Brief me about yourself?

What are your roles and responsibilities?

My major roles and responsibilities are windows administration, VMware administration and
citric administration.

Windows administration roles and responsibilities are installing and troubleshooting hardware
components, deploying windows XP/2003 OS, managing antivirus applications, installing
maintenance various applications, configuring & troubleshooting outlook, administration of
DNS, DHCP, AD, Shared folders, updating patches and hot fixes

Coming to the VMware administration deploying and monitoring the ESX server and Virtual
Machines, Create & managing resource pools, cloning and migrating the VM’s, troubleshooting
guest OS

Coming to the citric administration configuring and troubleshooting the Citrix presentation,
managing user sessions, publishing resources, maintain forms, providing permissions to
publishing resources and interact with user sessions

Brief me about your company?

Snicare Technology Services located in Hyderabad. This is managed IT infrastructure Service
Company, manages customers IT infrastructure on 24*7 basis. And provides infrastructure
consulting services, and staffing. Infrastructure services are infrastructure monitoring, server
management, database management, networking management, virtualization management end
etc. technology services are SNIC consulting, SNIC outsourcing etc.

Brief me about your AD services/Environment?

We have 4 domain controllers and domain name is Exensys.net. We have 3 organizational units
for 3 departments that are development, HR and marketing. We have around 120 user accounts
and 140 computer accounts, various group policies deployed on OU for controlling privileges

Brief me about your VMware Environment?

We have 5 physical ESX servers. We are using ESX server 4.0 and Vcenter server 4.0. we
have IBM iseries385 modal. Each physical ESX server has 5 virtual machines. We
 installed in 2003 server guest OS. Our company has servers on three difference locations
like Hyderabad, banglure and Chennai.

What activities you perform on Daily basis/weekly basis?

Daily basis activities check the tickets and contact the client system and troubleshooting
problems like internet problems, outlook problems, application issues and login issues, daily
backup

Weekly basis server status, health check, security updations, virus scanning, generating reports
and scheduling

Monthly basis Patches updates, disk space management

What ticketing system are you using?

OTRS (open source ticket request system) ticketing system.

What are your SLA’s?

Service level agreement.

SLA depends on the priority of tickets

P1 type of ticket can be resolved in 4 hours of time

P2 type of ticket can be resolved in 8 hours of time

P3 type of ticket can be resolved in 24 hours of time

P4 type of ticket can be resolved in 72 hours of time

Acknowledgement time, resolution time, response time

How do you trouble shoot Hardware problems?

Different types of problems occurs like power problems, Ram problem, hard disk
problems, mother board problems, Bios problems, Monitor problem
Active Directory on Windows Server 2008 Requirements

 An NTFS partition with enough free space

 An Administrator's username and password
 The correct operating system version
 A NIC
 Properly configured TCP/IP (IP address, subnet mask and - optional - default gateway)
 A network connection (to a hub or to another computer via a crossover cable)
 An operational DNS server (which can be installed on the DC itself)
 A Domain name that you want to use

Component Requirement
2008 2012
Processor 1 GHz (x86 CPU) or 1.4 GHz (x64 CPU) 1.4 or 1.3GHz (64-bit processor) or faster for
single core
Memory 512MB required; 2GB or higher
recommended. 2GB required; 8GB or higher recommended.
Hard Disk 10 GB required. 40 GB or more 160 GB hard disk with a 60 GB system
recommended. partition
Video Super VGA or higher video card and
monitor.
Hardware Must be on the Windows 2008
Hardware Compatibility List.

Windows 7 system requirements

If you want to run Windows 7 on your PC, here's what it takes:

 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor

 1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
 16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
 DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver
What is the Difference between Windows Server 2003 and 2008?

 In 2003 Internet Information Services (IIS) has 6.0 Windows 2008 7.0
 RODC one new domain controller introduced in it.[Read-only Domain Controllers.]
 Shadow copy for each and every folders
 The main difference between 2003 and 2008 is Virtualization, management
 Security has been Improved, features like Bit locker
 Group policy editor is a separate option in ads
 PowerShell

 In 2003 server installed have to need CD no CD required

How do you trouble shoot Blue screen Error?

Blue screen error comes when incompatible drivers are installed in the system or
There is a problem in RAM.

First I check the RAM by replacing another RAM or changing RAM slot. If there is no
problem in the RAM, then the problem is with drivers. I will restart the system in SAFE
MODE, go to the device manager, uninstall all the drivers, restart the system in normal
mode and install the proper drivers.

Still not resolved, then I will check by replacing another harddisk

What is AD and Workgroup?

AD provides centralized authentication to the desktops/ users / Applications.
AD allows controlling the user settings, user security & allows to define policies to
restrict user permissions.
Allows maintaining user information at central location

Workgroup: No centralized authentication, each system maintains individual user

accounts and authentications

Difference between NTFS and FAT 32?

 NTFS stands for new technologyfile system or network technology file system. In NTSF
partition size can be of 2 TB or more. And file size can be 16 TB. File/folderencryption is
done. And it supports file name character up to 255. Security and quota options are
available in this file system.

FAT32 stands for File allocation table. in FAT32 partition size can be Upto 2 TB. And file
size can be 4 GB. File/folder encryption is not possible in FAT32. And it supports file
name character upto 8.3. Do not have any option for security and quota.
FAT32 can be converted into NTFS without losing any data using command:
convert [drive letter]:/fs:ntfs

can’t be converted into fat32 without losing data.

