) Explain what is Windows Server?

Window server is a series of server operating system developed by Microsoft Corporation.

2) Explain in windows DNS server what is Primary, Secondary and Stub zone?

In windows DNS server,

Primary Zone: In this, the file is saved as normal text file with filename (.dns).
Secondary Zone: It maintains a read-only copy of zone database on another DNS server.
Also, it acts as a back-up server to the primary server by providing fault tolerance and
load balancing
Stub Zone: It consists of a copy of name server and SOA records which is used for
reducing the DNS search orders.

3) Explain what does IntelliMirror do?

IntelliMirror helps to reconcile desktop settings, applications and stored files for users especially
for those users who move between workstations or those who works offline

4) In the case when MSI file is not available, how you can install an app?

To add the application using the Software Installer.ZAP text file can be used rather than the
windows installer

5) Explain how you can set up remote installation procedure without giving access to
user?

To do that, you have to go to,

gponame User Configuration Windows Settings Remote Installation Services Choice

Options

6) What does it mean by tattooing the Registry ?

Tattooing the registry means user can modify and view user preference that are not stored in
the maintained portions of the Registry. Even if the group policy is changed or removed, the
user preference will still persist in the registry.

7) Mention how many types of queries DNS does?

The types of queries DNS does are

 Iterative Query
Recursive Query

8) Explain what is the primary function of the domain controller?

Primary function of the domain controller is to validate users to the networks, it also provide a
catalog of Active Directory Objects.

9) What information is required when TCP/IP is configured on Window Server?

To configure a TCP/PI client for an IPv4 client, you have to provide the IP address and the
subnet mask.

10) Explain what does it mean caching only server in terms of DNS?

The caching only DNS server provides information related to queries based on the data it
contains in its DNS cache.

11) Explain what is the way to configure the DHCP server such that it allocates the same
IP address to certain devices each time the address is removed?

To configure the DHCP server, you can create a reservation for the device. To create a
reservation, you must know the MAC hardware address of the device. To determine the MAC
address for a network device you can use the ipconfig or nbs tat command line utilities.

12) Explain what is LDAP?

To look up for the information from the server, e-mail and another program follows or uses the
internet protocol. This protocol is referred as LDAP or Lightweight Directory Access Protocol.

13) Explain what is SYSVOL folder?

It is a set of files and folders that is stored on the local hard disk of each domain controller in a
domain and are replicated by the FRS ( File Replication Service). These files contain group or
user policy information.

14) Explain what is the difference between a thread and a computer process?

Computer Process: In computing, a process is an instance of a computer program that is executed

sequentially by a computer system which can run several computer programs concurrently.

Thread: A thread is a several executable program that work together as a single process. For
instance, one thread might send an error message to the user; another might handle error signals
while the third thread might be executing the original action.
15) Explain what is INODE?

INODE holds the metadata of files; INODE is a pointer to a block on the disk, and it is unique.

In simple words, it is a unique number allocated to a file in UNIX-like OS.

16) Explain what is RAID in Windows Server?

For storing same data at a different place RAID or Redundant Array of Independent Disks
strategy is used. It is a strategy for building fault tolerance and increase the storage capacity. On
separate drives it allows you to combine one or more volumes so that they are accessed by a
single drive letter

17) Explain what is the purpose of deploying local DNS servers?

A local DNS server provides the local mapping of fully qualified domain names to IP addresses.
To resolve remote requests related to the domains names on your network, local DNS servers can
provide record information to remote DNS servers.

18) To check TCP/IP configurations and IP connectivity, what are the two command line
utilities that can be used?

Ipconfig: To check the computers IP configuration, command ipconfig can be used and also it
can be used to renew the clients IP address if it is provided by a DHCP server.

Ping: To check the connection between the local computer and any of the other computer device
on the network Ping command is used

19) Explain if it is possible to connect Active Directory to other 3rd party Directory
services?

Yes, you can connect other vendors directory services with Microsoft version. By using dirXML
or LDAP to connect to other directories.

20) Explain where is the AD database is held?

AD database is saved in %systemroot%/ntds. Files that controls the AD structure are

ntds.dit
edb.log
res1.log
 res2.log
edn.chk

21) Explain what is the major difference between NTFS ( New Technology File System) or
FAT (File Allocation Table) on a local server?

