System Admin Questions & Answers
System Admin Questions & Answers
System Admin Questions & Answers
Its a four-step process consisting of (a) IP request, (b) IP offer, IP selection and (d) acknowledgement.
I cant seem to access the Internet, dont have any access to the corporate network and on ipconfig my
address is 169.254.*.*. What happened?
The 169.254.*.* netmask is assigned to Windows machines running 98/2000/XP if the DHCP server is not available.
The name for the technology is APIPA (Automatic Private Internet Protocol Addressing).
Weve installed a new Windows-based DHCP server, however, the users do not seem to be getting DHCP
leases off of it.
How can you force the client to give up the dhcp lease if you have access to the client PC?
ipconfig /release
What authentication options do Windows 2000 Servers have for remote clients?
What are the networking protocol options for the Windows clients if for some reason you do not want to use
TCP/IP?
The order by which the network protocols are used for client-server communications. The most frequently used
protocols should be at the top.
How do cryptography-based keys ensure the validity of data transferred across the network?
Each IP packet is assigned a checksum, so if the checksums do not match on both receiving and transmitting ends,
the data was modified or corrupted.
They are really two different technologies. IPSec secures the TCP/IP communication and protects the integrity of
the packets. Certificate-based security ensures the validity of authenticated clients and servers.
Its a file stored on a host machine that is used to resolve NetBIOS to specific IP addresses.
Whats the difference between forward lookup and reverse lookup in DNS?
What is the Difference between Windows 2003 standard Enterprise, Premium, Data center and Web Edition?
WEB EDITION:
To position windows server 2003 more competitively against other web servers, Microsoft has released a stripped-
down-yet-impressive edition of windows server 2003 designed specially for web services. the feature set and
licensing allows customers easy deployment of web pages, web sites, web applications and web services.
Web Edition supports 2GB of RAM and a two-way symmetric multiprocessor(SMP). It provides unlimited
anonymous web connections but only 10 inbound server message block(SMB) connections, which should be more
than enough for content
publishing. The server cannot be an internet gateway, DHCP or fax server. Although you can remotely administer the
server with Remote Desktop, the server can not be a terminal
server in the traditional sense. The server can belong to a domain, but cannot be a domain controller. The included
version of the microsoft SQL server database Engine can support as many as 25 concurrent connections.
How do you recover an object in Active Directory, which is accidentally deleted by you, with no backup?
physical structure:
logical structure:
How to change the windows xp product key if wrongly installed with other product key but you have
original product key? What you will do to Make your os as Genuine?
Some third party software are available for this function or reinstall this system
If 512mb Ram is there what will be the minimum and maximum Virtual memory for the system?
To workout the total virtual memory (page file) required for windows XP you should take the amount of ram in the
system and + 25% (512MB + 25% (128MB) = 640MB total virtual memory. by setting both the min and max to 640MB
you can increase the performances of the operating system.
What is LDAP?
LDAP, Lightweight Directory Access Protocol, is an Internet protocol that email and other programs use to look up
information from a server.
The Sysvol folder on a Windows domain controller is used to replicate file-based data among domain controllers.
Because junctions are used within the Sysvol folder structure, Windows NT file system (NTFS) version 5.0 is
required on domain controllers throughout a Windows distributed file system (DFS) forest.
Backing up Active Directory is essential to maintain an Active Directory database. You can back up Active Directory
by using the Graphical User Interface (GUI) and command-line tools that the Windows Server 2003 family
provides.You frequently backup the system state data on domain controllers so that you can restore the most current
data. By establishing a regular backup schedule, you have a better chance of recovering data when necessary.To
ensure a good backup includes at least the system state data and contents of the system disk, you must be aware of
the tombstone lifetime. By default, the tombstone is 60 days. Any backup older than 60 days is not a good backup.
Plan to backup at least two domain controllers in each domain, one of at least one backup to enable an authoritative
restore of the data when necessary.
You cant restore Active Directory (AD) to a domain controller (DC) while the Directory Service (DS) is
running. To restore AD, perform the following steps.
The computer will boot into a special safe mode and wont start the DS. Be aware that during this time the machine
wont act as a DC and wont perform functions such as authentication.
1. Start NT Backup.
After you restore the backup, reboot the computer and start in normal mode to use the restored information. The
computer might hang after the restore completes; Ive experienced a 30-minute wait on some machines.
Group Policy gives you administrative control over users and computers in your network. By using Group Policy,
you can define the state of a users work environment once, and then rely on Windows Server 2003 to continually
force the Group Policy settings that you apply across an entire organization or to specific groups of users and
computers.
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
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.
DNS servers are used to resolve FQDN hostnames into IP addresses and vice versa
By default, each network interface card (NIC) has its own unique IP address. However, you can assign multiple IP
addresses to a single NIC.
