Technical Interview Questions--NETWORKING

1. Technical Interview Questions – Networking
MCSE and System Administrator Job Interview Questions - Part 1 -
Networking
• What is an IP address?
• What is a subnet mask?
• What is ARP?
• What is ARP Cache Poisoning?
• What is the ANDing process?
• What is a default gateway? What happens if I don't have one?
• Can a workstation computer be configured to browse the Internet and yet NOT have
a default gateway?
• What is a subnet?
• What is APIPA?
• What is an RFC? Name a few if possible (not necessarily the numbers, just the ideas
behind them)
• What is RFC 1918?
• What is CIDR?
• You have the following Network ID: 192.115.103.64/27. What is the IP range for
your network?
• You have the following Network ID: 131.112.0.0. You need at least 500 hosts per
network. How many networks can you create? What subnet mask will you use?
• You need to view at network traffic. What will you use? Name a few tools
• How do I know the path that a packet takes to the destination?
• What does the ping 192.168.0.1 -l 1000 -n 100 command do?
• What is DHCP? What are the benefits and drawbacks of using it?
• Describe the steps taken by the client and DHCP server in order to obtain an IP
address.
• What is the DHCPNACK and when do I get one? Name 2 scenarios.
• What ports are used by DHCP and the DHCP clients?
• Describe the process of installing a DHCP server in an AD infrastructure.
• What is DHCPINFORM?
• Describe the integration between DHCP and DNS.
• What options in DHCP do you regularly use for an MS network?
• What are User Classes and Vendor Classes in DHCP?
• How do I configure a client machine to use a specific User Class?
• What is the BOOTP protocol used for, where might you find it in Windows network
infrastructure?
• DNS zones – describe the differences between the 4 types.
• DNS record types – describe the most important ones.
• Describe the process of working with an external domain name
• Describe the importance of DNS to AD.
• Describe a few methods of finding an MX record for a remote domain on the
Internet.
• What does "Disable Recursion" in DNS mean?
• What could cause the Forwarders and Root Hints to be grayed out?

2. • What is a "Single Label domain name" and what sort of issues can it cause?
• What is the "in-addr.arpa" zone used for?
• What are the requirements from DNS to support AD?
• How do you manually create SRV records in DNS?
• Name 3 benefits of using AD-integrated zones.
• What are the benefits of using Windows 2003 DNS when using AD-integrated
zones?
• You installed a new AD domain and the new (and first) DC has not registered its
SRV records in DNS. Name a few possible causes.
• What are the benefits and scenarios of using Stub zones?
• What are the benefits and scenarios of using Conditional Forwarding?
What are the differences between Windows Clustering, Network Load Balancing
and Round Robin, and scenarios for each use?
• How do I work with the Host name cache on a client computer?
• How do I clear the DNS cache on the DNS server?
• What is the 224.0.1.24 address used for?
• What is WINS and when do we use it?
Can you have a Microsoft-based network without any WINS server on it? What are
the "considerations" regarding not using WINS?
• Describe the differences between WINS push and pull replications.
What is the difference between tombstoning a WINS record and simply deleting
it?
Name the NetBIOS names you might expect from a Windows 2003 DC that is
registered in WINS.
• Describe the role of the routing table on a host and on a router.
• What are routing protocols? Why do we need them? Name a few.
• What are router interfaces? What types can they be?
• In Windows 2003 routing, what are the interface filters?
• What is NAT?
• What is the real difference between NAT and PAT?
• How do you configure NAT on Windows 2003?
• How do you allow inbound traffic for specific hosts on Windows 2003 NAT?
• What is VPN? What types of VPN does Windows 2000 and beyond work with
natively?
• What is IAS? In what scenarios do we use it?
• What's the difference between Mixed mode and Native mode in AD when dealing
with RRAS?
• What is the "RAS and IAS" group in AD?
• What are Conditions and Profile in RRAS Policies?
• What types or authentication can a Windows 2003 based RRAS work with?
• How does SSL work?
• How does IPSec work?
• How do I deploy IPSec for a large number of computers?
• What types of authentication can IPSec use?
• What is PFS (Perfect Forward Secrecy) in IPSec?
• How do I monitor IPSec?
• Looking at IPSec-encrypted traffic with a sniffer. What packet types do I see?
• What can you do with NETSH?

3. • How do I look at the open ports on my machine?
Technical Interview Questions – Active Directory
MCSE and System Administrator Job Interview Questions - Part 2 -
Active Directory
• What is Active Directory?
• What is LDAP?
• Can you connect Active Directory to other 3rd-party Directory Services? Name a few
options.
• Where is the AD database held? What other folders are related to AD?
• What is the SYSVOL folder?
• Name the AD NCs and replication issues for each NC
• What are application partitions? When do I use them
• How do you create a new application partition
• How do you view replication properties for AD partitions and DCs?
• What is the Global Catalog?
• How do you view all the GCs in the forest?
• Why not make all DCs in a large forest as GCs?
• Trying to look at the Schema, how can I do that?
• What are the Support Tools? Why do I need them?
• What is LDP? What is REPLMON? What is ADSIEDIT? What is NETDOM? What is
REPADMIN?
• What are sites? What are they used for?
• What's the difference between a site link's schedule and interval?
• What is the KCC?
• What is the ISTG? Who has that role by default?
• What are the requirements for installing AD on a new server?
• What can you do to promote a server to DC if you're in a remote location with slow
WAN link?
• How can you forcibly remove AD from a server, and what do you do later? • Can I
get user passwords from the AD database?
• What tool would I use to try to grab security related packets from the wire?
• Name some OU design considerations.
• What is tombstone lifetime attribute?
• What do you do to install a new Windows 2003 DC in a Windows 2000 AD?
• What do you do to install a new Windows 2003 R2 DC in a Windows 2003 AD?
• How would you find all users that have not logged on since last month?
• What are the DS* commands?
• What's the difference between LDIFDE and CSVDE? Usage considerations?
• What are the FSMO roles? Who has them by default? What happens when each one
fails?
• What FSMO placement considerations do you know of?
• I want to look at the RID allocation table for a DC. What do I do?