How do you troubleshoot Active Directory issues?

Login to domain controller

Verify the event logs and look for AD related events

Verify the health of the ADC using Dcdiag

Verify the health of DNS( Ping AD Domain name, Ping computer name )

Based on the event log Dcdiag and DNS reports will troubleshoot issues

Cannot add or remove a domain.

Cause: The domain naming master is not available. This may be caused by a network
connectivity problem or an Active Directory Installation Wizard failure. It may also be due to a
failure of the computer holding the domain naming master role. Or, the user who is attempting
to add or remove the domain does not have the necessary administrative credentials.

Solution: Identify the computer holding the domain naming master role by using the command
netdom query fsmo and repair or replace the domain naming master computer.

Cannot create security principals in Active Directory

I check for all the domain controllers reachable

I verify log into other domain controllers and try to create new objects

Could be RID role issue, permissions issue or database corruption issue

Changes to group memberships are not taking effect.

Could be issue with Infrastructure master server role
 Ping DC server check event logs based on those taking actions

Receiving "Domain not found," "Server not available," or "RPC server is unavailable"
error messages.

I will login into system with local administrator.

Check whether Domain name is getting resolved (ping domain.com).

If it is not resolving I will check the DNS IP settings in IP address, if it is wrong specified than I will
modify.

I will check the default gateway and will check whether system is reachable in the network.

I will check whether netlogon service and dns client service or running.

I will check whether computer account is disabled or deleted in AD.

User is unable to log on locally to a domain controller.

Users will not have privileges to login to DC& needs to configure Domain controller policy to
allows the users (DCSP – Computer configuration – Security – logon locally)

Server not reachable in the Network? How do you approach and

troubleshoot?

First ping the server through command prompt if it’s not pinging then will use the
tracertIP address of the server and look

If I have a out of band access ( DRAC, ilo, IPMI ) then I will connect to OOB access and
check the status on the server, if it is showing bluesreen or down, will recycle the power

I will login into O/S using DRAC and check the network adaptor status and O/S Settings

User complained that internet and outlook is not working? How do you
troubleshoot?
 I will check the Ethernet card status , if it is showing disconnected then will verify the
physical connectivity
  Check the IPaddrress and default gateway, and will ping the gateway & DNS Server,
Verifying the preferred DNS,
 I will check whether DNS Service is reachable or not
 I will check by changing the DNS Server

How do you troubleshoot DHCP Issues?

Many Client Computers are unable to get the IP Addresses from the DHCP Server
Will check whether DHCP Server is available
Will check whether DHCP Service is running
Will check whether any issue is server connectivity along with Network team

DHCP server service has been stopped

I will check the log files and system events files for the resolving the problem.

DHCP Client Cannot Obtain an IP Address from Server.

I will check whether DHCP server is up and running.
I will check the out of address in specified subnet mask.
Will check whether DHCP Service is responding ( Telnet IP Address 54)

User system / Server is infected with virus? How do you troubleshoot?

A) I will goto task manager and check for any unknown or different process are running,
If any process identified then I will check which virus then download removal tool from
Symantec website and run in safe mode.

b) I will verify whether antivirus has latest updates, if not then I will download and
install, run the antivirus in safe mode.

c) If system is not download antivirus definitions and patches then I will goto safe mode
and check for services.

How do you test DNS Server?

Use the commandTelnet<IP address> 53 to check whether DNS Service is responding
or available

Ex: Telnet 192.168.1.254 53

Use the command Nslookup domain name and check for name resolution response

Ex: nslookup appser.com

 Use the command Ping –a <IP address>to check the reverse lookup functionality

What is a protocol?
A Protocol is a set of rules which is used by computers to communicate with each other
across a network. Ensures proper data transfer between the computers.

What protocols are used by Mail servers?

Protocols like IMAP, POP3, SMTP and HTTP are used.

IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol): IMAP can be used to download email
messages on to the local system using outlook or outlook express, also synchronizes the
inbox, sent items from local system to the server

POP3 (Post Office Protocol 3):POP3 protocol can be used to download e-mail messages
on to the local system using outlook or outlook express, it does not keep mails at server,
and does not synchronize from local system

SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol): Used to send mails using outlook express/
Outlook and also used by mail servers to send mails to other domains.

HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol):Is used to check mails or interact with mail server
using web

End user system is not getting IP Address from DHCP server? What do you
do?

 I will check the Ethernet card status, if it is showing disconnected then will verify
the physical connectivity.
 I will check that the DHCP Server is up and running by pinging DHCP server from
other system
 I will check whether the scope of DHCP is full or available.
 What is the use of GC/Global Catalog? What problems will arise when GC is
down?
The global catalog contains complete information about objects in Active Directory and contains partial
objects information of other domain in the forest.

If GC goes down, the domain users cannot login to the domains and information about
the objects will not be updated.

If GC Down, cannot find object information of other domains

What are FSMO Roles? Brief on each role?

There are 2 Forest level roles and 3 domain level roles are available.

Forest Level Roles:

 Schema Master: The schema master controls all updates and modifications to the schema.
There can be only one Schema master in the whole forest.
 Domain naming master: controls the addition or removal of domains in the forest, addition &
removal of domain controllers. There can be only one domain naming master in the whole
forest.