For local users FAT (File Allocation Table) and FAT32 provides security, while NTFS ( New
Technology File System) provides security for domain users as well as local users. NTFS
provides file level security which is not possible through FAT32.

22) Mention what windows server 2008 service is used to install client operating system
over the network?

WDE ( Windows Deployment Services ) allows you to install client and server operating systems
over the network to any computer with a PXE enabled network interface

1) Differences b/w Conditional Forwarding and Stub Zones.

Ans:- Both do the same thing like forwarding the requests to appropriate name servers who are
authoritative for the domains in the queries. However, there is difference in both, Stub Zone are
Dynamic and Conditional forwarder are static.

Conditional Forwarding Where you want DNS clients in separate networks to resolve each
others names without having to query DNS servers on the Internet, such as in the case of a
company merger, you should configure the DNS servers in each network to forward queries for
names in the other network. DNS servers in one network will forward names for clients in the
other network to a specific DNS server that will build up a large cache of information about the
other network. When forwarding in this way, you create a direct point of contact between two
networks DNS servers, reducing the need for recursion.

Stub Zone Stub-Zones are dynamic -A stub zone is like a secondary zone in that it obtains its
resource records from other name servers (one or more master name servers). A stub zone is also
read-only like a secondary zone, so administrators cant manually add, remove, or modify
resource records on it. But the differences end here, as stub zones are quite different from
secondary zones in a couple of significant ways.First, while secondary zones contain copies of
all the resource records in the corresponding zone on the master name server, stub zones contain
only three kinds of resource records:

A copy of the SOA record for the zone.

Copies of NS records for all name servers authoritative for the zone.
Copies of A records for all name servers authoritative for the zone.
2) How AD Replication Works ?

Ans:- http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc772726(v=ws.10).aspx

3) How DNS is important in AD replication?

Ans:- Once DC gets its replication Partner Hostname then it queries DNS for IP Address. Also,
_MSDCS zone is required for Domain Controller Locator that enables the client to locate the
DC.

For complete details

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc759550(WS.10).aspx

4) Ports Required for Domain Controllers to communicate.

Ans:- http://yourcomputer.in/list-port-numbers-windows/

5) What is GPT and GPC?

Ans:- A GPO (Group Policy Object) is a collection of Group Policy settings, it consists of GPC
and GPT.

GPC (Group Policy Container) contains the information of property of GPO like Security
Filtering, GPO Status, GPO GUID etc.

GPT (Group Policy Template) contains the data of GPO in Sysvol folder that can be checked
after the configuration of the GPO that what settings have been configured to the client.

6) What is new in Microsoft Clustering 2008?

Ans:- http://yourcomputer.in/whats-new-windows-server-2008-cluster/

7) What is Majority Node Set?

Ans:- A majority node set is a single quorum resource, from a server cluster perspective;
however, the data is actually stored on multiple disks across the cluster. Each cluster node stores
the configuration on a local disk it can have access to when it starts up. By default, the location is
pointed to %systemroot%\cluster\ResourceGUID

Further Explained :- http://yourcomputer.in/windows-cluster-interview-questions-and-answers/

If the configuration of the cluster changes, that change is replicated across the different disks

8) What is NLB?
Ans:- NLB (Network Load Balance) is a Microsoft implementation of clustering and load
balancing that is intended to provide high availability and high reliability, as well as high
scalability.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc779570(v=ws.10).aspx

9) Difference Between Unicast and Multicast

Ans:-

Unicast

Unicast is a one-to one connection between the client and the server. Unicast uses IP delivery
methods such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP),
which are session-based protocols. When a Windows Media Player client connects using unicast
to a Windows Media server, that client has a direct relationship to the server. Each unicast client
that connects to the server takes up additional bandwidth. For example, if you have 10 clients all
playing 100-kilobits per second (Kbps) streams, those clients as a group are taking up 1,000
Kbps. If you have only one client playing the 100 Kbps stream, only 100 Kbps is being used.

Multicast

Multicast is a true broadcast. The multicast source relies on multicast-enabled routers to forward
the packets to all client subnets that have clients listening. There is no direct relationship between
the clients and Windows Media server. The Windows Media server generates an .nsc (NetShow
channel) file when the multicast station is first created. Typically, the .nsc file is delivered to the
client from a Web server. This file contains information that the Windows Media Player needs to
listen for the multicast. This is similar to tuning into a station on a radio. Each client that listens
to the multicast adds no additional overhead on the server. In fact, the server sends out only one
stream per multicast station. The same load is experienced on the server whether only one client
or 1,000 clients are listening

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/291786

10) What is new in Windows 2008 AD?