4. • What's the difference between transferring a FSMO role and seizing one? Which one
should you NOT seize? Why?
• How do you configure a "stand-by operation master" for any of the roles?
• How do you backup AD?
• How do you restore AD?
• How do you change the DS Restore admin password?
• Why can't you restore a DC that was backed up 4 months ago?
• What are GPOs?
• What is the order in which GPOs are applied?
• Name a few benefits of using GPMC.
• What are the GPC and the GPT? Where can I find them?
• What are GPO links? What special things can I do to them?
• What can I do to prevent inheritance from above?
• How can I override blocking of inheritance?
• How can you determine what GPO was and was not applied for a user? Name a few
ways to do that.
• 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?
• Name a few differences in Vista GPOs
• Name some GPO settings in the computer and user parts.
• What are administrative templates?
• What's the difference between software publishing and assigning?
• Can I deploy non-MSI software with GPO?
• 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?
Technical Interview Questions – Exchange 2003
Daniel Petri’s MCSE and System Administrator Job
Interview Questions - Part 3 – Exchange
• Tell me a bit about the capabilities of Exchange Server.
• What are the different Exchange 2003 versions?
• What's the main differences between Exchange 5.5 and Exchange 2000/2003?
• What are the major network infrastructure for installing Exchange 2003?
• What is the latest Exchange 2003 Service Pack? Name a few changes in functionality
in that SP.
• What are the disk considerations when installing Exchange (RAID types, locations
and so on).
• You got a new HP DL380 (2U) server, dual Xeon, 4GB of RAM, 7 SAS disks, 64-bit.
What do you do next to install Exchange 2003? (you have AD in place)
• Why not install Exchange on the same machine as a DC?
• Are there any other installation considerations?
• How would you prepare the AD Schema in advance before installing Exchange?
• What type or permissions do you need in order to install the first Exchange server in
a forest? In a domain?

5. • How would you verify that the schema was in fact updated?
• What type of memory optimization changes could you do for Exchange 2003?
• How would you check your Exchange configuration settings to see if they're right?
• What are the Exchange management tools? How and where can you install them?
• What types of permissions are configurable for Exchange?
• How can you grant access for an administrator to access all mailboxes on a specific
server?
• What is the Send As permission?
• What other management tools are used to manage and control Exchange 2003?
Name the tools you'd use.
• What are Exchange Recipient types? Name 5.
• You created a mailbox for a user, yet the mailbox does not appear in ESM. Why?
• You wanted to change mailbox access permissions for a mailbox, yet you see the
SELF permission alone on the permissions list. Why?
• What are Query Based Distribution groups?
• What type of groups would you use when configuring distribution groups in a
multiple domain forest?
• Name a few configuration options for Exchange recipients.
• What's the difference between Exchange 2003 Std. and Ent. editions when related to
storage options and size?
• Name a few configuration options related to mailbox stores.
• What are System Public Folders? Where would you find them?
• How would you plan and configure Public Folder redundancy?
• How can you immediately stop PF replication?
• How can you prevent PF referral across slow WAN links?
• What types of PF management tools might you use?
• What are the differences between administrative permissions and client permissions
in PF?
• How can you configure PF replication from the command prompt in Exchange 2003?
• What are the message hygiene options you can use natively in Exchange 2003?
• What are the configuration options in IMF?
• What are virtual servers? When would you use more than one?
• Name some of the SMTP Virtual Server configuration options.
• What is a Mail Relay? Name a few known mail relay software or hardware options.
• What is a Smart Host? Where would you configure it?
• What are Routing Groups? When would you use them?
• What are the types of Connectors you can use in Exchange?
• What is the cost option in Exchange connectors?
• What is the Link State Table? How would you view it?
• How would you configure mail transfer security between 2 routing groups?
• What is the Routing Group Master? Who holds that role?
• Explain the configuration steps required to allow Exchange 2003 to send and receive
email from the Internet (consider a one-site multiple server scenario).
• What is DS2MB?
• What is Forms Based Authentication?
• How would you configure OWA's settings on an Exchange server?
• What is DSACCESS?
• What are Recipient Policies?

6. • How would you work with multiple recipient policies?
• What is the "issue" with trying to remove email addresses added by recipient
policies? How would you fix that?
• What is the RUS?
• When would you need to manually create additional RUS?
• What are Address Lists?
• How would you modify the filter properties of one of the default address lists?
• How can you create multiple GALs and allow the users to only see the one related to
them?
• What is a Front End server? In what scenarios would you use one?
• What type of authentication is used on the front end servers?
• When would you use NLB?
• How would you achieve incoming mail redundancy?
• What are the 4 types of Exchange backups?
• What is the Dial-Tone server scenario?
• When would you use offline backup?
• How do you re-install Exchange on a server that has crashed but with AD intact?
• What is the dumpster?
• What are the e00xxxxx.log files?
• What is the e00.chk file?
• What is circular logging? When would you use it?
• What's the difference between online and offline defrag?
• How would you know if it is time to perform an offline defrag of your Exchange
stores?
• How would you plan for, and perform the offline defrag?
• What is the eseutil command?
• What is the isinteg command?
• How would you monitor Exchange's services and performance? Name 2 or 3 options.
• Name all the client connection options in Exchange 2003.
• What is Direct Push? What are the requirements to run it?
• How would you remote wipe a PPC?
• What are the issues with connecting Outlook from a remote computer to your
mailbox?
• How would you solve those issues? Name 2 or 3 methods
• What is RPC over HTTP? What are the requirements to run it?
• What is Cached Mode in OL2003/2007?
• What are the benefits and "issues" when using cached mode? How would you tackle
those issues?
• What is S/MIME? What are the usage scenarios for S/MIME?
• What are the IPSec usage scenarios for Exchange 2003?
• How do you enable SSL on OWA?
• What are the considerations for obtaining a digital certificate for SSL on Exchange?
• Name a few 3rd-party CAs.
• What do you need to consider when using a client-type AV software on an Exchange
server?
• What are the different clustering options in Exchange 2003? Which one would you
choose and why.

