1. What is Active Directory?2. What is LDAP?3. Can you connect Active Directory to other 3rd-party Directory Services? Name a few options.4. Where is the AD database held? What other folders are related to AD?5. What is the SYSVOL folder?6. Name the AD NCs and replication issues for each NC7. What are application partitions? When do I use them8. How do you create a new application partition9. How do you view replication properties for AD partitions and DCs?10. What is the Global Catalog?11. How do you view all the GCs in the forest?12. Why not make all DCs in a large forest as GCs?13. Trying to look at the Schema, how can I do that?14. What are the Support Tools? Why do I need them?15. What is LDP? What is REPLMON? What is ADSIEDIT? What is NETDOM? What is REPADMIN?16. What are sites? What are they used for?17. Whats the difference between a site links schedule and interval?18. What is the KCC?19. What is the ISTG? Who has that role by default?20. What are the requirements for installing AD on a new server?21. What can you do to promote a server to DC if youre in a remote location with slow WAN link?22. How can you forcibly remove AD from a server, and what do you do later? Can I get user passwords from the AD database?23. What tool would I use to try to grab security related packets from the wire?24. Name some OU design considerations.25. What is tombstone lifetime attribute?26. What do you do to install a new Windows 2003 DC in a Windows 2000 AD?27. What do you do to install a new Windows 2003 R2 DC in a Windows 2003 AD?28. How would you find all users that have not logged on since last month?29. What are the DS* commands?30. Whats the difference between LDIFDE and CSVDE? Usage considerations?31. What are the FSMO roles? Who has them by default? What happens when each one fails?32. What FSMO placement considerations do you know of?33. I want to look at the RID allocation table for a DC. What do I do?34. Whats the difference between transferring a FSMO role and seizing one? Which one should you NOT seize? Why?35. How do you configure a stand-by operation master for any of the roles?36. How do you backup AD?37. How do you restore AD?38. How do you change the DS Restore admin password?39. Why cant you restore a DC that was backed up 4 months ago?40. What are GPOs?41. What is the order in which GPOs are applied?42. Name a few benefits of using GPMC.43. What are the GPC and the GPT? Where can I find them?44. What are GPO links? What special things can I do to them?45. What can I do to prevent inheritance from above?46. How can I override blocking of inheritance?47. How can you determine what GPO was and was not applied for a user? Name a few ways to do that.

48. A user claims he did not receive a GPO, yet his user and computer accounts are in the right OU, and everyone else there gets the GPO. What will you look for?49. Name a few differences in Vista GPOs50. Name some GPO settings in the computer and user parts.51. What are administrative templates?52. Whats the difference between software publishing and assigning?53. Can I deploy non-MSI software with GPO?54. You want to standardize the desktop environments (wallpaper, My Documents, Start menu, printers etc.) on the computers in one department. How would you do that?

What is the SYSVOL folder?The sysVOL folder stores the servers copy of the domains public files. The contents such as group policy, users etc of the sysvol folder are replicated to all domain controllers in the domain.The sysvol folder must be located on an NTFS volume.

Que.: What is Active Directory?Ans. Active Directory is a Meta Data. Active Directory is a data base which store a data base like your user information, computer information and also other network object info. It has capabilities to manage and administor the complite Network which connect with AD.Que.: What is the Global Catalog?Ans.: Global Catalog is a server which maintains the information about multiple domain with trust relationship agreement..Que: What is Active Directory?Ans:Active Directory directory service is an extensible and scalable directory service that enables you to manage network resources efficiently.Q01: What is Active Directory?Ans:Active Directory is directory service that stores information about objects on a network and makes this information available to users and network administrators.Active Directory gives network users access to permitted resources anywhere on the network using a single logon process.It provides network administrators with an intuitive, hierarchical view of the network and a single point of administration3for all network objects.Q; What is active directory?Ans: active directory is a domain controller which is use to authenticate and administrate the group of computer,user,server etc. remotely. all the policies and security will be applicable on the client machine which one is join the domain.and all this policies and security is defined in active directory.Q2: What is LDAP?Ans2: LDAP(light weight directory accerss protocol) is an internet protocol which Email and other services is used to look up information from the server.Q 18: What is KCC ?Ans 18: KCC ( knowledge consistency checker ) is used to generate replication topology for inter site replication and for intrasite replication.with in a site replication traffic is done via remote procedure calls over ip, while between site it is done through either RPC or SMTP.

Q 10: What is Global Catalog Server ?Ans 10 : Global Catalog Server is basically a container where you put the same type of member ,computer etc and applied the policies and security on the catalog server in place of individual user or computer.Q; What is active directory?active directory is a domain controller which is use to authenticate and administrate the group of computer,user,server etc. remotely. all the policies and security will be applicable on the client machine which one is join the domain.and all this policies and security is defined in active directory.Q 10 : what is Global catalog server GC?Ans : i m sorry i was given wrong ans of this question above but now im giving the exact ans of this question, and th ans which iwas given previously is the ans of Organisatinal Unit not of GC.. and the ans isThe global catalog is a distributed data repository that contains a searchable, partial representation of every object in every domain in a multidomain Active Directory forest. The global catalog is stored on domain controllers that have been designated as global catalog servers and is distributed through multimaster replication. Searches that are directed to the global catalog are faster because they do not involve referrals to different domain controllers.Q 4: Where is the AD database held? What other folders are related to AD?A 4: The AD data base is store in NTDS.DIT.Q 5 : What is the SYSVOL folder?A 5; The sysVOL folder stores the servers copy of the domains public files. The contents such as group policy, users etc of the sysvol folder are replicated to all domain controllers in the domain.Q 19: What is the ISTG? Who has that role by default?A 19: Windows 2000 Domain controllers each create Active Directory Replication connection objects representing inbound replication from intra-site replication partners. For inter-site replication, one domain controller per site has the responsibility of evaluating the inter-site replication topology and creating Active Directory Replication Connection objects for appropriate bridgehead servers within its site. The domain controller in each site that owns this role is referred to as the Inter-Site Topology Generator (ISTG).Q :15 What is LDP? What is REPLMON? What is ADSIEDIT? What is NETDOM? What is REPADMIN?

A 15 : LDP : Label Distribution Protocol (LDP) is often used to establish MPLS LSPs when traffic engineering is not required. It establishes LSPs that follow the existing IP routing, and is particularly well suited for establishing a full mesh of LSPs between all of the routers on the network.Replmon : Replmon displays information about Active Directory Replication.ADSIEDIT :ADSIEdit is a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in that acts as a low-level editor for Active Directory. It is a Graphical User Interface (GUI) tool. Network administrators can use it for common administrative tasks such as adding, deleting, and moving objects with a directory service. The attributes for each object can be edited or deleted by using this tool. ADSIEdit uses the ADSI application programming interfaces (APIs) to access Active Directory. The following are the required files for using this tool: ADSIEDIT.DLLADSIEDIT.MSCNETDOM : NETDOM is a command-line tool that allows management of Windows domains and trust relationships. It is used for batch management of trusts, joining computers to domains, verifying trusts, and secure channels.REPADMIN :This command-line tool assists administrators in diagnosing replication problems between Windows domain controllers.Administrators can use Repadmin to view the replication topology (sometimes referred to as RepsFrom and RepsTo) as seen from the perspective of each domain controller. In addition, Repadmin can be used to manually create the replication topology (although in normal practice this should not be necessary), to force replication events between domain controllers, and to view both the replication metadata and up-to-dateness vectors.Q 36: howto take backup of AD ?A 36 : for taking backup of active directory you have to do this :first go toSTART -> PROGRAM ->ACCESORIES -> SYSTEM TOOLS -> BACKUPwhen the backup screen is flash then take the backup of SYSTEM STATE it will take the backup of all the necessary information about the syatem including AD backup , DNS ETC.Q37 : how to restore the AD ?a 37 : For ths do the same as above in the question 36 but in place of backup you select the restore option and restore the system state .Q 19: What is the ISTG? Who has that role by default?A 19:Inter-Site Topology Generator(istg) is responsible for managing the inbound replication connection objects for all bridgehead servers in the site in which it is located. This domain controller is known as the Inter-Site Topology Generator (ISTG). The domain controller holding this role may not necessarily also be a bridgehead server.Q 29 :What are the DS* commandsA 29 : You really are spoilt for choice when it comes to scripting tools for creating Active Directory objects. In addition to CSVDE, LDIFDE and VBScript, we now have the following DS commands: the da family built in utilityDSmod - modify Active Directory attributesDSrm - to delete Active Directory objectsDSmove - to relocate objectsDSadd - create new accountsDSquery - to find objects that match your query attributesDSget - list the properties of an objectQ 30 :Whats the difference between LDIFDE and CSVDE? Usage considerations?A 30 : CSVDE is a command that can be used to import and export objects to and from the AD into a CSV-formatted file. A CSV (Comma Separated Value) file is a file easily readable in Excel. I will not go to length into this powerful command, but I will show you some basic samples of how to import a large number of users into your AD. Of course, as with the DSADD command, CSVDE can do more than just import users. Consult your help file for more info.Like CSVDE, LDIFDE is a command that can be used to import and export objects to and from the AD into a LDIF-formatted file. A LDIF (LDAP Data Interchange Format) file is a file easily readable in any text editor, however it is not readable in programs like Excel. The major difference between CSVDE and LDIFDE (besides the file format) is the fact that LDIFDE can be used to edit and delete existing AD objects (not just users), while CSVDE can only import and export objects.Q 25 : What is tombstone lifetime attribute?A 25 : The number of days before a deleted object is removed from the directory services. This assists in removing objects from replicated servers and preventing restores from reintroducing a deleted object. This value is in the Directory Service object in the configuration NIC.You want to standardize the desktop environments (wallpaper, My Documents, Start menu, printers etc.) on the computers in one department. How would you do that? How it is possibal(20)What are the requirements for installing AD on a new server?Ans:1)The Domain structure2)The Domain Name3)storage location of the database and log file4)Location of the shared system volume folder5)DNS config Methode6)DNS configuration

