ACTIVE

DIRECTORY

1) What is Active directory? Active directory is a centralized hierarchical directory database and its a directory service which contains information of all user accounts and shared resources on a network. 2) What is a tree? Ans: a tree is a collection of domains that share a single dns name space and are connected by transitive trust relationship. 3) What is forest? A forest is collection of one or more domains tree that share a common schema and global catalog. 4) What is organizational unit? And its purpose? OU are additional container objects that can store users, computers, groups&other OUs. Purpose: 1) To delegate administration 2) To manage the application of group policy. 5) What are sites? A site is a physical component of active directory that is used to define and represent the topology of a network. A site is collection of one or more well connected IP subnets. Site is unit of AD replications. Uses: 1)To control replication traffic 2)To make authentication faster and more efficient. 3)To locate the nearest server providing directory enabled services. 6) What is domain controllers? Domain controllers are the physical storage location for the active directory database. 7) What are physical components of a active directory? Domain controllers, sites. 8) What are logical components of active directory? Forests,trees,domains,OUs 9) What is the command to make a server into domain controller in win 2000 & 2003? DCPROMO. 10) What is the command to remove the domain controller functionality? DCPROMO /FORCEREMOVAL.

11) What is the location & file system type where the active directory Information is installed? On NTFS partition, c:\windows\ntds.dit&c:\windows\sysvolv. 12) For the replication between dc & adc some file are used, what is the location of that directory? c:\windows\sysvolv. 13) Which version of active directory windows2003? Windows 2000: 1.0 and Windows 2003: 1.1. in windows2000 &

14) What is the command used to install active directory on remote servers? dcpromo /answer: answerfile (Answer file is a text file created from the /support/tool folder by using deploy.cab file) 15) What is the type of backup is used to take the active directory? System state data backup. 16) Which protocol plays the security role for the authentication in 2000 & 2003? KEREBROS 17) What is version of Kerberos in 2003 o/s? KEREBROS v 5.5 18) What is the protocol used by the active directory to perform its function? LDAP: Light weight directory access protocol base on TCP/IP. 19) How many services are installed, when you install active directory and what are they? Total five services 1) Active directory domains & trusts 2) Active directory sites and services 3) Active directory users and groups 4) Domain controller security policy. 5) Domain security policy. 20) What is the command which display the dc? ADC, member server? Net accounts. 21) What is command to know the SID, RID, DID of a user? who am I /user (SID: security identifier

21) Can you create a new domain tree in existing forest in win2000? No, in win 2003 only we can create. 22) In what replication process goes in win2000 and win2003? Two way replication process. (ADC: read &write copy) 22) How can you authenticate between forests? Windows 2000 always uses NTLM for authentication between forests; 2003 will use Kerberos if and only if dns is used while setting up the domains. If the netbios name is uses; NTLM is used for 2003. 23) What types of classes exist in Windows Server 2003 Active Directory? Structural class. The structural class is important to the system administrator in that it is the only type from which new Active Directory objects are created. Structural classes are developed from either the modification of an existing structural type or the use of one or more abstract classes. Abstract class. Abstract classes are so named because they take the form of templates that actually create other templates (abstracts) and structural and auxiliary classes. Think of abstract classes as frameworks for the defining objects. Auxiliary class. The auxiliary class is a list of attributes. Rather than apply numerous attributes when creating a structural class, it provides a streamlined alternative by applying a combination of attributes with a single include action. 88 class. The 88 class includes object classes defined prior to 1993, when the 1988 X.500 specification was adopted. This type does not use the structural, abstract, and auxiliary definitions, nor is it in common use for the development of objects in Windows Server 2003 environments 25) When should you create a forest? Organizations that operate on radically different bases may require separate trees with distinct namespaces. Unique trade or brand names often give rise to separate DNS identities. Organizations merge or are acquired and naming continuity is desired. Organizations form partnerships and joint ventures. While access to common resources is desired, a separately defined tree can enforce more direct administrative and security restrictions. 26) What type domain names are used in win 2003 & win2000? Fully qualified domain names (Any name with extension) 27) What are the six underplaying major roles in active directory to be transferred to ADC from DC to make additional domain controller to act as a domain controller? Forest 1) Domain naming master

2) Global catalog server. 3) Schema master Domain 4) PDC Emulator 5) RID master 6) Infrastructure master 28) What are FSOM rules? FSOM stands for flexible Single operation Master 1)Domain naming master 2) Schema master 3)PDC Emulator 4) RID master 5) Infrastructure master FSMO Role Schema Loss implications The schema cannot be extended. However, in the short term no one will notice a missing Schema Master unless you plan a schema upgrade during that time. Unless you are going to run DCPROMO, then you will not miss this FSMO role. Chances are good that the existing DCs will have enough unused RIDs to last some time, unless you're building hundreds of users or computer object per week. Will be missed soon. NT 4.0 BDCs will not be able to replicate, there will be no time synchronization in the domain, you will probably not be able to change or troubleshoot group policies and password changes will become a problem. Group memberships may be incomplete. If you only have one domain, then there will be no impact.

Domain Naming

RID

PDC Emulator

Infrastructure

29)

Define the six responsibilities of an active directory?

Domain naming master: ensures the domain names to be unique. Schema master: classes and attributes and architecture is maintained by the schema. RID Master: ensures user accounts to be unique PDC Emulator: Act as a emulator for user login, replication between DC and BDCs.

Infrastructure Master: responsible for changes or modifications in group membership. Allows to user to move from one group to other. 30) What snap-in administrative tools are available for Active Directory? Active Directory Domains and Trusts Manager, Active Directory Sites and Services Manager, Active Directory Users and Group Manager, Active Directory Replication (optional, available from the Resource Kit), Active Directory Schema Manager (optional, available from admin pack) 31) How do you delete a lingering object? Windows Server 2003 provides a command called Repadmin that provides the ability to delete lingering objects in the Active Directory. 32) What is Global catalog Server? A Global catalog server is a searchable index which stores all the information about all objects in an active directory. The main role of global catalog server is to help quickly find objects across domains ,supply information about universal group membership and authenticate user principal names(UPN) are supplied. 33) Which type of zone is created when you install active directory? Active directory integrated zone with six service records are created with domain name when you install A.D on application directory partition. 34) Where global catalog servers are configured? Domain controller individually. 35) Where universal group membership cache is configured? At the site, it applies to all domain controllers with in a specific site. 36) What command line utility is used on windows 2000 servers domain controllers before they upgrade to plan win2003 domain controllers? 1) adprep /forest prep. (This command must be issued on win 2000server holding schema master role in forest root domain to prepare existing schema to support win2003AD.) 2) adprep /domainprep (infrastructure master to be deployed on win 2003 server Note: adprep tool on win 2003 CD ROM i386 directory 37) What are the types of partitions a win2000 domain controller holds in an active directory? Domain Partition: It contains all objects, objects associated with particular domain. Schema master: It contains a copy of active directory schema for a given forest. This partition was replicated to all DC.

