Exchange Server 2003 Interview Q

8/7/2019 Exchange Server 2003 Interview Q

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Exchange Server 2003 Interview Q&A Part-1

1. What is Exchange Server?

Exchange Server is a Microsofts Messaging system which provides Industry leading Email, calendaring and

unified Messaging

2. Tell me a bit about the capabilities of Exchange Server.

1. Outlook Anywhere (OWA)

2. Mailbox can sync with Blackberry Device.

3. Calendar Sharing.

4. MAPI & POP3 Client support

3. What are the different Exchange 2003 versions?

Exchange server 5.5

Exchange Server 2000




4. What are the differences between Exchange Sever 2003 Standard and Enterprise Editions?

Following are the difference between Exchange server 2003 Standard and Enterprise Edition.

Feature Standard Edition Enterprise Edition

Storage groups support 1 storage group 4 storage groups

Number of databases perstorage group 2 databases 5 databases

Individual database size 16 gigabytes (GB) Maximum 16 terabytes, limited only by

hardware

Exchange Clustering Not supported Supported

X.400 connector Not included Included

5. What are the main differences between Exchange 5.5 and Exchange 2000/2003?

Exchange 2000 does not have its own directory or directory service; it uses Active Directory instead.

Exchange 2000 uses native components of Windows 2000 (namely, IIS and its SMTP, NNTP, W3SVC

and other components, Kerberos and others) for many core functions.

SMTP is now a full peer to RPC, and is it the default transport protocol between Exchange 2000

servers.

Exchange 2000 supports Active/Active clustering and was recently certified for Windows 2000

Datacenter.

Exchange 2000 scales much higher.

It boasts conferencing services and instant messaging.6. What are the minimum hardware requirements for Exchange Server 2003?

Processor Pentium 133 MHz


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Operating System Windows 2000 SP3

Memory 256 MB

Disk Space 200 MB for system files and 500 MB where Exchange Server installation.

File System - NTFS

7. What are the steps involved in Exchange Server installation?

1. Prerequisites Installation ASP .Net, IIS, SMTP, NNTP and WWW services Installation

2. Forest Preparation

3. Domain Preparation

4. Exchange Server 2003 Installation

8. Why not install Exchange on the same machine as a DC?

The main reason behind not to install Exchange Server is, when we used to restart the Exchange server for

any reason it will take lot of time to shut down the Exchange Server services.

9. Which Services must be installed and running for Exchange Server installation?

Following are the services that should be installed before installing Exchange Server 2003

1. ASP .Net2. Internet Information Service

3. SMTP

4. NNTP

5. WWW

10. What can you do and what will be the effect if ASP.NET service is not available while

installing Exchange Server 2003?

ASP .Net files are important for authentication, delegation and securing the web publication. Before

installing exchange Server 2003 ASP .Net should be installed

11. What are Exchange Server 2003 deployment tools?

The Exchange Server 2003 Deployment Tools are a compilation of old and new Microsoft Product Support

Services (PSS) support tools that you can use to prepare Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 and the Microsoft

Active Directory directory service infrastructure for the installation of Microsoft Exchange Server 2003.

Installation and Upgrade Prerequisites

Enabling Windows Services

DCDiag Tool

NetDiag Tool

ForestPrep DomainPrep

12. What are the Windows versions supported by Exchange Server 2003?

1. Windows 2000 Service pack 3 ( Standard, Enterprise and Datacenter Edition)

2. Windows 2003 Service pack 1 ( Standard, Enterprise and Datacenter Edition)

13. In which domains domainprep must be run?

1. The Forest root Domain

2. All domain that will contain Exchange Server 2003

3. All Domain that will contain Exchange Mailbox enable objects.14. What is ForestPrep?


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Forest prep updates the schema and configuration partition in Active directory. Extend the schema to

include Exchange server 2003 specific classes and attributes

To run the Forest Prep, Administrator should have Schema and Enterprise Admin permission over the

Domain

15. What is DomainPrep?

Domain Prep prepares the Domain partion in Active Directory. Forest prep should be run only once in forestwhere Domain Prep should be run in following Servers.

