SQL Server:

1. Explain Third normalization form with an example

2. If a user doesnt have a permission on a table, but he has permission to a
view created on it, will he be able to view the data in table?
3. Describe Application Role and explain a scenario when you will use it?
4. Both a UNIQUE constraint and a PRIMARY KEY constraint enforce uniqueness,
so when you should use UNIQUE Constraint?
5. What is the difference between the REPEATABLE READ and SERIALIZE
isolation levels?
6. Why one should not prefix user stored procedures with sp_?
7. You have several tables, and they are joined together for querying. They have
clustered indexes and non clustered indexes. To optimize the performance
how you will distribute the tables and their indexes on different file Groups?
8. Which event (Check constraints, Foreign Key, Rule, trigger, Primary key
check) will be performed last for integrity check ?
9. After removing a table from database, what other related objects have to be
dropped explicitly ?
10. How can you get an identity value inside a trigger, there are different ways to
get identity value, explain why you will prefer one on another.
11. How to find out which stored procedure is recompiling?
12. How to stop stored procedures from recompiling?
13. When should one use instead of Trigger?
14. What is a derived table?
15. Explain Third normalization form with an example?
16. Explain Third normalization form with an example?
17. When you should use low fill factor?
18. How you can minimize the deadlock situation?
19. How to choose between a Clustered Index and a Non-Clustered Index?
20. Why there is a performance difference between two similar queries that uses
UNION and UNION ALL?
21. Write a SQL Query to find first day of month?
22. A user is a member of Public role and Sales role. Public role has the
permission to select on all the table, and Sales role, which doesnt have a
select permission on some of the tables. Will that user be able to select from
all tables ?
23. Describe Application Role and explain a scenario when you will use it?
24. Both a UNIQUE constraint and a PRIMARY KEY constraint enforce uniqueness,
so when you should use UNIQUE Constraint?
25. What is the difference between the REPEATABLE READ and SERIALIZE
isolation levels?
26. You have several tables, and they are joined together for querying. They have
clustered indexes and non clustered indexes. To optimize the performance
how you will distribute the tables and their indexes on different file Groups?
27. Which event (Check constraints, Foreign Key, Rule, trigger, Primary key
check) will be performed last for integrity check ?
28. After removing a table from database, what other related objects have to be
dropped explicitly ?
29. How can you get an identity value inside a trigger, there are different ways to
get identity value, explain why you will prefer one on another.
30. How to find out which stored procedure is recompiling?
31. When should one use instead of Trigger?

Interview Questions 7:21 a10/p10Page 1 of 18

ASP.NET:

1. Explain the differences between Server-side and Client-side code?

2. What type of code (server or client) is found in a Code-Behind class?
3. Should validation (did the user enter a real date) occur server-side or client-
side? Why?
4. What does the "EnableViewState" property do? Why would I want it on or off?
5. What is the difference between Server.Transfer and Response.Redirect? Why
would I choose one over the other?
6. Can you give an example of when it would be appropriate to use a web
service as opposed to a non-serviced .NET component?
7. Let's say I have an existing application written using Visual Studio (VB
InterDev and this application utilizes Windows COM+ transaction services.
How would you approach migrating this application to .NET?
8. Can you explain the difference between an ADO.NET Dataset and an ADO
Recordset?
9. Can you give an example of what might be best suited to place in the
Application_Start and Session_Start subroutines?
10. If I'm developing an application that must accomodate multiple security levels
though secure login and my ASP.NET web appplication is spanned across
three web-servers (using round-robbin load balancing) what would be the
best approach to maintain login-in state for the users?
11. What are ASP.NET Web Forms? How is this technology different than what is
available though ASP (?
12. How does VB.NET/C# achieve polymorphism?
13. Can you explain what inheritance is and an example of when you might use
it?
14. How would you implement inheritance using VB.NET/C#?
15. Whats an assembly?
16. Describe the difference between inline and code behind - which is best in a
loosely coupled solution?
17. Explain what a diffgram is, and a good use for one?
18. Where would you use an iHTTPModule, and what are the limitations of
anyapproach you might take in implementing one?
19. What are the disadvantages of viewstate/what are the benefits?
20. Describe session handling in a webfarm, how does it work and what are the
limits?
21. How would you get ASP.NET running in Apache web servers - why would you
even do this?
22. Whats MSIL, and why should my developers need an appreciation of it if at
all?
23. In what order do the events of an ASPX page execute. As a developer is it
important to undertsand these events?
24. Which method do you invoke on the DataAdapter control to load your
generated dataset with data?
25. Can you edit data in the Repeater control?
26. Which template must you provide, in order to display data in a Repeater
control?
27. How can you provide an alternating color scheme in a Repeater control?
28. What property must you set, and what method must you call in your code, in
order to bind the data from some data source to the Repeater control?