Configuration Master: which contains information about active directory sites& services. Global catalog partition: which contains a subset of the attributes of all objects in active directory forest. 38) What are the types of partitions that are supported by windows 2003 server? Win 2003 server supports all four partitions, i.e. supports win 2000 server. It also supports new partition. Application directory partition: the main purpose of this partition is to store data (objects and attributes) related to active directory integrated application and services. Note: its a partition that is replicated only to specific domain controller. It is used to store data relating to services such as DNS Some benefits of using this partition 1) Provides redundancy, availability, fault tolerance. 2) Reduce replication traffic 3) Allows applications or services that use LDAP to store& access their data In A.D. 4) It holds any type of object except security principal such as users, computer & security groups. 39) How to check DC replication status, Go to event logs for NTFRS (File Replication Service) it will tell you when the last synch was. 40) How to Enable or Disable a Global Catalog (GC) Open to Administrative Tools>Active Directory Sites and Services>Sites, and then double-click the domain controller you want to work with in the Server folder for your desired site: Right-click NTDS Settings>Properties. Make a change accordingly. WARNING: Do not turn on this option unless you are certain it will provide value in your deployment. For this option to be useful, your deployment must have multiple domains, and even then, only one global catalog is (typically) useful in each site. 41) How to install/remove AD/DC? To install/remove AD/DC, use Promote and Demote command. 42) How to repopulate AD DNS entries? Manually repopulate the Active Directory DNS entries. You can use the Windows 2000 Netdiag tool to repopulate the Active Directory DNS entries. Netdiag is included with the Windows 2000 Support tools. At a command prompt, type netdiag /fix. This domain controller holds the last replica of the following application directory partitions

Symptoms: When you demote a DC by using the Active Dcpromo, you may receive the following error message: This domain controller holds the last replica of the following application directory partitions: DC=MSTAPI, DC=yourdomain,DC=com Resolutions: Try NTDSUTIL, Tapicfg.exe and dcpromo /forceremoval. Refer to case 082604JH. 43) What will happen when demoting a DC? When a domain controller is demoted, if it is not the last domain controller in the domain, it performs a final replication and then transfers the roles to another domain controller. If the domain controller is a global catalog, that role is not transferred to another domain controller. In this case, you must manually select the check box in Active Directory Sites and Services Manager for another domain controller to take over the role.

44) Microsoft Tools? Microsoft-provided tools include the following: Group Policy Results Tool (GPResult.exe ) Group Policy Verification Tool ( GPOTool.exe ) Software Installation Diagnostics Tool (addiag.exe ) Replication Monitor ( ReplMon.exe) Domain Controller Diagnostics (DCDiag.exe) 46) What is Kerberos? This protocol is an internet standard authentication protocol that provides a higher level of security. More efficient than windows NT LAN Manager 47) What is Win NT LAN Manager (NTLM)? This protocol enables users of win95 and win98 and Win NT clients computers to be authenticated to win 2000 domains. This protocol is only available when win 2000 Active Directory is configured to operate in mixedmode ADS Roles: 1, Forest Roles 2, Domain Roles I. Forest Roles: a. Domain naming operation Master (DNOM) It will maintain a unique domain name Start programs admin tools ads domain & trusts open ads domain &trusts set operation master it displays the domain naming operation master.

b. Global catalog master (GCS) Total information about the domain and partial information of replications. Start programs admin tools ads sites &services open services Open default first site name open computer name r+click on ntds settings go to properties displays the gcs with checkbox. c. Schema master System is having own attributes to enable and disable all this done will be in the schema master. Start- run type regsvr32 schemmgnt.dll display the schema registry information click ok. After that go to start run mmc click on the add button &select schema , click adding close the folder ok. It displays the close attributes. II. Domain Roles a. Rid master Start programs admin tools ads users & computers open ads users &computers r+click the domain name & select operation master. B. Pdc master Start programs admin tools ads users & computers open ads users &computers r+click the domain name & select operation master. C. Infrastructure master Responsible for changes or modifications in group membership. Allows to user to move from one group to other. ADS Backup: Start- programs- accessories system tools - backup Backup files are: 1, Ads 2, sys vol 3, boot files (boot.ini) 4. Com+reg 5. Registry Minimum Requirement of ADS: 1, static ip 2, 256 Ram 3, stand alone pc 4, 2003 serve cd ADS work with LDAP protocols (389) C:\windows\sysvol:- servers copy of the domains public files C:\windows\ntds:- ADS database and log files. ADS versions: 2000 serve 1.0 2003 server 1.1 In ADS when ever u r creating a user account it will create a unique identifier (Sid) this is called security identifier ADS are having 2 elements: Logical elements Domain, Trees, Forest, organization units Physical elements Sites and services, domain controller

Classes and Types in win 2003 server 1, standard class 2, Abstract class 3, Auxiliary class 4, 88 class Crating Application Data part ion: Run cmd ntdsutil - domain management connection connect sever Create NC application directory portions Delete NC application directory portions Role Transferring: Start programs Admin tools ads users & computers India.com r+click operation master rid+pdc, infrastructure. ADS Database: NTDS.Dit 16 mb each user 1 kb max 16 million users (New technology directory service. Directory information tree SAM 40 mb Group: A group consist of users accounts, computer & groups it self. 1, domain local group 2, global group 3, universal group Group policy stored at system root/ system32/Group Policy Domain controller: it contain rewritable copy of the ADS database Name Space: A collection of resources using common name is called name space ex: India.com Can I rename the win 2003 DC? If you have a Windows 2003 DC, you can use the Netdom tool to rename the DC. The Netdom provides a secure and supported methodology to rename one or more domains. You can find the tool from the Windows 2003 installation CD-ROM DNS (DOMAIN NAMING SERVICE Port: 53 Roles: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Disable Resurrection Bind secondary Fail load if bad zones data Enable round robin Enable net mask ordering Secure cache against pollution

DNS queries: 1, Recursive query - DNS to client 2, Interactive query - DNS to DNS DNS Zones: 1. Forward lookup Zone it resolves host name to ip address 2. Reverse lookup Zone - it resolves ipaddress to host name

DNS Managing or trouble shoot: 1, ns lookup 2, ipconfig/ all 3, Ipconfig/flush dns 4, ipconfig/Display dns 5, ipconfig/event viewer What is the difference between WINS and DNS? WINS resolves NETBIOS Names to IP address where DNS resolves Host names to IP address 1) List the types of DNS servers? Standard primary, standard secondary, active directory integrated zone, root server, caching only, and forwarders, master. 2) What is ttl? Time to live 3) What is PTR? Used to map IP address to their host names. These records only used in reverse lookup zone. 4) What is the primary purpose of DNS? For host resolution. 5) What is start of authority? It contains serial no. , this indicates the modification done to the zone. 6) What is Dynamic DNS? Dynamically update the service records 7) What is the maximum character size of DNS? 63 8) What is zone or zone file? A zone is a Database for either a DNS domain or for a DNS domain and one or more of its Sub domains. This storage database is special text file called zone or zone file. 9) Why multiple DNS services are created for the same zone? Load balancing, fault tolerance. 10) What is caching only server? Caching only servers does not stores only zones. it resolves host names To IP address for client computers and stores the resulting mapping information in its cache. This DNS server provides the cached information to the client computer with contacting other DNS servers to resolve the query.