1. The Forest root Domain

2. All domain that will contain Exchange Server 2003

3. All Domain that will contain Exchange Mailbox enable objects

16. Which two groups are created by DomainPrep?

The domain prep switch creates the groups and permissions required by exchange Server 2003. Two

security groups created

1. Exchange Enterprise Servers Domain Local group contains all Exchange Server in a forest

2. Exchange Domain Server Global Group that contains all Exchange servers running in the Domain

that you have selected.

17. What DomainPrep does?

Domain Prep Updates the Domain partition and Creates a Two New Security Groups for Exchange Server

2003

1. Exchange Enterprise Servers

2. Exchange Domain Servers

18. Which of the servers does the system that will host the first Exchange Server 2003 serverin a forest need to be able to contact during installation?

19. How to run ForestPrep?

Go to the Command prompt and Type the following

D:\setup\i386\setup.exe /forestprep

Where D drive represents the CD drive.

Note: it will ask for the Administrator Account that has the required permission to run the Setup.

20. How to run DomainPrep?

Go to the Command prompt and Type the following

D:\setup\i386\setup.exe /domainprep - Where D drive represents the CD drive.

21. Which service pack is needed for Windows 2000 for installing Exchange Server 2003?

Windows 2000 service pack 3 in needed to install Exchange Server 2003

22. Which permissions are required to run ForestPrep?


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Schema Administrator

Enterprise Administrator

Local Machine Administrator

23. Which permissions are required to run DomainPrep?

Domain Administrator and Local Machine Administrator

24. Which permissions are required to install Exchange server 2003 on the first server in a

domain or on other systems within the domain?

The administrator Account should have the following permission to install the Exchange Server 2003



Domain Administrator

Local Machine Administrator25. What is reason behind the error messages services not available while installing Exchange Server 2003

on a domain running at Windows Server 2003 functional level?

26. What is name of log file that Exchange Server 2003 setup creates during installation?

27. What is location of Exchange Server Setup Progress?

C:\Program Files\Exchangesvr

28. How unattended installation of Exchange Server 2003 works?

Unattended installation are useful for rapidly deploying subsequent Exchange Server 2003 installation into

an existing organization.

The process of creating the file is essentially the same as the process for a manual setup selecting the

component you want to install and the installation path, choosing whether to create a new organization or

to join existing one; agreeing the license and so on.. Instead of doing manual installation the Exchange

installation wizard writes the configuration file to .ini file. specifically for use with the /unattendfile setup

switch to start the installation.

29. When you can use the unattended installation of Exchange Server 2003?

1. Unattended Installation of Exchange Server 2003 is very useful when you are going to install Exchange

Server remotely.

2. Its also useful when you are deploying number of New Exchange Server in Existing Organization. We can

save time deploying multiple servers by automating the Entire installation procedure

30. When you cannot use unattended installation of Exchange Server 2003?

An Active Directory Forest can support only a single Exchange Server 2003 organization, so an un

attended.ini file that is used to create an organization cannot be used for subsequent installation.

31. What is the command to create an answer file for unattended installation of Exchange

Server 2003?


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D:\setup\i386\setup.exe /createunattend c:\unattend.ini

Where D represents the CD ROM drive that holds the Exchange Server and C drive represent the created

unattended file for installation

32. What is the command to start the unattended installation of Exchange Server 2003?

D:\setup\i386\setup.exe /UnattendFile c:\unattend.ini

Where D represents the CD ROM drive that holds the Exchange Server and C drive represent the created

unattended file for installation

33. When you can specify the User account that will receive the Exchange Full Administrator

permission?

After installing the exchange Server 2003, we can able to specify the administrative permission for

particular user. We can delegate administrative permission by right click the Exchange organization and

select delegate Administration permission.

34. Which account must be use to perform first Exchange installation?

A new dedicated service account specifically for Exchange server installation has to be created in Active

Directory and the following permission are to be assigned the newly created user.



Domain Administrator

Local Machine Administrator

35. Can Exchange 2000 servers run on Windows Server 2003?

No, the only version of Exchange server that will run on Windows server 2003 is Exchange Server 2003, you

will need to upgrade your Exchange environment to Exchange Server 2003 prior to upgrading the Windows

Server Operating System to Windows server 2003


1. Which services are not supported and hence, need to be removed from an Exchange 2000

Server before performing an upgrade to Exchange Server 2003?