Interview Questions 7:21 a10/p10Page 2 of 18

 29. What base class do all Web Forms inherit from?
30. What method do you use to explicitly kill a user s session?
31. How do you turn off cookies for one page in your site?
32. Which two properties are on every validation control?
33. What tags do you need to add within the asp:datagrid tags to bind columns
manually?
34. How do you create a permanent cookie?
35. What tag do you use to add a hyperlink column to the DataGrid?
36. What is the standard you use to wrap up a call to a Web service
37. Which method do you use to redirect the user to another page without
performing a round trip to the client?
38. What is the transport protocol you use to call a Web service SOAP
39. True or False: A Web service can only be written in .NET
40. What does WSDL stand for?
41. What property do you have to set to tell the grid which page to go to when
using the Pager object?
42. Where on the Internet would you look for Web services?
43. What tags do you need to add within the asp:datagrid tags to bind columns
manually.
44. Which property on a Combo Box do you set with a column name, prior to
setting the DataSource, to display data in the combo box?
45. How is a property designated as read-only?
46. Which control would you use if you needed to make sure the values in two
different controls matched?
47. True or False: To test a Web service you must create a windows application or
Web application to consume this service?
48. How many classes can a single .NET DLL contain?

Microsoft programming and databases :

1. 3 main differences between flexgrid control and dbgrid control

2. ActiveX and Types of ActiveX Components in VB
3. Advantage of ActiveX Dll over Active Exe
4. Advantages of disconnected recordsets
5. Benefit of wrapping database calls into MTS transactions
6. Benefits of using MTS
7. Can database schema be changed with DAO, RDO or ADO?
8. Can you create a tabletype of recordset in Jet - connected ODBC database
engine?
9. Constructors and destructors
10. Controls which do not have events
11. Default property of datacontrol
12. Define the scope of Public, Private, Friend procedures?
13. Describe Database Connection pooling relative to MTS
14. Describe: In of Process vs. Out of Process component. Which is faster?
15. Difference between a function and a subroutine, Dynaset and
16. Snapshot,early and late binding, image and picture controls,Linked Object and
Embedded Object,listbox and combo box,Listindex and Tab index,modal and
moduless window, Object and Class,Query unload and unload in form.
17. Declaration and Instantiation an object?
18. Draw and explain Sequence Modal of DAO
19. How can objects on different threads communicate with one another?
20. How can you force new objects to be created on new threads?

Interview Questions 7:21 a10/p10Page 3 of 18

 21. How does a DCOM component know where to instantiate itself?
22. How to register a component?
23. How to set a shortcut key for label?
24. Kind of components can be used as DCOM servers
25. Name of the control used to call a windows application
26. Name the four different cursor and locking types in ADO and describe them
briefly.
27. Need of zorder method, no of controls in form, Property used to add a menus
at runtime, Property used to count number of items in a combobox,resize a
label control according to your caption.
28. Return value of callback function, The need of tabindex property.
29. Thread pool and management of threads within a thread pool.
30. To set the command button for ESC, Which property needs to be changed?
31. Type Library and what is it's purpose?
32. Types of system controls, container objects, combo box
33. Under the ADO Command Object, what collection is responsible for input to
stored procedures?
34. VB and Object Oriented Programming
35. What are the ADO objects? Explain them.