Domain Level Roles:

 Infrastructure Master: IM updates references from objects in its domain to objects in other
domains, like group membership.
 Relative ID (RID) Master: Responsible for processing RID pool requests from all domain
controllers.
 PDC Emulator: Responsible for Password changes, time synchronization across workstation &
member servers, Authentication of Windows NT Workstations

Why Infrastructure master role and GC not suggestible on same DC?

There could be conflict in maintaining information of Group memberships and object

references.

What command will be used to Sieze / Transfer FSMO Roles?

Ntdsutil

FSMO Roles
 Transfer or seize

What is the difference between seizing and transferring of Roles? Or In which scenario
Seizing of roles will be done and Transfer of roles will be done?
Transfer of roles can be done when source DC is up & running, and need to transfer to other
domain controller.
Seizing can be done when Source DC is dead and non recoverable then roles can be
seized.

How do you provide User account management privileges on OU?

Right click on OU – Delegate permissions - Account management permissions

What is the difference between Enterprise Admins & Domain Admins?

Enterprise Admins(only appears in the forest root domain):

Members of this group have full control of all domains in the forest.

This group is a member of the Administrators group on all domain controllers in the forest.

Enterprise Admins can add other domains into forest or can remove domains from the forest.

Domain Admins:

Members of this group have full control on the specific domain. Domain admins cannot
administer other domains..

How do you monitor AD Replication & Troubleshoot?

I use replmon command to monitor AD & use Repadmin command for troubleshooting
replication issues

I will check in the event log for any specific replication errors,

I will Run Dcdiag command check for any DC connection issues

What command will you use to extract information from AD?

Using Dsquery,dsget,csvedit,ldifde
What are backup types & Brief? What is the difference between differential
backup & Incremental backup?
Full Backup
Complete Selected files and folders will be backed up to the destination drive/device.
Incremental backup
Backup only those files that have been created or changed since the last normal or incremental backup.
It marks files as having been backed up

Differential backup

A differential backup copies files that have been created or changed since the last normal backup. It
does not mark files as having been backed up.

Types of AD restore?

Authoritative restore:It is used to recover or restore specific object or specific ou, this will
increment the USN value

Non-authoritative restore: It is used to recover or restore a Domain controller

Use of PDC emulator? (primary domain controllers)

It’s responsible for password changes replication, time synchronization, user
authentications.

What is OU? What it will do?

Organizational unit is a Active directory container in which we can place users, groups, computers, printer
and other OUs
We can assign Group Policy settings or delegate administrative authority.

DNS roles in infrastructure of AD?

Dns is commonly used with AD for replication among domain controllers, as well as
secure only updates to DNS.
Dns also helps map names to IP's so finding each other is much easier.
What is a site in AD?
Site refers to a portion of the organization in particular city or part of a city which is
linked by leased lines or other media to other parts of the organization.

What are the DNS records?

A record/Host record which points a hostname to an IP address

MX record, which is used for mail servers identification.

PTR records, it is a reverse of A records, it maps IP address to a hostname.

CNAME: Alias record

SRV: Service records for AD ( Domain controller identification)

What is SRV record?

Service records for AD (Domain controller identification)

What are the zone types available in DNS?

Primary Zone
Secondary zone
Stub zone

What is a stub zone?

It contains information about the primary zone and secondary zones and their
hostnames and IP addresses.

What is DHCP?
DHCP is stands for Dynamic host configuration protocol; it dynamically assigns
Ipaddresses to its clients.

What is a super scope?

Creating more than one logical network in a single physical network

What is a Group Policy?

Group Policy is a set of rules which control the working environment of user accounts
and computer accounts
What are RAID levels and explain about them?
Redundant Array of Independent (or Inexpensive) Disks
RAID is a technology that is used to increase the performance and/or reliability of data
storage.

RAID 0: data are split up in blocks that get written across all the drives in the array. By
using multiple disks (at least 2) at the same time,
RAID 1:Data are stored twice by writing them to both the data disk (or set of data disks)
and a mirror disk (or set of disks) . If a disk fails, the controller uses either the data drive
or the mirror drive for data recovery and continues operation. You need at least 2 disks
for a RAID 1 array.
RAID 5:A RAID 5 array can withstand a single disk failure without losing data or access to
data. Although RAID 5 can be achieved in software, a hardware controller is
recommended

What is a domain?
Domain is security and administrative boundary for group of computer and user
accounts.
It defines user accounts, computer accounts and objects.

Different ways of installing of AD?

Run->DCPROMO,
Server management console -> add/remove roles.

What is a backup?
Backup is the activity of copying files or databases so that they will be preserved in case
of equipment failure or other issues

What is a directory service?

A directory service is the software system that stores, organizes and provides access to
information in a directory.
A directory service defines the namespace for the network. A namespace in this context
is the term that is used to hold one or more objects as named entries.
What is a forest?
Forest is a security boundary for active directory environment.
It maintains the information about Domain controllers and domains.

How a client will get IP from a DHCP server?

DORA process and ROSA (request-offer-select-acknowledge)
D- Discover
O-Offer
R-Request
A-Acknowledge

What is a reservation in DHCP?

DHCP reservation is a permanent IP address assignment. It is a specific IP address within a DHCP scope
that is permanently reserved for leased use to a specific DHCP client.

What is virtualization?
Virtualization is a process of creating virtual machines in a single physical machine

What is a domain controller?

Domain controller is a system in Active Directory Application is installed.
It maintains the information about DNS, AD structure and security policies information.

What is a host file?