Following are the Exchange Server 2000 functionality that isnt supported by Exchange Server 2003

Instance for Messaging Service

Microsoft Chat Service

Key management Service

And connectors for Microsoft Mail and Lotus CC:Mail

Above Service has to uninstalled while upgrading from Exchange Server 2000 to Exchange Server 2003

2. While upgrading from Exchange 2000 to Exchange 2003 which servers must be upgraded

first? Front-end server or back end server?

You must upgrade the front end servers prior to upgrading the corresponding back end server while

upgrading from Exchange 2000 to Exchange 2003.

3. How to migrate from an old Exchange 2000 Server organization to a new Exchange Server

2003 organization?


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Exchange Migration wizard is the process to Migrate Exchange 2000 organization to Exchange server 2003

organization. Similar to migrating Organization from Exchange 5.5

4. How to move users from Coexistence of Exchange 5.5 to Exchange Server 2003?

Active Directory Migration Tool and the Exchange Migration wizard will perform the complete moving of

users from Coexistence of Exchange 5.5 to Exchange Server 2003

5. How to migrate from an old Exchange Server 5.5 organization to a new Exchange Server2003 organization?

There is no in place upgrade, first we have to update Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2000 and from there we

have to migrate it to Server Exchange 2003. The existing users Source Domain has to be first migrated to

the new target domain in another Active Directory forest. After that you can begin the Exchange 5.5 to

Exchange server 2003. Exchange Migration wizard is the process to Migrate Exchange 5.5 organization to

Exchange server 2003 organization.

6. Which messaging systems does the Exchange Server 2003 Migration Wizard support?

Ms Mail for PC Networks CC:Mail

Microsoft Exchange 5.5

Lotus Notes

Novel GroupWise 4.x

Novel GroupWise 5.x

Internet Directory (LDAP via ADSI)

Internet Mail (IMAP4)

7. How can Exchange Server 2003 share calendars and address lists with Lotus Notes R4/R5?

If you the the answer, please help to Me publish

8.What are the requirements of Lotus Notes Connector?


9. How can Exchange Server 2003 share calendar/address lists with Novell GroupWise?

The connectors for Lotus notes and Novel GroupWise only synchronize mailbox and user account data. You

must use calendar connector in conjunction with the other connectors to synchronize calendar data.

10. What are the requirements for Novell Group Wise connector?

The following list is the configuration requirements needed on the Exchange Server side:

Configure a working Novell GroupWise environment with API Gateway version 4.1 or later

Configure a working Exchange Server 2003 connector server

Make sure Exchange Server can resolve the name and access the Novell Netware server that is

running API Gateway

Enable Exchange Server to Novell Netware server connectivity by using Gateway Services for

NetWare (GSNW) or Novell NetWare Client for Windows. NDS authentication is needed to access NetWare

Volumes (shares).

Activate GroupWise address type on the Exchange Server 2003 recipient policy.11. What are the tools to validate Exchange Server 5.5/Exchange Server 2003 coexistence?


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ADCConfigCheck It checks that Exchange Server 5.5 directory config objects have been copied to

Active Directory. Writes outputs to Exdeploy.log

ConfigDSInteg checks objects in AD to ensure that no problems have arisen since the last

installation of ADC. Writes outputs to Exdeploy.log

ReceipientDSInteg checks all recipient objects in AD looking for problems. Recipient includes

users, groups, contacts or public folders

PrivFoldCheck uses exchange 5.5 directory service/Information store consistent adjuster to

ascertain the Information store and directory are in sync

12. What is DSScopeScan Tool Group?

DSScopeScan Tool Group used to find out information about the exchange server 5.5 organizations prior

to setting up connection between exchange server 5.5 and new Exchange server 2003. Tool should be run

with the account that has administrative permission.

13. Which tools are included in DSScopeScan Tool Group?

This includes four important tools

DSconfigsum reports the number of exchange server 5.5 sites and server per sites.

DSObjectsum reports the number of public folders. Distribution list and contact object

Useraccount exports the number of users in the exchange server 5.5 site and in the directory

Vercheck check if a server exists with exchange server 5.5 sp3.

14. Before upgrading from Exchange 2000 server to Exchange Server 2003 which service pack

must be applied to Exchange 2000 server?