In Windows 2000
Right-click on My Network Places, choose Properties.
In Windows XP
Right-click on My Network Places, choose Properties.
In Vista
Click Start and click Control Panel.
Select Network and Internet, then Network and Sharing Center, and click Manage network connections from the list of
tasks.
Right click your local area connection and click Properties.
In Windows 2003
Right-click on My Network Places, choose Properties.
If you use DHCP, you should disable it: click Use the following IP address and enter IP address, Subnet mask and
Default ateway.Click Advanced at the bottom.
Enter additional IP addresses: click the Add button and enter a new IP address and Subnet mask.Repeat the
procedure if there are additional IP Addresses to be added.
Click Add under Default Gateways and add the gateway addresses.I have entered My gateway address
Click Start, point to Control Panel and click Add or Remove Programs.
Click the Add/Remove Windows Components button in the Add or Remove Programs
On the Windows Components window, click on the Application Server entry and click the Details button
On the Application Server page, click on the Internet Information Services (IIS) entry and click the Details
button
In the Internet Information Service (IIS) dialog box, put a check mark in the World Wide Web Service
check box and click OK
Click OK on the Application Server dialog box
A: A Global Catalog is something that each domain has, and it is used for authenticating the
user on the network, on windows 2000 network logons were protected from failures by
assigning a Global Catalog to every site.
A: DHCP is used for the DHCP servers, personal computers can get their configuration from
a DHCP server on an IP configuration. The server knows nothing about the personal
computers until they make a request for information. Usually the most common
information sent is IP address and DHCP is used to make a large network administration
easier.
A: The Super Scope gives the DHCP server the possibility to have leases to multiple clients
on the same physical network. The leases come from multiple scopes. All scopes must be
defined using DHCP manager before the Super Scope creation and they are named member
scopes. The DHCP problems can be resolved by the Super Scope in different ways like the
following:
a) on a physical network like a LAN network where multiple logical IP networks exist Super
Scope is very useful here. These types of networks are also named multinets.
b) there is also need for a Super Scope when the address pool for the current scope becomes
empty and there is a need for new computers on the physical network.
d) when DHCP clients from the other side of the relay agents (BOOTP) or the network has
many logical subnets.
e) when standard networks are limited to leasing addresses for the clients.
A: Switching or transferring roles in an Active Directory can be made with the use of
Ntdsutil.exe.
A: The copy of a zone that has only the needed resources for finding the authoritative DNS
servers in that specific zone (DNS= Domain Name Servers) is called a Stub zone. It also
resolves names for DNS namespaces, thing required when names must be resolved from two
different DNS namespaces. The Stub zone contains: the master servers IP that is used for
updating the Stub zone and the SOA (Start of Authority), the NS (name server) and the glue
A delegated zone records.
5.Q: What main file is used for Active Directory backup and how it is made?
A: Active Directory backup is made using NTbackup utility. The backup is made once with
the system state and they are restored also together because they depend on each other. The
system state has different components like:
a) The registry
b) Boot files or startup files (files required by the operating system to start).
d) The system volume or the SYSVOL folder this is a folder that contains files that are
shared on a domain.
A: Yes and I can explain how. A system administrator is responsible for an entire network
which means he/she must take care of multiple things in the same time which is not an easy
task. In order to achieve this, an administrator must have high organization skills and a high
technical knowledge and he/she must prevent the problems from happening so that he/she
wont have to be forced to fix them.
7.Q: In what way is forward lookup zone different from the reverse lookup
zone in NDS?
A: There is one difference between these two: the forward lookup means name to IP and
reverse lookup means IP to name.
8.Q: As a system administrator can you make backup and recovery of data?
A: This is a responsibility that any system administrator must have assume as a basic skill.
Of course there are many types of backup that can be made but all must be known for a
successful career.
9.Q: What is the meaning of DHCP and what is the port used by it to work?
10.Q: Can you ensure an updated system all the time and perform market
research?
A: The advantage is that the DHCP server configures all IPs automatically and the
disadvantage is that when you receive a new IP address the machine name remains the
same because of its association with the IP. Its not a real problem but when somebody tries
to access the machine by its name it become one.
A: Yes, monitoring is a base activity of a system administrator, he/she manages all the
access rights and the server space, security of the user accounts is one of the most important
things here. Also an administrator must make sure that the users activity doesnt affect in
any way the integrity of the server.
A: To do this we must open the DNS then we must select the abc.local domain the right click
and we must go to Other New Records and the SRV ( choose location).
15.Q: In how much time are the security changes applied on the domain
controllers?
A: Including policies for personal and public lockout, the changes apply immediately. The
changes also include passwords and LSA or Local Security Authority.
A: Files are deleted constantly by end users but the backup can restore them. Anyhow
before using the backup we must check if the user didnt move the file by mistake in another
place.
