Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate AZ-800 Book

Step-by-Step Guide: Seizing/Transferring the Schema Master Role to DC2

✅ Step 1: Log in to DC2

Use an account that is a member of the Schema Admins, Enterprise Admins, and Domain Admins groups.

✅ Step 2: Register the Schema Snap-in

The Schema snap-in is not loaded by default.

Open Command Prompt as Administrator.

Type the following command to register the schema management DLL:

powershell

Copy

regsvr32 schmmgmt.dll

✅ Step 3: Open MMC (Microsoft Management Console)

Press Windows + R, type mmc, and hit Enter.

In MMC, go to File > Add/Remove Snap-in.

Select Active Directory Schema, then click Add > OK.

✅ Step 4: Connect to DC2

In the Active Directory Schema console, right-click Active Directory Schema and select Change Active Directory Domain Controller.

In the dialog box, select DC2 and click OK.

This will connect the console to DC2.

✅ Step 5: Transfer the Schema Master Role

Right-click Active Directory Schema again and select Operations Master.

In the Change Schema Master dialog box, confirm that DC2 is shown as the target.

Click the Change button to transfer the Schema Master role to DC2.

Click Yes when prompted to confirm the transfer.

✅ Step 6: Verify the Transfer

In the same dialog box, ensure that DC2 is now listed as the Schema Master.

Optionally, run the following command in PowerShell to verify:

netdom query fsmo

The Schema Master should now be DC2.

In Azure File Sync architecture (covered in Administering Windows Server Hybrid Core Infrastructure under “Implement and manage storage solutions”), the fundamental design points are:

Sync group – “A sync group defines a sync topology. Each sync group contains exactly one cloud endpoint (an Azure file share) and one or more server endpoints.” A server endpoint is a folder on a registered Windows Server. A server can participate in multiple sync groups so long as the server endpoints are different paths.

Storage Sync Service – “The Storage Sync Service is the top-level resource that maintains server registrations and houses your sync groups.” A Windows Server registers to one Storage Sync Service at a time, and that service can contain many sync groups and many servers.

Applying these rules to the requirement:

You have three Azure file shares: newyorkfiles, seattlefiles, and companyfiles. Because each sync group maps to one cloud endpoint, you need one sync group per share ⇒ 3 sync groups.

FS1 must sync with newyorkfiles and companyfiles; FS2 must sync with seattlefiles and companyfiles. Since one Storage Sync Service can host multiple sync groups and multiple servers, and a server must be registered to a single service, the most efficient design is a single Storage Sync Service containing all three sync groups and both servers.

The exam materials for Administering Windows Server Hybrid Core Infrastructure explain that when replacing private WAN links with Azure, Azure Virtual WAN (vWAN) can be used to centralize connectivity. For private connectivity, ExpressRoute integrates directly with a vWAN hub by deploying an ExpressRoute gateway in the hub. The gateway is the Azure resource that terminates ExpressRoute and enables hub-and-spoke routing to connected VNets (such as Vnet1). The guides emphasize: “In a Virtual WAN hub, use the ExpressRoute gateway to connect ExpressRoute circuits and propagate routes across the hub to your virtual networks.”

On-premises, each site (New York and Seattle) requires an ExpressRoute circuit connection provisioned via a connectivity provider. The circuit is the dedicated private connection from the customer edge to Microsoft’s edge and is what the office sites actually use; it’s then linked to the vWAN hub’s ExpressRoute gateway. The same materials note that Site-to-Site VPN is an alternative transport but is not required when ExpressRoute is mandated. Likewise, Application Gateway is a Layer-7 load balancer for HTTP/S traffic, and on-premises data gateway relates to Power BI/Power Platform hybrid connectivity, neither of which establishes network transport between offices and Azure.

Therefore, to meet the requirement “connect both on-premises offices to Vnet1 by using ExpressRoute,” configure an ExpressRoute gateway on the vWAN hub and ExpressRoute circuit connections in the offices.