7. What are application partitions? When do I use them.Ans: AN application diretcory partition is a directory partition that is replicated only to specific domain controller.Only domain controller running windows Server 2003 can host a replica of application directory partition.Using an application directory partition provides redundany,availabiltiy or fault tolerance by replicating data to specific domain controller pr any set of domain controllers anywhere in the forestQ:You want to standardize the desktop environments (wallpaper, My Documents, Start menu, printers etc.) on the computers in one department. How would you do that? How it is possibal.Ans:Login on client as Domain Admin user change whatever you need add printers etc go to system-User profiles copy this user profile to any location by select Everyone in permitted to use after copy change ntuser.dat to ntuser.man and assgin this path under user profileQ. 8. How do you create a new application partitionANS:Use the DnsCmd command to create an application directory partition. To do this, use the following syntax:DnsCmd ServerName /CreateDirectoryPartition FQDN of partitionGlobal catalog provides a central repository of domain information for the forest by storing partial replicas of all domain directory partitions. These partial replicas are distributed by multimaster replication to all global catalog servers in a forest.

How do you view all the GCs in the forest?AnsC:\>repadmin /showrepsdomain_controllerwhere domain_controller is the DC you want to query to determine whether its a GC. The output will include the text DSA Options: IS_GC if the DC is a GC. . . .Trying to look at the Schema, how can I do thatAns:type adsiedit.msc in run or command promptQ. Can you connect Active Directory to other 3rd-party Directory Services? Name a few options.Ans. Yes, you can use dirXML or LDAP to connect to other directoriesIn Novell you can use E-directoryQ 38 :How do you change the DS Restore admin password ?Ans 38: A. In Windows 2000 Server, you used to have to boot the computer whose password you wanted to change in Directory Restore mode, then use either the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) Local User and Groups snap-in or the commandnet user administrator *to change the Administrator password. Win2K Server Service Pack 2 (SP2) introduced the Setpwd utility, which lets you reset the Directory Service Restore Mode password without having to reboot the computer. (Microsoft refreshed Setpwd in SP4 to improve the utilitys scripting options.)In Windows Server 2003, you use the Ntdsutil utility to modify the Directory Service Restore Mode Administrator password. To do so, follow these steps:1. Start Ntdsutil (click Start, Run; enter cmd.exe; then enter ntdsutil.exe).2. Start the Directory Service Restore Mode Administrator password-reset utility by entering the argument set dsrm password at the ntdsutil prompt:ntdsutil: set dsrm password3. Run the Reset Password command, passing the name of the server on which to change the password, or use the null argument to specify the local machine. For example, to reset the password on server thanos, enter the following argument at the Reset DSRM Administrator Password prompt:Reset DSRM Administrator Password: reset password on server thanosTo reset the password on the local machine, specify null as the server name:Reset DSRM Administrator Password: reset password on server null4. Youll be prompted twice to enter the new password. Youll see the following messages:5. Please type password for DS Restore Mode Administrator Account:6. Please confirm new password:Password has been set successfully.7. Exit the password-reset utility by typing quit at the following prompts:8. Reset DSRM Administrator Password: quitntdsutil: quitQ.40: What are Group Policy objects (GPOs)?A.40: Group Policy objects, other than the local Group Policy object, are virtual objects. The policy setting information of a GPO is actually stored in two locations: the Group Policy container and the Group Policy template. The Group Policy container is an Active Directory container that stores GPO properties, including information on version, GPO status, and a list of components that have settings in the GPO. The Group Policy template is a folder structure within the file system that stores Administrative Template-based policies, security settings, script files, and information regarding applications that are available for Group Policy Software Installation. The Group Policy template is located in the system volume folder (Sysvol) in the \Policies subfolder for its domain.Q 41 :What is the order in which GPOs are applied ?A 41: Group Policy settings are processed in the following order:1.Local Group Policy objectEach computer has exactly one Group Policy object that is stored locally. This processes for both computer and user Group Policy processing.2.SiteAny GPOs that have been linked to the site that the computer belongs to are processed next. Processing is in the order that is specified by the administrator, on the Linked Group Policy Objects tab for the site in Group Policy Management Console (GPMC). The GPO with the lowest link order is processed last, and therefore has the highest precedence.3.DomainProcessing of multiple domain-linked GPOs is in the order specified by the administrator, on the Linked Group Policy Objects tab for the domain in GPMC. The GPO with the lowest link order is processed last, and therefore has the highest precedence.4.Organizational unitsGPOs that are linked to the organizational unit that is highest in the Active Directory hierarchy are processed first, then GPOs that are linked to its child organizational unit, and so on. Finally, the GPOs that are linked to the organizational unit that contains the user or computer are processed.At the level of each organizational unit in the Active Directory hierarchy, one, many, or no GPOs can be linked. If several GPOs are linked to an organizational unit, their processing is in the order that is specified by the administrator, on the Linked Group Policy Objects tab for the organizational unit in GPMC. The GPO with the lowest link order is processed last, and therefore has the highest precedence.This order means that the local GPO is processed first, and GPOs that are linked to the organizational unit of which the computer or user is a direct member are processed last, which overwrites settings in the earlier GPOs if there are conflicts. (If there are no conflicts, then the earlier and later settings are merely aggregated.)What is LDAP?Lightweight Directory Access ProtocolThis article will tell you how to add your first Windows 2003 DC to an existing Windows 2000 domain. This article is particularly useful if you have Windows 2000 servers that will be replaced by new hardware running Windows Server 2003.The first step is to install Windows 2003 on your new DC. This is a straighforward process, so we arent going to discuss that here.Because significant changes have been made to the Active Directory schema in Windows 2003, we need to make our Windows 2000 Active Directory compatible with the new version. If you already have Windows 2003 DCs running with Windows 2000 DCs, then you can skip down to the part about DNS.Before you attempt this step, you should make sure that you have service pack 4 installed on your Windows 2000 DC. Next, make sure that you are logged in as a user that is a member of the Schema Admin and Enterprise Admin groups. Next, insert the Windows 2003 Server installation CD into the Windows 2000 Server. Bring up a command line and change directories to the I386 directory on the installation CD. At the command prompt, type:Code :adprep /forestprepAfter running this command, make sure that the updates have been replicated to all existing Windows 2000 DCs in the forest.Next, we need to run the following command:Code :adprep /domainprepThe above command must be run on the Infrastructure Master of the domain by someone who is a member of the Domain Admins group.Once this is complete, we move back to the Windows 2003 Server. Click start then run - type in dcpromo and click OK. During the ensuing wizard, make sure that you select that you are adding this DC to an existing domain.After this process is complete, the server will reboot. When it comes back online, check and make sure that the AD database has been replicated to your new server.Next, you will want to check and make sure that DNS was installed on your new server. If not, go to the control panel, click on Add or Remove Programs, and click the Add/Remove Windows Components button. In the Windows Components screen, click on Networking Services and click the details button. In the new window check Domain Name System (DNS) and then click the OK button. Click Next in the Windows Components screen. This will install DNS and the server will reboot. After reboot, pull up the DNS Management window and make sure that your DNS settings have replicated from the Windows 2000 Server. You will need to re-enter any forwarders or other properties you had set up, but the DNS records should replicate on their own.The next 2 items, global catalog and FSMO roles, are important if you plan on decomissioning your Windows 2000 server(s). If this is the case, you need to transfer the global catalog from the old server to the new one.First, lets create a global catalog on our new server. Here are the steps:1. On the domain controller where you want the new global catalog, start the Active Directory Sites and Services snap-in. To start the snap-in, click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Sites and Services.2. In the console tree, double-click Sites, and then double-click sitename.3. Double-click Servers, click your domain controller, right-click NTDS Settings, and then click Properties.4. On the General tab, click to select the Global catalog check box to assign the role of global catalog to this server.5. Restart the domain controller.Make sure you allow sufficient time for the account and the schema information to replicate to the new global catalog server before you remove the global catalog from the original DC or take the DC offline.After this is complete, you will want to transfer or seize the FSMO roles for your new server. For instructions, read Using Ntdsutil.exe to transfer or seize FSMO roles to a domain controller.After this step is complete, we can now run DCPROMO on the Windows 2000 Servers in order to demote them. Once this is complete, copy over any files you need to your new server and you should have successfully replaced your Windows 2000 server(s) with a new Windows 2003 server(sGlobal Catalyst is the one where the authentication happens, by default primary domain controller is Global Catalyst, we can add global catalyst to improve the Netwrk PerformanceWhat is Active Directory?Its a Directory Service which stores and manages the information of Objects(User,computer,printer shared folder etc)What are the requirements for installing AD on a new server?Win2K3 CDDNSStatic IPYou want to standardize the desktop environments (wallpaper, My Documents, Start menu, printers etc.) on the computers in one department. How would you do that?go to Start->programs->Administrative tools->Active Directory Users and ComputersRight Click on Domain->click on preopertiesOn New windows Click on Group PolicySelect Default Policy->click on Editon group Policy consolego to User Configuration->Administrative Template->Start menu and TaskbarSelect each property you want to modify and do the same