NET Framework interview questions and interviewer's notes

.NET framework overview

1. Has own class libraries. System is the main namespace and all other
namespaces are subsets of this.
2. It has CLR(Common language runtime, Common type system, common
language specification)
3. All the types are part of CTS and Object is the base class for all the types.
4. If a language said to be .net complaint, it should be compatible with CTS and
CLS.
5. All the code compiled into an intermediate language by the .Net language
compiler, which is nothing but an assembly.
6. During runtime, JIT of CLR picks the IL code and converts into PE machine
code and from there it processes the request.
7. CTS, CLS, CLR
8. Garbage Collection
9. Dispose, finalize, suppress finalize, Idispose interface
10. Assemblies, Namespace: Assembly is a collection of class/namespaces. An
assembly contains Manifest, Metadata, Resource files, IL code
11. Com interoperability, adding references, web references
12. Database connectivity and providers
13. Application Domain

VB.Net

1. Class modifiers: public, private, friend, protected, protected friend,

mustinherit, NotInheritable
2. Method modifiers: public, private
3. Overridable
4. Shadows
5. Overloadable

Interview Questions 7:21 a10/p10Page 4 of 18

 6. Overrides
7. Overloads
8. Set/Get Property
9. IIF
10. Inheritance
11. Polymorphism
12. Delegates
13. Events
14. Reflection
15. Boxing
16. UnBoxing
17. Casting

ASP.Net

1. Web Controls: Data grid (templates, sorting, paging, bound columns,

unbound columns, data binding), Data list, repeater controls
2. HTML Controls
3. Code behind pages, system.web.ui.page base class
4. Web.config: App settings, identity (impersonate), authentication (windows,
forms, anonymous, passport), authorization
5. Databind.eval
6. Trace, Debug
7. Output cache
8. Session management
9. Application, Session
10. Global.asax httpapplication
11. User controls, custom controls, custom rendered controls (postback event,
postdatachanged event) usercontrol is the base class
12. Directives

ADO.Net

1. Command object (ExecuteNonquery, ExecuteReader, ExecuteXMLReader,

ExecuteScalar)
2. DataAdapter object (Fill)
3. Dataset (collection of tables)
4. CommandBuiler object
5. Transaction Object
6. Isolation levels

ASP :

1. How do you register a component?

Expected answer:
Compiling the component, running REGSVR32 MyDLL.dll

Interview Questions 7:21 a10/p10Page 5 of 18

2. Name and explain the different compatibility types when creating a COM
component.

Expected answer:
No Compatibility ? New GUID created, references from other components will not
work
Project Compatibility ? Default for a new component <Not as critical to mention this
one>
Binary Compatibility ? GUID does not change, references from other components will
work

3. Why is it important to use source control software for source code?

Expected answer:
Modification history.
Code ownership: Multiple people can not modify the same code at the same time.

4. What two methods are called from the ObjectContext object to inform
MTS that the transaction was successful or unsuccessful?

Expected answer:
SetComplete and SetAbort.

5. What is the tool used to configure the port range and protocols for DCOM
communications?

Expected answer:
DCOMCONFIG.EXE

6. What does Option Explicit refer to?

Expected answer:
All variables must be declared before use. Their type is not required.

7. What are the different ways to Declare and Instantiate an object in Visual
Basic 6?

Expected answer:

Dim obj as OBJ.CLASS with either

Set obj = New OBJ.CLASS or
Set obj = CreateObject(?OBJ.CLASS?) or
Set obj = GetObject( ,? OBJ.CLASS?)
or
Dim obj as New OBJ.CLASS

8. Name the four different cursor types in ADO and describe them briefly.

Expected Answer:
The cursor types are listed from least to most resource intensive.
Forward Only ? Fastest, can only move forward in recordset

Interview Questions 7:21 a10/p10Page 6 of 18

Static ? Can move to any record in the recordset. Data is static and never changes.
KeySet ? Changes are detectable, records that are deleted by other users are
unavailable, and records created by other users are not detected
Dynamic ? All changes are visible.

9. Name the four different locking type in ADO and describe them briefly.

Expected Answer:
LockPessimistic ? Locks the row once after any edits occur.
LockOptimistic ? Locks the row only when Update is called.
LockBatchOptimistic ? Allows Batch Updates.
LockReadOnly ? Read only. Can not alter the data.

10. Describe Database Connection pooling (relative to MTS )

Expected Answer:
This allows MTS to reuse database connections. Database connections are put to ?
sleep? as opposed to being created and destroyed and are activated upon request.

11. What are the ADO objects? Explain them. Provide a scenario using three
of them to return data from a database.

Expected Answer:
Connection ? Connects to a data source; contains the Errors collection
Command ? Executes commands to the data source. Is the only object that can
accept parameters for a stored procedure.
Recordset ? The set of data returned from the database.

