System Administrator interview questions

and answers
1) Differentiate between NTFS & FAT.
NTFS is the current file system used by Windows. It offers features like
security permissions (to limit other users' access to folders), quotas
(so one user can't fill up the disk), shadowing (backing up) and many
other features that help Windows.
FAT32 is the older Microsoft filesystem, primarily used by the Windows
9X line and Window could be installed on a FAT32 parition up to XP. In
comparision, FAT32 offers none of what was mentioned above, and
also has a maximum FILE (not folder) size of 4GB, which is kind of
small these days, especially in regards to HD video.
2) What Is VOIP.
VOIP - Short for Voice Over Internet Protocol, a category of hardware
and software that enables people to use the Internet as the
transmission medium for telephone calls by sending voice data in
packets using IP rather than by traditional circuit transmissions.
3) What is loop back.
Loopback address is 127.0.0.1,
An address that sends outgoing signals back to the same computer for
testing.
4) What is Proxy Server.
A proxy server is a computer that acts as a gateway between a local
network (e.g., all the computers at one company or in one building)
and a larger-scale network such as the Internet. Proxy servers provide
increased performance and security. In some cases, they monitor
employees' use of outside resources.

5) Differentiate between FIREWALL/ANTIVIRUS.

Antivirus:
The prime job of an anivirus is protect your system from computer
viruses. Your computer may be standalone or part of network or
connected to Internet you need an antivirus program. It actively
monitors when you are using your system for any virus threat from
different sources. if it found one it tries to clean or quarantine the virus
ultimately keeping your system and data safe.
Firewall:
Firewall is in other hand a program which protects your system from
outsider/intruder/hacker attacks. These attacks may not be virus type.
In some cases hackers can take control of your system remotely and
steal your data or important information from system. If your system
is directly connected to internet or a large network than you can install
a software firewall in your PC to protect your self from unauthorized
access. Firewall is available either in software or in hardware form. For
a single PC you may need a software firewall while a large corporate
implements hardware firewall to protect all of their systems from such
attacks.
6) Differentiate between Frond end & Back End Server.
Backend server:
A back end server is a computer resource that has not been exposed
to the internet. In this regard the computing resource does not directly
interact with the internet user. It can also be described as a server
whose main function is to store and retrieve email messages.
Frontend server:
A frontend server is a computer resources that has exposed to the
internet.
7) What is APIPA.
Stands for Automatic Private IP Addressing
APIPA is a DHCP fail over mechanism for local networks. With APIPA,
DHCP clients can obtain IP addresses when DHCP servers are nonfunctional.

APIPA exists in all modern versions of Windows except Windows NT.

When a DHCP server fails, APIPA allocates IP addresses in the private
range 169.254.0.1 to 169.254.255.254.
8) How Release and renew IP address from Command prompt.
Ipconfig / release
ipconfig / renew
9) What is wins server.
Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) servers dynamically map IP
addresses to computer names (NetBIOS names). This allows users to
access resources by computer name instead of by IP address. If you
want this computer to keep track of the names and IP addresses of
other computers in your network, configure this computer as a WINS
server.
If you do not use WINS in such a network, you cannot connect to a
remote network resource by using its NetBIOS name.
10)What is the Windows Registry.
The Windows Registry, usually referred to as "the registry," is a
collection of databases of configuration settings in Microsoft Windows
operating systems.
11) System Volume Information (SVI) Folder.
Windows XP includes a folder named System Volume Information on
the root of each drive that remains hidden from view even when you
choose to show system files. It remains hidden because it is not a
normally hidden folder you can say it is a Super Hidden Folder.
Windows does not shows Super Hidden Folders even when you select
"Show Hidden Files."
12 ) What is MBR.
Short form Master Boot Record, a small program that is executed when

a computer boots up. Typically, the MBR resides on the first sector of
the hard disk. The program begins the boot process by looking up the
partition table to determine which partition to use for booting
13) What is Bit Locker.
BitLocker is an encryption feature available in Ultimate and Enterprise
versions of Windows 7 and Vista,
To encrypt an entire drive, simply right-click on the drive and select
Turn on BitLocker from the context menu.
14) Difference b/w sata and IDE.
IDE and SATA are different types of interfaces to connect storage
devices (like hard drives) to a computer's system bus. SATA stands for
Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (or Serial ATA) and IDE is also
called Parallel ATA or PATA. SATA is the newer standard and SATA
drives are faster than PATA (IDE) drives. For many years ATA provided
the most common and the least expensive interface for this
application. But by the beginning of 2007, SATA had largely replaced
IDE in all new systems.

