No, im not trolling lemmy users…
So in looking for jobs, I do see a lot of them require windows server experience. I’ve been immersing myself fully in linux learning but figure that is kind of useless for me since a ton of places also use windows for networking.
Will many of the skills transfer? Are there specific large differences to watch for? Also, can one even mess with windows server since it’s expensive and enterprise only?
I would suggest looking at MS certification programs, even if you don’t want to take the exams. I haven’t taken a Windows Server exam in a while, but looks like the latest one is Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate. You’ll also want to look into things like Active Directory, Group Policy, printing and print servers, and domains and domain controllers. As you mentioned, some networking can be handled Windows-side, like DHCP and DNS, but depending on the org, may be handled by other solutions.
As far as getting your hands on Windows Server software, you can download from MS, and it will have a 180 day trial before activation, which can be extended.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/download-windows-server-2022
Microsoft Learn is a good starting point. In addition to the comment above about certification tracks.
Not a fan of Microsoft by any means but, I do understand where OP is coming from. If they’re going to go that route, might as well learn directly from Microsoft.
I second this one. Ms has a bunch of resources available For free