Scenario: There are many possibilities. The most likely is as follows:

Dim conn As ADODB.Connection
Dim rs As ADODB.Recordset
Dim Cmd As ADODB.Command

conn.ConnectionString = ?CONNECTION STRING?

conn.Open

Set Cmd.ActiveConnection = conn

Cmd.CommandText = ?SQL STATEMENT?

Set rs = Cmd.Execute
Set rs.ActiveConnection = Nothing
conn.Close

12. Under the ADO Command Object, what collection is responsible for input
to stored procedures?

Expected answer:
The Parameters collection.

13. What are some benefits of using MTS?

Interview Questions 7:21 a10/p10Page 7 of 18

Expected answer:
Database Pooling, Transactional operations, Deployment, Security, Remote Execution.

14. What is the benefit of wrapping database calls into MTS transactions?

Expected answer:
If database calls are made within the context of a transaction, aborting the
transaction will undo and changes that occur within that transaction. This removes
the possibility of stranded, or partial data.

15. Describe and In Process vs. Out of Process component. Which is faster?

Expected answer:
An in-process component is implemented as a DLL, and runs in the same process
space as its client app, enabling the most efficient communication between client and
component.Each client app that uses the component starts a new instance of it.

An out of process component is implemented as an EXE, and unlike a dll, runs in its
own process space. As a result, exe's are slower then dll's because communications
between client and component must be marshalled across process boundaries. A
single instance of an out of process component can service many clients.

15. What are the main components of the ADO object model? How are they
used?

Expected answer:
Connection: Used to make a connection between your app and an external data
source, ie, sql server.

Command: Used to build queries, including user-specific parameters, to access

records from a data source (which are returned in a Recordset)

Recordset:Used to access records returned from an SQL query. With a recordset, you
can navigate returned records. You can also add, modify or delete records.

UML Questions used by a software company :

Q. What does "object-oriented" mean to you?

Q. Can you name the four phases of the Unified Process?

A. Inception
Elaboration
Construction
Transition

Q. What can you tell us about the different phases of the Unified Process?

Q. Talk about some OO/UML artifacts you have used. What did they mean to
you? How did you apply them to yout project?

Interview Questions 7:21 a10/p10Page 8 of 18

Q. What is a "use case"?
A. A complete end-to-end business process that satisfies the needs of a user.

Q. What are different categories of use cases?

A. Detail Level: - High level / Expanded
Task Level: - Super / Sub (Abstract; Equal Alternatives; Complete v. Partial)
Importance: - Primary / Secondary (use Secondary for exceptional processes)
Abstraction: - Essential / Real
Q. What is the difference between a real and essential use case?
A. essential - describes the "essence" of the problem; technology independent
real - good for GUI designing; shows problem as related to technology decisions
Q. What is polymorphism?
A. Different objects reacting to the same message differently.

Q. In a System Sequence Diagram, what is a System Event?

A. It is from the expanded use case. It is an actor action the system directly
responds to.

Q. Give an example of a situation which a State Diagram could effectively

model.
A. Think of a cake and its different stages through the baking process: dough, baked,
burned.

Q. For what are Operations Contracts written?

A. System Events.

Q. In an Operations Contract's postconditions, four types of activities are

specified. What are they?
A. They are:

instances created
associations formed
associations broken
attributes changed
Q. What does an Operations Contract do?
A. Provides a snapshot of the System's state before and after a System Event. It is
not interested in the Event's specific behavior.

Q. What does a Collaboration Diagram (or Sequence Event, depending on

the process) model?
A. A System Event's behavior.

Q. How does one model a class in a Collaboration Diagram? An instance?

A. A box will represent both; however, a class is written as MyClass whereas an
instance is written as myInstance:MyClass.

Q. What are the three parts of a class in a Class Diagram?

A. Name, Attributes, Methods.

Q. In Analysis, we are interested in documenting concepts within the

relevant problem domain. What is a concept?