1. What are the required components of Windows Server 2003 for installing Exchange 2003?- ASP.NET, SMTP, NNTP, W3SVC2. What must be done to an AD forest before Exchange can be deployed?- Setup /forestprep3. What Exchange process is responsible for communication with AD?- DSACCESS4. What 3 types of domain controller does Exchange access?- Normal Domain Controller, Global Catalog, Configuration Domain Controller5. What connector type would you use to connect to the Internet, and what are the two methods of sending mail over that connector?- SMTP Connector: Forward to smart host or use DNS to route to each address6. How would you optimise Exchange 2003 memory usage on a Windows Server 2003 server with more than 1Gb of memory?- Add /3Gb switch to boot.ini7. What would a rise in remote queue length generally indicate?- This means mail is not being sent to other servers. This can be explained by outages or performance issues with the network or remote servers.8. What would a rise in the Local Delivery queue generally mean?- This indicates a performance issue or outage on the local server. Reasons could be slowness in consulting AD, slowness in handing messages off to local delivery or SMTP delivery. It could also be databases being dismounted or a lack of disk space.9. What are the standard port numbers for SMTP, POP3, IMAP4, RPC, LDAP and Global Catalog?- SMTP 25, POP3 110, IMAP4 143, RPC 135, LDAP 389, Global Catalog - 326810. Name the process names for the following: System Attendant? MAD.EXE, Information Store STORE.EXE, SMTP/POP/IMAP/OWA INETINFO.EXE11. What is the maximum amount of databases that can be hosted on Exchange 2003 Enterprise?- 20 databases. 4 SGs x 5 DBs.12. What are the disadvantages of circular logging?- In the event of a corrupt database, data can only be restored to the last backup.19 Responses to Windows sysadmin interview questions1) How windows server will configure?Tell them that you have 400 pc based network, and you configure a Active Directory domain on windows servers to centralize administration tasks.1) How windows server will configure?Its depends on the role of the server. If you installing Active Directory, you have to run DCPROMO on commond prompt, and followed instructions.Over all its depends on the role.Simply you can say there is an option in windows Manage Server once you follow the instructions it will guide you to configure your server.2) How many types of servers?If they are concern with Hardware server, tell them the hardware configuration and vendor of the server.If they are asking about the types of windows server, tell them Standard, enterprise, or Small business server etc.start > Run > Cmd >Typenet send Computername type ur msgQuestion 2: What must be done to an AD forest before Exchange can be deployed? -Setup /forestprepquestion 2 is incorrect, in order for ms exchange 2k or 2003 to be sucessfully deployed both forestprep and domain prep must successfuly complete first, before the setup.exe of the actual exchange install, or the install and will error out if attempted..How windows server will configure?.2.How many types of server?.3.What is the server evnverment?.I faced one interview they asked how many types of server in your company, how u configured.Please guide me in this mater1) How to migrate from windows 2000 to 2003 without distrubing the existing Domain ?????????2) How to migrage from Ms. Exchange 2000 to 2003 and how to configure Outlook Web Access ????????3) What r the ports to required to configure to Exchange Server ????????4) What is IIS and how to migrate from IIS 5.0 to IIS 6.0 ??1.

1) What r the frequently asked questions on ADS 2003. and what r the main differences between ADS 2000 and 2003 ????????2) What are main differences between WINS and DNS ???3) Why we have to go to DNS what r the advantages in DNS ???????4) What r the frequently asked questions on DNS ????5) What r the frequently asked questions on DHCP ????6) What r the frequently asked questions FTP ????7) What r the frequently asked questions on DFS ????8) What r the frequently asked questions on File Server ??????????9) What r the frequently asked questions on Print Server ?????????2.

1.In windows2000 perfosonal or winxp pc perfomance is very low what is the solution you will give?2. what is diffrent between AD2000 & AD2003?3. what is different between windows2000 & NT & winxp?3.

What r the frequently asked questions on ADS 2003. and what r the main differences between ADS 2000 and 2003 ????????2) What are main differences between WINS and DNS ???3) Why we have to go to DNS what r the advantages in DNS ???????4) What r the frequently asked questions on DNS ????5) What r the frequently asked questions on DHCP ????6) What r the frequently asked questions FTP ????7) What r the frequently asked questions on DFS ????8) What r the frequently asked questions on File Server ??????????9) What r the frequently asked questions on Print Server ?????????4.

XP1.Firewall2.Automatic update3.Media Player 9 is support to DVD4.Visual style5.Remote Desktop6.On Screen Board7.Program Capability wizard8 etc..5.

Question asked @ interviewwhat is use of NTLDR filewhere its locationwhat will you do if error occurentldr missingwhat would be the poroblem if my mails not outgoing.what are the protocols use by outlook.what are diff between outlook & outlook express.6.

most of these are terrible questions for a general windows/AD sysadmin. Theyre bookish, not realistic; the kind of thing one looks up if one doesnt use every day.Also, too many of the questions are focused on exchange. For example, we outsource exchange, so a windows sysadmin here wouldnt be asked any of those questions

What are main differences between WINS and DNS ???WINS:- It is used to resolve IP address into netbios Viceversa it is used prior version of win 2000DNS:-It is used to resolve IP address into host name.Viceversa it is used in 2000, XP, 2003 serverwhat are diff between outlook & outlook express ????Outlook ExpressOutlook Express is the e-mail client that is included with Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.x, Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.x, the Microsoft Windows 98 operating system, the Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me) operating system, the Microsoft Windows 2000 operating systems, and Microsoft Office 98 for the Macintosh. Outlook Express is designed for home users who gain access to their e-mail messages by dialing in to an Internet service provider (ISP).OutlookOutlook is Microsofts premier messaging and collaboration client. It is a stand-alone application that is integrated into Microsoft Office and Exchange Server. Outlook also provides performance and integration with Internet Explorer 5.5. Complete integration of e-mail, calendaring, and contact management, makes Outlook the perfect client for many business users.9.

Advantages of WINS: WINS will be really helofull in a multidomain environment where in users would need to access many of the resources in different domains, rathere than adding different DNS suffixes of each domain on the local machine. WINS is the best option. But i could also say WINS is not as stable as DNS.

Windows sysadmin interview questions1. What is Active Directory schema?2. What are the domain functional level in Windows Server 2003?3. What are the forest functional level in Windows Server 2003?4. What is global catalog server?5. How we can raise domain functional & forest functional level in Windows Server 2003?6. Which is the deafult protocol used in directory services?7. What is IPv6?8. What is the default domain functional level in Windows Server 2003?9. What are the physical & logical components of ADS10. In which domain functional level, we can rename domain name?11. What is multimaster replication?12. What is a site?13. Which is the command used to remove active directory from a domain controler?14. How we can create console, which contain schema?15. What is trust?16. What is the file thats responsible for keep all Active Directory database?

Windows Server and MS Exchange interview questions1. What is DHCP? How we configure DHCP?2. What are the ways to configure DNS & Zones?3. What are the types of backup? Explain each?4. What are Levels of RAID 0, 1, 5? Which one is better & why?5. What are FMSO Roles? List them.6. Describe the lease process of the DHCP server.7. Disaster Recovery Plan?8. What is scope & super scope?9. Differences between Win 2000 Server & Advanced Server?10. Logical Diagram of Active Directory? What is the difference between child domain & additional domain server?11. FTP, NNTP, SMTP, KERBEROS, DNS, DHCP, POP3 port numbers?12. What is Kerberos? Which version is currently used by Windows? How does Kerberos work?Microsoft Exchange Server interview questions1. Distribution List?2. GAL, Routing Group, Stm files, Eseutil & ininteg - what are they used for?3. What is MIME & MAPI?4. List the services of Exchange Server 2000?5. How would you recover Exchange server when the log file is corrupted?