Senior level Windows System Administrator Interview Questions
17.Q: Where is the storage place of the environmental settings and documents
from the roaming profile?
A: These documents and settings are deposited locally until the users log off, when they are
moved into the shared folder from the server so the log on at a fresh system may take a
while because of this.
18.Q: What are the classes that we can find in the Active Directory of Windows
Server 2003?
A: We can find:
a) the abstract class which can be made to look like a template and create other templates,
no matter if they are abstract, auxiliary or structural.
b) the structural class is the important type of class that is made from multiple abstract
classes or an existing structural class. They are the only ones that can make Active Directory
objects.
c) the auxiliary class is used as a replace for many attributes of a structural class, it is a list
of attributes.
d) The 88 class is used for objects classes that were defined before 1993 and it is not a
common class, it doesnt use abstract, structural or auxiliary classes.
A: Certain companies that have different bases require different trees and separate
namespaces. And unique names sometimes give birth to different identities of DNS. Also
companies are sometimes acquired and get under other influences but the continuity must
be preserved for the names.
20.Q: Can you explain to us about you experience in the past regarding
windows administration?
A: I have ten years of experience in this field, I was passionate about computers since
childhood and I installed many operating systems at home and inside organizations
including these versions of windows: 95, 98, 98 SE, NT, Millenium, 2000, 2003 Server, XP,
Seven, Vista. I also managed these systems and performed maintenance, I worked with
different applications from the windows environment.
21.Q: How can you handle a situation in which for instance if you have an
application that is not running on Windows 2003 because its older?
A: In this situation the application has to be started in the compatibility mode with a
previously windows operating system. This is made by right clicking the application icon
and choosing another Windows from the compatibility menu.
A: Repadmin.exe means Replication Diagnostics Tool and helps for the diagnostic of
domain controllers in the Windows system. This tool is used by administrators to see the
replication topology from the perspective of every domain controller. The active Directory
forest can also be supervised by Repadmin.exe and replication problems can be tracked.
23.Q: What difference can we find in the usage of CSVDE versus LDIFDE?
A: CSVDE and LDIFDE are both commands and are used for importing and exporting
objects but they are different in the way that CSVDE uses the format CSV (Comma
Separated Value) which is an Excel file for files and LDIFDE uses LDIF (LDAP Data
Interchange Format) file type which can be viewed with a simple text editor. LDIFDE can be
also used for editing or deleting objects unlike CSVDE.
24.Q: What big differences exist between these two operating systems:
Windows 2000 and Windows XP?
A: Windows 2000 has more capabilities than Windows XP especially regarding features like
DHCP, Terminal Services or DNS. It has all the advantages for server usage. Windows 2000
is a little more professional than XP, but they are both coming with different versions for
every user taste. While XP has Home version, Professional or Enterprise, Windows 2000
has Professional and Server editions. The Home version of XP comes with minimal features
because the target clients are beginners.
Obviously, there's no right answer to that question. Every team has different needs,
and the different servers all represent different sets of trade-offs. The Subversion
project itself doesn't endorse one server or another, or consider either server
more official than another.
Here are some reasons why you might choose one deployment over another, as well as
reasons you might notchoose one.
You can take advantage of existing SSH accounts and user infrastructure.
Recommendations
In general, the authors of this book recommend a vanilla svnserve installation for
small teams just trying to get started with a Subversion server; it's the simplest to set
up and has the fewest maintenance issues. You can always switch to a more complex
server deployment as your needs change.
Here are some general recommendations and tips, based on years of supporting users:
If you're trying to set up the simplest possible server for your group, a
vanilla svnserve installation is the easiest, fastest route. Note, however, that
your repository data will be transmitted in the clear over the network. If your
deployment is entirely within your company's LAN or VPN, this isn't an issue.
If the repository is exposed to the wide-open Internet, you might want to make
sure that either the repository's contents aren't sensitive (e.g., it contains only
open source code), or that you go the extra mile in configuring SASL to encrypt
network communications.
If you need to integrate with existing legacy identity systems (LDAP, Active
Directory, NTLM, X.509, etc.), you must use either the Apache-based server
or svnserve configured with SASL.
Do not be seduced by the simple idea of having all of your users access a
repository directly via file://URLs. Even if the repository is readily available
to everyone via a network share, this is a bad idea. It removes any layers of
protection between the users and the repository: users can accidentally (or
intentionally) corrupt the repository database, it becomes hard to take the
repository offline for inspection or upgrade, and it can lead to a mess of file
permission problems (see the section called Supporting Multiple Repository
Access Methods). Note that this is also one of the reasons we warn against
accessing repositories via svn+ssh:// URLsfrom a security standpoint, it's
effectively the same as local users accessing viafile://, and it can entail all the
same problems if the administrator isn't careful.