Interview Questions 7:21 a10/p10Page 9 of 18

A. A person, place, thing, or idea that relates to the problem domain. They are
candidates for objects.

Q. Does a concept HAVE to become a class in Design?

A. No.

Q. In a Class Diagram, what does a line with an arrow from one class to
another denote?
A. Attribute visibility.

Q. What are the four types of visibility between objects?

A. Local, parameter, attribute, global.

Q. Have you ever used any Design Patterns?

Q. When do you use inheritance as opposed to aggregation?

A. An aggregation is a "has a" relationship, and it is represented in the UML by a
clear diamond. An example of an aggregate relation is Table of Contents and Chapter.
A Table of Contents "has a" Chapter.

Q. When would I prefer to use composition rather than aggregation?

A. Composition is a stronger form of aggregation. The object which is "contained" in
another object is expected to live and die with the object which "contains" it.
Composition is represented in the UML by a darkened diamond. An example of a
composite relation is a Book and Chapter. A Book "has a" Chapter, and the Chapter
cannot exist without the Book.

Q. Is the UML a process, method, or notation?

A. It is a notation. A process is Objectory, Booch, OMT, or the Unified Process. A
process and a notation together make an OO method.

Q. What are two uses for inheritance?

A. specialization - "IS A KIND OF" relationship
abstraction - pull a common concept out to a higher level to make it more generic
Q. When would you use an abstract base class
A. When you need to enforce a particular interface, but are not able or do not need
to define behavior at the base class level.

Q. All containers are pretty well templatized now. Can you think of any
current "example" (e.g., an algorithm) which is implemented via inheritance
but might be more efficiently implemented using templates?

Q. Can you tell us some good principles to use in OOA&D?

A. NOTE: This is not a complete list, by any means, but we have listed the GRASP
Patterns here for examples (these help assign responsibilities between objects):

Low coupling
High cohesion
Controller
Creator
Don't Talk to Strangers

Interview Questions 7:21 a10/p10Page 10 of 18

Pure Fabrication
Indirection
Polymorphism
Expert

Q. What are some practicle benefits we can gain from a well-designed OO

system?

DATABASE:

1. What is a Cartesian product? What causes it?

Expected answer:
A Cartesian product is the result of an unrestricted join of two or more tables. The
result set of a three table Cartesian product will have x * y * z number of rows
where x, y, z correspond to the number of rows in each table involved in the join. It
is causes by specifying a table in the FROM clause without joining it to another table.

2. What is an advantage to using a stored procedure as opposed to passing

an SQL query from an application.

Expected answer:
A stored procedure is pre-loaded in memory for faster execution. It allows the DBMS
control of permissions for security purposes. It also eliminates the need to recompile
components when minor changes occur to the database.

3. What is the difference of a LEFT JOIN and an INNER JOIN statement?

Expected answer:
A LEFT JOIN will take ALL values from the first declared table and matching values
from the second declared table based on the column the join has been declared on.
An INNER JOIN will take only matching values from both tables

4. When a query is sent to the database and an index is not being used,
what type of execution is taking place?

Expected answer:
A table scan.

5. What are the pros and cons of using triggers?

Expected answer:
A trigger is one or more statements of SQL that are being executed in event of data
modification in a table to which the trigger belongs.

Triggers enhance the security, efficiency, and standardization of databases.

Triggers can be beneficial when used:
-- to check or modify values before they are actually updated or inserted in the
database. This is useful if you need to transform data from the way the user sees it
to some internal database format.
-- to run other non-database operations coded in user-defined functions

Interview Questions 7:21 a10/p10Page 11 of 18

-- to update data in other tables. This is useful for maintaining relationships between
data or in keeping audit trail information.
-- to check against other data in the table or in other tables. This is useful to ensure
data integrity when referential integrity constraints aren't appropriate, or when table
check constraints limit checking to the current table only.