It is the temporary storage of zone information. 11) What is zone transfer? The process of copying zone to a standard DNS server is called zone transfer. 12) What is master DNS server? As the DNS contains the master copy of the zone information is called Master DNS. 13) What is forwarders? The queries of one server will be forwarded to other DNS act as forwarder by internal name resolution. 14) Which protocol is supported by DNS server? Dynamic Updated protocol. 15) What are four service records in win 2000? _msdcs, _sites, _tcp, _udp 16) What are six service records in win 2003? -msdcs: (Microsoft Domain controller service) It contains the information which domain controller is hosting the zone. Site: In which site the zone has been configured. Tcp & Udp: These are two protocols that are responsible for communicating with active directory. Domain DNS Zones & Forest DNS Zones: In which domain & Forest, DNS has be configured the information. 17)what is Resource record? The entries are in zone is called Resource record. The entry may be host name IP address mapping entry. 18) What is the primary thing you have to do on a DNS server before it starts resolution of host name? 19) When will you configure root DNS server? A root server should be used only when a network is not connected to the internet or when a network is connected to the internet or when a network is connected to the internet by using a proxy server 20) What is forward lookup zone? Resolves hostnames to ip address. 21) What is reverse look up zone? Resolves ip address to hostnames. 22) What is standard primary zone?

Standard primary DNS server stores DNS entries (IP address to host mapping and other DNS resource records) in zone file that is maintained on the server. The primary server maintains the master copy of zone file. When changes need to be the zone they should be made only standard primary server. 23) What is standard secondary zone? Standard secondary DNS server stores copies of zones from the standard primary. 24) What is root server? Root server contains a copy of a zone for the root domain either the root domain for the internet, or the root domain for a company private, internal network. The purpose of the root server is to enable other DNS servers on a network to access the second level domains on the internet. Note: A root server should be used only when a network is not connected to the internet or when a network is connected to the internet or when a network is connected to the internet by using a proxy server 25) What is round robin? Round robin is used when multiple servers (such as web servers) have identical configurations and identical host names, but different IP addresses. 26) Can you configure root server to use a forwarder? NO. 27) What are Root hints? Root hints are server names and ip address combination that point to the root servers located either on the internet or on your organization private network. Root hint tab contains list of DNS Servers can contract to resolve client DNS queries. Maintains all the information of 13 root servers. 28) What is Active Directory integrated zone? Active directory integrated DNS server just like standard primary except DNS entries stored in active directory data store rather than in a zone file. Active directory supports multi master replication when changes need to be made to the zone. They can be on any active directory integrated DNS server that containg the zone. 29) What is simple query? A simple query is a query that DNS server can resolve without contacting any other DNS servers. 30) what is recursive query? A recursive is a query that cant resolve it self it must be contract one or more additional DNS servers to resolve the query. 31) What is scavenging?

Scavenging is the process of searching for and Deletes stele resource records in a zone PTR: Pointer resource record SRV: Service locator resource record 32) What is SRV? Used to map specific service (tcp/ip) to list of servers that provide that service. 33) What is CNAME? Alias resource record .used to map an additional host name to the actual name of the host. 34) What is stub zone in 2003? Stub zone contains the information of Name Server & start of authority. It gives the information in which system, in which server, in which domain DNS has been configured The properties of DNS in Advanced Tab (Disable Recursion or disable forwarder) By default this option is unchecked telling that recursive property is present. BIND Secondary: The zone transfers between the primary & secondary (replication between primary and secondary) BIND is responsible. Fail on load if bad zone data: This option is unchecked telling that even if the zone contains some errors it will be loaded if it is checked the zone will not be loaded. Enable Round Robin: If the same zone is present in the same subnet the query will be passed on round robin passion until it gets resolved. Enable Net Mask ordering: This option is utilized for DNS Server maintained on multihome pc (A pc having multiple nic cards) and solving the queries of diff clients subnets Secure cache against pollution: It secures the cache information by not storing the information of unauthorized DNS servers. DNS TROUBLESHOOTING 35) How to check AD DNS Registration You should have four folders with the following names under DNS forward lookup zones are present when DNS is correctly registering the Active Directory DNS records. These folders are labeled:

_msdcs _sites _tcp _udp 36) A Records appear and disappear randomly Cause: Your DNS zone is configured to query WINS. 37) Cant logon or join the domain If DNS is not set up on the Domain controller correctly, domain-wide issues can occur such as replication between domain controllers. If DNS is not set up on the client correctly, the client may experience many networking and internet issues. Unable log on to the domain or join the domain from a workstation or server, and can't access the Internet indicate that you may have DNS settings issues. 38) Cant open an external website using the same network domain name? Create a DNS record for pointing to the www with the public IP.

39) What are Common DNS settings mistakes? 1. The domain controller is not pointing to itself for DNS resolution on all network interfaces. Especially, when you have multi homed server, the WAN connection may be assign 127.0.0.1 as DNS ip. 2. The "." zone exists under forward lookup zones in DNS. 3. The clients on LAN do not point the DNS to internal DNS server. 40) Cant find server name for ....: No response from server - DNS Request Timed Out? Symptom: When running nslookup, you may receive this message: Can't find server name for ....: No response from server Cause: the DNS server's reverse lookup zones do not contain a PTR record for the DNS server's IP address. Refer to case 0204BL 41) Cant Find Server Name for Address 127.0.0.1 when running nslookup? Cause: You don't have a DNS server specified in your TCP/IP Properties. If you have no DNS server configured on your client, Nslookup will. Default to the local loop back address. 42) DNS issue with IP Filtering Symptoms: you have a windows 2000 server running IIS for public access with 10 public IPs. The router is broken. We would like to enable IP filtering to block all ports except the port 80 for the web, 25 and 110 for the mail. After enabling IP Filtering, the server can't access any web sites, can't ping yahoo.com and nslookup gets time out. Cause: IP Filtering block the ports fro DNS.

