70-740 Installation, Storage, and Compute with Windows Server 2016 Exam Guide
70-740 validated practical knowledge of installing, storing, and running compute workloads with Windows Server 2016. It served IT professionals involved with Windows Server installation, storage, Hyper-V, containers, and server maintenance, especially candidates pursuing the MCSA: Windows Server 2016 path. This guide helps you make the important decision first: whether to study historical 70-740 material for skills development or verify whether a current Microsoft credential better matches your certification goal, because 70-740 has retired.
Should you still prepare for 70-740?
No candidate can take 70-740 now. Microsoft announced that all remaining exams associated with MCSA, MCSD, and MCSE, including 70-740, would retire on January 31, 2021. Microsoft’s retirement guidance states that retired exams cannot be taken and the associated certification cannot be earned after retirement. Use this guide for Windows Server 2016 knowledge, historical study, or transition planning—not to schedule this exam. [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/certifications/posts/mcsa-mcsd-mcse-certifications-retire-with-continued-investment-to-role-based-certifications]
The retirement changes the sensible preparation decision. If your objective is a current Microsoft certification, begin with Microsoft’s current certification offerings and choose a role-based path that fits your work. If your objective is to understand an older Windows Server environment, the 70-740 objectives remain a useful study boundary, but you should label the material as historical and avoid treating old exam availability information as current.
Microsoft explains that credentials are reviewed and retired when they no longer reflect the latest skills and technologies. A passed certification remains on a learner’s transcript, subject to Microsoft’s transcript and expiration rules, but retirement prevents new candidates from earning the associated credential. [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/support/retired-certification-exams]
What did 70-740 validate?
The exam was titled “Installation, Storage, and Compute with Windows Server 2016” and focused on installation, storage, and compute functionality in that server operating system. Its audience included candidates involved in Windows Server 2016 installation and administration, with expected familiarity in local and server storage, virtualization, containers, high availability, disaster recovery, and server monitoring. [https://download.microsoft.com/download/1/E/F/1EF736CD-FF40-44CA-B7EA-DB8150E48B8C/740_OD_Changes.pdf]
This was not a narrow installation test. The objectives connected initial deployment decisions with operational administration: selecting an edition, deploying an image, managing disks and volumes, configuring resilient storage, and maintaining physical or virtual compute environments. A useful study question is therefore not only “Which command performs this task?” but also “Which Windows Server 2016 option fits this requirement and why?”
Microsoft’s historical preparation session described 70-740 as one of the exams required for MCSA: Windows Server 2016. The complete certification path also included 70-741 Networking with Windows Server 2016 and 70-742 Identity with Windows Server 2016; passing 70-740 alone did not represent the complete MCSA path. [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/shows/ignite-2016/brk3269]
Which skills belong in the study plan?
Build the plan around installation, deployment images, storage solutions, and compute environments. The official objectives included Windows Server 2016 requirements and editions, Server Core, Nano Server, PowerShell Desired State Configuration, upgrades and migrations, activation, offline image servicing, Hyper-V, containers, Storage Spaces Direct, Failover Clustering, Data Deduplication, high availability, disaster recovery, and monitoring. [https://download.microsoft.com/download/1/E/F/1EF736CD-FF40-44CA-B7EA-DB8150E48B8C/740_OD_Changes.pdf]
The installation area required more than knowing the graphical setup sequence. Candidates were expected to distinguish installation choices, understand Server Core and Nano Server management, consider migration from Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2012, and recognize activation models such as AVMA, KMS, and Active Directory-based Activation.
The deployment-image objectives included virtualization planning, Linux and FreeBSD deployments, MAP Toolkit assessment, offline-image servicing, and management of Server Core, Nano Server, and VHD images with PowerShell. Study these as connected deployment workflows: assess the target environment, select an image approach, service it appropriately, and verify how it will be managed after deployment.
For compute, include Hyper-V and Containers rather than treating virtualization as an optional extra. The audience profile also expected candidates to maintain and monitor servers in physical and compute environments. That means your notes should connect configuration with ongoing administration, capacity, availability, and recovery decisions.
How should the objective weights affect revision?
Use the published weights to prioritize, but do not mistake them for a complete score forecast. The objective domain “Install Windows Servers in Host and Compute Environments” was weighted at 10–15%, and “Implement Storage Solutions” was weighted at 10–15%. The supplied official snapshot does not provide weights for every objective domain, so obtain the current historical outline when available and keep the domain labels attached to every weight. [https://download.microsoft.com/download/1/E/F/1EF736CD-FF40-44CA-B7EA-DB8150E48B8C/740_OD_Changes.pdf]
A practical allocation method is to give each published domain a dedicated lab block, then use the remaining study time to cover the other listed objectives and revisit weak areas. Do not compare 10–15% with an unlabeled percentage or turn the range into an assumed exact proportion.