15)Main Difference Between Windows server 2008 and 2012

1) New Server Manager: Create, Manage Server Groups
2) Hyper-V Replication : The Hyper-V Replica feature allows you to
replicate a virtual machine from one location to another with Hyper-V
and a network connectionand without any shared storage required.
This is a big deal in the Microsoft world for disaster recovery, high
availability and more. VMware does this, too, but the vendor charges
new licensees extra for the capability.
3) Expanded PowerShell Capabilities
4)IIS 8.0 and IIS 7 in 2008
5)Hyper-V 3.0
6)PowerShell 3.0
16)How Long My Computer Has Been Running? Get to Know My
Computers Uptime.

Start

Task manager,

and select

Performance tab .

In performance tab we can see system up time

Method 2: By typing systeminfo in command prompt we can find out
up time of your server
In system boot time.
17)Event viewer in Windows server
Control panel - Administrative tools - Computer Management - event
Viewer
Three types events
Error.
Warning.
Information.
18) Manage Multiple, Remote Servers with Server Manager.
Server Manager is a management console in Windows Server 2012
R2 Preview and Windows Server 2012 that helps IT professionals
provision and manage both local and remote Windows-based servers
from their desktops, without requiring either physical access to
servers, or the need to enable Remote Desktop protocol (RDP)
connections to each server. Although Server Manager is available in
Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2008, Server Manager
was updated in Windows Server 2012, to support remote, multi-server
management, and help increase the number of servers an
administrator can manage.
19) What happens when we type URL in browser.
First the computer looks up the destination host. If it exists in local
DNS cache, it uses that information. Otherwise, DNS querying is
performed until the IP address is found.
Then, your browser opens a TCP connection to the destination host
and sends the request according to HTTP 1.1 (or might use HTTP 1.0,

but normal browsers don't do it any more).

The server looks up the required resource (if it exists) and responds
using HTTP protocol, sends the data to the client (=your browser)
The browser then uses HTML parser to re-create document structure
which is later presented to you on screen. If it finds references to
external resources, such as pictures, css files, javascript files, these
are is delivered the same way as the HTML document itself.

DHCP:
1) How DHCP work?
DHCP Stands for Dynamic host configuration protocol.
DHCP is a protocol used for automatic configuration IP address in client
computers connected to IP networks. DHCP operates on a client server
model in four phases.
Discover: A client broadcasts DHCP Discover message when it comes
alive on the network.
Offer: When a DHCP server receives the DHCP Discover message from
the client, it reserves an I P address for the client and sends a DHCP
Offer message to the client offering the reserved IP address.
Request: The client receives the DHCP offer message and broadcasts a
DHCP request message to show its consent to accept the offered IP
address.
Acknowledge: When the DHCP server receives the DHCP Request
message from the client, it sends a DHCP Ack packet to the client. At
this point the IP configuration process is complete.

2) What is DHCP Scope.

A range of IP address that the DHCP server can assign to clients that
are on one subnet.

3) What protocol and port does DHCP use.

UDP protocol and 67 port in client and 68 port in server.
4) What is a DHCP lease.
A DHCP lease is the amount of time that the DHCP server grants to the
DHCP
client permission to use a particular IP address. A typical server allows
its
administrator to set the lease time.
5) Can DHCP support statically defined addresses.
Yes.
6) Define Dora Process & why it is used.
Discover, Offer, request and acknowledgement. it is used to assign ip
address automatically to client systems.
7) What is Authorizing DHCP Servers in Active Directory.
If a DHCP server is to operate within an Active Directory domain (and
is not running on a domain controller) it must first be authorized to
Active directory.
8)How to Backup and Restore DHCP in Windows Server 2008
In Windows Server 2008, backup of DHCP database and settings has
gotten simpler. You may want to backup your DHCP server from time
to time to prepare for disaster recovery scenarios or when migrating
DHCP server role to a new hardware.
Backup DHCP Server
1. Open Server Manager > DHCP role
2. Right click server name, choose Backup..