43)"DNS name does not exist."? Cause: 1. Incorrect DNS. 2. The net logon service tries to register the RR before the DNS service is up. 44) DNS on multi homed server? It is not recommended to install DNS on a multihmode server. If you do, you should restrict the DNS server to listen only on a selected address. 45) DNS request time out - ip name lookup failed? Troubleshooting Outlook 550 5.7.1 relaying denied - ip name lookup failed by using nslookup to resolve host name, 46) You may receive "DNS request time out...*** Request to mail.chicagotech.net time-out.? Possible causes: 1. Incorrect DNS settings. 2. Incorrect TCP/IP settings on the DC. 3. Missing PTR on Reverse Lookup Zones.

47) DNS server can't access the Internet? Symptoms: You have a domain controller with DNS. The server can ping router and any public IPs. However, the server can't open any web sites. Resolution: Check the server DNS settings; especially make sure the server points to the internal DNS instead of the ISP DNS or 127.0.0.1. 48) How to register the DNS Resources Record? 1. Go to DNS Manager to add it manually. 2. Use net logon, ipconfig and nbtstat command. 49) How to troubleshoot DNS problems? To correct DNS settings and troubleshoot DNS problems, you can 1) Run nslookup from a command line is the default dns server the one you expect. 2) Use ipconfig /all on client to make sure the client point to correct DNS server and the DC server points to only itself for DNS by its actual TCP/IP address, and make sure no any ISP DNS listed in tcp/ip properties of any W2K/XP. 3) When the machine loads it should register itself with the DNS. If not, use ipconfig /regiesterdns command. 4) Check Event Viewer to see whether the event logs contain any error information. On both the client and the server, check the System log for failures during the logon process. Also, check the Directory Service logs on the server and the DNS logs on the DNS server.

5) Use the nltest /dsgetdc: domain name command to verify that a domain controller can be located for a specific domain. The NLTest tool is installed with the Windows XP support tools. 6) If you suspect that a particular domain controller has problems, turn on the Net logon debug logging. Use the NLTest utility by typing nltest /dbflag:0x2000ffff at a command prompt. The information is logged in the Debug folder in the Netlogon.log file. 7) Use DC Diagnosis tool, dcdiag /v to diagnose any errors. If you still have not isolated the problem, use Network Monitor to monitor network traffic between the client and the domain controller. 50) How can I verify a computer DNS entries are correctly registered in DNS? You can use the NSLookup tool to verify that DNS entries are correctly registered in DNS. For example, to verify record registration, use the following commands: nslookup computername.domain.com. 51) How to add DNS and WINS into your Cisco VPN server? If your VPN client cannot find servers or cannot ping computer name, you may need to add DNS and WINS into your VPN server. For example, to add DNS and WINS on a Cisco Firewall PIX, add vpdn group 1 client configuration DNS server name and vpdn group 1 client configuration wins server name. 52) How to clear bad information in Active Directory-integrated DNS You may need to clear bad information in Active Directory-integrated if DNS is damaged or if the DNS contains incorrect registration information. To do that, 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) Change the DNS settings to Standard Primary Zone. Delete the DNS zones. Use ipconfig /flushdns command. Recreate the DNS zones. Restart Net Logon service Use ipconfig /registerdns

53) How to ensure that DNS is registering the Active Directory DNS records? To ensure that DNS is registering the Active Directory DNS records, to go DNS Management console>Server name>Forward Lookup Zones>Properties, make sure Allow Dynamic Updates is set to Yes and _msdcs, _sites, _tcp and _udp are correctly registering the Active Directory DNS records. If these folders do not exist, DNS is not registering the Active Directory DNS records. These records are critical to Active Directory functionality and must appear within the DNS zone. You should repair the Active Directory DNS record registration.

54): How does the internal DNS resolve names Internet without the ISP's DNS server? As long as the "." zone does not exist under forward lookup zones in DNS, the DNS service uses the root hint servers. The root hint servers are well-known servers on the Internet that help all DNS servers resolve name queries. 55) How to reinstall the dynamic DNS in a Windows 2000 Active Directory? Under the following situations you may want to reinstall the DDNS in a Windows 2000 Active Directory: Some weird DNS errors have occurred and clearing DNS information has been unsuccessful. Services that depend upon DNS, such as, the File Replication service (FRS) and/or Active Directory are failing. The secondary DNS server doesn't support dynamic updates. To reinstall the dynamic DNS in a Windows 2000 Active Directory, 1. Clear the DNS information. 2. Clear the Caching Reslover. 3. Point all DNS servers to the first DNS server under TCP/IP properties. 4. Re-add the zones and configure them to be Active Directory integrated. 5. Register you a resource record for DNS as well as your start of authority (SOA). 56) How to repair the DNS record registration To repair the Active Directory DNS record registration: Check for the existence of a Root Zone entry. View the Forward Lookup zones in the DNS Management console. There should be an entry for the domain. Other zone entries may exist. There should not be a dot (".") zone. If the dot (".") zone exists, delete the dot (".") zone. The dot (".") zone identifies the DNS server as a root server. Typically, an Active Directory domain that needs external (Internet) access should not be configured as a root DNS server. The server probably needs to reregister its IP configuration (by using Ipconfig) after you delete the dot ("."). The Netlogon service may also need to be restarted. Further details about this step are listed later in this article. Manually repopulate the Active Directory DNS entries. You can use the Windows 2000 Netdiag tool to repopulate the Active Directory DNS entries. Netdiag is included with the Windows 2000 Support tools. At a command prompt, type netdiag /fix. To install the Windows 2000 Support tools: Insert the Windows 2000 CD-ROM. Browse to Support\Tools. Run Setup.exe in this folder. Select a typical installation. The default installation path is Systemdrive:\Program Files\Support Tools. After you run the Netdiag utility, refresh the view in the DNS Management console. The Active Directory DNS records should then be listed.