6. What are the pros and cons of using stored procedures. When would you
use them?

7. What are the pros and cons of using cursors? When would you use them?

Micro Soft

1. The three types of DAO Dynaset,Snapshot,Table

2. Why do we use Option Explicit
3. Difference between Dim Object as object AND dim obj as myform
4. How do we make a poperty read only? Private Property Get(Read Only )
5. How do you declare an object in VBscript? Dim object
6. What is the equivalent of VBScript's On Error In Jscript ??
7. How many data types are supported in Vbscript
8. MFC
9. Java
10. Active Server Pages
11. What are session variables??
12. In what languages in ASP written.
13. How do you create Virtual Root in IIS
14. How do you remotely administer MS IIS??
15. What is the key advantage of Windows NT Challenge/Response security?
16. What problems do the vendors of ODBC Technology face with ASP/ADO ?
18. How do you administer Connection Pooling in IIS 3.0
19. How do you administer Connection Pooling in IIS 4.0
20. What are the three Ado objects?? --Connection,command, recordset
21. Two Methods of retrieving SQL
22. How do you assign Construct the where clause without concatenating Field,
value pairs??
23. What cursor type do you use to retrieve multiple recordsets?
24. What action do you have to perform before retrieving data from the next
result set of a stored procedure ??
25. What are The three tags of a form tag in HTML form
26. What are The two tags for framesets
27. How do you create Drop Down Combos in HTML ? select Tag
28. In DHTML what is the difference between FontSize and Font Size ??
A: FontSize is a property, Font Size is a style
29. What is the tag Code Base and why do we use it?
30. How can you have different number of cells for each row of a table?

31. The three file types in NT ? NTFS,Macintosh(HPFS), FAT

32. Describe a two tier Windows NT Domain?
33. Define and explain COM
34. What is IUnknown and what are its three parts??

Interview Questions 7:21 a10/p10Page 12 of 18

35. Define Query Interface,Adref,Release
36. Do COM keep track of all the object references(Accounting)??
37. What is Marshalling
38. When is Marshalling not necessary??

Computer architecture interview questions

1. What is pipelining?
2. What are the five stages in a DLX pipeline?
3. For a pipeline with 'n' stages, what’s the ideal throughput? What prevents us
from achieving this ideal throughput?
4. What are the different hazards? How do you avoid them?
5. Instead of just 5-8 pipe stages why not have, say, a pipeline with 50 pipe
stages?
6. What are Branch Prediction and Branch Target Buffers?
7. How do you handle precise exceptions or interrupts?
8. What is a cache?
9. What's the difference between Write-Through and Write-Back Caches? Explain
advantages and disadvantages of each.
10. Cache Size is 64KB, Block size is 32B and the cache is Two-Way Set
Associative. For a 32-bit physical address, give the division between Block
Offset, Index and Tag.
11. What is Virtual Memory?
12. What is Cache Coherency?
13. What is MESI?
14. What is a Snooping cache?
15. What are the components in a Microprocessor?
16. What is ACBF(Hex) divided by 16?
17. Convert 65(Hex) to Binary
18. Convert a number to its two's compliment and back
19. The CPU is busy but you want to stop and do some other task. How do you do
it?

Microsoft Windows 2003 Server

IIS, Scripting, networking

1. What is presentation layer responsible for in the OSI model? The

presentation layer establishes the data format prior to passing it along to the
network application's interface. TCP/IP networks perform this task at the
application layer.
2. Does Windows Server 2003 support IPv6? Yes, run ipv6.exe from
command line to disable it.
3. Can Windows Server 2003 function as a bridge? Yes, and it's a new
feature for the 2003 product. You can combine several networks and devices
connected via several adapters by enabling IP routing.
4. What's the difference between the basic disk and dynamic disk? The
basic type contains partitions, extended partitions, logical drivers, and an
assortment of static volumes; the dynamic type does not use partitions but
dynamically manages volumes and provides advanced storage options