Ans:-

Read-Only Domain Controllers

Fine-Grained Password Policies

Restartable Active Directory Service

Backup and Recovery

SYSVOL Replication with DFS-R

Auditing Improvements

UI Improvements

11) How to configure RODC to replicate password of users?

Ans:- You can add users in the PASSWORD REPLICATION POLICY tab of RODC computer
properties

12) What is the issue we face while recovering AD from VMware snapshot?

13) Difference between Authoritative and Non-authoritative restore in AD?

Ans:- http://yourcomputer.in/authoritative-vs-non-authoritative-restoration-of-active-directory

14) What is new in Authoritative restoration in windows 2008?

15) What is new in Windows Cluster 2008?

Ans:- http://yourcomputer.in/whats-new-windows-server-2008-cluster/

16) What is Strict Replication?

Ans:-

Strict Replication is a mechanism developed by Microsoft developers for Active Directory

Replication. If a domain controller has the Strict Replication enabled then that domain controller
will not get Lingering Objects from a domain controller which was isolated for more than the
TombStone Life Time. TSL is 180 days by default on a Forest created with Windows Server
2003 SP1. A domain controller shouldnt be outof sync for more than this period. Lingering
Objects may appear on other domain controllers if replication happens with the outdated domain
controllers. These domain controllers will not replicate with the outdated domain controllers if
you have set the below mentioned registry key.You must set the following registry setting on all
the domain controllers to enable the Strict Replication:

KEY
Name: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NTDS\Para
meters
Registry Entry: Strict Replication Consistency
Value: 1 (enabled), 0 (disabled)
Type: REG_DWORD

17) What is Super Scope in DHCP?

Ans:-

A superscope is an administrative feature of Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)

servers running Windows Server 2008 that you can create and manage by using the DHCP
Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in. By using a superscope, you can group multiple
scopes as a single administrative entity. With this feature, a DHCP server can:

Support DHCP clients on a single physical network segment (such as a single Ethernet
LAN segment) where multiple logical IP networks are used. When more than one logical
IP network is used on each physical subnet or network, such configurations are often
called multinets.
Support remote DHCP clients located on the far side of DHCP and BOOTP relay agents
(where the network on the far side of the relay agent uses multinets).

In multinet configurations, you can use DHCP superscopes to group and activate individual
scope ranges of IP addresses used on your network. In this way, the DHCP server can activate
and provide leases from more than one scope to clients on a single physical network.

Superscopes can resolve specific types of DHCP deployment issues for multinets, including
situations in which:

The available address pool for a currently active scope is nearly depleted, and more
computers need to be added to the network. The original scope includes the full
addressable range for a single IP network of a specified address class. You need to use
another range of IP addresses to extend the address space for the same physical network
segment.
Clients must be migrated over time to a new scope (such as to renumber the current IP
network from an address range used in an existing active scope to a new scope that
contains another range of IP addresses).
You want to use two DHCP servers on the same physical network segment to manage
separate logical IP networks.

18) What is the requirement to configure Full memory Dump in windows?

Ans:-

To generate a complete memory dump file:

1. Click Start > right-click Computer and select Properties in the menu.
2. Click Advanced > Settings > Startup and Recovery > Settings > Write debugging
information > Complete memory dump.
3. Click OK twice.

19) Which DNS record is required for Replication?

Ans:- Host A records of replication partners (Domain Controllers), Srv Records to find out the
Domain Controllers GUID in _msdcs zone (DC Locator)

20) Tools to analyze Memory Dump?

Ans:-

Windows Debugger (WinDbg.exe) tool

Dumpchk,exe

21) Tools to troubleshoot Group Policy issues?

Ans:- You can use AD inbuilt features to troubleshoot group policy issue like RSOP.msc or can
run RSOP by selecting users in Active Directory users and computers, gpresult -v, gpt.ini in
sysvol under Group Policy GUID folder can be checked to find out the GPO settings configured

22) What AD parameters can be added to enable the Monitoring for AD?

23) How to troubleshoot AD replication issues?

