Sample chapter: Upgrading Your Skills to MCSA Windows Server 2012 R2: Configure a Network Policy Server Infrastructure

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In this sample chapter from Exam Ref 70-417: Upgrading Your Skills to MCSA Windows Server 2012 R2, you will learn how to configure Network Access Protection (NAP).

Network Access Protection (NAP), as you know, is a Windows Server technology that enforces health requirements on client computers as they attempt to connect to a company network. These health requirements can relate to the status of software updates, of anti-virus protection, of host firewall status, or of spyware protection. NAP was first introduced in Windows Server 2008.

In a move that surprised many, Microsoft announced with the release of Windows Server 2012 R2 that NAP has been officially deprecated (set on a path to obsolescence). Some improved alternative to NAP might very well appear in a future version of Windows Server, but for now, you still have to deal with NAP on the 70-417 exam. Questions about NAP are not being phased out.

Although NAP doesn’t include any significant new features in Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2012 R2, one important new feature, System Health Validator (SHV) Multi-configuration, did appear in Windows Server 2008 R2. This new feature falls within “Configure Network Access Protection,” the one NAP objective listed for the 70-417 exam.