Interview Questions 7:21 a10/p10Page 13 of 18

 5. What's a media pool? It is any compilation of disks or tapes with the same
administrative properties.
6. How do you install recovery console? C:\i386\win32 /cmdcons, assuming
that your Win server installation is on drive C.
7. What's new in Terminal Services for Windows 2003 Server? Supports
audio transmissions as well, although prepare for heavy network load.
8. What scripts ship with IIS 6.0? iisweb.vsb to create, delete, start, stop,
and list Web sites, iisftp.vsb to create, delete, start, stop, and list FTP sites,
iisdir.vsb to create, delete, start, stop, and display virtual directories,
iisftpdr.vsb to create, delete, start, stop, and display virtual directories under
an FTP root, iiscnfg.vbs to export and import IIS configuration to an XML file.
9. What's the name of the user who connects to the Web site
anonymously? IUSR_computername
10. What secure authentication and encryption mechanisms are
supported by IIS 6.0? Basic authentication, Digest authentication,
Advanced digest authentication, Certificate-based Web transactions that use
PKCS #7/PKCS #10, Fortezza, SSL, Server-Gated Cryptography, Transport
Layer Security
11. What's the relation between SSL and TLS? Transport Layer Security (TLS)
extends SSL by providing cryptographic authentication.
12. What's the role of http.sys in IIS? It is the point of contact for all
incoming HTTP requests. It listens for requests and queues them until they
are all processed, no more queues are available, or the Web server is shut
down.
13. Where's ASP cache located on IIS 6.0? On disk, as opposed to memory,
as it used to be in IIS 5.
14. What is socket pooling? Non-blocking socket usage, introduced in IIS 6.0.
More than one application can use a given socket.
15. Describe the process of clustering with Windows 2003 Server when a
new node is added. As a node goes online, it searches for other nodes to
join by polling the designated internal network. In this way, all nodes are
notified of the new node's existence. If other nodes cannot be found on a
preexisting cluster, the new node takes control of the quorum resources
residing on the shared disk that contains state and configuration data.
16. What applications are not capable of performing in Windows 2003
Server clusters? The ones written exclusively for NetBEUI and IPX.
17. What's a heartbeat? Communication processes between the nodes designed
to ensure node's health.
18. What's a threshold in clustered environment? The number of times a
restart is attempted, when the node fails.
19. You need to change and admin password on a clustered Windows
box, but that requires rebooting the cluster, doesn't it? No, it doesn't.
In 2003 environment you can do that via cluster.exe utility which does not
require rebooting the entire cluster.
20. For the document of size 1 MB, what size would you expect the index
to be with Indexing Service? 150-300 KB, 15-30% is a reasonable
expectation.
21. Doesn't the Indexing Service introduce a security flaw when allowing
access to the index? No, because users can only view the indices of
documents and folders that they have permissions for.

Interview Questions 7:21 a10/p10Page 14 of 18

 22. What's the typical size of the index? Less then 100K documents - up to
128 MB. More than that - 256+ MB.
23. Which characters should be enclosed in quotes when searching the
index? &, @, $, #, ^, ( ), and |.
24. How would you search for C++? Just enter C++, since + is not a special
character (and neither is C).
25. What about Barnes&Noble? Should be searched for as Barnes'&'Noble.
26. Are the searches case-sensitive? No.
27. What's the order of precedence of Boolean operators in Microsoft
Windows 2003 Server Indexing Service? NOT, AND, NEAR, OR.
28. What's a vector space query? A multiple-word query where the weight can
be assigned to each of the search words. For example, if you want to fight
information on 'black hole', but would prefer to give more weight to the word
hole, you can enter black[1] hole[20] into the search window.
29. What's a response queue? It's the message queue that holds response
messages sent from the receiving application to the sender.
30. What's MQPing used for? Testing Microsoft Message Queue services
between the nodes on a network.
31. Which add-on package for Windows 2003 Server would you use to
monitor the installed software and license compliance? SMS (System
Management Server).
32. Which service do you use to set up various alerts? MOM (Microsoft
Operations Manager).
33. What languages does Windows Scripting Host support? VB, VBScript,
JScript.

Windows Server 2003 interview and certification questions:

1. How do you double-boot a Win 2003 server box? The Boot.ini file is set
as read-only, system, and hidden to prevent unwanted editing. To change the
Boot.ini timeout and default settings, use the System option in Control Panel
from the Advanced tab and select Startup.
2. What do you do if earlier application doesn't run on Windows Server
2003? When an application that ran on an earlier legacy version of Windows
cannot be loaded during the setup function or if it later malfunctions, you
must run the compatibility mode function. This is accomplished by right-
clicking the application or setup program and selecting Properties -->
Compatibility --> selecting the previously supported operating system.
3. If you uninstall Windows Server 2003, which operating systems can
you revert to? Win ME and Win 98.
4. How do you get to Internet Firewall settings? Start --> Control Panel --
> Network and Internet Connections --> Network Connections.
5. What are the Windows Server 2003 keyboard shortcuts? Winkey opens
or closes the Start menu. Winkey + BREAK displays the System Properties
dialog box. Winkey + TAB moves the focus to the next application in the
taskbar. Winkey + SHIFT + TAB moves the focus to the previous application in
the taskbar. Winkey + B moves the focus to the notification area. Winkey + D
shows the desktop. Winkey + E opens Windows Explorer showing My
Computer. Winkey + F opens the Search panel. Winkey + CTRL + F opens the
Search panel with Search for Computers module selected. Winkey + F1 opens