Sysadmin interview questions1. What is a level 0 backup?2. What is an incremental backup?3. What steps are required to perform a bare-metal recovery?4. Name key files or directories on a UNIX system that should always be backed up.5. Name key files or directories on a Windows system that should always be backed up.6. What is RAID 0?7. What is RAID 0+1? Why is it better than 0?8. What is RAID-5?9. Why would you NOT want to encapsulate a root directory with Veritas?10. What is concatenation?11. What is striping?12. What is a spindle?

Networking questions1. What is a default gateway?- The exit-point from one network and entry-way into another network, often the router of the network.2. How do you set a default route on an IOS Cisco router?- ip route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 x.x.x.x [where x.x.x.x represents the destination address]3. What is the difference between a domain local group and a global group?- Domain local groups grant permissions to objects within the domain in which the reside. Global groups contain grant permissions tree or forest wide for any objects within the Active Directory.4. What is LDAP used for?- LDAP is a set of protocol used for providing access to information directories.5. What tool have you used to create and analyze packet captures?- Network Monitor in Win2K / Win2K3, Ethereal in Linux, OptiView Series II (by Fluke Networks).6. How does HSRP work?7. What is the significance of the IP address 255.255.255.255?- The limited broadcast address is utilized when an IP node must perform a one-to-everyone delivery on the local network but the network ID is unknown.

12 general questions from an international companyA TechInterviews reader sent in the questions he faced at a major global company. The questions are fairly generic:1. Tell me about your analytical skills, cite some examples of how you have used your skills in the past.2. What are some of your long term goals?3. What are your short term goals?4. Where do you see yourself five years from now?5. Tell me why I should hire you?6. What does customer service mean to you?7. Why did you leave your last job?8. Describe your definition of a team player?9. Sight examples of when in the past you have proven to be a team player?10. How would you handle a conflict with another employee?11. What do you believe you can gain by working at this company?12. Give me some examples of times in the past, when you were able to avoid a conflict, by thinking on your feet. Tell what you know about this company.SCCM Question

SCCM 2007 Interview Questions with AnswersQuestion:What is SMS provider and what it does.=Answer:The SMS Provider is a WMI provider that allows both read and write access to the Configuration Manager 2007 site database. The SMS Provider is used by the Configuration Manager console, Resource Explorer, tools, and custom scripts used by Configuration Manager 2007 administrators to access site information stored in the site database. The SMS Provider also helps ensure that Configuration Manager 2007 object security is enforced by only returning site information that the user account running the Configuration Manager console is authorized to view.More on SMS providerQuestion:Can we upgrade SCCM secondary site to primary site?Answer:Yes we can do.More on upgrading secondary sites..Question:Can you change a secondary site to a primary site?Answer: No. A secondary site is always a secondary site. It cannot be upgraded, moved, or changed without deleting it and reinstalling it. If you delete and reinstall, you lose all secondary site data.Question:Can you distribute a package to a computer without making it a member of a collection?Answer: No. To distribute software you must have a package, a program and an advertisement. Advertisements can only be sent to collections, not to computers. If you want to distribute a package to a single computer, you must create a collection for that computer.Question:Can a site have more than one default management point?Answer: No. You can configure more than one management points in a site, but only one of those management points can be configured as the default management point to support intranet clients in the site. If you are concerned about performance, you can configure more than one management point, configure them to be part of a Network Load Balancing (NLB) cluster, and them configure the NLB cluster as the default management point.Question:Can a secondary site have child sites?Answer:No. A secondary site cannot have a primary or secondary site reporting to it. Secondary sites are always child sites to a primary site.Question:Can you install the Configuration Manager client components without discovering the computer first?Answer:Yes. Client Push Installation is the only client installation method that requires clients to be discovered first.Question:Does Configuration Manager 2007 mixed mode require a public key infrastructre (PKI)?Answer: No. Configuration Manager 2007 native mode requires a PKI, but Configuration Manager 2007 does not. PKI authentication helps provide a greater level of security, but Configuration Manager 2007 does not help you install or configure the PKI infrastructure. If you do not already have the expertise to install and configure the PKI infrastructure, you can start with mixed mode and then change to native mode later.Question:Can computers show up in the Configuration Manager console before they have the Configuration Manager client installed?Answer: Yes. If you use a discovery method, Configuration Manager can find many resources and create data discovery records (DDRs) for them, and those DDRs are stored in the database. However, you cannot use Configuration Manager features such as software distribution, software updates management, and inventory until you install the client components.Question:Can you assign clients to a secondary site?Answer: No.If you have a secondary site, the client must be assigned to the primary parent of the secondary site. However, Configuration Manager knows how to manage clients at the child secondary site. If there is a distribution point at the secondary site that has the content the clients need, the clients will probably get the content from the local distribution point instead of crossing the WAN link to the primary site.Question:Can Configuration Manager 2007 be used to package software for distribution?Answer: No. Configuration Manager 2007 delivers command lines to clients and can force those command lines to run with administrative rights using the Local System account. Configuration Manager 2007 command lines can be batch files, scripts, Windows Installer files with .msi extensions, executable files any file that the operating system can run, Configuration Manager 2007 can distribute. However, Configuration Manager 2007 does not actually package any software for distribution.SCCM / SMS Interview QuestionsAre you preparing for SCCM Interview , Below are the ultimate list of Real time SCCM / SMS Interview Questions with Answers which covers different topics ranging from Installation, Troubleshooting, OSD, DCM, SUP etc.Can you change a secondary site to a primary site?No. A secondary site is always a secondary site. It cannot be upgraded, moved, or changed without deleting it and reinstalling it. If you delete and reinstall, you lose all secondary site data.Can you distribute a package to a computer without making it a member of a collection?No. To distribute software you must have a package, a program and an advertisement. Advertisements can only be sent to collections, not to computers. If you want to distribute a package to a single computer, you must create a collection for that computer.What is Secondary Site?Four Main characteristics: A Secondary Site does not have access to a Microsoft SQL Database Secondary Sites are ALWAYS a Child Site of a Primary Site and can only be administered via a Primary Site Secondary Sites cannot have Child Sites of their own Clients cannot be assigned directly to the SiteWhat is CENTRAL SITE?A Central Site is a Configuration Manager Primary Site that resides at the top of the Configuration Manager hierarchy. All Database information rolls from the child to the parent and is collected by the Central Sites Configuration Manager Database. The Central Site can administer any site below it in the hierarchy and can send data down to those sites as well.What is PRIMARY SITE?Four main characteristics: The Site has access to a Microsoft SQL Server Database Can administer or be administered via the Configuration Manager Console It can be a child of other Primary Sites and can have Child Sites of its own Clients can be assigned directly to the SiteHow do you install and configure Secondary site serverhttp://exchangeserverinfo.com/2008/05/02/installation-and-configuration-of-secondary-site-server.aspxHow do you create a package for Adobe?the command line msiexec.exe /q ALLUSERS=2 /m MSIHPSJR /i AcroRead.msi TRANSFORMS=mytransform.mstHow do you distribute a package? create a package in SCCM, pointing it to the installation sources, and in the package create an install program (you may have already done this?) assign Distribution Points to your package so the contents get synched. create a Collection containing the objects (users/computers) that are allowed to receive the package. create an Advertisement for the distribution, linking the package you created to the collection, decide whether the Adverisement is mandatory (installation enforced) or not (users have to go to the Run Advertised Programs dialog in Windows and select to install the program)How SCCM download the patches?You need to add the Software Update Point site role to the site, configure the software update point as active, configure the products, classifications, sync settings, etc. in the Software Update Point properties. THEN, you can go to the Update Repository node and run the Run Synchronization action from the central primary site. Once synchronization completes, you will see the metadata in the Configuration Manager console.How do youconfigurethe SUP?In the Configuration Manager console, navigate toSystem CenterConfiguration Manager/Site Database/Site Management/ /Site Settings/Site SystemsRight-click the site system server name, and then clickNew Roles.SelectSoftware update point,and then clickNext.Specify whether the site server will use a proxy server when connecting to the software update point, and then clickNext.SelectUse this server as the active software update point,and then specify the port settings configured for the WSUS Web site on this site system.Specify the synchronization source for the active software update point using one of the following settings:likeSynchronize from Microsoft Update or Synchronize from an upstream update serverKeep the default settingDo not create WSUS reporting events,and then clickNextSpecify whether to synchronize software updates on a schedule by selectingEnable synchronization on a scheduleSpecify the update classifications for which the software updates will be synchronized, and then clickNext.Specify the products for which the software updates will be synchronized, and then clickNext.OpenSUPSetup.login \Logs to monitor the installation progress for the software update point. When the installation completes,Installation was successfulis written to the log file.OpenWCM.login \Logs to verify that the connection to the WSUS server was successful.How do you Backup SCCM Server?To create a scheduled backup task, expand the Site Settings node and expand the Site Maintenance node, click on Tasks.For Manual backup StartSMS_SITE_BACKUP serviceWhat are the client deployments methods?Client Push Installion, Software update point based installation, Group Policy Installation, Logon Script Installation, Manual Installation, Upgrade Installation(software Distribution)Can you discover clients those are in different AD forest?yes.Internet-based client management, which supports the following site systems installed in a separate forest to the site server:Management pointDistribution pointSoftware update pointFallback status pointWhat are the prerequisite for Software Update Point?Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) 3.0, WSUS 3.0 Administration Console, Windows Update Agent (WUA) 3.0,Site server communication to the active software update point,Network Load Balancing (NLB),Background Intelligent Transfer Server (BITS) 2.5,Windows InstallerWhat is SMS Provider?The SMS Provider is a WMI provider that allows both read and write access to the Configuration Manager 2007 site database. The SMS Provider is used by the Configuration Manager consoleThe SMS Provider can be installed on the site database server computer, site server computer or another server class third computer during Configuration Manager 2007 Setup. After setup has completed, the current installed location of the SMS Provider is displayed on the site properties general tabWhat is ITMU?SMS 2003 Inventory Tool for Microsoft UpdatesWhat is the use of WSUS (Windows Server Update Service)?It enables administrators to deploy the latest Microsoft product updates to computers that are running the Windows operating system.Difference between SMS 2003 and SCCM 2007What is WMI (indows Management Instrumentation)?You can write WMI scripts or applications to automate administrative tasks on remote computersWhat is SUP ( Software Update Point)?This is required component of software updates, and after it is installed, the SUP is displayed as a site system role in the Configuration Manager console. The software update point site system role must be created on a site system server that has Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) 3.0 installed.Network Q1. What are 10Base2, 10Base5 and 10BaseT Ethernet LANs10Base2An Ethernet term meaning a maximum transfer rate of 10 Megabits per second that uses basebandsignaling, with a contiguous cable segment length of 100 meters and a maximum of 2 segments.10Base5An Ethernet term meaning a maximum transfer rate of 10 Megabits per second that uses basebandsignaling, with 5 continuous segments not exceeding 100 meters per segment.10BaseTAn Ethernet term meaning a maximum transfer rate of 10 Megabits per second that uses basebandsignaling and twisted pair cabling.