3. Choose a location for backup, click OK

Restore DHCP Server
1. Open Server Manager > DHCP role
2. Right Click server name, choose Restore
3. Choose the location of the backup, click OK
4. Restart the DHCP Service

DHCP Databse location: C:\WINDOWS\System32\DHCP directory.

DNS
1) Define DNS .
Domain Name System, DNS is an Internet service that translates
domain names into IP addresses. Because domain names are
alphabetic, they're easier to remember.
Two types of lookup in DNS.
Forward lookup : it converts Domain name to ip address.
Reverse lookup: it converts ip address to Domain name.
Three types of zone.
Primary zone
secandary zone and stub zone.
what is the port no of DNS.
UDP and port number - 53
What is NSlookup.
Nslookup.exe is a command-line administrative tool for testing and
troubleshooting DNS servers. This tool is installed along with the
TCP/IP protocol through Control Panel.

MS-DOS utility that enables a user to look up an IP address of a

domain or host on a network.

Active directory and Domain

1) What is LDAP? Why it is used.
LDAP is the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol. Its an active
directory protocal ,Basically, it's a protocol used to access data from a
database
2) What is Active Directory? Why it used.
Active Directory is a Directory Service created by Microsoft. It is
included with most Windows Server operating systems.
Active Directory is primarily used to store directory objects like users
and groups and computers printers.
Using Active Directory brings a number of advantages to your network,
Centralized user account management
Centralized policy management (group policy)
Better security management
3) What Is Group Policy.
Group Policy is a feature of the Microsoft Windows NT family of
operating systems that control the working environment of user
accounts and computer accounts. Group Policy provides the centralized
management and configuration of operating systems, applications, and
users' settings in an Active Directory environment.
4) What is the order in which GPOs are applied .
Local Group Policy object
site ,

Domain and
organizational units.

5) What is the difference between software publishing and

assigning.
Assign Users : The software application is advertised when the user
logs on. It is installed when the user clicks on the software application
icon via the start menu, or accesses a file that has been associated
with the software application.
Assign Computers :The software application is advertised and installed
when it is safe to do so, s uch as when the computer is next
restarted.
Publish to users : The software application does not appear on the
start menu or desktop. This means the user may not know that the
software is available. The software application is made available via
the Add/Remove Programs option in control panel, or by clicking on a
file that has been associated with the application. Published
applications do not reinstall themselves in the event of accidental
deletion, and it is not possible to publish to computers.

6) Can I deploy non-MSI software with GPO.

create the fiile in .zap extension.
7) Name some GPO settings in the computer and user parts.
Computer Configuration, User ConfigurationName
8) Name a few benefits of using GPMC.
Easy administration of all GPOs across the entire Active Directory
Forest
View of all GPOs in one single list
Backup and restore of GPOs Migration of GPOs across different
domains and forest.

9) How frequently is the client policy refreshed ?

90 minutes give or take.
10) Where are group policies stored ?
C:\Windows\System32\GroupPolicy.
11) Group policy backup
To backup a single GPO, right-click the GPO, and then click Back Up.
To backup all GPOs in the domain, right-click Group Policy Objects
and click Back Up All.

12) Define DSRM Mode?

Directory Services Restore Mode (DSRM) is a special boot mode for
repairing or recovering Active Directory. It is used to log on to the
computer when Active Directory has failed or needs to be restored.
To manually boot in Directory Services Restore Mode, press the F8 key
repeatedly. Do this immediately after BIOS POST screen, before the
Windows logo appears. (Timing can be tricky; if the Windows logo
appears you waited too long.) A text menu menu will appear. Use the
up/down arrow keys to select Directory Services Restore Mode or DS
Restore Mode. Then press the Enter key.
13) Where is the AD database held? What other folders are
related
to AD?
The AD data base is stored in c:\windows\ntds\NTDS.DIT.

14 ) Have you ever Installed AD?

To Install Microsoft Active Directory:
Ensure that you log on to the computer with an administrator account
to perform installation.