The hosts file is a computer file used in an operating system to map hostnames to IP
addresses. This method is one of several system facilities to address network nodes on a
computer network.

What is a tombstone period in AD?

The tombstone lifetime in an Active Directory forest determines how long a deleted
object is retained in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS). The tombstone lifetime is
determined by the value of the tombstone Lifetime attribute on the Directory Service
object in the configuration directory partition.
Default lease period in DHCP?
8 Days

What is a group policy inheritance?

Group policy inheritance is the process where a policy applied at one folder/level is
passed down to sub folder/lower levels.

Is there any concept of replication in DHCP?

No

1)What are some of the new tools and features provided by Windows Server
2008?

Windows Server 2008 now provides a desktop environment similar to Microsoft

Windows Vista and includes tools also found in Vista, such as the new backup snap-in
and the bitlocker drive encryption feature. Windows Server 2008 also provides the new
IIS7 web server and the Windows Deployment Service.

2)What are the different editions of Windows Server 2008?

The entry-level version of Windows Server 2008 is the Standard Edition. The Enterprise
Edition provides a platform for large enterprisewide networks. The Datacenter Edition
provides support for unlimited Hyper-V virtualization and advanced clustering services.
The Web Edition is a scaled-down version of Windows Server 2008 intended for use as a
dedicated web server. The Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter Editions can be
purchased with or without the Hyper-V virtualization technology.

3)What two hardware considerations should be an important part of the planning process
for a Windows Server 2008 deployment?

Any server on which you will install Windows Server 2008 should have at least the
minimum hardware requirement for running the network operating system. Server
hardware should also be on the Windows Server 2008 Hardware Compatibility List to
avoid the possibility of hardware and network operating system incompatibility.

4)What are the options for installing Windows Server 2008?

You can install Windows Server 2008 on a server not currently configured with NOS, or
you can upgrade existing servers running Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server
2003.
5)How do you configure and manage a Windows Server 2008 core installation?

This stripped-down version of Windows Server 2008 is managed from the command
line.

6)Which Control Panel tool enables you to automate the running of server utilities and
other applications?

The Task Scheduler enables you to schedule the launching of tools such as Windows
Backup and Disk Defragmenter.

7)What are some of the items that can be accessed via the System Properties dialog box?

You can access virtual memory settings and the Device Manager via the System
Properties dialog box.

8)When a child domain is created in the domain tree, what type of trust relationship
exists between the new child domain and the trees root domain?

Child domains and the root domain of a tree are assigned transitive trusts. This means
that the root domain and child domain trust each other and allow resources in any
domain in the tree to be accessed by users in any domain in the tree.

9)What is the primary function of domain controllers?

The primary function of domain controllers is to validate users to the network. However,
domain controllers also provide the catalog of Active Directory objects to users on the
network.

10)What are some of the other roles that a server running Windows Server 2008 could fill
on the network?

A server running Windows Server 2008 can be configured as a domain controller, a file
server, a print server, a web server, or an application server. Windows servers can also
have roles and features that provide services such as DNS, DHCP, and Routing and
Remote Access.

11)Which Windows Server 2008 tools make it easy to manage and configure a servers
roles and features?

The Server Manager window enables you to view the roles and features installed on a
server and also to quickly access the tools used to manage these various roles and
features. The Server Manager can be used to add and remove roles and features as
needed.
12)What Windows Server 2008 service is used to install client operating systems over the
network?

Windows Deployment Services (WDS) enables you to install client and server operating
systems over the network to any computer with a PXE-enabled network interface.

13)What domain services are necessary for you to deploy the Windows Deployment
Services on your network?

Windows Deployment Services requires that a DHCP server and a DNS server be
installed in the domain

14)How is WDS configured and managed on a server running Windows Server 2008?

The Windows Deployment Services snap-in enables you to configure the WDS server
and add boot and install images to the server.

15)What is the difference between a basic and dynamic drive in the Windows Server 2008
environment?

A basic disk embraces the MS-DOS disk structure; a basic disk can be divided into
partitions (simple volumes).
Dynamic disks consist of a single partition that can be divided into any number of
volumes. Dynamic disks also support Windows Server 2008 RAID implementations.

16)What is RAID in Windows Server 2008?

RAID, or Redundant Array of Independent Disks, is a strategy for building fault tolerance
into your file servers. RAID enables you to combine one or more volumes on separate
drives so that they are accessed by a single drive letter. Windows Server 2008 enables
you to configure RAID 0 (a striped set), RAID 1 (a mirror set), and RAID 5 (disk striping
with parity).

17)What conceptual model helps provide an understanding of how network protocol

stacks such as TCP/IP work?

The OSI model, consisting of the application, presentation, session, transport, network,
data link, and physical layers, helps describe how data is sent and received on the
network by protocol stacks.
18)What protocol stack is installed by default when you install Windows Server 2008 on a
network server?

TCP/IP (v4 and v6) is the default protocol for Windows Server 2008. It is required for
Active Directory implementations and provides for connectivity on heterogeneous
networks.

19)How is a server running Windows Server 2008 configured as a domain controller, such
as the domain controller for the root domain or a child domain?

Installing the Active Directory on a server running Windows Server 2008 provides you
with the option of creating a root domain for a domain tree or of creating child domains
in an existing tree. Installing Active Directory on the server makes the server a domain
controller.

20)What are some of the tools used to manage Active Directory objects in a Windows
Server 2008 domain?