Ans:- It can be troubleshooted by repmon command that generates the error result in eventvwr.
DNS can be checked between two destination. Network/Firewall issue

24) Booting sequence in windows 2008?

Heres the brief description of Windows Server 2008 Boot process.

1. System is powered on
2. The CMOS loads the BIOS and then runs POST
3. Looks for the MBR on the bootable device
4. Through the MBR the boot sector is located and the BOOTMGR is loaded
5. BOOTMGR looks for active partition
6. BOOTMGR reads the BCD file from the \boot directory on the active partition
7. The BCD (boot configuration database) contains various configuration parameters( this
information was previously stored in the boot.ini)
8. BOOTMGR transfer control to the Windows Loader (winload.exe) or winresume.exe in
case the system was hibernated.
9. Winloader loads drivers that are set to start at boot and then transfers the control to the
windows kernel.

25) How to edit Schema in AD?

Ans:- Firstly, schmmgmt.dll has to be register. Then ADSIEdit tool can be used to edit schema.
26) Difference between Windows 2003 & Windows 2008 boot process

Ans:-

Windows 2003 Boot Process:

1.POST
2.The MBR reads the boot sector which is the first sector of the active partition.
3.Ntldr looks path of os from boot.ini
4.Ntldr to run ntdedetect.com to get information about installed hardware.
5.Ntldr reads the registry files then select a hardware profile, control set and loads device
drivers.
6.After that Ntoskrnl.exe takes over and starts winlogon.exe which starts lsass.exe

Windows Server 2008 Boot process.

1. System is powered on
2. The CMOS loads the BIOS and then runs POST
3. Looks for the MBR on the bootable device
4. Through the MBR the boot sector is located and the BOOTMGR is loaded
5. BOOTMGR looks for active partition
6. BOOTMGR reads the BCD file from the \boot directory on the active partition
7. The BCD (boot configuration database) contains various configuration parameters( this
information was previously stored in the boot.ini)
8. BOOTMGR transfer control to the Windows Loader (winload.exe) or winresume.exe in
case the system was hibernated.
9. Winloader loads drivers that are set to start at boot and then transfers the control to the
windows kernel.

27) Name of utilities that is being used to check multipathing

Ans:- FCInfo utility or Storage Explorer (windows 2008) can be used to check the same.

For complete details: http://yourcomputer.in/how-to-check-wwn-on-windows-server/

28) How to create Host A record remotely?

Ans:- dnscmd command can be used for creating a Resource Record on DNS server. Below is
the command:

dnscmd [<ServerName>] /recordadd <ZoneName> <NodeName> <RRType> <RRData>

29) What is glue record?

Ans:-

Name servers in delegations are identified by name, rather than by IP address. This means that a
resolving name server must issue another DNS request to find out the IP address of the server to
which it has been referred. If the name given in the delegation is a subdomain of the domain for
which the delegation is being provided, there is a circular dependency. In this case the name
server providing the delegation must also provide one or more IP addresses for the authoritative
name server mentioned in the delegation. This information is called glue. The delegating name
server provides this glue in the form of records in the additional section of the DNS response,
and provides the delegation in the answer section of the response.

For example, if the authoritative name server for example.org is ns1.example.org, a computer
trying to resolve www.example.org first resolves ns1.example.org. Since ns1 is contained in
example.org, this requires resolving example.org first, which presents a circular dependency. To
break the dependency, the name server for the top level domain org includes glue along with the
delegation for example.org. The glue records are address records that provide IP addresses for
ns1.example.org. The resolver uses one or more of these IP addresses to query one of the
domains authoritative servers, which allows it to complete the DNS query.

30) What is Loopback Group Policy?

Ans:- Group Policy applies to the user or computer in a manner that depends on where both the
user and the computer objects are located in Active Directory. However, in some cases, users
may need policy applied to them based on the location of the computer object alone. You can use
the Group Policy loopback feature to apply Group Policy Objects (GPOs) that depend only on
which computer the user logs on to.

31) Difference between Windows 2003 and Windows 2008

Ans:- http://yourcomputer.in/difference-between-windows-2003-and-2008/

32) TCP/UDP ports used in Windows?

Ans:- http://yourcomputer.in/list-port-numbers-windows/

33) Types of RAID

Ans:- http://yourcomputer.in/what-is-raid-configuration-in-windows/