For “Install Windows Servers in Host and Compute Environments,” revise installation requirements, editions, deployment images, virtualization planning, Server Core, Nano Server, and image servicing together. For “Implement Storage Solutions,” revise disks, volumes, Data Deduplication, Storage Spaces Direct, high availability, disaster recovery, and Failover Clustering as design and troubleshooting scenarios rather than isolated definitions.
What should you practise in a Windows Server lab?
A small, repeatable lab is more valuable than passive rereading for this objective set. Practise a complete sequence: choose an installation form, deploy or modify an image, manage the server remotely or through PowerShell, configure storage, create a virtual workload, and check the resulting system. Keep the lab focused on Windows Server 2016 concepts and record why each choice was appropriate.
Begin with installation decisions. Compare the management implications of a full installation, Server Core, and Nano Server within the limits of the historical objectives. Exercise image handling with VHD files and offline servicing, then document the commands, prerequisites, and verification steps in your own words. The point is to reproduce a process, not memorize a command without understanding its effect.
Add storage exercises that distinguish ordinary disk and volume administration from resilient or clustered designs. Work through a scenario involving capacity, availability, or recovery requirements and explain why Data Deduplication, Storage Spaces Direct, Failover Clustering, or a disaster-recovery approach would or would not fit. Do not assume that every storage feature belongs in every environment.
Include a virtualization pass covering Hyper-V and Containers. Write down the workload requirement, the host or guest boundary, the management method, and the operational checks you would perform. The official audience profile expects familiarity with managing these technologies, so your practice should include administration and monitoring, not only initial creation.
How can you sequence preparation efficiently?
Study in dependency order: establish the operating-system installation model, learn image deployment and servicing, move into storage administration, then apply those foundations to Hyper-V, containers, availability, recovery, and monitoring. This sequence prevents a common error—trying to memorize advanced features before understanding the server and image on which they operate.
First, create a coverage matrix from the official objectives. Use columns for the topic, your confidence, a hands-on task, a verification method, and an unresolved question. Mark topics that you have only read about differently from topics you can configure and troubleshoot. This gives you a defensible starting point without pretending that a practice score predicts a retired exam result.
Next, work through installation and deployment. Make concise comparison notes for requirements and editions, Server Core, Nano Server, upgrades and migrations, activation models, image creation, offline servicing, and PowerShell-based image management. Include AVMA, KMS, and Active Directory-based Activation in the activation comparison because those models were explicitly named in the objectives.
Then move to storage and compute. Pair each feature with a requirement: capacity, performance, resilience, recoverability, manageability, or workload isolation. Finish each session by explaining the design aloud or in writing. If you cannot explain the trade-off, return to the lab instead of adding more flashcards.
Finish with mixed scenarios. A realistic review task may require an installation choice, an image decision, a storage design, and a compute-management step in one chain. Mixing domains exposes whether you understand dependencies, while isolated memorization can hide gaps between them.
Which mistakes waste the most study time?
The largest mistake is preparing as if 70-740 were still an available exam. Confirm the credential status before buying material, booking anything, or setting a deadline. A second mistake is relying on question dumps or leaked-content claims; memorization does not establish the administration skill described by the objectives, and unauthorized material is not a sound substitute for Microsoft documentation or hands-on work.
Another frequent error is studying feature names without decision criteria. Knowing that a technology exists is weaker than being able to select it for a stated storage, availability, deployment, or compute requirement. Turn every feature note into a short “use when,” “avoid when,” and “verify with” entry.
Do not collapse Server Core, Nano Server, VHD images, and containers into interchangeable deployment terms. They address different management and workload considerations within the historical objective set. Draw a simple boundary diagram for each and annotate how it is installed, managed, serviced, and monitored.
Avoid spending all revision time on installation because the title begins with installation. Storage and compute were central parts of the exam’s audience profile and objectives. Give storage solutions, Hyper-V, containers, high availability, disaster recovery, and monitoring explicit lab time.
Finally, do not treat a command list as a troubleshooting method. For each exercise, capture the starting state, the intended result, the evidence that confirms success, and the likely cause of failure. This habit remains useful even when the historical exam is no longer available.
What delivery details are actually evidenced?