When the Active Directory is installed on a server (making it a domain controller), a set
of Active Directory snap-ins is provided. The Active Directory Users and Computers
snap-in is used to manage Active Directory objects such as user accounts, computers,
and groups. The Active Directory Domains and Trusts snap-in enables you to manage the
trusts that are defined between domains. The Active Directory Sites and Services snap-in
provides for the management of domain sites and subnets.

21)How are domain user accounts created and managed?

The Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in provides the tools necessary for
creating user accounts and managing account properties. Properties for user accounts
include settings related to logon hours, the computers to which a user can log on, and
the settings related to the user’s password.

22)What type of Active Directory objects can be contained in a group?

A group can contain users, computers, contacts, and other nested groups.

23)What type of group is not available in a domain that is running at the mixed-mode
functional level?
 Universal groups are not available in a mixed-mode domain. The functional level must
be raised to Windows 2003 or Windows 2008 to make these groups available.

24)What types of Active Directory objects can be contained in an Organizational Unit?

Organizational Units can hold users, groups, computers, contacts, and other OUs. The
Organizational Unit provides you with a container directly below the domain level that
enables you to refine the logical hierarchy of how your users and other resources are
arranged in the Active Directory.

25)What are Active Directory sites in Windows Server 2008?

Active Directory sites are physical locations on the network’s physical topology. Each
regional domain that you create is assigned to a site. Sites typically represent one or
more IP subnets that are connected by IP routers. Because sites are separated from
each other by a router, the domain controllers on each site periodically replicate the
Active Directory to update the Global Catalog on each site segment.

26)Can servers running Windows Server 2008 provide services to clients when they are
not part of a domain?Servers running Windows Server 2008 can be configured to
participate in a workgroup. The server can provide some services to the workgroup
peers but does not provide the security and management tools provided to domain
controllers.

27)What does the use of Group Policy provide you as a network administrator?Group
Policy provides a method of controlling user and computer configuration settings for
Active Directory containers such as sites, domains, and OUs. GPOs are linked to a
particular container, and then individual policies and administrative templates are
enabled to control the environment for the users or computers within that particular
container.

28)What tools are involved in managing and deploying Group Policy?

GPOs and their settings, links, and other information such as permissions can be viewed
in the Group Policy Management snap-in.

29)How do you deal with Group Policy inheritance issues?

GPOs are inherited down through the Active Directory tree by default. You can block the
inheritance of settings from upline GPOs (for a particular container such as an OU or a
local computer) by selecting Block Inheritance for that particular object. If you want to
enforce a higher-level GPO so that it overrides directly linked GPOs, you can use the
Enforce command on the inherited (or upline) GPO.
 30)How can you make sure that network clients have the most recent Windows updates
installed and have other important security features such as the Windows Firewall
enabled before they can gain full network access?

You can configure a Network Policy Server (a service available in the Network Policy and
Access Services role). The Network Policy Server can be configured to compare desktop
client settings with health validators to determine the level of network access afforded
to the client.

31)What is the purpose of deploying local DNS servers?

A domain DNS server provides for the local mapping of fully qualified domain names to
IP addresses. Because the DNS is a distributed database, the local DNS servers can
provide record information to remote DNS servers to help resolve remote requests
related to fully qualified domain names on your network.

32)In terms of DNS, what is a caching-only server?

A caching-only DNS server supplies information related to queries based on the data it
contains in its DNS cache. Caching-only servers are often used as DNS forwarders.
Because they are not configured with any zones, they do not generate network traffic
related to zone transfers.

33)How the range of IP addresses is defined for a Windows Server 2008 DHCP server?

The IP addresses supplied by the DHCP server are held in a scope. A scope that contains
more than one subnet of IP addresses is called a superscope. IP addresses in a scope
that you do not want to lease can be included in an exclusion range.

What is the registry?

The registry is a database in Windows that contains important information about system hardware,
installed programs and settings, and profiles of each of the user accounts on your computer. Windows
continually refers to the information in the registry.

You should not need to make manual changes to the registry because programs and applications
typically make all the necessary changes automatically. An incorrect change to your computer's registry
could render your computer inoperable. However, if a corrupt file appears in the registry, you might be
required to make changes.
We strongly recommend that you back up the registry before making any changes and that you only
change values in the registry that you understand or have been instructed to change by a source you
trust.

How Data Is Stored RAID

RAID 1 and RAID 0 arrays store information in completely different ways; RAID 1 arrays mirror data,
while RAID 0 arrays stripe data.

Striped Data

Striping data writes sectors across two separate hard drives; if you had two bits of data, it's helpful to
think that one would be written to the first disk and the second bit to the second disk (though this isn't
necessarily true; it does, however, explain the concept quite nicely). There's no cut in speed when
compared to a standard drive (unless a RAID 0 is set up with more than 3 drives, as this is inefficient),
but if one of the drives in the array fails, there's no backup and a user must either pursue data recovery
or replace the failed drive in the array and format the remaining drive to get the array set up again.

Mirrored Data

Mirrored hard drives write identical information simultaneously, essentially providing the user with a
perfect backup. Again, there's no cut in speed. Mirrored drives are unlikely to fail at the same time
unless they're being kept in a poor location (and subject to extreme heat) or otherwise mistreated. As
long as a user is careful to keep mirrored drives on a protected power supply and safe from physical and
heat-related damage, they're one of the best backup systems that exist.

1.what is DHCP?

DHCP stands for "Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol".