Q2. What is the difference between an unspecified passive open and a fully specified passive openAn unspecified passive open has the server waiting for a connection request from a client. A fully specified passive open has the server waiting for a connection from a specific client.

Q3. Explain the function of Transmission Control BlockA TCB is a complex data structure that contains a considerable amount of information about each connection.

Q4. What is a Management Information Base (MIB)A Management Information Base is part of every SNMP-managed device. Each SNMP agent has the MIB database that contains information about the device's status, its performance, connections, and configuration. The MIB is queried by SNMP.

Q5. What is anonymous FTP and why would you use itAnonymous FTP enables users to connect to a host without using a valid login and password. Usually, anonymous FTP uses a login called anonymous or guest, with the password usually requesting the user's ID for tracking purposes only. Anonymous FTP is used to enable a large number of users to access files on the host without having to go to the trouble of setting up logins for them all. Anonymous FTP systems usually have strict controls over the areas an anonymous user can access.

Q6. What is a pseudo ttyA pseudo tty or false terminal enables external machines to connect through Telnet or rlogin. Without a pseudo tty, no connection can take place.

Q7. Which layer of the 7 layer model provides services to the Application layer over the Session layer connection?Presentation.

Q8. What does the Mount protocol do ?The Mount protocol returns a file handle and the name of the file system in which a requested file resides. The message is sent to the client from the server after reception of a client's request.

Q9. What is External Data RepresentationExternal Data Representation is a method of encoding data within an RPC message, used to ensure that the data is not system-dependent.

Q10. Which OSI Reference Layer controls application to application communication?Session

Q11. BOOTP helps a diskless workstation boot. How does it get a message to the network looking for its IP address and the location of its operating system boot files ?BOOTP sends a UDP message with a subnetwork broadcast address and waits for a reply from a server that gives it the IP address. The same message might contain thename of the machine that has the boot files on it. If the boot image location is not specified, the workstation sends another UDP message to query the server.

Q12. What is a DNS resource recordA resource record is an entry in a name server's database. There are several types of resource records used, including name-to-address resolution information. Resource records are maintained as ASCII files.Q13. What protocol is used by DNS name serversDNS uses UDP for communication between servers. It is a better choice than TCP because of the improved speed a connectionless protocol offers. Of course, transmission reliability suffers with UDP.

Q14. What is the difference between interior and exterior neighbor gatewaysInterior gateways connect LANs of one organization, whereas exterior gateways connect the organization to the outside world.

Q15. What is the HELLO protocol used forThe HELLO protocol uses time instead of distance to determine optimal routing. It is an alternative to the Routing Information Protocol.

Q16. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the three types of routing tablesThe three types of routing tables are fixed, dynamic, and fixed central. The fixed table must be manually modified everytime there is a change. A dynamic table changes its information based on network traffic, reducing the amount of manual maintenance. A fixed central table lets a managermodify only one table, which is then read by other devices. The fixed central table reduces the need to update each machine's table, as with the fixed table. Usually adynamic table causes the fewest problems for a network administrator, although the table's contents can change without the administrator being aware of the change.Q17. What is a characteristic of Store and Forward switches?They read the entire frame and check CRC before forwarding.

Q18. What is source routeIt is a sequence of IP addresses identifying the route a datagram must follow. A source route may optionally be included in an IP datagram header.

Q19. What is RIP (Routing Information Protocol)It is a simple protocol used to exchange information between the routers.

Q20. What is SLIP (Serial Line Interface Protocol)It is a very simple protocol used for transmission of IP datagrams across a serial line.

Q21. What is Proxy ARPIt is using a router to answer ARP requests. This will be done when the originating host believes that a destination is local, when in fact is lies beyond router.

Q22. What is OSPFIt is an Internet routing protocol that scales well, can route traffic along multiple paths, and uses knowledge of an Internet's topology to make accurate routing decisions.

Q23. What is KerberosIt is an authentication service developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Kerberos uses encryption to prevent intruders from discovering passwords and gaining unauthorized access to files.

Q24. What is a Multi-homed HostIt is a host that has a multiple network interfaces and that requires multiple IP addresses is called as a Multi-homed Host.

Q25. What is NVT (Network Virtual Terminal)It is a set of rules defining a very simple virtual terminal interaction. The NVT is used in the start of a Telnet session.

Q26. What is Gateway-to-Gateway protocolIt is a protocol formerly used to exchange routing information between Internet core routers.

Q27. What is BGP (Border Gateway Protocol)It is a protocol used to advertise the set of networks that can be reached with in an autonomous system. BGP enables this information to be shared with the autonomous system. This is newer than EGP (Exterior Gateway Protocol).

Q28. What is autonomous systemIt is a collection of routers under the control of a single administrative authority and that uses a common Interior Gateway Protocol.

Q29. What is EGP (Exterior Gateway Protocol)It is the protocol the routers in neighboring autonomous systems use to identify the set of networks that can be reached within or via each autonomous system.

Q30. What is IGP (Interior Gateway Protocol)It is any routing protocol used within an autonomous system.

Q31. What is Mail GatewayIt is a system that performs a protocol translation between different electronic mail delivery protocols.

Q32. What is wide-mouth frogWide-mouth frog is the simplest known key distribution center (KDC) authentication protocol.

Q33. What are Digrams and TrigramsThe most common two letter combinations are called as digrams. e.g. th, in, er, re and an. The most common three letter combinations are called as trigrams. e.g. the, ing,and, and ion.

Q34. What is silly window syndromeIt is a problem that can ruin TCP performance. This problem occurs when data are passed to the sending TCP entity in large blocks, but an interactive application on thereceiving side reads 1 byte at a time.

Q35. What is regionWhen hierarchical routing is used, the routers are divided into what we call regions, with each router knowing all the details about how to route packets to destinationswithin its own region, but knowing nothing about the internal structure of other regions.

Q36. What is multicast routingSending a message to a group is called multicasting, and its routing algorithm is called multicast routing.

Q37. What is traffic shapingOne of the main causes of congestion is that traffic is often busy. If hosts could be made to transmit at a uniform rate,congestion would be less common. Another open loopmethod to help manage congestion is forcing the packet to be transmitted at a more predictable rate. This is called traffic shaping.

Q38. What is packet filterPacket filter is a standard router equipped with some extra functionality. The extra functionality allows every incoming or outgoing packet to be inspected. Packets meetingsome criterion are forwarded normally. Those that fail the test are dropped.