Click electing Start > Administration Tools > Server manager >
Configure your Server.
In the Welcome page, click Next.
In the Operating system compatibility panel, click Next.
On the Domain Controller Type panel, select Domain controller for
a new domain and click Next.
On the Create New Domain panel, select Domain in a new forest
and click Next.
On the New Domain Name panel, enter the DNS suffix for your new
Active Directory. This name will be used during Tivoli Provisioning
Manager installation, so make a note of it. Click Next.
On the NetBIOS Domain Name panel, enter the NetBIOS name of
the domain. The first part of the DNS name is usually sufficient. Click
Next.
On the Database and Logs panel, select the desired folders for the
Database and Logs. C:\Windows\NTDS is the default. Click Next.
On the Shared System Volume panel, enter a valid directory for the
system volume. C:\Windows\Sysvol is the default. Click Next to
continue.
If you configured DNS successfully, the Permissions setting panel is
displayed. Select Permissions compatible only with Windows 2000 or
Windows Server 2003. Click Next.
On the Directory Services Restore Mode Administrator Password panel,
enter a valid password to be used when running the Directory Services
in Restore Mode. Click Next
Verify the settings and Click Next to begin the Active Directory
configuration. The server will be rebooted as part of the process.

15) What is the use of SYSVOL folder

All active directory data base security related information store in

SYSVOL folder and its only created on NTFS partition.
16) What is global catalog
The Global Catalog is a database that contains all of the information
pertaining to objects within all domains in the Active Directory
environment
17) What is 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
resoures in all trusted domains.
18) What is group nesting.
Adding one group as a member of another group is called 'group
nesting'. This will help for easy administration and reduced replication
traffic
19) What is Domain control?
A domain controller (DC) is a server that handles all the security
requests from other computers and servers within the Windows Server
domain
there was a primary domain controller and a backup domain controller.
The primary DC focused on domain services only to avoid the
possibility of a system slow down or crash due to overtasking from
managing other functionality and security requests. In the event of a
primary DC going down, a backup DC could be promoted and become
the primary DC to keep the rest of the server systems functioning
correctly
20) What is domain?
A domain is a set of network resources (applications, printers, and so
forth) for a group of users. The user needs only to log in to the domain

to gain access to the resources, which may be located on a number of

different servers in the network. The domain is simply your computer
address not to confuse with an URL. A domain address might look
something like 211.170.469.

21) What is Forest?

A collection of one or more Active Directory domains that share a
common schema, configuration, and global catalog.
22) What is global catalog.
The Active Directory Global Catalog is the central storage of
information about objects in an Active Directory forest. A Global
Catalog is created automatically on the first domain controller in the
first domain in the forest. The Domain Controller which is hosting the
Global Catalog is known as a Global catalog server.
23) What is tree.
An Active Directory tree is a collection of Active Directory domains that
begins at a single root and branches out into peripheral, child domains.
Domains in an Active Directory tree share the same namespace. An
Active Directory forest is a collection of Active Directory trees, similar
to a real world forest. Catalog Server.
24) What is site.
A Site object in Active Directory represents a geographic location that
hosts networks.
25) Flexable Single Master Operation Roles (FSMO)
The 5 FSMO server roles:

Schema Master

Forest Level

One per forest

Domain Naming Master Forest Level

One per forest

PDC Emulator

Domain Level

One per domain

RID Master

Domain Level

One per domain

Infrastructure Master

Domain Level

One per domain

26) Command to Add client to Domain

NETDOM /Domain:MYDOMAIN /user:adminuser /password:apassword
MEMBER MYCOMPUTER /JOINDOMAIN
27) Setting File Permissions on a Folder Using Group Policy
The setting is located under Computer Configuration, Windows
Settings, Security Settings, File System. Here's the procedure:
Go to the location in the Group Policy listed above.
Right-click File System.
Click Add File.
In the "Add a file or folder" window, select the folder (or file) for which
you want the permissions to be set, and click OK.
In the security box that pops up, you can add a user or a group that
needs permission to the folder.