2. What is DHCP's purpose?

DHCP's purpose is to enable individual computers on an IP network to extract their configurations from
a server (the 'DHCP server') or servers, in particular,servers that have no exact information about the
individual computers until theyrequest the information. The overall purpose of this is to reduce the
worknecessary to administer a large IP network. The most significant piece ofinformation distributed in
this manner is the IP address.

3. Can DHCP work with AppleTalk or IPX?

No, it is too tied to IP. Furthermore, they don't need it since they have alwayshad automated
mechanisms for assigning their own network addresses.

4. Who Created It? How Was It Created?

DHCP was created by the Dynamic Host Configuration Working Group of theInternet Engineering Task
Force (IETF; a volunteer organization which definesprotocols for use on the Internet). As such, it's
definition is recorded in anInternet RFC and the Internet Activities Board (IAB) is asserting its status as
toInternet Standardization. As of this writing (June 1998), DHCP is an InternetDraft Standard Protocol
and is Elective. BOOTP is an Internet Draft Standard

Protocol and is recommended. For more information on Internet standardization,see RFC2300 (May
1998)

5. How is it different than BOOTP or RARP?

DHCP is based on BOOTP and maintains some backward compatibility. The main difference is that
BOOTP was designed for manual pre-configuration of the hostinformation in a server database, while
DHCP allows for dynamic allocation ofnetwork addresses and configurations to newly attached hosts.
Additionally,DHCP allows for recovery and reallocation of network addresses through aleasing
mechanism.RARP is a protocol used by Sun and other vendors that allows a computer to findout its own
IP number, which is one of the protocol parameters typically passedto the client system by DHCP or
BOOTP. RARP doesn't support other parameters

and using it, a server can only serve a single LAN. DHCP and BOOTP aredesigned so they can be routed.

6. How is it different than VLANs?

DHCP and VLANs, which are very different in concept, are sometimes cited asdifferent solutions to the
same problem. While they have a goal in common (easing moves of networked computers), VLANs
represent a more revolutionarychange to a LAN than DHCP. A DHCP server and forwarding agents can
allow youto set things up so that you can unplug a client computer from one network orsubnet and plug
it into another and have it come alive immediately, it havingbeen reconfigured automatically. In
conjunction to Dynamic DNS, it couldautomatically be given its same name in its new place. VLAN-
capable LANequipment with dynamic VLAN assignment allows you to configure things so aclient
computer can be plugged into any port and have the same IP number (aswell as name) and be on the
same subnet. The VLAN-capable network either hasits own configuration that lists which MAC addresses
are to belong to each VLAN,or it makes the determination from the source IP address of the IP packets
thatthe client computer sends. Some differences in the two approaches:

DHCP handles changes by reconfiguring the client while a VLAN-capablenetwork handles it by

reconfiguring the network port the client is movedto.

DHCP dynamic reconfiguration requires a DHCP server, forwarding agent

in each router, and DHCP capability in each client's TCP/IP support. Theanalogous capability in VLANs
requires that all hubs throughout thenetwork be VLAN-capable, supporting the same VLAN scheme. To
thispoint VLAN support is proprietary with no vendor interoperability, but

Standards are being developed.

DHCP can configure a new client computer for you while a VLAN-capablenetwork can't.

DHCP is generally aimed at giving "easy moves" capability to networksthat are divided into subnets on
a geographical basis, or on separatenetworks. VLANs are generally aimed at allowing you to set up
subnetson some basis other than geographical, e.g. instead of putting everyonein one office on the
same subnet, putting each person on a subnet thathas access to the servers that that person
requires.There is an issue with trying to use DHCP (or BOOTP) and VLANs at the sametime, in particular,
with the scheme by which the VLAN-capable network

determines the client's VLAN based upon the client computer's source IPaddress. Doing so assumes the
client computer is already configured, whichprecludes the use of network to get the configuration
information from a DHCPor BOOTP server.

7. What protocol and port does DHCP use?

DHCP, like BOOTP runs over UDP, utilizing ports 67 and 68.

8. What is an IP address?

An IP address (also called an IP number) is a number (typically written as fournumbers separated by

periods, i.e. 107.4.1.3 or 84.2.1.111) which uniquelyidentifies a computer that is making use of the
Internet. It is analogous to yourtelephone number in that the telephone number is used by the
telephonenetwork to direct calls to you. The IP address is used by the Internet to directdata to your
computer, e.g. the data your web browser retrieves and displays

when you surf the net. One task of DHCP is to assist in the problem of getting afunctional and unique IP
number into the hands of the computers that make useof the Internet.

9. What is a MAC address?

A MAC address (also called an Ethernet address or an IEEE MAC address) is anumber (typically written as
twelve hexadecimal digits, 0 through 9 and Athrough F, or as six hexadecimal numbers separated by
periods or colons, i.e.0080002012ef, 0:80:0:2:20:ef) which uniquely identifes a computer that has
anEthernet interface. Unlike the IP number, it includes no indication of where yourcomputer is located.
In DHCP's typical use, the server uses a requesting

computer's MAC address to uniquely identify it.

10. What is a DHCP lease?

A DHCP lease is the amount of time that the DHCP server grants to the DHCPclient permission to use a
particular IP address. A typical server allows itsadministrator to set the lease time.