7. PC Hardware
• What is FSB?
• What are Vcore and Vi/o?
• On what type of socket can you install a Pentium 4 CPU?
• What is SMP?
• Which Intel and AMD processors support SMP?
• How do LGA sockets differ from PGA and SEC?
• What is the difference between Pentium 4 and Pentium Core 2 Duo? Explain the new
technology.
• How does IRQ priority works?
• What technology enables you to upgrade your computer's BIOS by simply using a
software?
• What happens if you dissemble the battery located on the Mother-Board?
• How do L1, L2, and L3 work?
• How should we install RAM on a Dual-Channel Motherboard?
• What is the advantage of serial over parallel bus?
• Is USB using serial or parallel bus? What about Firewire?
• How much power is supplied to each USB port?
• When should you change your bus-powered USB hub to a self-powered USB hub?
• What is a UPS?
• What is the difference between standby and online UPS?
• What is LBA (in Hard-Disks)?
• How many Hard Disks can you install on an E-IDE controller?
• Can you configure two hard disks to use the Master setting on the same PC?
• What is the difference between Narrow-SCSI and Wide-SCSI?
• What is SAS?
• What are the three main reasons for using RAID?
• Is RAID 0 considered to be a redundant Solution? Why?
• How many disks can be used for RAID 1?
• How RAID 5 works?
• What is the smallest number of disks required for RAID5?
• What other types of RAID do you know?
• What are the six steps for laser printing?
• What is the difference between PCI-EX x1 and PCI-EX x16?
Microsoft-based Operating Systems
• What is the difference between a workgroup and a domain?
• What are the major advantages of working in a domain model?
• What types of operating system installation methods do you know?
• What is an answer file?
• How would you create an answer file for Windows XP? How would you create one
for Windows Vista?
• How do you perform an unattended installation on Windows XP?
• What is Sysprep?
• How do you use Sysprep?

8. • What is the major difference between Newsid and Sysprep?
• What is the function of the pagefile.sys file?
• What is the function of the hiberfil.sys file?
• What is the Registry?
• How can you edit the Registry? Name at least 3 ways of doing that.
• What should you do if you receive a message stating: "The following file is missing
or corrupt: 'WINDOWS'SYSTEM32'CONFIG'SYSTEM"?
• How would you repair an unsuccessful driver update?
• When should you use each of the fallowing tools: System Restore, LKGC and
Recovery Console?
• How do you set different print priority for different users?
• How can you reset user's passwords if you don't know his current password?
• What's the difference between changing a user's password and resetting it?
• You want to grant a user the right to perform backups – should you add him to the
administrators group?
• What is MMC?
• What is gpedit.msc?
• How would you use the MMC to manage other servers on your network?
• You set a local policy for your Stand-alone XP Professional – would the local policy
effects the administrators group?
• What new in the Windows Vista Local Policy?
• What is the difference between User Privileges and User Permissions?
• What is Safe Mode?
• Which logs can be found in Event Viewer?
• What is msconfig? On which OS can it be found?
• Can you upgrade XP Home Edition to Server 2003?
• Which permission will you grant a user for a folder he need to be able to create and
delete files in, if you do not want him to be able to change permissions for the
folder?
• What is the difference between clearing the "allow" permission and checking the
"deny"?
Networking
• What is a NIC?
• What is a MAC Address?
• When would you use a crosslink cable?
• What are the main advantages and disadvantages of Fiber-Optic-based networks?
• What is the difference between a Hub and a Switch?
• On which OSI layer can a router be found?
• What is CSMA/CD?
• What is multicast?
• What is Broadcast?
• What is the difference between TCP and UDP?
• Describe some of the settings that are added by TCP and by UDP to the packet's
header.
• What are TCP Ports? Name a few.

9. • What is a TCP Session?
• What three elements make up a socket?
• What will happen if you leave the default gateway information empty while manually
configuring TCP/IP?
• What will happen if you execute the following command: "arp –d *"?
• What is ICMP?
• When would you use the ping command with the "-t" switch?
• What command-line tool would help you discover for which port numbers your
computer is listening?
• What is APIPA? How would you recognize it?
• What is a Cyclic Redundancy Check?
• What would you type in at a command prompt to view the IP settings for the
computer that you are sitting at?
• What command would you type in at a command prompt to view the IP address of
the remote computer?
• What is the W Value for class B?
• What is the Net ID of an IP Address of 18.9.25.3 with Subnet Mask of 255.0.0.0?
• What is CIDR?
• What is 255.255.255.255 used for?
• What is the maximum number of hosts for a Class B Network?
• What is the (default) class type of 195.152.12.1?
• What is the subnet mask for 10.0.10.1/17?
• What is the result when changing from a subnet mask of 255.255.224.0 to a subnet
mask of 255.255.240.0?
• How can you access a shared folder from a remote computer? Name at least 3
methods.
The next article in this series will cover Active Directory questions!
Related Articles
• MCSE and System Administrator Job Interview Questions - Part 2 - Active Directory
• MCSE and System Administrator Job Interview Questions - Part 3 – Exchange
• MCSE and System Administrator Job Interview Questions - Part 4 – PC Technician
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Windows sysadmin interview questions
By admin | March 29, 2006
1. 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 ADS
10. 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 that’s responsible for keep all Active Directory database?
Windows Server 2003 interview and
certification questions
By admin | December 7, 2003
1. How do you double-boot a Win 2003 server box? The Boot.ini file is set as read-only,
system, and hidden to prevent unwanted editing. To change the Boot.ini timeout and default
settings, use the System option in Control Panel from the Advanced tab and select Startup.
2. What do you do if earlier application doesn’t run on Windows Server 2003?When an
application that ran on an earlier legacy version of Windows cannot be loaded during the setup
function or if it later malfunctions, you must run the compatibility mode function. This is
accomplished by right-clicking the application or setup program and selecting Properties –>
Compatibility –> selecting the previously supported operating system.