The supplied official sources do not provide a reliable current test duration, question count, language list, delivery method, passing score, or present booking route for 70-740. Because the exam retired, do not rely on catalogue pages or old preparation posts for current scheduling details. Verify any live Microsoft certification information directly through Microsoft before making a booking decision.
Microsoft’s historical material discussed instructor-led preparation and described a Microsoft Certified Trainer-led exam-preparation session, but that does not establish that 70-740 can now be delivered or scheduled. It is safe to use the material as historical orientation, not as evidence of current availability. [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/shows/ignite-2016/brk3269]
The official retirement guidance says candidates preparing for an exam scheduled for retirement should take it before the retirement date and that the exam and associated credential cannot be earned afterward. For 70-740 specifically, Microsoft’s announced retirement date was January 31, 2021. [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/support/retired-certification-exams]
How should you use study materials on dumpsboss.co?
Use any practice material as a diagnostic aid, not as an exam substitute. Work from the official objective areas, answer without memorized prompts, explain the reasoning, and verify the underlying Windows Server 2016 behavior in a lab or authoritative Microsoft resource. Since 70-740 is retired, the practical value of such material is skill review rather than access to a live exam.
Before using a question set, check whether it identifies the objective being tested and whether the explanation teaches a configuration decision. Discard items that make unsupported claims about current availability, promise a pass, or encourage memorizing recalled questions. A useful item should lead you to a documented concept or a reproducible administrative task.
Keep a correction log with three entries: what you selected, why it was wrong or incomplete, and what evidence resolves the issue. Group corrections under installation, deployment images, storage, compute, availability, recovery, and monitoring. Review the log by concept and decision, not by the order in which questions appeared.
Do not upload, request, or rely on unauthorized exam content. Practice should strengthen transferable administration knowledge and respect Microsoft’s certification rules. No collection of simulated questions can restore a retired exam or guarantee a credential.
What is a practical four-stage roadmap?
A workable roadmap has four stages: status and scope, foundations, integrated practice, and decision review. The stages can be compressed or extended according to your background, but the order should remain stable. Set a finish point for your learning objective, not an exam appointment, unless Microsoft confirms that a different current certification is available and appropriate.
Stage one is status and scope. Confirm that 70-740 is retired, identify whether you are studying for historical knowledge or choosing a replacement certification, and download the official objective document. Build the coverage matrix before opening practice questions. This prevents you from investing in obsolete scheduling assumptions.
Stage two is foundations. Study installation requirements and editions, Server Core, Nano Server, migration concepts, activation models, image creation and servicing, and PowerShell management. Perform each topic in a controlled lab where possible. Record the expected result and the evidence that proves it.
Stage three is integrated practice. Add disks and volumes, Data Deduplication, Storage Spaces Direct, Failover Clustering, high availability, disaster recovery, Hyper-V, containers, and monitoring. Use scenario changes—such as a different availability or management requirement—to force a new design decision rather than repeating one procedure.
Stage four is decision review. Revisit every low-confidence matrix entry, explain the design trade-offs without notes, and perform a clean lab run from deployment through verification. If the goal is a current credential, stop this roadmap at the point where you have enough Windows Server context to select a current Microsoft role-based certification and then switch to that certification’s official objectives.
What should you do next?
Start by deciding whether your target is historical Windows Server 2016 competence or a current Microsoft credential. Then save the official 70-740 objective document, mark the retired status in your notes, create a topic matrix, and schedule a first lab session. Do not spend money or set an exam date until Microsoft confirms an available alternative that matches your goal.
If you are maintaining an older environment, begin with installation and image handling, then validate storage and compute operations in a lab. If you are pursuing certification, use the Microsoft certification catalogue to identify a current role-based path and treat 70-740 resources as background only. Microsoft states that its role-based certifications are intended to align more closely with job roles and current technology needs. [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/certifications/posts/mcsa-mcsd-mcse-certifications-retire-with-continued-investment-to-role-based-certifications]
Recheck source pages before relying on any retirement or credential-policy detail, because Microsoft’s listings and policies can change. The supplied official sources establish the historical 70-740 scope and retirement, but they do not establish a current 70-740 delivery option. Your next action should therefore be verification and goal selection, followed by focused hands-on study.
Conclusion
70-740 is best approached as a retired Windows Server 2016 skills framework, not as an exam that can still be booked. Its objectives point to a connected set of administration decisions: install and service the platform, select and manage storage, operate virtualized and containerized workloads, and maintain availability and recovery. Use the official outline to structure honest practice, reject dump-based shortcuts, and move to a current Microsoft certification when your goal requires a live credential.