11. What is a Client ID?

What is termed the Client ID for the purposes of the DHCP protocol is whateveris used by the protocol
to identify the client computer. By default, DHCPimplementations typically employ the client's MAC
address for this purpose, butthe DHCP protocol allows other options. Some DHCP implementations have
asetup option to specify the client ID you want. One alternative to the MACaddress is simply a character
string of your choice. In any case, in order for DHCP to function, you must be certain that no other client
is using the client IDyou choose, and you must be sure the DHCP server will accept it.

12.Why shouldn't clients assign IP numbers without the use of a server?

It is theoretically possible to develop software for client-machines that finds anunused address by
picking them out of the blue and broadcasting a request of allthe other client machines to see if they are
using them. Appletalk is designedaround this idea, and Apple's MacTCP can be configured to do this for
IP.

However, this method of IP address assignment has disadvantages.A computer that needs a
permanently-assigned IP number might be turnedoff and lose its number to a machine coming up. This
has problems both forfinding services and for security.

A network might be temporarily divided into two non-communicatingnetworks while a network

component is not functioning. During this time,two different client-machines might end up claiming the
same IP number.When the network comes back, they start malfunctioning.If such dynamic assignment is
to be confined to ranges of IP addresses,

then the ranges are configured in each desktop machine rather than beingcentrally administered. This
can lead both to hidden configuration errors andto difficulty in changing the range. Another problem
with the use of suchranges is keeping it easy to move a computer from one subnet to another

13. If a single LAN has more than one subnet number, how can addresses be served on

subnets other than the primary one?

A single LAN might have more than one subnet number applicable to the sameset of ports (broadcast
domain). Typically, one subnet is designated as primary,the others as secondary. A site may find it
necessary to support addresses onmore than one subnet number associated with a single interface.
DHCP's schemefor handling this is that the server has to be configured with the necessaryinformation
and has to support such configuration & allocation. Here are fourcases a server might have to
handle:Dynamic allocation supported on secondary subnet numbers on the LAN to which the server is
attached.Dynamic allocation supported on secondary subnet numbers on a LAN which is handled
through a DHCP/BOOTP Relay. In this case, theDHCP/BOOTP Relay sends the server a gateway address
associated with the

primary subnet and the server must know what to do with it. The other two cases are the same
capabilities during manual allocation. It is possible that a particular server-implementation can handle
some of these cases, but not all of them. See section below listing the capabilities of some servers.

14. If a physical LAN has more than one logical subnet, how can different groups of clients be

allocated addresses on different subnets?

One way to do this is to preconfigure each client with information about what group it belongs to. A
DHCP feature designed for this is the user class option. To do this, the client software must allow the
user class option to be preconfigured and the server software must support its use to control which pool
a client's address is allocated from.

15. Where is DHCP defined?

In Internet RFCs.

16. Can DHCP support remote access?

PPP has its own non-DHCP way in which communications servers can handclients an IP address called
IPCP (IP Control Protocol) but doesn't have the sameflexibility as DHCP or BOOTP in handing out other
parameters. Such acommunications server may support the use of DHCP to acquire the IP addressesit
gives out. This is sometimes called doing DHCP by proxy for the client. I knowthat Windows NT's remote
access support does this.A feature of DHCP under development (DHCPinform) is a method by which
aDHCP server can supply parameters to a client that already has an IP number.With this, a PPP client
could get its IP number using IPCP, then get the rest of itsparameters using this feature of DHCP.SLIP has
no standard way in which a server can hand a client an IP address, butmany communications servers
support non-standard ways of doing this that canbe utilized by scripts, etc. Thus, like communications
servers supporting PPP,such communications servers could also support the use of DHCP to acquire the

IP addressees to give out.The DHCP protocol is capable of allocating an IP address to a device without
anIEEE-style MAC address, such as a computer attached through SLIP or PPP, butto do so, it makes use
of a feature which may or may not be supported by theDHCP server: the ability of the server to use
something other than the MACaddress to identify the client. Communications servers that acquire IP
numbersfor their clients via DHCP run into the same roadblock in that they have just oneMAC address,
but need to acquire more than one IP address. One way such acommunications server can get around
this problem is through the use of a setof unique pseudo-MAC addresses for the purposes of its
communications with

the DHCP server. Another way (used by Shiva) is to use a different "client IDtype" for your hardware
address. Client ID type 1 means you're using MACaddresses. However, client ID type 0 means an ASCII
string.

17. Can a client have a home address and still float?

There is nothing in the protocol to keep a client that already has a leased or permanent IP number from
getting a(nother) lease on a temporary basis onanother subnet (i.e., for that laptop which is almost
always in one office, butoccasionally is plugged in in a conference room or class room). Thus it is left
tothe server implementation to support such a feature. I've heard that Microsoft's

NT-based server can do it.

18. How can I relay DHCP if my router does not support it?

A server on a net(subnet) can relay DHCP or BOOTP for that net. Microsoft hassoftware to make
Windows NT do this.

19. How do I migrate my site from BOOTP to DHCP?

I don't have an answer for this, but will offer a little discussion. The answerdepends a lot on what BOOTP
server you are using and how you are maintainingit. If you depend heavily on BOOTP server software to
support your existingclients, then the demand to support clients that support DHCP but not
BOOTPpresents you with problems. In general, you are faced with the choice:Find a server that is
administered like your BOOTP server only that alsoserves DHCP. For example, one popular BOOTP
server, the CMU server, hasbeen patched so that it will answer DHCP queries.Run both a DHCP and a
BOOTP server. It would be good if I could find outthe gotcha's of such a setup.

