AZ-800 Administering Windows Server Hybrid Core Infrastructure Exam

Configure, Monitor, and Remediate Entra Connect Health

Microsoft Entra Connect Health is a monitoring solution for on-premises identity infrastructure, providing detailed insights through the Microsoft Entra admin center. It uses agents installed on Active Directory Domain Services and Azure AD Connect servers to track the health and performance of your hybrid identity environment. These agents collect data on authentication processes, server performance, and network status to keep systems running smoothly. By leveraging this tool, administrators can ensure that users can sign in reliably to both cloud and on-premises resources, which is critical for day-to-day operations.

Implementing Entra Connect Health brings several key benefits that improve both security and user experience:

• Enhanced security: Detects suspicious sign-in attempts and risky IP addresses before they become bigger threats.
• Proactive alerts: Notifies administrators immediately when critical issues arise, enabling quick response.
• Performance visibility: Offers comprehensive dashboards for server health and sign-in trends across environments. These features work together to maintain a robust and secure identity infrastructure.

Deploying the solution is straightforward and requires appropriate licensing. First, you will install the agile health agents on each server hosting AD DS and Azure AD Connect. These agents automatically update to the latest version, ensuring you have current features and patches. Additionally, organizations need Microsoft Entra ID P1 licenses to unlock the full monitoring and analytics capabilities included in the service.

Once the system is in place, you can access multiple monitoring features directly in the Azure portal. You receive detailed usage metrics, like token requests per server and top applications by sign-in volume. The platform also tracks server health metrics, including CPU load, memory usage, and network connectivity. Alerts can be configured to trigger email notifications or integrate with other management tools, keeping your teams informed of potential disruptions.

When issues occur, Entra Connect Health simplifies the troubleshooting process by providing:

• Real-time diagnostics for synchronization errors, helping you pinpoint configuration or schema mismatches.
• Analysis of sign-in performance, revealing slow authentication steps that impact user experience. Using these insights, administrators can remediate problems swiftly, restoring service continuity and reducing downtime.

Conclusion

Implementing and managing Microsoft Entra Connect Health equips organizations with continuous monitoring and actionable insights for their hybrid identity setups. With easy agent deployment and mandatory Microsoft Entra ID P1 licensing, teams gain access to powerful dashboards and proactive alerting. The solution’s monitoring features cover server performance, sign-in patterns, and usage metrics, all accessible through the Azure portal. Finally, its troubleshooting tools allow quick identification and resolution of synchronization and performance issues, ensuring a reliable and secure authentication experience. By mastering these concepts, administrators can maintain a healthy and high-performing identity infrastructure in both on-premises and cloud environments.