Vertualization
1)Define virtualization.
Hyper-V virtualization will provide an environment in which we can run
multiple operating systems at the same time on one physical
computer, by running each operating system in its own virtual
machine.
2) What are the benefits of virtualization ?
Reduce the number of physical servers
Reduce the infrastructure needed for your data center
3) What is a Hypervisor.
You can think of a Hypervisor as the kernel or the core of a
virtualization platform. The Hypervisor is also called the Virtual

Machine Monitor. The Hypervisor has access to the physical host

hardware.
4) What are a host, guest, and virtual machine.
A host system (host operating system) would be the primary & first
installed operating system. If you are using a bare metal Virtualization
platform like Hyper-V or ESX, there really isnt a host operating system
besides the Hypervisor. If you are using a Type-2 Hypervisor like
VMware Server or Virtual Server, the host operating system is
whatever operating system those applications are installed into.
A guest system (guest operating system) is a virtual guest or virtual
machine (VM) that is installed under the host operating system. The
guests are the VMs that you run in your virtualization platform.
Some admins also call the host & guest the parent and child.
Hyper v Snap shot:
How to create Hyper v Snap shot:
Just select the Virtual machine in Hyper-V Manager and select
Snapshot from the Actions pane. The status of the virtual machine will
change to Taking Snapshot and show the progress of the action
using a percentage value.
File extension = .avhd
Virtual Machine files
The first thing to know is what files are used to create a virtual
machine:
.XML files
These files contain the virtual machine configuration details. There is
one of these for each virtual machine and each snapshot of a virtual
machine. They are always named with the GUID used to internally
identify the virtual machine or snapshot in question.
.BIN files
This file contains the memory of a virtual machine or snapshot that is
in a saved state.
.VSV files
This file contains the saved state from the devices associated with the
virtual machine.

.VHD files
These are the virtual hard disk files for the virtual machine
.AVHD files
These are the differencing disk files used for virtual machine snapshots
Posted 22nd July 2013 by Prakash T N
0

Add a comment

System Administrators reference blog...........

Classic

Flipcard

Magazine

Mosaic

Sidebar

Snapshot

Timeslide

List all the Files and folders from Folder or Drive

Data deduplication in Windows server 2012

How to move a Backup Exec installation from system to another on a different

server with a different server name.
Lists all the shared folder permissions or NTFS permissions (PowerShell)

Command prompt commands to run set of commands(tasks) in one click

Export domain users and groups for Active Directory
Computer Security Dos and Donts
Laptop users Dos and Donts
DHCP Fail over service do not synchronize MAC address between two Servers
Power Shell Script to Schedule a Event Log Notification Through Email
Windows System Administration tool 2.0.1
PowerShell: Create Active Directory Users Based On Excel Input

BGinfo display through Group Policy

Display a Desktop Wallpaper in the Remote Desktop Session Computer with out
configuring in Client RDP settings
2

Disabling Default Disk Defragmentation in Windows 7 and Windows 8

Computers

How to Disable IPv6 in Windows Vista, windows 7 and Windows 8, Windows

server 2008,R2 and 2012 through Group Policy.
1

Block Inheritance and Enforced in Group Policy

Difference Between VMware vSphere 4.1 and vSphere5.0
General Attacks to Firewall and Its Summary

How to Add Signature in Microsoft Outlook

Steps to Create a Domain Account in Active Directory

How to Disable Stationary Themes in Outlook through Group policy
2

Cognos 10 Installation and configuration

How to install LAMP in Ubuntu server.
Networking Interview Questions and Answers
SQL DBA Interview questions and answers
Linux Questions and answers
1

System Administrator interview questions and answers

MySQL Dump version mismatch error while taking MySQL Dump form MySQL
Server

Copy or Move Database from Instance to Another Instance

Install OBIEE 11g on Windows by using Microsoft sql server as an database

server

windows 8 activation
Configure Active Directory (AD) Synchronization for SharePoint 2010

How to extend Windows 7 Trial period

How to uninstall oracle business intelligence without knowing admin password.
Basic Linux commands
"Previous releases of Microsoft Visual Studio 2008" failed Error while installing
SQL server 2008.
How to install FTP server in Ubuntu 12.

How to Transfer Logins from one SQL server instance to another SQL Server
instance
Install Instructions and Customizations to setup MANTIS (Bug Tracking tool)

How to add sharepoint server local IP address

Steps to restore a Database in Project Open.

SharePoint Server 2013 complete installation

How to install Operating system from USB Device.
1

List all the Files and folders from Folder or

Drive
List all Files Recursively
C:\>dir /s
To save them to a file
C:\>dir /s /b>filelist.txt
View them a page at a time
C:\>dir /s | more
Posted 1 week ago by Prakash T N
0

Add a comment

Loading
Dynamic Views template. Powered by Blogger.