NOTE: The server may need to reregister its IP configuration (by using Ipconfig) after you run Netdiag. The Netlogon service may also need to be restarted. If the Active Directory DNS records do not appear, you may need to manually re-create the DNS zone. After you run the Netdiag utility, refresh the view in the DNS Management console. The Active Directory DNS records should then be listed. Manually recreate the DNS zone: Still need help, contact consultant Your feedback and contributions to this web site 57) How to configure DNS Forwarders To ensure network functionality outside of the Active Directory domain (such as browser requests for Internet addresses), configure the DNS server to forward DNS requests to the appropriate Internet service provider (ISP) or corporate DNS servers. To configure forwarders on the DNS server: Start the DNS Management console. Right-click the name of the server, and then click Properties. Click the Forwarders tab. Click to select the Enable Forwarders check box. NOTE: If the Enable Forwarders check box is unavailable, the DNS server is attempting to host a root zone (usually identified by a zone named only with a period, or dot ("."). You must delete this zone to enable the DNS server to forward DNS requests. In a configuration in which the DNS server does not reply on an ISP DNS server or a corporate DNS server, you can use a root zone entry. Type the appropriate IP addresses for the DNS servers that will accept forwarded requests from this DNS server. The list reads from the top down in order; if there is a preferred DNS server, place it at the top of the list. Click OK to accept the changes. 58) DCs FQDN Does Not Match Domain Name? Symptoms: After you promote or install a domain controller, the DNS suffix of your computer name may not match the domain name. Or the FQDN does not match the domain name because a NT 4.0 upgrade automatically clears the Change primary DNS suffix when domain membership changes check box. It is not possible to rename the computer on the Network Identification tab. Also, you may receive NETLOGON events in the System Log with ID:5781 or other error messages that indicate a failure to dynamically register DNS records. Resolutions: 1. After you upgrade to Microsoft Windows 2000, but before you run dcpromo and obtain the Active Directory Installation Wizard, add the following values to the following registry key: Value name: SyncDomainWithMembership Value type: REG_DWORD Value: 1 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters \

2. If you have already promoted to a domain controller, use the Active Directory Installation Wizard to demote to a member server. Click to select the Change primary DNS suffix when domain membership changes check box, and then run dcpromo to promote back to a domain controller. 3. Modify HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters \ and changed domain=mydomain.com, NV Domain=mydomain.com, SyncDomainWithMembership= 1 (here mydomain.com is the domain name). 59) Primary or Active Directory Integrated DNS With Active Directory Integrated DNS, this permits all servers to accept updates. Instead of adding standard secondary DNS servers, you can convert the server from a primary DNS server to an Active Directory Integrated Primary server and configure another domain controller to be a DNS server. With Active Directory Integrated DNS servers, all the servers are primary servers, so when a zone change is made at one server, it is replicated to the others, eliminating the need for a zone transfer. 60)2nd DNS Issues 1. When setup 2nd DNS, make sure you type correct Master DNS Server IP address. 2. Make sure primary DNS and 2nd DNS servers can ping each other and not firewall block them. 3. Make sure primary DNS and 2nd DNS servers point to each other as primary and themselves as secondary. 61) Some Records don't appear in DNS Cause: 1. incorrect TCP/IP settings. 2. Register this connection's address in DNS is unchecked. 62) The DSA operation is unable to proceed because of a DNS lookup failure. Symptoms: 1. When trying to DCPROMO, you receive: "The operation failed because: The directory service failed to replicate off changes made locally. The DSA operation is unable to proceed because of a DNS lookup failure." 2. The Event Viewer may list Event ID: 1265 - The DSA operation is unable to proceed because of a DNS lookup failure. 3. DCdaig test display this message: "The DSA operation is unable to proceed because of a DNS lookup failure". Causes: 1. Incorrect TCP/IP configuration. 2. Incorrect DNS configuration 3. Bad information in DNS Manager.

63)The procedure entry point DsIsManagedDnW could be located in the dynamic link library NTDSAPI.dll Symptom: when trying to run DCDiag and getting the following error, "the procedure entry point DsIsManagedDnW could be located in the dynamic link library NTDSAPI.dll". Resolutions: 1. Remove the dcdiag.exe from Controller Panel and install it from w2k/xp DC. 2. The "entry point not found" is typical of a service pack mismatch and the dcdiag.exe is out of sync with the service pack level of your system. To fix, go to the service pack x folder, and find "adminpack.msi Right click it and select install. 64) Troubleshooting the Domain Locator Process 1) Check Event Viewer on both the client and the DNS server for any errors. Verify that the IP configuration is correct for your network by using ipconfig /all. Ping both the DNS IP address and the DNS server name to verify network connectivity and name resolution. . Use nslookup servername.domain.com command to verify that DNS entries are correctly registered in DNS. If nslookup command does not succeed, use one of the following methods to reregister records with DNS: a) force host record registration by using ipconfig /register dns; b) force domain controller service registration by stopping/restarting the Net logon service. If you still have the same issue, use Network Monitor to monitor network traffic between the client and the domain controller. 65) Which DNS does a VPN client use? 1. Assuming both LAN connection and VPN connection have the different DNS because they are assigned by different DHCPs, the active DNS goes with the default gateway. 2. You can pick up which DNS you want to use manually. 66) Which ports are used for DNS UDP and TCP port 53. However, the internal DNS clients may not hear answers even though the query has been sent out on 53, until you open the UDP port above 1023. 67) Why I cant perform external name resolution to the root hint servers on the Internet? Make sure "." zone does not exist under forward lookup zones in DNS. If you do not delete this setting, you may not be able to perform external name resolution to the root hint servers on the Internet. 68) Why do I have to point my domain controller to itself for DNS? The Net logon service on the domain controller registers a number of records in DNS that enable other domain controllers and computers to find Active Directory-related information. If the domain controller is pointing to the ISP's

DNS server, Net logon does not register the correct records for Active Directory, and errors are generated in Event Viewer. The preferred DNS setting for the domain controller is itself; no other DNS servers should be listed. The only exception to this rule is with additional domain controllers. Additional domain controllers in the domain must point to the first domain Controller (which runs DNS) that was installed in the domain and then to themselves as secondary. 69) Everyone can access our web site on the Internet. But no one can access the web site internally. Instead, we are point to our Intranet. If you network domain name is the same of your web site name, you should point the web to the web public IP. To do this, open DNS manager and create a host. For example www.chicagotech.net =public ip. 70) *** Can't find server name for address w.x.y.z: Timed out Cause: 1. DNS server cannot be reached or the service is not running on that computer. 2. *** Can't find server name for address 127.0.0.1: Timed out Cause: no servers have been defined in the DNS Service Search Order list 3. *** Can't find server name for address w.x.y.z: Non-existent domain Cause: there is no PTR record for the name server's IP address. 4.*** ns.domain.com can't find child.domain.com.: Non-existent domain 5. *** Can't list domain child.domain.com.: Non-existent domain Cause: No separate db file for the domain, thus querying that domain or running a zone transfer on it will produce the above errors. 71) What does netdiag /fix do Netdiag /fix switch is very useful tool to correct issues with DNS and domain controller tests. 1. DNS Test: If the computer is a domain controller, Netdiag verifies all the DNS entries in the Netlogon.dns file to determine if they are correct and updates the appropriate entries if there is a problem. 2. Domain Controller Test: If the domain GUID cached in a local computer on your primary domain is different than the domain GUID saved in a domain controller, Netdiag tries to update the domain GUID on the local computer. 72) What is start of authority? It contains serial no. , this indicates the modification done to the zone. DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) port: 67 1) What is DHCP? DHCP is a TCP/IP protocol that provides that provides way to dynamically allocated IP address to computers on the network. 2) Advantages of DHCP?