11. 3. If you uninstall Windows Server 2003, which operating systems can you revert
to? Win ME, Win 98, 2000, XP. Note, however, that you cannot upgrade from ME and 98 to
Windows Server 2003.
4. How do you get to Internet Firewall settings? Start –> Control Panel –> Network and
Internet Connections –> Network Connections.
5. What are the Windows Server 2003 keyboard shortcuts? Winkey opens or closes the Start
menu. Winkey + BREAK displays the System Properties dialog box. Winkey + TAB moves the focus
to the next application in the taskbar. Winkey + SHIFT + TAB moves the focus to the previous
application in the taskbar. Winkey + B moves the focus to the notification area. Winkey + D shows
the desktop. Winkey + E opens Windows Explorer showing My Computer. Winkey + F opens the
Search panel. Winkey + CTRL + F opens the Search panel with Search for Computers module
selected. Winkey + F1 opens Help. Winkey + M minimizes all. Winkey + SHIFT+ M undoes
minimization. Winkey + R opens Run dialog. Winkey + U opens the Utility Manager. Winkey + L
locks the computer.
6. What is Active Directory? Active Directory is a network-based object store and service that
locates and manages resources, and makes these resources available to authorized users and
groups. An underlying principle of the Active Directory is that everything is considered an object—
people, servers, workstations, printers, documents, and devices. Each object has certain attributes
and its own security access control list (ACL).
7. Where are the Windows NT Primary Domain Controller (PDC) and its Backup
Domain Controller (BDC) in Server 2003? The Active Directory replaces them. Now all
domain controllers share a multimaster peer-to-peer read and write relationship that hosts copies
of the Active Directory.
8. How long does it take for security changes to be replicated among the domain
controllers? Security-related modifications are replicated within a site immediately. These
changes include account and individual user lockout policies, changes to password policies, changes
to computer account passwords, and modifications to the Local Security Authority (LSA).
9. What’s new in Windows Server 2003 regarding the DNS management? When DC
promotion occurs with an existing forest, the Active Directory Installation Wizard contacts an
existing DC to update the directory and replicate from the DC the required portions of the directory.
If the wizard fails to locate a DC, it performs debugging and reports what caused the failure and
how to fix the problem. In order to be located on a network, every DC must register in DNS DC
locator DNS records. The Active Directory Installation Wizard verifies a proper configuration of the
DNS infrastructure. All DNS configuration debugging and reporting activity is done with the Active
Directory Installation Wizard.
10. When should you create a forest? Organizations that operate on radically different bases may
require separate trees with distinct namespaces. Unique trade or brand names often give rise to
separate DNS identities. Organizations merge or are acquired and naming continuity is desired.
Organizations form partnerships and joint ventures. While access to common resources is desired,
a separately defined tree can enforce more direct administrative and security restrictions.
11. How can you authenticate between forests? Four types of authentication are used across
forests: (1) Kerberos and NTLM network logon for remote access to a server in another forest; (2)
Kerberos and NTLM interactive logon for physical logon outside the user’s home forest; (3)
Kerberos delegation to N-tier application in another forest; and (4) user principal name (UPN)
credentials.
12. What snap-in administrative tools are available for Active Directory? Active Directory
Domains and Trusts Manager, Active Directory Sites and Services Manager, Active Directory Users

12. and Group Manager, Active Directory Replication (optional, available from the Resource Kit),
Active Directory Schema Manager (optional, available from adminpak)
13. What types of classes exist in Windows Server 2003 Active Directory?
 Structural class. The structural class is important to the system administrator in that it is the
only type from which new Active Directory objects are created. Structural classes are developed
from either the modification of an existing structural type or the use of one or more abstract
classes.
 Abstract class. Abstract classes are so named because they take the form of templates that
actually create other templates (abstracts) and structural and auxiliary classes. Think of
abstract classes as frameworks for the defining objects.
 Auxiliary class. The auxiliary class is a list of attributes. Rather than apply numerous
attributes when creating a structural class, it provides a streamlined alternative by applying a
combination of attributes with a single include action.
 88 class. The 88 class includes object classes defined prior to 1993, when the 1988 X.500
specification was adopted. This type does not use the structural, abstract, and auxiliary
definitions, nor is it in common use for the development of objects in Windows Server 2003
environments.
14. How do you delete a lingering object? Windows Server 2003 provides a command called
Repadmin that provides the ability to delete lingering objects in the Active Directory.
15. What is Global Catalog? The Global Catalog authenticates network user logons and fields
inquiries about objects across a forest or tree. Every domain has at least one GC that is hosted on a
domain controller. In Windows 2000, there was typically one GC on every site in order to prevent
user logon failures across the network.
16. How is user account security established in Windows Server 2003? When an account is
created, it is given a unique access number known as a security identifier (SID). Every group to
which the user belongs has an associated SID. The user and related group SIDs together form the
user account’s security token, which determines access levels to objects throughout the system and
network. SIDs from the security token are mapped to the access control list (ACL) of any object the
user attempts to access.
17. If I delete a user and then create a new account with the same username and
password, would the SID and permissions stay the same? No. If you delete a user account
and attempt to recreate it with the same user name and password, the SID will be different.
18. What do you do with secure sign-ons in an organization with many roaming
users? Credential Management feature of Windows Server 2003 provides a consistent single sign-
on experience for users. This can be useful for roaming users who move between computer systems.
The Credential Management feature provides a secure store of user credentials that includes
passwords and X.509 certificates.
19. Anything special you should do when adding a user that has a Mac? "Save password as
encrypted clear text" must be selected on User Properties Account Tab Options, since the Macs only
store their passwords that way.
20. What remote access options does Windows Server 2003 support? Dial-in, VPN, dial-in
with callback.
21. Where are the documents and settings for the roaming profile stored? All the
documents and environmental settings for the roaming user are stored locally on the system, and,
when the user logs off, all changes to the locally stored profile are copied to the shared server folder.
Therefore, the first time a roaming user logs on to a new system the logon process may take some
time, depending on how large his profile folder is.

