I have been studying for the 70-743 exam (upgrading from MCSA: Windows Server 2012) for the past 6 weeks, and was able to pass it with a decent score 817 (min. passing score is 700).
In order for me to pass, I used differrent study materials such as books, videos and websites.

If you are on the same journey, I’m providing a study guide of which resources I used, and which questions you will need to answer right of the bat for you to pass.

Before you start studying for the exam, you should take a look of which areas Microsoft have included in the path for the upgrade.

You can find the information here https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/exam-70-743.aspx.

Books

The official exam ref. book from Microsoft, isn’t a good source for knowledge. It gave a decent overview of which technologies the exam consisted of, but in regards to actually getting the knowledge needed to pass, I wouldn’t recommend it as a single source of research.

• https://www.microsoftpressstore.com/store/exam-ref-70-743-upgrading-your-skills-to-mcsa-windows-9780735697430

Videos

I used CBT Nuggets as a visual walk trough for the new technologies in Windows Server 2016. Although they don’t have a dedicated course for the 70-743, they have one for the complete MCSA: Windows Server 2016 (70-740, 70-741 and 70-742) certification. I didn’t watch all the videos in the series, but only those areas which is mentioned on the official exam website. The instructors gives a really good overall explanation on the technologies required.

• 70-740
  • https://www.cbtnuggets.com/it-training/microsoft-windows-server-2016-70-740-installation-storage-and-compute
• 70-741
  • https://www.cbtnuggets.com/it-training/msft-mcsa-70-741
• 70-742
  • https://www.cbtnuggets.com/it-training/microsoft-windows-server-2016-70-742-identity-with-windows-server

Additional Material

If you can answer the following questions regarding Windows Server, you should be ready to take the 70-743 exam. Foreach question I will provide a link to the answer. There might be more than one correct answer to a question below, but the questions link points to which tool or technology you should know about in order to pass.

1. How do you create a Windows Server Nano Server image through PowerShell?
   • https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server-docs/get-started/deploy-nano-server
2. What does “WindowsFeature”, “Present”, “Service” and “Running” mean in regards to PowerShell DSC?
   • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/dsc/serviceresource
3. What does AVMA stand for and is internet connectivity required?
   • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/get-started-19/vm-activation-19
4. How do you restore group memberships from a group where a user accidentally changed it?
   • https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/30346.active-directory-objects-restoration.aspx#DSAMAIN
   • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2012-R2-and-2012/cc772168(v=ws.11)
5. How do you change password for the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip?
   • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/trustedplatformmodule/import-tpmownerauth?view=win10-ps
6. What port is WSUS default using for clients?
   • https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh852346(v=ws.11).aspx
7. How do you see which server own a FSMO role?
   • https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/67f2c739-aeaa-4b21-99fb-0c2f6c2ecafd/query-in-cmd-for-fsmo-roles?forum=winserverDS
8. How do you change the Docker daemon to a specific port?
   • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/virtualization/windowscontainers/manage-docker/configure-docker-daemon
9. How and where do you allow a certain security group to  administer Docker?
   • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/virtualization/windowscontainers/manage-docker/configure-docker-daemon#common-configuration
10. Which PowerShell cmdlet allows you to track a VM’s network traffic inside a Hyper-V host?
    • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/hyper-v/add-vmnetworkadapteracl?view=win10-ps
11. Which security group allows you to administer a DHCP server in a IPAM setup?
    • https://geekdudes.wordpress.com/2017/01/16/configure-role-based-access-control-for-ipam-on-windows-server-2016/
12. Which role do you need to install for enabling Web Application Proxy?
    • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/desktop/w8cookbook/web-application-proxy
13. What pre-authentication is required for Remote Desktop (RD) gateway service through Web Application Proxy?
    • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/webapplicationproxy/add-webapplicationproxyapplication?view=win10-ps
14. How do you add a new domain to a forest through PowerShell?
    • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/addsdeployment/install-addsdomain?view=winserver2012r2-ps
15. How do you trigger a password replication to all read-only domain controllers?
    • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2012-R2-and-2012/cc742095(v=ws.11)
16. Can a generation 1 VM boot from a VHDX disk?
    • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/virtualization/hyper-v/plan/should-i-create-a-generation-1-or-2-virtual-machine-in-hyper-v
17. How do you remove a disk from a storage pool with a parity storage layout?
    • https://cloudenius.com/2015/01/02/windows-storage-spaces-remove-physical-disk-from-storage-pool-with-powershell/
18. How do you add an network traffic ACL for a VM hosted on a Hyper-V?
    • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/hyper-v/add-vmnetworkadapterextendedacl?view=win10-ps&viewFallbackFrom=win10ps
19. In Hyper-V, which object do you set the VLAN subnet ID?
    • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/virtualization/hyper-v/deploy/configure-virtual-local-areal-networks-for-hyper-v
20. How to disable a DNS server to use root hints through PowerShell.
    • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/dnsserver/set-dnsserverforwarder?view=win10-ps
21. How do you identify if a server role is installed on a Nano Server?
    • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/packagemanagement/get-package?view=powershell-5.1
22. Which VPN protocol supports reconnect in Windows Server 2016?
    • https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/rrasblog/2009/01/14/vpn-reconnect-a-new-tunnel-for-mobility/
23. In a failover cluster which PowerShell cmdlets should you use to move a cluster role to another node, and stop the cluster node?
    •  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2012-R2-and-2012/hh831538(v=ws.11)
24. How do you create one single DHCP scope from two logical IP subnets?
    • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-2000-server/cc958938(v=technet.10)
25. Know what Set-VMNetworkAdapterTeamMapping does?
    • https://www.tech-coffee.net/how-to-deploy-a-converged-network-with-windows-server-2016/
26. How do you export and import a VM?
    • https://www.thegeekstuff.com/2014/03/import-export-vm-hyper-v/
27. How do you limit the network bandwidth between 2 servers running storage replica?
    • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/smbshare/set-smbbandwidthlimit?view=win10-ps
28. In nested virtualization in Hyper-V what doesn’t work?
    • https://www.altaro.com/hyper-v/nested-virtualization-hyper-v-windows-server-2016/
29. Do you know how to configure failover cluster Hyper-V load balancing through PowerShell?
    • https://www.vembu.com/blog/hyper-v-virtual-machine-load-balancing/
30. Which role should be installed for enabling NAT on Windows Server 2016?
    • https://www.experiencingit.net/windows/windows-server-2016-nat-router/
31. What does the following package install “Microsoft-NanoServer-Compute-Package” on a Nano Server?
    • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/system-center/vmm/hyper-v-nano?view=sc-vmm-2016
32. How do you create a interactive session to another server through PowerShell?
    • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.core/enter-pssession?view=powershell-6
33. How do you add drivers to a Windows image in a offline state?
    • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/dism/add-windowsdriver?view=win10-ps
34. Which roles can be added to a Nano server?
    • https://muratsenelblog.wordpress.com/2018/02/17/roles-and-features-for-a-nano-server/
35. What is a NSG?
    • https://robertsmit.wordpress.com/2017/09/11/step-by-step-azure-network-security-groups-nsg-security-center-azure-nsg-network/

If you had trouble answering most of the questions above, you should do some more research in the areas for the exam.

I encourage you to do your own labs and if you have a subscription for CBT Nuggets, you get this for “free”.

Let me know if the above helped you, share your experience in the comments below.