Interview Questions 7:21 a10/p10Page 15 of 18

 Help. Winkey + M minimizes all. Winkey + SHIFT+ M undoes minimization.
Winkey + R opens Run dialog. Winkey + U opens the Utility Manager. Winkey
+ L locks the computer.
6. What is Active Directory? Active Directory is a network-based object store
and service that locates and manages resources, and makes these resources
available to authorized users and groups. An underlying principle of the Active
Directory is that everything is considered an object—people, servers,
workstations, printers, documents, and devices. Each object has certain
attributes and its own security access control list (ACL).
7. Where are the Windows NT Primary Domain Controller (PDC) and its
Backup Domain Controller (BDC) in Server 2003? The Active Directory
replaces them. Now all domain controllers share a multimaster peer-to-peer
read and write relationship that hosts copies of the Active Directory.
8. How long does it take for security changes to be replicated among the
domain controllers? Security-related modifications are replicated within a
site immediately. These changes include account and individual user lockout
policies, changes to password policies, changes to computer account
passwords, and modifications to the Local Security Authority (LSA).
9. What's new in Windows Server 2003 regarding the DNS
management? When DC promotion occurs with an existing forest, the Active
Directory Installation Wizard contacts an existing DC to update the directory
and replicate from the DC the required portions of the directory. If the wizard
fails to locate a DC, it performs debugging and reports what caused the
failure and how to fix the problem. In order to be located on a network, every
DC must register in DNS DC locator DNS records. The Active Directory
Installation Wizard verifies a proper configuration of the DNS infrastructure.
All DNS configuration debugging and reporting activity is done with the Active
Directory Installation Wizard.
10. 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.
11. How can you authenticate between forests? Four types of authentication
are used across forests: (1) Kerberos and NTLM network logon for remote
access to a server in another forest; (2) Kerberos and NTLM interactive logon
for physical logon outside the user's home forest; (3) Kerberos delegation to
N-tier application in another forest; and (4) user principal name (UPN)
credentials.
12. 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 adminpak)
13. What types of classes exist in Windows Server 2003 Active
Directory?
o 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

Interview Questions 7:21 a10/p10Page 16 of 18

 either the modification of an existing structural type or the use of one
or more abstract classes.
o 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.
o 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.
o 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.
14. 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.
15. What is Global Catalog? The Global Catalog authenticates network user
logons and fields inquiries about objects across a forest or tree. Every domain
has at least one GC that is hosted on a domain controller. In Windows 2000,
there was typically one GC on every site in order to prevent user logon
failures across the network.
16. How is user account security established in Windows Server 2003?
When an account is created, it is given a unique access number known as a
security identifier (SID). Every group to which the user belongs has an
associated SID. The user and related group SIDs together form the user
account's security token, which determines access levels to objects
throughout the system and network. SIDs from the security token are
mapped to the access control list (ACL) of any object the user attempts to
access.
17. If I delete a user and then create a new account with the same
username and password, would the SID and permissions stay the
same? No. If you delete a user account and attempt to recreate it with the
same user name and password, the SID will be different.
18. What do you do with secure sign-ons in an organization with many
roaming users? Credential Management feature of Windows Server 2003
provides a consistent single sign-on experience for users. This can be useful
for roaming users who move between computer systems. The Credential
Management feature provides a secure store of user credentials that includes
passwords and X.509 certificates.
19. Anything special you should do when adding a user that has a Mac?
"Save password as encrypted clear text" must be selected on User Properties
Account Tab Options, since the Macs only store their passwords that way.
20. What remote access options does Windows Server 2003 support? Dial-
in, VPN, dial-in with callback.
21. 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.

Interview Questions 7:21 a10/p10Page 17 of 18

 22. Where are the settings for all the users stored on a given machine?
\Document and Settings\All Users
23. What languages can you use for log-on scripts? JavaScipt, VBScript,
DOS batch files (.com, .bat, or even .exe)

Interview Questions 7:21 a10/p10Page 18 of 18