Q39. What is virtual pathAlong any transmission path from a given source to a given destination, a group of virtual circuits can be grouped together into what is called path.

Q40. What is virtual channelVirtual channel is normally a connection from one source to one destination, although multicast connections are also permitted. The other name for virtual channel is virtual circuit.

Q41. What is logical link controlOne of two sublayers of the data link layer of OSI reference model, as defined by the IEEE 802 standard. This sublayer is responsible for maintaining the link between computers when they are sending data across the physical network connection.

Q42. Why should you care about the OSI Reference ModelIt provides a framework for discussing network operations and design.

Q43. What is the difference between routable and non- routable protocolsRoutable protocols can work with a router and can be used to build large networks. Non-Routable protocols are designed to work on small, local networks and cannot be used with a router.

Q44. What is MAUIn token Ring , hub is called Multistation Access Unit(MAU).

Q45. Explain 5-4-3 ruleIn a Ethernet network, between any two points on the network, there can be no more than five network segments or four repeaters, and of those five segments only three ofsegments can be populated.

Q46. What is the difference between TFTP and FTP application layer protocolsThe Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) allows a local host to obtain files from a remote host but does not provide reliability or security. It uses the fundamental packet delivery services offered by UDP. The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is the standard mechanism provided by TCP / IP for copying a file from one host to another. It uses the services offered by TCP and so isreliable and secure. It establishes two connections (virtual circuits) between the hosts, one for data transfer and another for control information.

Q47. What is the range of addresses in the classes of internet addressesClass A 0.0.0.0 - 127.255.255.255Class B 128.0.0.0 - 191.255.255.255Class C 192.0.0.0 - 223.255.255.255Class D 224.0.0.0 - 239.255.255.255Class E 240.0.0.0 - 247.255.255.255

Q48. What is the minimum and maximum length of the header in the TCP segment and IP datagramThe header should have a minimum length of 20 bytes and can have a maximum length of 60 bytes.

49. What is difference between ARP and RARPThe address resolution protocol (ARP) is used to associate the 32 bit IP address with the 48 bit physical address, used by a host or a router to find the physical address ofanother host on its network by sending a ARP query packet that includes the IP address of the receiver. The reverse address resolution protocol (RARP) allows a host to discover its Internet address when it knows only its physical address.

Q50. What is ICMPICMP is Internet Control Message Protocol, a network layer protocol of the TCP/IP suite used by hosts and gateways to send notification of datagram problems back to the sender. It uses the echo test / reply to test whether a destination is reachable and responding. It also handles both control and error messages.

Q51. What are the data units at different layers of the TCP / IP protocol suiteThe data unit created at the application layer is called a message, at the transport layer the data unit created is called either a segment or an user datagram, at the network layer the data unit created is called the datagram, at the data link layer the datagram is encapsulated in to a frame and finally transmitted as signals along the transmission media.

Q52. What is Project 802It is a project started by IEEE to set standards that enable intercommunication between equipment from a variety ofmanufacturers. It is a way for specifying functions of the physical layer, the data link layer and to some extent the network layer to allow for interconnectivity of major LANprotocols.It consists of the following:802.1 is an internetworking standard for compatibility of different LANs and MANs across protocols.802.2 Logical link control (LLC) is the upper sublayer of the data link layer which is non-architecture-specific, that isremains the same for all IEEE-defined LANs.Media access control (MAC) is the lower sublayer of the data link layer that contains some distinct modules eachcarrying proprietary information specific to the LAN productbeing used. The modules are Ethernet LAN (802.3), Token ring LAN (802.4), Token bus LAN (802.5).802.6 is distributed queue dual bus (DQDB) designed to be used in MANs.

Q53. What is BandwidthEvery line has an upper limit and a lower limit on the frequency of signals it can carry. This limited range is called thebandwidth.

Q54. Difference between bit rate and baud rate.Bit rate is the number of bits transmitted during one second whereas baud rate refers to the number of signal units persecond that are required to represent those bits.baud rate = bit rate / N where N is no-of-bits represented by each signal shift.

Q55. What is MAC addressThe address for a device as it is identified at the Media Access Control (MAC) layer in the network architecture. MACaddress is usually stored in ROM on the network adapter card and is unique.

Q56. What is attenuationThe degeneration of a signal over distance on a network cable is called attenuation.

Q57. What is claddingA layer of a glass surrounding the center fiber of glass inside a fiber-optic cable.

Q58. What is RAIDA method for providing fault tolerance by using multiple hard disk drives.

Q59. What is NETBIOS and NETBEUINETBIOS is a programming interface that allows I/O requests to be sent to and received from a remote computer and ithides the networking hardware from applications.NETBEUI is NetBIOS extended user interface. A transport protocol designed by microsoft and IBM for the use on smallsubnets.

Q60. What is redirectorRedirector is software that intercepts file or prints I/O requests and translates them into network requests. This comes under presentation layer.

Q61. What is BeaconingThe process that allows a network to self-repair networks problems. The stations on the network notify the other stations on the ring when they are not receiving the transmissions. Beaconing is used in Token ring and FDDI networks.

Q62. What is terminal emulation, in which layer it comesTelnet is also called as terminal emulation. It belongs to application layer.

Q63. What is frame relay, in which layer it comesFrame relay is a packet switching technology. It will operate in the data link layer.

Q64. What do you meant by "triple X" in NetworksThe function of PAD (Packet Assembler Disassembler) is described in a document known as X.3. The standard protocol has been defined between the terminal and the PAD, called X.28; another standard protocol exists between hte PAD and the network, called X.29. Together, these three recommendations are often called "triple X"

Q65. What is SAPSeries of interface points that allow other computers to communicate with the other layers of network protocol stack.

Q66. What is subnetA generic term for section of a large networks usually separated by a bridge or router.

Q67. What is BrouterHybrid devices that combine the features of both bridges and routers.

Q68. How Gateway is different from RoutersA gateway operates at the upper levels of the OSI model and translates information between two completely different network architectures or data formats.

Q69. What are the different type of networking / internetworking devicesRepeater:Also called a regenerator, it is an electronic device that operates only at physical layer. It receives the signal in thenetwork before it becomes weak, regenerates the original bit pattern and puts the refreshed copy back in to the link.

Bridges:These operate both in the physical and data link layers of LANs of same type. They divide a larger network in to smallersegments. They contain logic that allow them to keep the traffic for each segment separate and thus are repeaters that relay a frame only the side of the segment containing the intended recipent and control congestion.

Routers:They relay packets among multiple interconnected networks (i.e. LANs of different type). They operate in the physical,data link and network layers. They contain software that enable them to determine which of the several possible paths is the best for a particular transmission.

Gateways:They relay packets among networks that have different protocols (e.g. between a LAN and a WAN). They accept apacket formatted for one protocol and convert it to a packet formatted for another protocol before forwarding it. They operate in all seven layers of the OSI model.

Q70. What is mesh networkA network in which there are multiple network links between computers to provide multiple paths for data to travel.

Q71. What is passive topologyWhen the computers on the network simply listen and receive the signal, they are referred to as passive because they dont amplify the signal in any way. Example for passive topology - linear bus.

Q72. What are the important topologies for networks

BUS topology:In this each computer is directly connected to primary network cable in a single line.Advantages:Inexpensive, easy to install, simple to understand, easy to extend.

STAR topology:In this all computers are connected using a central hub.Advantages:Can be inexpensive, easy to install and reconfigure and easy to trouble shoot physical problems.

RING topology:In this all computers are connected in loop.Advantages:All computers have equal access to network media, installation can be simple, and signal does not degrade as much asin other topologies because each computer regenerates it.

Q73. What are major types of networks and explainServer-based networkPeer-to-peer networkPeer-to-peer network, computers can act as both servers sharing resources and as clients using the resources.Server-based networks provide centralized control of network resources and rely on server computers to providesecurity and network administration

Q74. What is Protocol Data UnitThe data unit in the LLC level is called the protocol data unit (PDU). The PDU contains of four fields a destinationservice access point (DSAP), a source service access point (SSAP), a control field and an information field. DSAP, SSAP are addresses used by the LLC to identify the protocol stacks on the receiving and sending machines that are generating and using the data. The control field specifies whether the PDU frame is a information frame (I -frame) or a supervisory frame (S - frame) or a unnumbered frame (U - frame).

Q75. What is difference between baseband and broadband transmissionIn a baseband transmission, the entire bandwidth of the cable is consumed by a single signal. In broadband transmission, signals are sent on multiple frequencies, allowing multiple signals to be sent simultaneously.

Q76. What are the possible ways of data exchange(i) Simplex (ii) Half-duplex (iii) Full-duplex.