Adapt your site's administration to one of the available DHCP/BOOTPservers.Handle the non-BOOTP
clients specially, e.g. turn off DHCP and configurethem statically: not a good solution, but certainly one
that can be done tohandle the first few non-BOOTP clients at your site.

20. Can you limit which MAC addresses are allowed to roam?

Sites may choose to require central pre-configuration for all computers that willbe able to acquire a
dynamic address. A DHCP server could be designed toimplement such a requirement, presumably as an
option to the serveradministrator. See section below on servers that implement this.

21. Is there an SNMP MIB for DHCP?

There is no standard MIB; creating one is on the list of possible activities of theDHCP working group. It is
possible that some servers implement private MIBs.
22. What is DHCP Spoofing?

Ascend Pipeline ISDN routers (which attach Ethernets to ISDN lines) incorporatea feature that Ascend
calls "DHCP spoofing" which is essentially a tiny server implementation that hands an IP address to a
connecting Windows 95 computer, with the intention of giving it an IP number during its connection
process.

23. How long should a lease be?

I've asked sites about this and have heard answers ranging from 15 minutes to a year. Most
administrators will say it depends upon your goals, your site's usage patterns, and service arrangements
for your DHCP server .A very relevant factor is that the client starts trying to renew the lease when it is
halfway through: thus, for example, with a 4 day lease, the client which has lost access to its DHCP
server has 2 days from when it first tries to renew the lease

until the lease expires and the client must stop using the network. During a 2- day outage, new users
cannot get new leases, but no lease will expire for any computer turned on at the time that the outage
commences. Another factor is that the longer the lease the longer time it takes for client configuration
changes controlled by DHCP to propogate. Some relevant questions in deciding on a lease time:Do you
have more users than addresses? If so, you want to keep the lease time short so people don't end up
sitting on leases. Naturally, there are degrees. In this situation, I've heard examples cited of 15
minutes,2 hours, and 2 days. Naturally, if you know you will have 20 users using 10 addresses in within a
day, a 2 day lease is not practical.

Are you supporting mobile users? If so, you may be in the situation of having more users than addresses
on some particular IP number range. See above. Do you have a typical or minimum amount of time that
you are trying to support? If your typical user is on for an hour at minimum, that suggest a hour lease at

minimum. How many clients do you have and how fast are the communications lines over

which the DHCP packets will be run?The shorter the lease, the higher the server and network load. In
general, a lease of atleast 2 hours is long enough that the load of even thousands of clients is negligible.
Forshorter leases, there may be a point beyond which you will want to watch the load.Note that if you
have a communication line down for a long enough time for the leasesto expire, you might see an
unusually high load it returns. If the lease-time is at least

double the communication line outage, this is avoided.

How long would it take to bring back up the DHCP server, and to what extent can

your users live without it?

If the lease time is at least double the server outage, then running clients who already

have leases will not lose them. If you have a good idea of your longest likely server
outage, you can avoid such problems. For example, if your server-coverage is likely to

recover the server within three hours at any time that clients are using their addresses,

then a six hour lease will handle such an outage. If you might have a server go down on

Friday right after work and may need all Monday's work-day to fix it, then your

maximum outage time is 3 days and a 6-day lease will handle it.

Do you have users who want to tell other users about their IP number?

If your users are setting up their own web servers and telling people how to get to them

either by telling people the IP number or through a permanent DNS entry, then they are

looking for an IP number that won't be changing. While some sites would manually

allocate any address that people expected to remain stable, other sites want to use

DHCP's ability to automate distribution of relatively permanent addresses. The relevant

time is the maximum amount of time that you wish to allow the user to keep their

machine turned off yet keep their address. For example, in a university, if students

might have their computers turned off for as long as three weeks between semesters,

and you wish them to keep their IP address, then a lease of six weeks or longer would

suffice.

Some examples of lease-times that sites have used & their rationals:

15 minutes

To keep the maximum number of addresses free for distribution in cases where there

will be more users than addresses.

6 hours

Long enough to allow the DHCP server to be fixed, e.g. 3 hours.

12 hours

If you need to take back an address, then you know that it will only take one night for

the users' lease to expire.

3 days

This is apparently Microsoft's default, thus many sites use it.

6 days

Long enough that a weekend server outage that gets fixed on Monday will not result in

leases terminating.

4 months

Long enough that students can keep their IP address over the summer hiatus. I believe

this rational is workable if the summer hiatus is no more than 2 months.

One year

If a user has not used their address in six months, then they are likely to be gone.

Allows administrator to recover those addresses after someone has moved on.

24. How can I control which clients get leases from my server?

There is no ideal answer: you have to give something up or do some extra work.

You can put all your clients on a subnet of your own along with your own

DHCP server.

You can use manual allocation.

Perhaps you can find DHCP server software that allows you to list which

MAC addresses the server will accept. DHCP servers that support roaming

machines may be adapted to such use.

You can use the user class option assuming your clients and server

support it: it will require you to configure each of your clients with a user

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? Its group policy inheritance model, where the policies are applied to Local
machines, Sites, Domains and Organizational Units.
4. Why doesn’t LSDOU work under Windows NT? If the NTConfig.polfile exist, it has the highest
priority among the numerous policies.
5. Where are group policies stored? %SystemRoot%System32\GroupPolicy
6. What is GPT and GPC? Group policy template and group policy container.
7. Where is GPT stored? %SystemRoot%\SYSVOL\sysvol\domainname\Policies\GUID
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.
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.
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.