Centrally manages IP address allocation Helps prevent address conflicts Reduces administrative effort Help converse IP addresses 3) What is SCOPE? It is range of IP Address which is assigned to computers requesting for a Dynamic IP Address. 4) What is authorization? It is Security precaution that ensures that only authorized DHCP Servers Can run in the network. To avoid computers running illegal DHCP Servers in the network. 5) Weve installed a new Windows-based DHCP server, however, the users do not seem to be getting DHCP leases off of it. The server must be authorized first with the Active Directory. 6) How can you force the client to give up the dhcp lease if you have access to the client PC? Ipconfig /release 7) Cannot find DHCP Server Cause: DHCP service is stopped or disable. 8) How to restore or move a DHCP into another computer The DHCP database is contained in the Dhcp.mdb file located in the %SystemRoot%\System32\Dhcp folder. The DHCP server uses this file to record and store information concerning active leases and reservations. After you install a new DHCP, you can copy Dhcp.mdb into the above mentioned location. 9) Describe how the DHCP lease is obtained. Its a four-step process consisting of (a) IP request, (b) IP offer, IP selection and (d) acknowledgement. 10) What is super scope? The super scope is assigned a range of IP addresses that can be assigned to DHCP clients that reside on multiple subnets. 11) What is multicast scope? The multicast scope contains a range of class D multicast IP address, and is used to assign these addresses to client computers that request them. 12) What is difference between scope and super scope? A scope is assigned a range of IP address that can be assigned to DHCP clients that reside on a single subnet. Where the super scope is assigned a range of IP addresses that can be assigned to DHCP clients that reside on multiple subnets.

13) What is BOOTP? 14) What is range of multicast scope? Only IP address range from 224.0.0.0 to 239.255.255.255 POLICIES: 1) What is group policy? Through group policy we can manage users with some restrictions, such as we can manage users desktops, can deploy softwares, and can give permissions through ACL (access control list). 2) Is Win NT supports Group policy? NO, Supports only system Policy, GP introduced in 2000. 3) What is system policy? System policy are method of which u can restrict, certain capabilities and settings depending who is logged in. u can customize user desktops, program folder and startup menu. 4) What is difference between system policy and group policy? System policy can implement for one system, group policy can implement the group of the people in an organizational unit. 5) What is policy order? Local Group Policy, Site level Policy, Domain level policy, Organizational level policy 6) Will group policy applicable for win 98, win 95 and WINNT workstation? No, only applicable for system policy 7) In Win NT, where policies are stored? NTCONFIG.POL 8) Suppose your sever is win 2000 and clients are win98and win95 which policy applicable? And where it is stored? System policy and policies stored in CONFIG.POL 9) In win 2000, After Assigning policies, which command is to update policies? Secedit /refresh policy user-policy/ enforce Secedit /refresh policy machine-policy/ enforce 10) In win 2003, After Assigning policies, which command is update policies? GPUPDATE 11) What is the order in which group policy is applied? to

Local, Site Level, Domain Level and Organizational Unit Operating System 1). what is the Difference between Win NT and Win 2000? Win NT No concept of Active directory PDC,BDC--(read only copy) Database stored in SAM(fixed size-40 MB) Not supported RIS Win 2000 Concept of Active directory DC,ADC--(read ,write copy) Database stored in NTDS.DIT(Not fixed) Supported RIS

2). what is the Difference between Win 2000 and Win 2003? Win 2000 Cant rename the Domain No authorization with DHCP Cant create new domain tree in existing forest No application Dirtectory Partion ADS version 1.0/kerbos V 5.0 Win 2003 Can rename the Domain Authorization with DHCP Can create new domain tree in existing forest application Dirtectory Partion ADS version 1.1 /kerbos V 5.5

3). what are the versions in Win 2000? Win 2000 server, win adv 2000 server and win 2000 Data center server. 4). what are the versions in Win 2003? Standard version and enterprise version and web version and data center server 5). How much RAM, Processor supported by Win 2000 versions? 2000Server: 4GBRAM, 4 Processors, 2000Advanced server: 8GB RAM, 8 Processors, data center server: 64 GB RAM, 32 Processors 6). How much RAM, Processors supported by Win 2003 versions? standard 4Gb , Web- 2 Gb,2 Processors, Enterprise-32 Gb,8 Processors, Data Center 64 Gb, 32 processors 7). what is the difference between win 2000server and advanced server? Network load balancing and clustering 8). In win2000, what is the partition Size, File Size in FAT 16? 4 GB partition size and 2 GB File Size. 9). In win2000, what is the partition Size, File Size in FAT 32? 2 GB to 2 TB partition size and 4GB file Size

10). In win2000, what is the Partition Size, File Size in NTFS? 2 TB Partition size, File size is theoretically 16 Exabytes. 11).What is the difference between FAT and NTFS? FAT does not support Data compression and encryption 12). what is the difference between win98 and Windows XP? Supports Fat16 and Fat32 Supports Fat16 and Fat32,NTFS No disk quotas Disk quotas Only Disk compression Supports Data compression and encryption No remote assistance and remote assistance and remote remote desktop desktop 13). what is Privilege mode? A protected Memory Space Allocated for the win 2000 kernel that cannot be directly accessed by software applications. Windows 2003 Windows 2003 features: There are a vast number of features interdicted in windows server 2003 Domain name can change Automated system recovery Group policy, 2003 introduced more than 200 new group policies Shadow copying Hot ram swapping System up time is more than 2000 server. Pre built 1.1 .Net frame work. Windows server 2003 editions Standard edition: max 4GB RAM support, 4 processors Advance edition: max 64 GB RAM support, 8 processors either 32 bit or 64 bit Datacenter edition: max 128GB RAM support 64 processors Web edition: max 2 GB RAM and 2 processors. BACKUP & SAN: 1) What are the Backup strategies? Full or daily, incremental, differential, copy, normal 2) Which is the best pair to take back up and restore? Weekly one day full backup and incremental is best combination. 3) What are the 2 types of restore you can perform on active directory?

Authoritative, Non- Authoritative. 4) List 3 win2k tools use to recover a system failure? You can use your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD) to initiate a repair operation; you can boot to Safe Mode to avoid troublesome drivers or applicationspecific problems; or, as a last resort, you can boot to the Recovery Console (RC) and disable a malfunctioning driver or service 5) What is the tool used to create ERD? Backup programmer. 6) Which type of backup reduces the time In order to take backup daily? Incremental backup will take least amount of time. 7) Which win2k tool is used to restore of user, data on a DC? Backup. 8) What is the command used to add recovery console to the boot loader menu? Winnt32 /cmdcons. 9) What is command is used to perform authoritative restore before booting? Ntdsutil Authoritative restore Restore data base Restore sub tree 10) What is the type of mode in which you try to restore system state data or active directory data base? Directory Services restore mode. 11) What is the extension used for a backup file? .bkf 12) Name 5 standard types of backups? Normal, daily, incremental, differential, copy. 13) Is it possible to backup & restore data on network drive? Yes, it is possible. 14) Is it possible to restore system state data on networked pcs? No, it is not possible. 15) What is non authoritative? 16) What is normal backup? What is a level 0 backup?