13. 22. Where are the settings for all the users stored on a given machine? Document and
SettingsAll Users
23. What languages can you use for log-on scripts? JavaScipt, VBScript, DOS batch files
(.com, .bat, or even .exe)
Zone:
Windows 2003 Server
Tags:
interview, questions, server, windows
can any one please provide me the answers for these questions???...thank you.
1. What are the ways to configure DNS & Zones?
2. What are the types of backup? Explain each?
3. What are Levels of RAID 0, 1, 5? Which one is better & why?
4. What are FMSO Roles? List them.
5. Describe the lease process of the DHCP server.
6. Disaster Recovery Plan?
7. What is scope & super scope?
8. Differences between Win 2000 Server & Advanced Server?
9. Logical Diagram of Active Directory? What is the difference between child domain & additional domain
server?
10. FTP, NNTP, SMTP, KERBEROS, DNS, DHCP, POP3 port numbers?
11. What is Kerberos? Which version is currently used by Windows? How does Kerberos work?
1. GAL, Routing Group, Stm files, Eseutil & ininteg - what are they used for?
2. What is MIME & MAPI?
3. List the services of Exchange Server 2000?
4. How would you recover Exchange server when the log file is corrupted
1. Group Policies - how to apply and order in which they apply.
2. Global catalog servers - how many is a specific two plus site implementation
3. Describe different zones and a scenario in which you would use them
4. What is the system state?
5. What is a Global Catalog server?
6. What is an OU?
7. What Ms tools (standard) are used to troubleshoot AD issues?
What tools from the Support kit and resource kit can aid troubleshooting?
What the standard mistakes made when setting up Ms products?
8. What do you have to do to secure a Exchange server from being a relay?
9. When a full backup runs what does it do to the log files?
10. What the basic steps to recovering a Lost Exchange/DC server?
11. How do you build redudancy in to DNS?
12. How can you secure AD DNS?
Windows Server 2003 IIS and Scripting
interview questions
By admin | December 7, 2003
1. What is presentation layer responsible for in the OSI model? The presentation layer
establishes the data format prior to passing it along to the network application’s interface. TCP/IP
networks perform this task at the application layer.
2. Does Windows Server 2003 support IPv6? Yes, run ipv6.exe from command line to disable
it.

14. 3. Can Windows Server 2003 function as a bridge? Yes, and it’s a new feature for the 2003
product. You can combine several networks and devices connected via several adapters by enabling
IP routing.
4. What’s the difference between the basic disk and dynamic disk? The basic type contains
partitions, extended partitions, logical drivers, and an assortment of static volumes; the dynamic
type does not use partitions but dynamically manages volumes and provides advanced storage
options
5. What’s a media pool? It is any compilation of disks or tapes with the same administrative
properties.
6. How do you install recovery console? C:i386win32 /cmdcons, assuming that your Win
server installation is on drive C.
7. What’s new in Terminal Services for Windows 2003 Server? Supports audio
transmissions as well, although prepare for heavy network load.
8. What scripts ship with IIS 6.0? iisweb.vsb to create, delete, start, stop, and list Web
sites, iisftp.vsb to create, delete, start, stop, and list FTP sites, iisdir.vsb to create, delete, start, stop,
and display virtual directories, iisftpdr.vsb to create, delete, start, stop, and display virtual
directories under an FTP root, iiscnfg.vbs to export and import IIS configuration to an XML file.
9. What’s the name of the user who connects to the Web site anonymously?
IUSR_computername
10. What secure authentication and encryption mechanisms are supported by IIS
6.0? Basic authentication, Digest authentication, Advanced digest authentication, Certificate-based
Web transactions that use PKCS #7/PKCS #10, Fortezza, SSL, Server-Gated Cryptography,
Transport Layer Security
11. What’s the relation between SSL and TLS? Transport Layer Security (TLS) extends SSL by
providing cryptographic authentication.
12. What’s the role of http.sys in IIS? It is the point of contact for all incoming HTTP requests. It
listens for requests and queues them until they are all processed, no more queues are available, or
the Web server is shut down.
13. Where’s ASP cache located on IIS 6.0? On disk, as opposed to memory, as it used to be in IIS
5.
14. What is socket pooling? Non-blocking socket usage, introduced in IIS 6.0. More than one
application can use a given socket.
15. Describe the process of clustering with Windows 2003 Server when a new node is
added. As a node goes online, it searches for other nodes to join by polling the designated internal
network. In this way, all nodes are notified of the new node’s existence. If other nodes cannot be
found on a preexisting cluster, the new node takes control of the quorum resources residing on the
shared disk that contains state and configuration data.
16. What applications are not capable of performing in Windows 2003 Server
clusters? The ones written exclusively for NetBEUI and IPX.
17. What’s a heartbeat? Communication processes between the nodes designed to ensure node’s
health.
18. What’s a threshold in clustered environment? The number of times a restart is attempted,
when the node fails.
19. You need to change and admin password on a clustered Windows box, but that
requires rebooting the cluster, doesn’t it? No, it doesn’t. In 2003 environment you can do
that via cluster.exe utility which does not require rebooting the entire cluster.