Q77. What are the types of Transmission mediaSignals are usually transmitted over some transmission media that are broadly classified in to two categories.Guided Media:These are those that provide a conduit from one device to another that include twisted-pair, coaxial cable and fiber-opticcable. A signal traveling along any of these media is directed and is contained by the physical limits of the medium. Twisted-pair and coaxial cable use metallic that accept and transport signals in the form of electrical current. Optical fiber is a glass or plastic cable that accepts and transports signals in the form of light.Unguided Media:This is the wireless media that transport electromagnetic waves without using a physical conductor. Signals arebroadcast either through air. This is done through radiocommunication, satellite communication and cellular telephony.

Q78. Difference between the communication and transmission.Transmission is a physical movement of information and concern issues like bit polarity, synchronization, clock etc.Communication means the meaning full exchange of information between two communication media.

Q79.The Internet Control Message Protocol occurs at what layer of the seven layer model?Network

Q80.Which protocol resolves an IP address to a MAC address?ARP

Q81.MIDI and MPEG are examples of what layer of the OSI seven layer model?Presentation

Q82.What is the protocol number for UDP?17

Q83.Which protocol is used for booting diskless workstations?RARP

Q84.Which layer is responsible for putting 1s and 0s into a logical group?Physical

Q85.What does 'P' mean when running a Trace?Protocol unreachable

Q86.UDP works at which layer of the DOD model?Host to Host

Q87.What is the default encapsulation of Netware 3.12?802.2

Q88.Ping uses which Internet layer protocol?ICMP

Q89.Which switching technology can reduce the size of a broadcast domain?VLAN

Q90.What is the first step in data encapsulation?User information is converted into data.

Q91.What is the protocol number for TCP?6

Q92.What do you use the Aux port for?Modem

Q93.Repeaters work at which layer of the OSI model?Physical

Q94.WAN stands for which of the following?Wide Area Network

Q95.What ISDN protocol specifies concepts, terminology, and services?I

Q96.LAN stands for which of the following?Local Are Network

Q97.DHCP stands forDynamic Host Configuration Protocol

Q98.What does the acronym ARP stand for?Address Resolution Protocol

Q99.Which layer is responsible for identifying and establishing the availability of the intended communication partner?Application.

Q100.Which OSI layer provides mechanical, electrical, procedural for activating, maintaining physical link?Physical. - See more at: http://www.01world.in/p/network.html#sthash.uGSvqYwZ.dpuf

VMware Admin Interview Questions & Answers.

1. VMWare Kernel is a Proprietary Kenral and is not based on any of the UNIX operating systems, it's a kernel developed by VMWare Company.

2. The VMKernel can't boot it by itself, so that it takes the help of the 3rd party operating system. In VMWare case the kernel is booted by RedHat Linux operating system which is known as service console.

3. The service console is developed based up on Redhat Linux Operating system, it is used to manage the VMKernel

4. To restart webaccess service on vmwareservice vmware-webaccess restart this will restart apache tomcat app

5. To restart ssh service on vmwareservice sshd restart

6. To restart host agent(vmware-hostd) on vmware esx serverservice mgmt-vmware restart

7. Path for the struts-config.xml/usr/lib/vmware/webAccess/tomcat/apache-tomcat-5.5.17/webapps/ui/WEB-INF/

8. To start the scripted install the command is esx ks=nfs:111.222.333.444:/data/KS.config ksdevice=eth0 location device name

9. Virtual Network in Simple.

Virtual Nic(s) on Virtual Machine(s) ----->

Physical Nic on the ESX Server (Virtual Switch - 56 Ports) ----->

Physical Switch Port Should be trunked with all the VLANS to which the VM's need access

All the ESX servers should be configured with Same number of Physical Nics (vSwitches) and Connectivity also should be same, So that vMotion succeedsAll the Virtual Machines are connected to one vSwitch with Different VLANS, this means the Physical Nic(vSwitch) needs to be trunked with the same VLANS on the Physical Switch Port

10 What are the three port groups present in ESX server networking 1. Virtual Machine Port Group - Used for Virtual Machine Network 2. Service Console Port Group - Used for Service Console Communications 3. VMKernel Port Group - Used for VMotion, iSCSI, NFS Communications

11. What is the use of a Port Group?The port group segregates the type of communication.

12. What are the type of communications which requires an IP address for sure ? Service Console and VMKernel (VMotion and iSCSI), these communications does not happen without an ip address (Whether it is a single or dedicated)

13. In the ESX Server licensing features VMotion License is showing as Not used, why? Even though the license box is selected, it shows as "License Not Used" until, you enable the VMotion option for specific vSwitch

14. How the Virtual Machineort group communication works ? All the vm's which are configured in VM Port Group are able to connect to the physical machines on the network. So this port group enables communication between vSwitch and Physical Switch to connect vm's to Physical Machine's

15. What is a VLAN ? A VLAN is a logical configuration on the switch port to segment the IP Traffic. For this to happen, the port must be trunked with the correct VLAN ID.

Back to the top16. Does the vSwitches support VLAN Tagging? Why? Yes, The vSwitches support VLAN Tagging, otherwise if the virtual machines in an esx host are connected to different VLANS, we need to install a separate physical nic (vSwitch) for every VLAN. That is the reason vmware included the VLANtagging for vSwitches. So every vSwitch supports upto 1016 ports, and BTW they can support 1016 VLANS if needed, but an ESX server doesnt support that many VMs. :)

17. What is Promiscuous Mode on vSwitch ? What happens if it sets to Accept? If the promiscuous mode set to Accept, all the communication is visible to all the virtual machines, in other words all the packets are sent to all the ports on vSwitch If the promiscuous mode set to Reject, the packets are sent to inteded port, so that the intended virtual machine was able to see the communication.

18. What is MAC address Changes ? What happens if it is set to Accept ?When we create a virtual machine the configuration wizard generates a MAC address for that machine, you can see it in the .vmx (VM Config) file. If it doesn't matches with the MAC address in the OS this setting does not allow incomingtraffic to the VM. So by setting Reject Option both MAC addresses will be remains same, and the incoming traffic will be allowed to the VM.

19. What is Forged Transmits ? What happens if it is set to Accept ?When we create a virtual machine the configuration wizard generates a MAC address for that machine, you can see it in the .vmx (VM Config) file. If it doesn't matches with the MAC address in the OS this setting does not allow outgoingtraffic from the VM. So by setting Reject Option both MAC addresses will be remains same, and the outgoing traffic will be allowed from the VM.

20. What are the core services of VC ?VM provisioning , Task Scheduling and Event Logging

21. Can we do vMotion between two datacenters ? If possible how it will be?Yes we can do vMotion between two datacenters, but the mandatory requirement is the VM should be powered off.

22. What is VC agent? and what service it is corresponded to? What are the minimum req's for VC agent installation ?VC agent is an agent installed on ESX server which enables communication between VC and ESX server.The daemon associated with it is called vmware-hostd , and the service which corresponds to it is called as mgmt-vmware, in the event of VC agent failure just restart the service by typing the following command at the service console

" service mgmt-vmware restart "VC agent installed on the ESX server when we add it to the VC, so at the time of installtion if you are getting an error like " VC Agent service failed to install ", check the /Opt size whether it is sufficient or not.

23. How can you edit VI Client Settings and VC Server Settings ?Click Edit Menu on VC and Select Client Settings to change VI settingsClick Administration Menu on VC and Select VC Management Server Configuration to Change VC Settings

24. What are the files that make a Virtual Machine ? .vmx - Virtual Machine Configuration File .nvram - Virtual Machine BIOS .vmdk - Virtual Machine Disk file .vswp - Virtual Machine Swap File .vmsd - Virtual MAchine Snapshot Database .vmsn - Virtual Machine Snapshot file .vmss - Virtual Machine Suspended State file .vmware.log - Current Log File .vmware-#.log - Old Log file

25. What are the devices that can be added while the virtual Machine runningIn VI 3.5 we can add Hard Disk and NIC's while the machine running.In vSphere 4.0 we can add Memory and Processor along with HDD and NIC's while the machine running

26. How to set the time delay for BIOS screen for a Virtual Machine?Right Click on VM, select edit settings, choose options tab and select boot option, set the delay how much you want.

27. What is a template ?We can convert a VM into Template, and it cannot be powered on once its changed to template. This is used to quick provisioning of VM's.

23. What to do to customize the windows virtual machine clone,?copy the sysprep files to Virtual center directory on the server, so that the wizard will take the advantage of it.

24. What to do to customize the linux/unix virtual machine clone,?VC itself includes the customization tools, as these operating systems are available as open source.

25. Does cloning from template happens between two datacenters ?Yes.. it can, if the template in one datacenter, we can deploy the vm from that template in another datacenter without any problem.

Back to the top 26. What are the common issues with snapshots? What stops from taking a snapshot and how to fix it ?If you configure the VM with Mapped LUN's, then the snapshot failed. If it is mapped as virtual then we can take a snapshot of it.If you configure the VM with Mapped LUN's as physical, you need to remove it to take a snapshot.