It is full and complete backup used to backup all selected files and folders. It removes the archive bit from backed up files and folders. 17) What is copy backup? A copy backup back up all selected files and folders .but it does not affect remove or otherwise affect the archive bit.

18) What is incremental? It is used to backup all selected files and folders that have changed since last normal backup or incremental backup. It removes archive bit from the backed up file and folders. It is not cumulative. It takes less time to backup .multiple backup sets are required at the time of restore. 19) What is differential backup? It backups all selected files and folders that have changed since last normal backup. It does not remove the archive bit. It is commutative backup. It takes much time to backup. Last backup set is used to restore 20) What is daily backup? A daily backup backups all selected files and folders that have changed during the day the back is made. 21) Back utility advanced mode features? 1) Backup wizard 2) Restore wizard 3) ERD (Emergency Recovery Disk) 22) Backup Wizard Backup every thing. Backup selected files, drives. Only backup system state data. 23) What are types of Tape drives & Models? HP DDS3 Dat Tape drive HP DDS3 Dat Tape drive Model C1537 Model C1537E SCSI Internal 50 Pin SCSI External 50 Pin Capacity 12/24 GB Capacity 12/24 GB

PROFILES

1) What is profile? Windows maintains a group of settings for each individual user that logs into his system. This group setting is known as a user profile. 2) Where are the documents and settings for the roaming profile stored? All the documents and environmental settings for the roaming user are stored locally on the system, and, when the user logs off, all changes to the locally stored profile are copied to the shared server folder. Therefore, the first time a roaming user logs on to a new system the logon process may take some time, depending on how large his profile folder is. 3) What is Roaming and Mandatory profile? Roaming user profile: A user profile that is copied to a network server so that it can be downloaded each workstation where the user logon Mandatory profile: A user profile set up by the server administrator that is loaded from the server to the client each times the user logon. Changes that user makes to the profile are not saved PORT Number FTP TELNET SMTP DNS TFTP HTTP KereborsLogons DHCP Bootp POP3 NNTP SNTP NetBIOS IMAP4 SNMP LDAP HTTPS SQL Server Global Catalog Server Terminal Service RDP ICA IMA 20,21 23 25 53 69 80 88 67 68 110 119 123 137 143 161,162 389 443 1433 3268 3389 1494 2312

Print Management & Administration 1) What is a printer in win2k terminology?

it is the software interface between win 2k o/s & the device that produces the printer output. 2) Which win2k printing term is defined as a printer that has multiple ports and multiple print devices assigned to it Printer Pool 3) Name 3 printer permissions? Print, Manage Documents, Manage printers 4) What is EMF? EMF (Enhanced MetaFile) and raw are terms for spool file formats used in printing by the Windows operating system. When a print job is sent to the printer, if it is already printing another file, the computer reads the new file and stores it, usually on the hard disk or in memory, for printing at a later time. Spooling allows multiple print jobs to be given to the printer at one time. The EMF format is the 32-bit version of the original Windows metafile (WMF) format. The EMF format was created to solve the deficiencies of the WMF format in printing graphics from sophisticated graphics programs. The EMF format is device-independent. This means that the dimensions of a graphic are maintained on the printed copy regardless of the resolution in dots per inch of the printer. In a network, the smaller file size of the EMF format reduces network traffic. EMF is the spool file used by the Windows operating system. A raw spool file is a one that is sent to the Windows spooler unprocessed (which is why it's called "raw"). The raw file is used to send Postscript commands to a Postscript printer. The Postscript commands are understood by the printer, but are just plain data to the Windows spooler. The raw format is device-dependent and slower. If printing problems occur while using the EMF format, they can sometimes be fixed by simply changing the format to "raw" in the printer Properties.

5) Print Process: User starts print process Using an application ex (Ms Word) Print job (Data & commands to print a document) Graphical user Interface Request to drivers Driver converts file in to EMF or RAW Backs again into GDI Win 2k spooler Determines local or network Local printer provider Print processor Network Network local

Print monitor Communicates directly to print device

HDD spooler Print Processor Print monitor Print device

6) What is print spooler? Printer spooler is a temporary storage area for print jobs waiting to be sent to a print device. Systemroot\system32\spool\printers 7) Who can add printers and manage printer? Administrators or power users (built in) 8) Adding printer on a remote computer Start windows explorer>click my network places>entire network>domain or work group>select computer>highlight printer folder> double click printer folder. 9) Adding printers to printer pool Ports 1) lpt1 2) lpt2 3) lpt3 Enable printer pooling 10) Printer prosperities 99 highest for managers 1 lowest for employees Note: if managers and employees send print jobs to same print device you can set priorities 11) Print permissions are Print: send only print jobs to printer Manage Documents: resume, restart and delete print jobs. Manage printers: perform all tasks also share printers can change spooler settings and can assign printer permissions. 12) What is a printer? Printer is software which acts as an interface between the print device and the operating system. 13) What is print device? Print device is a hardware component which is attached to the system to the print documents. 14) What is local print device? Print device which is attached to the local system. 15) What is network print device? Print device which is there in the network. 16) What is print server? The computer responsible for managing the print queues for group of printers.

17) What is print queue? The collection of print jobs waiting to be printed by a specific printer. RAID: (Redundant Array Inexpensive Disk) 1). what is RAID? A disk array combines the capabilities of a number of small, inexpensive disk drives to exceed the performance of a single, large, expensive disk drive". 2). what is redundant? Means that there is protection against any single disk failure. 3). what is parity? Parity data is information used by a RAID system to rebuild the data on a disk in the event of a failure. Use of RAID: Most RAID levels provide protection for the data stored on the array RAID implementations that include redundancy provide means its very less hardware failures. Good RAID systems improve availability and recoverable Increased capacity with the help of merging the more disks Improved performance RAID Levels: There are many different ways to implement RAID array, using mirroring, striping, and duplexing and parity technologies. Level0: (Striping with out parity) the data breaks the controller and write in two different disks. High I/O performance but no redundancy. Level1: (Mirroring) provide redundancy with the help of writing same data in each member disk in array. It is popular due to its simplicity and high level of data availability. Level5: this is most common type of RAID, striping with parity Min 3 disks required. 4). what is the minimum amount of disks I need to run a RAID set? RAID0 min 2 max 32 RAID1 min 2 RAID5 Min 3

5). what is RAID 0 (Striping) advantages & Disadvantages?

