MCSA INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

                                             MCSA INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

1.  What is Directory Service?

DAP: Directory Access Protocol

LDAP: Lightweight Directory Access Protocol

2.  What is Active Directory?

Active directory is the Directory Service of Microsoft which keeps Information about the entire Network Objects, such as Domain Controllers, Computers, Users, Groups, Shared Resources, Printers etc. We can say it is single unified view of entire networks objects and resources or it is Information Hub of the entire network.

3.  What are the Active Directory main features?

Active Directory enables single sign on to access resources on the network such as desktops, shared files, printers etc. Active Directory provides advanced security for the entire network and its resources. Active Directory is more scalable and flexible for administration.

4. What do you mean by Active Directory functional levels? How does it help an organization’s network functionality?

Functional levels help the coexistence of Active Directory versions such as, Windows NT, Windows 2000 Server, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server2008. The functional level of a domain or forest controls which advanced features are available in the domain or forest. Although lowest functional levels help to coexist with legacy Active Directory, it will disable some of the new features of Active Directory. But if you are setting up a new Active Directory environment with latest version of Windows Server and AD, you can set to the highest functional level, thus all the new AD functionality will be enabled.

5. What are the Domain and Forest functional levels of Windows Server 2003 AD?

Windows Server 2003 Domain Functional Levels: Windows 2000 mixed (Default), Windows 2000 native, Windows Server 2003 interim, and Windows Server 2003. Forest Functional Levels: Windows 2000 (default), Windows Server 2003interim, Windows Server.

6. What are the Domain and Forest functional levels of Windows Server 2008 AD?

Windows Server 2008 Domain Functional Levels: Windows 2000 Native, Windows Server 2003, WindowsServer2008, and Windows Server 2008R2.Forest Functional Levels: Windows 2000, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2.

7.  How to add additional Domain Controller in a remote site with slower WAN link?

It is possible to take a backup copy of existing Domain Controller, and restore it in Windows Server machine in the remote locations with slower WAN link.

8. How do we install Active Directory in Windows 7 and Windows 8 Computer?

Active Directory is designed for Server Operating System, and it cannot be installed on Windows 7.

9. What are the prerequisites to install Active Directory in a Server?

Windows Server Operating System. Free hard disk space with NTFS partition. Administrative privilege on the computer. Network connection with IP address,

Subnet Mask, Gateway and DNS address. A DNS server that can be installed along with first Domain Controller. Windows Server installation CD or i386 folder

10. What is FSMO roles? (Or what are Single Master Operations / Flexible Single Master Operations / Operations Master Role / SMO / OMR?)

Flexible Single-Master Operation (FSMO) roles, manage an aspect of the domain or forest, to prevent conflicts, which are handled by Single domain controllers in domain or forest. The tasks which are not suited to multi-master replication, There are 5 FSMO roles, and Schema Master and Domain naming master roles are handled by a single domain controller in a forest, and PDC, RID master and Infrastructure master roles are handled by a single domain controller in each domain.

11. Explain Infrastructure Master Role. What will be the impact if DC with Infrastructure Master Role goes down?

Infrastructure master role is a domain-specific role and its purpose is to ensure that cross-domain object references are correctly handled. For example, if you add a user from one domain to a security group from a different domain, the Infrastructure Master makes sure this is done properly. Infrastructure master does not have any functions to do in a single domain environment. If the Domain controller with Infrastructure master role goes down in a single domain environment, there will be no impact at all. Whereas, in a complex environment with multiple domains, it may impact creation and modification of groups and group authentication.

12. I want to promote a new additional Domain Controller in an existing domain. Which are the groups I should be a member of?

 You should be a member of Enterprise Admins group or the Domain Admins group. Also you should be member of local Administrators group of the member server which you are going to promote as additional Domain Controller.

13. Tell me one easiest way to check all the 5 FSMO roles. 

Use netdom query /domain: Your Domain FSMO command. It will list all the FSMO role handling domain controllers

14. Can I configure two RID masters in a domain?

No, there should be only one Domain Controller handling RID master role in a Domain.

15. Tell me one easiest way to check all the 5 FSMO roles. 

Use netdom query /domain: Your Domain FSMO command. It will list all the FSMO role handling domain controllers

16. Can I configure two RID masters in a domain?

No, there should be only one Domain Controller handling RID master role in a Domain.

17.Can I configure two Infrastructure Master Role in a forest? If yes, please explain.

 There should be only one Domain Controller handling Infrastructure master role in a domain. Hence if you have two domains in a forest, you can configure two Infrastructure masters, one in each domain

18. What will be the impact on the network if Domain Controller with PDC Emulator crashes?

If PDC emulator crashes, there will be immediate impact on the environment. User authentication will fail as password changes won’t get effected, and there will be frequent account lock out issues. Network time synchronization will be impacted. It will also impact DFS consistency and Group policy replication as well

19.What are the physical components of Active Directory?

Domain controllers and Sites. Domain controllers are physical computers which is running Windows Server operating system and Active Directory data base. Sites are a network segment based on geographical location and which contains multiple domain controllers in each site18.

20. What are the logical components of Active Directory?

Domains, Organizational Units, trees and forests are logical components of Active Directory

21.What are the Active Directory Partitions? (Or what are Active Directory Naming Contexts? Or what is AD NC?)

Active Directory database is divided into different partitions such as

Schema partition, Domain partition, and Configuration partition. Apart from these partitions, we can create Application partition based on the requirement.

22.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.