27. What are the settings that are taken into to consideration when we initiate a snapshot ?Virtual Machine Configuration (What hardware is attached to it)State of the Virtual Machine Hard Disk file ( To revert back if needed)State of the Virtual Machine Memory (if it is powered on)

28. What are the requirements for Converting a Physical machine to VM ?An agent needs to be installed on the Physical machineVI client needs to be installed with Converter Plug-inA server to import/export virtual machines

29. What is VMWare consolidated backup ?It is a backup framework, that supports 3rd party utilities to take backups of ESX servers and Virtual Machines. Its not a backup service.

30. To open the guided consolidation tool, what are the user requirements ?The user must be member of administrator, The user should have "Logon as service" privileges - To give a user these privileges,open local sec policy, select Logon as service policy and add the user the user should have read access to AD to send queries1. What is firewall? A firewall is a hardware or software installed to provide security to the private networks connected to the internet. They can be implemented in both hardware and software, or a combination of both. All data entering or leaving the Intranet passes through the firewall which allows only the data meeting the administrators rules to pass through it. 2. What are the types of firewalls? 1. Packet Filtering Firewall: This type of Firewall detects packets and block unnecessary packets and makes network traffic release.2. Screening Router Firewalls: It's a software base firewall available in Router provides only light filtering.3. Computer-based Firewall : It's a firewall stored in server with an existing Operating System like Windows and UNIX.4. Hardware base Firewall: Its device like box allows strong security from public network. Mostly used by big networks.5. Proxy Server: Proxy server allows all clients to access Internet with different access limits. Proxy server has its own firewall which filters the all packet from web server.3. What is Pix Firewall Security? How does it differ from a firewall? CISCO pix firewall security is stateful firewall. It uses ASA Technology. 4. What can't a firewall protect against? Firewalls can't protect against attacks that don't go through the firewall. Many corporations that connect to the Internet are very concerned about proprietary data leaking out of the company through that route. Unfortunately for those concerned, a magnetic tape can just as effectively be used to export data. Many organizations that are terrified (at a management level) of Internet connections have no coherent policy about how dial-in access via modems should be protected. 5. Will IPSEC make firewalls obsolete? IPSEC (IP Security) refers to a set of standards developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). There are many documents that collectively define what is known as ``IPSEC'' [4]. IPSEC solves two problems which have plagued the IP protocol suite for years: host-to-host authentication (which will let hosts know that they're talking to the hosts they think they are) and encryption (which will prevent attackers from being able to watch the traffic going between machines). 6. What is a network firewall? A firewall is a system or group of systems that enforces an access control policy between two networks. The actual means by which this is accomplished varies widely, but in principle, the firewall can be thought of as a pair of mechanisms: one which exists to block traffic, and the other which exists to permit traffic. Some firewalls place a greater emphasis on blocking traffic, while others emphasize permitting traffic.Probably the most important thing to recognize about a firewall is that it implements an access control policy. If you don't have a good idea of what kind of access you want to allow or to deny, a firewall really won't help you. It's also important to recognize that the firewall's configuration, because it is a mechanism for enforcing policy, imposes its policy on everything behind it. Administrators for firewalls managing the connectivity for a large number of hosts therefore have a heavy responsibility. 7. What is synchronization and why is it important? With respect to multithreading, synchronization is the capability to control the access of multiple threads to shared resources. Without synchronization, it is possible for one thread to modify a shared object while another thread is in the process of using or updating that object's value. This often leads to significant errors. 8. What are the critical resources in a firewall? 1. Service Critical Resource2. Email3. Disk I/O4. Netnews Disk I/O5. Web Host6. OS Socket Performance7. IP Routing Host OS Socket Performance8. Web Cache9. Host OS Socket Performance, Disk I/O9. What are some common attacks, and how can I protect my system against them? Each site is a little different from every other in terms of what attacks are likely to be used against it. Some recurring themes do arise, though.10. What is the difference between gateway and firewall? A network gateway joins two networks together through a combination of hardware and software. A network firewall guards a computer network against unauthorized incoming or outgoing access. Network firewalls may be hardware devices or software programs.11. What is the difference between router ACLs and Firewall ACLs? Fundamental purpose: 1. Routers are designed to route traffic, not stop it.2. Firewalls are designed to examine and accept/reject traffic. But the both ACL are do the same job. Depending upon our requirements we do our ACL configuration on it.12. A trace route command work across the firewall? why? Trace route is based on ICMP type 30 under Windows and UDP under NIX; trace route packets that would hit the firewall should be dropped similarly any echo replay coming from inside the firewall should be restricted outbound. 13. Can you define Packet filtering ? Packet filtering is the process of passing or blocking packets at a network interface based on source and destination addresses, ports, or protocols. The process is used in conjunction with packet mangling and Network Address Translation (NAT). Packet filtering is often part of a firewall program for protecting a local network from unwanted intrusion. The packet filter examines the header of each packet based on a specific set of rules, and on that basis, decides to prevent it from passing (called DROP) or allow it to pass (called ACCEPT). 14. Can you explain circuit level gateway? The circuit level gateway firewalls work at the session layer of the OSI model. They monitor TCP handshaking between the packets to determine if a requested session is legitimate. And the information passed through a circuit level gateway, to the internet, appears to have come from the circuit level gateway. So, there is no way for a remote computer or a host to determine the internal private ip addresses of an organization, for example. This technique is also called Network Address Translation where the private IP addresses originating from the different clients inside the network are all mapped to the public IP address available through the internet service provider and then sent to the outside world (Internet). This way, the packets are tagged with only the Public IP address (Firewall level) and the internal private IP addresses are not exposed to potential intruders. 15. Can you explain stateful inspection? Stateful inspection, also known as dynamic packet filtering, is a firewall technology that monitors the state of active connections and uses this information to determine which network packets to allow through the firewall. Stateful inspection has largely replaced an older technology, static packet filtering. In static packet filtering, only the headers of packets are checked -- which means that an attacker can sometimes get information through the firewall simply by indicating "reply" in the header. Stateful inspection, on the other hand, analyzes packets down to the application layer. By recording session information such as IP addresses and port numbers, a dynamic packet filter can implement a much tighter security posture than a static packet filter can. 16. Can you explain the concept of demilitarized zone? The concept of the DMZ, like many other network security concepts, was borrowed from military terminology. Geopolitically, a demilitarized zone (DMZ) is an area that runs between two territories that are hostile to one another or two opposing forces' battle lines. The DMZ likewise provides a buffer zone that separates an internal network from the often hostile territory of the Internet. Sometimes it's called a "screened subnet" or a "perimeter network," but the purpose remains the same. 17. What is Application level Gateway? An application layer gateway (ALG) is a feature on ScreenOS gateways that enables the gateway to parse application layer payloads and take decisions on them. Although there are other ScreenOS features, such as deep inspection, in which the gateway inspects traffic at the application layer, ALGs are typically employed to support applications that use the application layer payload to communicate the dynamic Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) or User Datagram Protocol (UDP) ports on which the applications open data connections. Such applications include the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and various IP telephony protocols. The dynamic TCP, UDP, or other ports that are opened by the ScreenOS gateway to permit these data or secondary channels are referred to as pinholes, and are active strictly for the duration of activity on the data channel. 18. Can you explain the concept of demilitarized zone? The concept of the DMZ, like many other network security concepts, was borrowed from military terminology. Geopolitically, a demilitarized zone (DMZ) is an area that runs between two territories that are hostile to one another or two opposing forces' battle lines.The DMZ likewise provides a buffer zone that separates an internal network from the often hostile territory of the Internet. Sometimes it's called a "screened subnet" or a "perimeter network," but the purpose remains the same. 19. What is the meaning of bastion host? A bastion host is a specialized computer that is deliberately exposed on a public network. From a secured network perspective, it is the only node exposed to the outside world and is therefore very prone to attack. It is placed outside the firewall in single firewall systems or, if a system has two firewalls, it is often placed between the two firewalls or on the public side of a demilitarized zone (DMZ).The bastion host processes and filters all incoming traffic and prevents malicious traffic from entering the network, acting much like a gateway. The most common examples of bastion hosts are mail, domain name system, Web and File Transfer Protocol (FTP) servers. Firewalls and routers can also become bastion hosts 20. What are types of firewall architecture ? 1. Screening Router Architecture2. Dual-Homed Host Architecture3. Screened Host Architecture4. Screened Subnet ArchitectureExplain about Screening Router Architecture? In this architecture a firewall consists of nothing more than a screening router. Host on the Local Network and hosts on the Internet are allowed to communicate directly. The communication is restricted to the type that is allowed by a screening router. The security of the whole Local Network depends on the correct ACL of the router and on the amount of services permitted. 22. Circuit level gateway advantages and disadvantages ? The following are the advantages of Circuit Level Gateways: 1. Private network data hiding2. Avoidance of filtering individual packe