic calling plans and numbers, and configuring auto attendants, call queues, and voice apps for enterprise voice.

Explore how the Microsoft Purview compliance center governs data across cloud and on-premises, using data states and sensitive information types with trainable classifiers for governance and compliance.

Explore the Purview compliance portal to identify sensitive information types and use data classification, trainable classifiers, and Content Explorer to locate data across Microsoft 365 services.

Explore data loss prevention in Microsoft 365, stopping sensitive data exfiltration across emails, SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams, and on-premises repositories.

Learn to configure Microsoft 365 data loss prevention policies to detect sensitive information (PII, HIPAA) and encrypt or block external sharing across Exchange, SharePoint/OneDrive, and Teams.

Demonstrate data loss prevention across Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams to stop sensitive data leaving the organization. See encryption, policy tips, and admin alerts enabling secure collaboration.

Explore Microsoft information protection (MIP) and sensitivity labeling to safeguard data at rest, in use, and in motion, using manual and automatic labeling, encryption, and rights management.

Explore data lifecycle management in Microsoft 365, distinguishing retention from deletion, and implement static and adaptive retention policies, labels, and eDiscovery holds across Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams.

Apply retention labels such as keep for one year and keep for ten years across SharePoint and OneDrive, observe inheritance behavior and explicit overrides.

Explore data lifecycle management and retention policies in Office 365, outlining service side and adaptive scopes, retention labeling, and eDiscovery to meet corporate compliance and legal needs.

Learn to configure information protection labels and retention policies in the compliance center, publish them to office apps, enable audit, and implement client- and service-side auto labeling.

Explore information protection in Microsoft 365 by applying sensitivity labels, testing end-user and admin experiences, and configuring retention and data loss prevention policies across OneDrive, SharePoint, and Exchange.

Explore the compliance center’s outliers and advanced features, including data connectors, e-discovery, and communication compliance, plus insider risk management and Defender for Cloud Apps.