15. 20. For the document of size 1 MB, what size would you expect the index to be with
Indexing Service? 150-300 KB, 15-30% is a reasonable expectation.
21. Doesn’t the Indexing Service introduce a security flaw when allowing access to the
index? No, because users can only view the indices of documents and folders that they have
permissions for.
22. What’s the typical size of the index? Less then 100K documents - up to 128 MB. More than
that - 256+ MB.
23. Which characters should be enclosed in quotes when searching the index? &, @, $, #,
^, ( ), and |.
24. How would you search for C++? Just enter C++, since + is not a special character (and neither
is C).
25. What about Barnes&Noble? Should be searched for as Barnes’&’Noble.
26. Are the searches case-sensitive? No.
27. What’s the order of precedence of Boolean operators in Microsoft Windows 2003
Server Indexing Service? NOT, AND, NEAR, OR.
28. What’s a vector space query? A multiple-word query where the weight can be assigned to each
of the search words. For example, if you want to fight information on ‘black hole’, but would prefer
to give more weight to the word hole, you can enterblack[1] hole[20] into the search window.
29. What’s a response queue? It’s the message queue that holds response messages sent from the
receiving application to the sender.
30. What’s MQPing used for? Testing Microsoft Message Queue services between the nodes on a
network.
31. Which add-on package for Windows 2003 Server would you use to monitor the
installed software and license compliance? SMS (System Management Server).
32. Which service do you use to set up various alerts? MOM (Microsoft Operations Manager).
33. What languages does Windows Scripting Host support? VB, VBScript, JScript.
Windows Server 2003 Active Directory and
Security questions
By admin | December 7, 2003
1. What’s the difference between local, global and universal groups? Domain local groups
assign access permissions to global domain groups for local domain resources. Global groups
provide access to resources in other trusted domains. Universal groups grant access to resources in
all trusted domains.
2. I am trying to create a new universal user group. Why can’t I? Universal groups are
allowed only in native-mode Windows Server 2003 environments. Native mode requires that all
domain controllers be promoted to Windows Server 2003 Active Directory.
3. What is LSDOU? It’s group policy inheritance model, where the policies are applied toLocal
machines, Sites, Domains and Organizational Units.
4. Why doesn’t LSDOU work under Windows NT? If the NTConfig.pol file exist, it has the
highest priority among the numerous policies.
5. Where are group policies stored? %SystemRoot%System32GroupPolicy
6. What is GPT and GPC? Group policy template and group policy container.
7. Where is GPT stored? %SystemRoot%SYSVOLsysvoldomainnamePoliciesGUID
8. You change the group policies, and now the computer and user settings are in
conflict. Which one has the highest priority? The computer settings take priority.

16. 9. You want to set up remote installation procedure, but do not want the user to gain
access over it. What do you do? gponame–> User Configuration–> Windows Settings–>
Remote Installation Services–> Choice Options is your friend.
10. What’s contained in administrative template conf.adm? Microsoft NetMeeting policies
11. How can you restrict running certain applications on a machine? Via group policy,
security settings for the group, then Software Restriction Policies.
12. You need to automatically install an app, but MSI file is not available. What do you
do? A .zap text file can be used to add applications using the Software Installer, rather than the
Windows Installer.
13. What’s the difference between Software Installer and Windows Installer? The former
has fewer privileges and will probably require user intervention. Plus, it uses .zap files.
14. What can be restricted on Windows Server 2003 that wasn’t there in previous
products? Group Policy in Windows Server 2003 determines a users right to modify network and
dial-up TCP/IP properties. Users may be selectively restricted from modifying their IP address and
other network configuration parameters.
15. How frequently is the client policy refreshed? 90 minutes give or take.
16. Where is secedit? It’s now gpupdate.
17. You want to create a new group policy but do not wish to inherit. Make sure you
check Block inheritance among the options when creating the policy.
18. What is "tattooing" the Registry? The user can view and modify user preferences that are not
stored in maintained portions of the Registry. If the group policy is removed or changed, the user
preference will persist in the Registry.
19. How do you fight tattooing in NT/2000 installations? You can’t.
20. How do you fight tattooing in 2003 installations? User Configuration - Administrative
Templates - System - Group Policy - enable - Enforce Show Policies Only.
21. What does IntelliMirror do? It helps to reconcile desktop settings, applications, and stored
files for users, particularly those who move between workstations or those who must periodically
work offline.
22. What’s the major difference between FAT and NTFS on a local machine? FAT and
FAT32 provide no security over locally logged-on users. Only native NTFS provides extensive
permission control on both remote and local files.
23. How do FAT and NTFS differ in approach to user shares? They don’t, both have support
for sharing.
24. Explan the List Folder Contents permission on the folder in NTFS. Same as Read &
Execute, but not inherited by files within a folder. However, newly created subfolders will inherit
this permission.
25. I have a file to which the user has access, but he has no folder permission to read it.
Can he access it? It is possible for a user to navigate to a file for which he does not have folder
permission. This involves simply knowing the path of the file object. Even if the user can’t drill
down the file/folder tree using My Computer, he can still gain access to the file using the Universal
Naming Convention (UNC). The best way to start would be to type the full path of a file into Run…
window.
26. For a user in several groups, are Allow permissions restrictive or permissive?
Permissive, if at least one group has Allow permission for the file/folder, user will have the same
permission.

