Interview Questions and Answers

1)What are different Editions of Windows 2003 server?
i)Standard Edition
ii)Web Edition
iii)Enterprise Edition
iv)Datacenter Edition

2)What is active directory?
Active Directory is the directory service included in the Windows Server 2003 family. Active Directory includes the directory, which stores information about network resources, as well as all the services that make the information available and useful. Active Directory is also the directory service included in Windows 2000.

3)What is the active directory database name and where it is located?
Name : NTDS.Dit located in c:\windows\ntds\

4)What is the expantion of .Dit ? Scalable size of NTDS in 2k3?
.Dit – Directory Information Tree. It is scalable up to 70 TB.

5)What is schema in AD?
The Active Directory schema defines objects that can be stored in Active Directory. The schema is a list of definitions that determines the kinds of objects and the types of information about those objects that can be stored in Active Directory. Because the schema definitions themselves are stored as objects, they can be administered in the same manner as the rest of the objects in Active Directory. Normally called schema object or metadata .

6)Structure of AD in 2k3?
1)Physical structure
Sites ,Domain Controllers
2)Logical structures
Forest, Tree, Domain, OU

7)What are the domain functional levels in 2k3?
1)Mixed mode
2)Native mode
3)Interim mode

8)What is Global catalog and GC server?
The global catalog is the central repository of information about objects in a tree or forest. By default, a global catalog is created automatically on the initial domain controller in the first domain in the forest. A domain controller that holds a copy of the global catalog is called a global catalog server.

9)What are the functions of GC?
A)It enables a user to log on to a network by providing universal group membership information to a domain controller when a logon process is initiated.
B)It enables finding directory information regardless of which domain in the forest actually contains the data.

10)What is the active directory database engine name?
ESE (Extensible Storage Engine)

11)What are the partitions available in AD?
i)Schema partition
ii) Configuration Partition
iii) Domain Partition
iv)Application Partition

12)What are the two types of replications?
Inter-site(Site to site) and Intra-site(With in site) replications.

13)What is KCC ? What is the function of the KCC?
The KCC is a built-in process that runs on all domain controllers. The KCC configures connection objects between domain controllers. Within a site, each KCC generates its own connections. For replication between sites, a single KCC per site generates all connections between sites.

14)What are the two trust protocols 2k3 using ?
Kerberos V5 and NTLM

15)What are the trust relations available in 2k3?
Tree-Root , Parent- Child , Shortcut, Realm, Forest trust , External trust

16)What is the hierarchy of applying Gpo in 2k3?
It is applied from parent level to child level in AD.
i) Local GPO
ii) GPOs linked to sites
iii) GPOs linked to domains
iv) GPOs linked to OUs

17)What are the protocols used on replication?
RPC over IP (Used for synchronies transfer) , SMTP over IP (Asynchronies transfer)

18)What is the default time delay on replication?
Intra site – 15 min ( KCC automatically create the topology for Replication)
Inter-site – 1 hrs.
Security related changes replicated immediately across sites.

19)What Different tables available in NTDS database?
i)Schema table
ii)Link Table
iii)Data table
iv)Configuration Table

19)Where is the FRS logs stored in and what is the database engine name?
c:\windows\ntfrs\jet\log ,The engine used is jet database engine. Ntfrs.jdb.

20)What is tombstone object in AD? What is it’s life time?
Any objects deleted from Active directory will not removed from Database immediately. That object is called tombstone object. The default life time for that object is 60 days.For win 2k3 SP1 180 days

21) What are the FSMO roles in AD and what are the functionalities of those roles?
Every Active Directory forest must have the following roles:
1) Schema master 2) Domain naming master

These roles must be unique in the forest. This means that throughout the entire forest there can be only one schema master and one domain naming master.

Schema Master Role
The domain controller assigned the schema master role controls all updates and modifications to the schema. To update the schema of a forest, you must have access to the schema master. At any time, there can be only one schema master in the entire forest.

Domain Naming Master Role
The domain controller holding the domain naming master role controls the addition or removal of domains in the forest. There can be only one domain naming master in the entire forest at any time.

Domain-Wide Operations Master Roles

Every domain in the forest must have the following roles:
3)Relative identifier (RID), or relative ID, master 4) Primary domain controller (PDC) emulator 5) Infrastructure master

These roles must be unique in each domain. This means that each domain in the forest can have only one RID master, PDC emulator master, and infrastructure master.

RID Master Role
The domain controller assigned the RID master role allocates sequences of relative IDs to each of the various domain controllers in its domain. At any time, there can be only one domain controller acting as the RID master in each domain in the forest.

Whenever a domain controller creates a user, group, or computer object, it assigns the object a unique security ID. The security ID consists of a domain security ID (that is the same for all security IDs created in the domain) and a relative ID that is unique for each security ID created in the domain.

To move an object between domains (using Movetree.exe: Active Directory Object Manager), you must initiate the move on the domain controller acting as the RID master of the domain that currently contains the object.
PDC Emulator