Advantages 1. RAID 0 offers great performance, both in read and writes operations. There is no overhead caused by parity controls. 2. All storage capacity can be used, there is no disk overhead. 3. The technology is easy to implement. Disadvantages RAID 0 is not fault-tolerant. If one disk fails, all data in the RAID 0 array are lost. It should not be used on mission-critical systems. Ideal use RAID 0 is ideal for non-critical storage of data that have to be read/written at a high speed, e.g. on a PhotoShop image retouching station. 6). what is RAID 1 (Mirring) advantages & Disadvantages? Advantages 1. RAID 1 offers excellent read speed and a write-speed that is comparable to that of a single disk. 2. In case a disk fails, data do not have to be rebuild, they just have to be copied to the replacement disk. 3. RAID 1 is a very simple technology. Disadvantages 1. The main disadvantage is that the effective storage capacity is only half of the total disk capacity because all data get written twice. 2. Software RAID 1 solution do not always allow a hot swap of a failed disk (meaning it cannot be replaced while the server keeps running). Ideally a hardware controller is used. Ideal use: RAID-1 is ideal for mission critical storage, for instance for accounting systems. It is also suitable for small servers in which only two disks will be used.

7). what is RAID 3 advantages & Disadvantages? Advantages 1. RAID-3 provides high throughput (both read and write) for large data transfers.

2. Disk failures do not significantly slow down throughput. Disadvantages 1. This technology is fairly complex and too resource intensive to be done in software. 2. Performance is slower for random, small I/O operations. Ideal use RAID 3 is not that common in prepress 8). what is RAID 5 advantages & Disadvantages? Advantages Read data transactions are very fast while write data transaction are somewhat slower (due to the parity that has to be calculated). Disadvantages 1. Disk failures have an effect on throughput, although this is still acceptable. 2. Like RAID 3, this is complex technology. Ideal use RAID 5 is a good all-round system that combines efficient storage with excellent security and decent performance. It is ideal for file and application servers. 9). What about RAID 2, 4, 6 & 7? These levels do exist but are not that common, at least not in prepress environments. This is just a simple introduction to RAID-system. You can find more in-depth information on the pages of ACNC or storage.com.

Microsoft Cluster 1).What is the Cluster? A server cluster is a group of independent servers running Cluster service and working collectively as a single system. Server clusters provide highavailability, scalability, and manageability for resources and applications by grouping multiple servers running Windows 2000 Advanced Server or Windows 2000 Datacenter Server. Clustering is a means of providing High Availabilty.Clustering is a Group of machines acting as a single entity to provide resources and services to the network. In time of failure, a failure will occur to a system in that group that will maintain availability of those resources to the network. Windows NT.4 Enterprise edition Cluster & Load Balance - Two Nodes Windows 2000 Advanced Server Cluster & Load Balance - Two Nodes Windows 2000 Data center Server Cluster & Load Balance - Four Nodes

VMWare Solution: 1. What is the VMWare?

A Single piece of Physical Hardware will be used to host multiple logical or Virtual Servers. The ability to host multiple virtual servers on a single piece of hardware. When VMware technology is used, a single host allows multiple virtual servers to share the hosts physical resources. These resources include processor, Memory, network card and of course Local disk. 2. What is the three VMware versions virtualization software? 1. VMWare Workstation 2. VMware GSX server 3. VMWare ESX server ( Virtual center management server) Vmware GSX server & Workstation are Virtualization package that are installed on rely upon other operating systems. 2. What is the VMware Server? (Version 1.0) VMware Server is a free virtualization product for Microsoft Windows and Linux servers. It enables users to quickly provision new server capacity by partitioning a physical server into multiple virtual machines. You can use VMware Server to provision a wide variety of plugandplay virtual appliances for commonly used infrastructure. Whats in a Virtual Machine? The virtual machine typically is stored on the host computer in a set of files, all of which are in a directory set aside for that particular virtual machine. In these examples, <vmname> is the name of your virtual machine. The key files are: 1. <vmname>.vmx. The configuration file, which stores settings chosen in the New Virtual Machine Wizard or virtual machine settings editor. 2. nvram. The file that stores the state of the virtual machine.s BIOS. 3. <Vmname>.vmdk. The virtual disk file, which stores the contents of the virtual machine.s hard disk drive. 4. <vmname>.log or vmware.log . The file that keeps a log of key virtual machine

activity. This file can be useful in troubleshooting if you encounter problems. This file is stored in the directory that holds the configuration file (.vmx) of the virtual machine. 5. <vmname>.vmdk.REDO_xxxxxx . A redolog file created automatically when a virtual machine is in independentnonpersistent mode. This file stores changes made to a virtual disk while the virtual machine is running. More than one such file might exist. The xxxxxx indicates a unique suffix added automatically by VMware Server to avoid duplicate filenames. 6. <vmname>.vmss . The suspended state file, which stores the state of a suspended virtual machine. NOTE Some earlier VMware products used the extension .std for suspended state files. 7. <vmname>.vmsn . The snapshot state file, which stores the running state of a virtual machine at the time you take a snapshot of it. There might also be other files, some of which are present only while a virtual machine is running.

3. What is the VMotion? A key enabling component of the dynamic, automated, and self-optimizing data center, VMware VMotion enables the live migration of running virtual machines from one physical server to another with zero downtime, continuous service availability, and complete transaction integrity. Live migration of virtual machines enables companies to perform hardware maintenance without scheduling downtime and disrupting business operations. VMotion also allows virtual machines to be continuously and automatically optimized within resource pools for maximum hardware utilization, flexibility, and availability. 4. What is the VMware DRS (Distributed Resource Scheduler) ? VMware DRS works using the ESX Server Local Scheduler and the VirtualCenter Global Scheduler. The ESX Server Local Scheduler determines

which processors within a host to use for virtual machine execution based on current workloads, and it will relocate virtual machines as often as every few milliseconds if a different host processor offers more capacity. In contrast, VirtualCenters Global Scheduler continuously evaluates where best to locate a virtual machine across an entire cluster of ESX Server hosts. The Global Scheduler will determine which ESX Server will host a newly started virtual machine and it will use DRS to relocate a virtual machine if another ESX Server host offers a more suitable set of resources.

3. What is the VMWare HA (High Availability) ?

VMware High Availability (HA) provides easy to use, cost effective high availability for applications running in virtual machines. The loss of an ESX Server host due to a hardware failure is no longer a catastrophic event, but simply means that the resource pool available to the cluster has been reduced. HA will manage the reassignment and restart of the failed hosts virtual machines on the other ESX Server hosts in the cluster with the VirtualCenter Global Scheduler making the decisions on where to place the virtual machines to best meet resource guarantees. Its important to note that the VirtualCenter Management Server is not a single point of failure in a cluster protected by VMware HA.