17. 27. For a user in several groups, are Deny permissions restrictive or permissive?
Restrictive, if at least one group has Deny permission for the file/folder, user will be denied access,
regardless of other group permissions.
28. What hidden shares exist on Windows Server 2003 installation? Admin$, Drive$, IPC$,
NETLOGON, print$ and SYSVOL.
29. What’s the difference between standalone and fault-tolerant DFS (Distributed File
System) installations? The standalone server stores the Dfs directory tree structure or topology
locally. Thus, if a shared folder is inaccessible or if the Dfs root server is down, users are left with no
link to the shared resources. A fault-tolerant root node stores the Dfs topology in the Active
Directory, which is replicated to other domain controllers. Thus, redundant root nodes may include
multiple connections to the same data residing in different shared folders.
30. We’re using the DFS fault-tolerant installation, but cannot access it from a Win98
box. Use the UNC path, not client, only 2000 and 2003 clients can access Server 2003 fault-
tolerant shares.
31. Where exactly do fault-tolerant DFS shares store information in Active Directory? In
Partition Knowledge Table, which is then replicated to other domain controllers.
32. Can you use Start->Search with DFS shares? Yes.
33. What problems can you have with DFS installed? Two users opening the redundant copies
of the file at the same time, with no file-locking involved in DFS, changing the contents and then
saving. Only one file will be propagated through DFS.
34. I run Microsoft Cluster Server and cannot install fault-tolerant DFS. Yeah, you can’t.
Install a standalone one.
35. Is Kerberos encryption symmetric or asymmetric? Symmetric.
36. How does Windows 2003 Server try to prevent a middle-man attack on encrypted
line? Time stamp is attached to the initial client request, encrypted with the shared key.
37. What hashing algorithms are used in Windows 2003 Server? RSA Data Security’s
Message Digest 5 (MD5), produces a 128-bit hash, and the Secure Hash Algorithm 1 (SHA-1),
produces a 160-bit hash.
38. What third-party certificate exchange protocols are used by Windows 2003
Server? Windows Server 2003 uses the industry standard PKCS-10 certificate request and PKCS-7
certificate response to exchange CA certificates with third-party certificate authorities.
39. What’s the number of permitted unsuccessful logons on Administrator
account? Unlimited. Remember, though, that it’s the Administrator account, not any account
that’s part of the Administrators group.
40. If hashing is one-way function and Windows Server uses hashing for storing
passwords, how is it possible to attack the password lists, specifically the ones using
NTLMv1? A cracker would launch a dictionary attack by hashing every imaginable term used for
password and then compare the hashes.
41. What’s the difference between guest accounts in Server 2003 and other
editions? More restrictive in Windows Server 2003.
42. How many passwords by default are remembered when you check "Enforce Password
History Remembered"? User’s last 6 passwords.
system administrator interview question with answer Part
-1

18. KCC
The KCC is a built-in process that runs on all domain controllers and generates replication
topology for the Active Directory forest. The KCC creates separate replication topologies
depending on whether replication is occurring within a site (intrasite) or between sites (intersite).
The KCC also dynamically adjusts the topology to accommodate new domain controllers, domain
controllers moved to and from sites, changing costs and schedules, and domain controllers that
are temporarily unavailable.
How do you view replication properties for AD?
By using Active Directory Replication Monitor.
Start--> Run--> Replmon
What are sites What are they used for?
One or more well-connected (highly reliable and fast) TCP/IP subnets. A site allows
administrators to configure Active Directory access and replication topology to take advantage of
the physical network.
Name some OU design considerations?
OU design requires balancing requirements for delegating administrative rights - independent of
Group Policy needs - and the need to scope the application of Group Policy. The following OU
design recommendations address delegation and scope issues:
Applying Group Policy An OU is the lowest-level Active Directory container to which you can
assign Group Policy settings. Delegating administrative authority usually don't go more than 3
OU levels
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc783140.aspx
What are FMSO Roles? List them.
Fsmo roles are server roles in a Forest
There are five types of FSMO roles
1-Schema master
2-Domain naming master
3-Rid master
4-PDC Emullator

19. 5-Infrastructure master
Logical Diagram of Active Directory ?, What is the difference between child domain
& additional domain Server?
Well, if you know what a domain is then you have half the answer. Say you have the domain
Microsoft.com. Now microsoft has a server named server1 in that domain, which happens to the
be parent domain. So it's FQDN is server1.microsoft.com. If you add an additional domain server
and name it server2, then it's FQDN is server2.microsoft.com.
Now Microsoft is big so it has offices in Europe and Asia. So they make child domains for them
and their FQDN would look like this: europe.microsoft.com & asia.microsoft.com. Now lets say
each of them have a server in those child domains named server1. Their FQDN would then look
like this: server1.europe.microsoft.com & server1.asia.microsoft.com..
What are Active Directory Groups?
Groups are containers that contain user and computer objects within them as members. When
security permissions are set for a group in the Access Control List on a resource, all members of
that group receive those permissions. Domain Groups enable centralized administration in a
domain. All domain groups are created on a domain controller.
In a domain, Active Directory provides support for different types of groups and group scopes.
The group type determines the type of task that you manage with the group. The group scope
determines whether the group can have members from multiple domains or a single domain.
Group Types
* Security groups: Use Security groups for granting permissions to gain access to resources.
Sending an e-mail message to a group sends the message to all members of the group. Therefore
security groups share the capabilities of distribution groups.
* Distribution groups: Distribution groups are used for sending e-main messages to groups of
users. You cannot grant permissions to security groups. Even though security groups have all the
capabilities of distribution groups, distribution groups still requires, because some applications
can only read distribution groups.
Group Scopes
Group scope normally describe which type of users should be clubbed together in a way which is

