Interview Preparation : Active Directory

Question 1: Why Global Catalogue server and Infrastructure operation master shouldn’t be on same server?
Answer: Refer to Why Global Catalog server and Infrastructure Operation Master shouldn’t be on same server

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Question 2: What will happen if Global Catalog is down?

• Users may not be able to log in if their account is in a different domain and Universal Group memberships are required.

• Queries involving the forest-wide search (like finding objects in another domain) will fail.

• Outlook and Exchange-related services depending on GC may stop functioning properly.

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Question 3: When Global Catalog will not authenticate after 12 hours?

• If a Domain Controller with GC is unavailable, cached logon credentials are used.

• After the Kerberos ticket expiry (default 12 hours), authentication may fail if the GC is still down.

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Question 4: Understanding Global Catalog (Active Directory)
Answer: Refer to Understanding Global Catalog in Active Directory

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Question 5: What is the Difference Between GPUpdate and GPUpdate /force?

• GPUpdate: Refreshes only the policies that have changed.

• GPUpdate /force: Reapplies all policies, regardless of whether they have changed or not.

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Question 6: What is Central Store in GPO?

• A centralized repository for ADMX and ADML files.

• Stored in the SYSVOL folder (\\domain\SYSVOL\domain\Policies\PolicyDefinitions).

• Helps ensure consistency of administrative templates across the domain.

Key Components:

• PolicyDefinition folders – Store ADMX templates.

• ADM – Legacy templates (used in older versions).

• ADMX – XML-based administrative template files.

• ADML – Language-specific files paired with ADMX.

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Question 7: What is GPO refresh interval?

• Default refresh interval: 90 minutes with a random offset of 0–30 minutes.

• For Domain Controllers: every 5 minutes.

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Question 8: What is GPO Processing Order?
Processing Order (Lowest → Highest):

1. Local

2. Site

3. Domain

4. OU (Organizational Unit)

Precedence and Options:

• Block Inherit – Prevents inheritance of GPOs from above.

• Enforced – Overrides block inheritance and forces GPO application.

• Security Filtering – GPO applies only to specified security groups.

• WMI Filter – GPO applies only when system matches WMI query conditions.

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Question 9: What is Starter GPO?

• A template used to create new GPOs with preconfigured settings.

• Useful for maintaining consistency across GPOs.

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Question 10: What is AD Delegation Controls?

• Allows administrators to delegate specific tasks to non-admin users or groups.

• Example: Allow helpdesk staff to reset passwords or create user accounts without giving them full admin rights.

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Question 11: Import/Export Firewall policy to GPO from Single Workstation?

• Export firewall rules from one workstation (netsh advfirewall export).

• Import into GPO using Group Policy Management Editor under Windows Settings → Security Settings → Windows Firewall with Advanced Security.

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Question 12: App Locker GPO (Application Control Policy)

• Used to define rules for application execution.

• Helps block unauthorized software and allow only trusted applications.

• Supports rules for Executables, Scripts, Windows Installers, DLLs, and Packaged apps.

Interview Questions : Windows Administrators

 Question 1: Quorum Types?

VMware Administrators: Interview QnA

VMware

Question 1: Thick Provisioning Types

• Lazy Zeroed: Allocates all space at creation but zeros out blocks only when they are first written. Faster to create, slightly slower on first write.

• Eager Zeroed: Allocates and zeros out all disk blocks at creation. Slower to create but best performance during runtime.

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Question 2: Memory Reclaiming Process

• Transparent Page Sharing (TPS): Eliminates redundant memory pages across VMs.

• Memory Ballooning: Uses VMware tools driver to reclaim unused memory from VMs.

• Memory Compression: Compresses memory pages before swapping to disk to reduce latency.

• Memory Swap: Swaps VM memory pages to disk when overcommitted, last resort option.

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Question 3: Did HA and DRS work if vCenter is down?

• HA (High Availability): Yes, HA continues to function as it is configured at cluster level and works with ESXi hosts directly.

• DRS (Distributed Resource Scheduler): No, DRS depends on vCenter and will not function if vCenter is down.

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Question 4: What is VMware HA master election process?

• When HA is enabled, one ESXi host is elected as the master.

• Election process occurs when:

  • HA is first enabled.

  • Current master fails or is disconnected.

• Election criteria:

  • Host with access to the greatest number of datastores.

  • If tied, the host with the highest Managed Object ID (MOID) is chosen.

Storage : StarWind Virtual SAN (VSAN) - For HV

 

Free tool for Hyper-V : It is a free tool we can use in Test Environment.

StarWind Virtual SAN (VSAN)

https://www.starwindsoftware.com/download-starwind-products

Storage : FREENAS or TRUE NAS

 

Free NAS or True NAS

Free software for LAB environment

If you are looking for Lab environment then there are a lot of Free software's for NAS. 

https://www.freenas.org/download-freenas-release/