20. easy for there administration. Therefore, in domain, groups play an important part. One group
can be a member of other group(s) which is normally known as Group nesting. One or more
groups can be member of any group in the entire domain(s) within a forest.
* Domain Local Group: Use this scope to grant permissions to domain resources that are
located in the same domain in which you created the domain local group. Domain local groups
can exist in all mixed, native and interim functional level of domains and forests. Domain local
group memberships are not limited as you can add members as user accounts, universal and
global groups from any domain. Just to remember, nesting cannot be done in domain local group.
A domain local group will not be a member of another Domain Local or any other groups in the
same domain.
* Global Group: Users with similar function can be grouped under global scope and can be
given permission to access a resource (like a printer or shared folder and files) available in local or
another domain in same forest. To say in simple words, Global groups can be use to grant
permissions to gain access to resources which are located in any domain but in a single forest as
their memberships are limited. User accounts and global groups can be added only from the
domain in which global group is created. Nesting is possible in Global groups within other groups
as you can add a global group into another global group from any domain. Finally to provide
permission to domain specific resources (like printers and published folder), they can be
members of a Domain Local group. Global groups exist in all mixed, native and interim functional
level of domains and forests.
* Universal Group Scope: these groups are precisely used for email distribution and can be
granted access to resources in all trusted domain as these groups can only be used as a security
principal (security group type) in a windows 2000 native or windows server 2003 domain
functional level domain. Universal group memberships are not limited like global groups. All
domain user accounts and groups can be a member of universal group. Universal groups can be
nested under a global or Domain Local group in any domain.
What are the types of backup? Explain each?
Incremental
A "normal" incremental backup will only back up files that have been changed since the last
backup of any type. This provides the quickest means of backup, since it only makes copies of files
that have not yet been backed up. For instance, following our full backup on Friday, Monday’s
tape will contain only those files changed since Friday. Tuesday’s tape contains only those files

21. changed since Monday, and so on. The downside to this is obviously that in order to perform a full
restore, you need to restore the last full backup first, followed by each of the subsequent
incremental backups to the present day in the correct order. Should any one of these backup
copies be damaged (particularly the full backup), the restore will be incomplete.
Differential
A cumulative backup of all changes made after the last full backup. The advantage to this is the
quicker recovery time, requiring only a full backup and the latest differential backup to restore the
system. The disadvantage is that for each day elapsed since the last full backup, more data needs
to be backed up, especially if a majority of the data has been changed.
What is the SYSVOL folder?
The Windows Server 2003 System Volume (SYSVOL) is a collection of folders and reparse points
in the file systems that exist on each domain controller in a domain. SYSVOL provides a standard
location to store important elements of Group Policy objects (GPOs) and scripts so that the File
Replication service (FRS) can distribute them to other domain controllers within that domain.
You can go to SYSVOL folder by typing : %systemroot%/sysvol
What is the ISTG Who has that role by default?
The first server in the site becomes the ISTG for the site, The domain controller holding this role
may not necessarily also be a bridgehead server.
What is the order in which GPOs are applied?
Local, Site, Domain, OU
system administrator interview question with answers Part
2
Welcome to system administrator interview question with answers Part 2; if you have read part 1
of these article then please go on or else also please read system administrator interview
question with answers Part 1
1. Can a workstation computer be configured to browse the Internet and yet
NOT have a default gateway?

22. If we are using public ip address, we can browse the internet. If it is having an
intranet address a gateway is needed as a router or firewall to communicate with
internet.
2. What is CIDR?
CIDR (Classless Inter-Domain Routing, sometimes known as supernetting) is a
way to allocate and specify the Internet addresses used in inter-domain routing
more flexibly than with the original system of Internet Protocol (IP) address
classes. As a result, the number of available Internet addresses has been greatly
increased. CIDR is now the routing system used by virtually all gateway hosts on
the Internet's backbone network. The Internet's regulating authorities now expect
every Internet service provider (ISP) to use it for routing.
3. What is DHCP? What are the benefits and drawbacks of using it?
DHCP is Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. In a networked environment it is
a method to assign an 'address' to a computer when it boots up.
Advantages
All the IP configuration information gets automatically configured for your client
machine by the DHCP server.
If you move your client machine to a different subnet, the client will send out its
discover message at boot time and work as usual. However, when you first boot
up there you will not be able to get back the IP address you had at your previous
location regardless of how little time has passed.
Disadvantage
Your machine name does not change when you get a new IP address. The DNS
(Domain Name System) name is associated with your IP address and therefore
does change. This only presents a problem if other clients try to access your
machine by its DNS name.
4. How do you manually create SRV records in DNS?
To create SRV records in DNS do below steps: -
Open DNS
Click on Zone ----- Select domain abc.local -------
Right Click to domain and go to Other New Records------
And choose service location (SRV)
5. Name 3 benefits of using AD-integrated zones.
Benefits as follows
a. you can give easy name resolution to ur clients.
b. By creating AD- integrated zone you can also trace hacker and spammer by
creating reverse zone.
c. AD integrated zoned all for incremental zone transfers which on transfer changes
and not the entire zone. This reduces zone transfer traffic.
d. AD Integrated zones suport both secure and dmanic updates.
e. AD integrated zones are stored as part of the active directory and support domain-
wide or forest-wide replication through application pertitions in AD.
6. How do I clear the DNS cache on the DNS server?
Go to cmd prompt and type “ipconfig/flushdns” without quotes

23. 7. What is NAT?
NAT (Network Address Translation) is a technique for preserving scarce Internet
IP addresses. For more details go to Microsoft link
8. How do you configure NAT on Windows 2003?
For above answer go to below link
Configure NAT
9. How to configure special ports to allow inbound connections?
a. Click Start, Administrative Tools, and then click Routing and Remote Access to
open the Routing and Remote Access management console.
b. Locate the interface that you want to configure.
c. Right-click the interface and then select Properties from the shortcut menu.
d. Click the Special Ports tab.
e. Under Protocol, select TCP or UDP and then click the Add button.
f. Enter the port number of the incoming traffic in Incoming Port.
g. Select On This Address Pool Entry, and provide the public IP address of the
incoming traffic.
h. Enter the port number of the private network resource in Outgoing Port.
i. Enter the private network resource's private IP address in Private Address.
j. Click OK.
Re: why we use class c IP address most
Answer The only reason seems to be is, coz Class C
# 1 has very less
number of host allocated and due to which
the wastage of
IP's is very less.
For eg. even if you take complete subnet
into use then also
at max the hosts will be 254.
192.168.1.1/24
now, 8 bits remained for hosts so as per
the formula 2
power 8 - 2 and that comes to 256-2 = 254
so these host ip's are very less as
compared to other
classes, therefore CLASS C is used more.