Before upgrading from Exchange server 2000 to Exchange Server 2003 update the windows 2000 server

with SP3 or later. And also with Exchange 2003 server sp3 or later

15. How to upgrade from Exchange 5.5 to Exchange server 2003?

Exchange 5.5 cannot be upgraded in-place, you must first upgrade to Exchange 2000 server and then toExchange Server 2003. Or install Exchange Server 2003 on a different server and move the Exchange

server 5.5 resources to the new server.

16. What are the steps involved creating coexistence between Exchange Server 5.5 and

Exchange Server 2003?

Install the Basic prerequisites like SMTP, NNTP and WWW services

Start the Exchange Deployment tools wizard, select co existence with mixed mode Exchange 2000

and exchange server 5.5

Select the option to install upgrade the first Exchange Server On the next deployment tools wizard, check all the steps are done and start the setup. On the setup

installation perform the following option

Install Exchange server 5.5 administrator

Select the option to create a new organization or existing one.

Finish the setup

17. Does Lotus Notes and Novell GroupWise connectors supported on Exchange Server 2003 in

a clustered configuration? What can be done?


18. Which actions must be taken before the connection to the Lotus Notes/Domino server can

be established?



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19. Which services must be configured to automatically start to start a Lotus Notes Connector?

To start a connector, u must enable the specific services that the connector relies on.

Microsoft Exchange connectivity controller

Microsoft Exchange connector for lotus notes

20. Which services must be configured to automatically start to start a Novell GroupWise

Connector?

first a server running Exchange 2003 as a Bridge head server

And the following services are to be set to automatically start

Microsoft Exchange connectivity controller

Microsoft Exchange connector for lotus notes

21. Which steps are involved in removing a connector to install it on another Exchange Server

2003 computer?

First you need to stop the connector services

Remove the connector

Use the Active directory user and computers console to delete the contacts that the connector has

imported in the directory

You can reinstall lotus or Novel GroupWise connector

21. What is Active Directory Connector (ADC)?

ADC its a Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Service that allows for the replication of information from Active

directory and a Microsoft Exchange 5.5 directory

22. What is Connection Agreement?

It is used by Active directory connector to control replication between Active directory and Exchange 5.5

directory. Connection agreements can be used to replicate from exchange 5.5 to Active directory and vice

versa.


This chapter contains the Interview Question and answers on Exchange Server 2003 permissions, Modes of

Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2003 Clustering.

1. What types of permissions are configurable for Exchange?

Exchange full admin full control over the exchange organization including permission

Exchange Admin Manage everything within the organization except org permission.

Exchange view only administrator read only administrative access to Exchange organization

2. Which of the privileges does the Exchange Administrator role have?

This Role has the ability to administer all configuration details of the Exchange organization and ability to

modify permission

3. What are the modes of Exchange Server 2003?

There are two modes in Exchange server 2003

1. Mixed Mode If Exchange 5.5 exists and in future gain to have Exchange 5.5


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2. Native Mode if only Exchange server 2003 running in your organization

4. What are the benefits of running Exchange Server 2003 in native, rather than mixed mode?

There are lot of benefits which includes,

1. Greater flexibility for defining routing groups and Administrative \groups

2. Ability to move mailboxes

3. Configure both routing and administrative groups independent of each other4. We can create query base distribution group

5. When Exchange Server 2003 Mixed mode is used?

By default exchange server in Mixed mode, we can have mixed mode in situation where Exchange server

5.5 situated in our Exchange organization. Mixed modes are used to have backward compatibility with

Exchange server 5.5 and sites

6. When Exchange Server 2003 Native mode is used?

We can choose this option if No Exchange server 5.5 present in our Exchange organization and make surethat all the exchange servers are Exchange server 2000 and Exchange server 2003. Native mode allows

administrative groups and Routing Groups to be configured independent of each other

7.Can you switch Exchange Organization from native mode to mixed mode?

yes we can change Exchange organization from Mixed mode to Native mode and changing the mode form

Mixed to Native is onetime, one way process and it cannot be reversed

8. How to switch Exchange Organization from mixed mode to native mode?

We can accomplish this by Exchange system Manager, by right clicking the Exchange organization name atthe top of the window and click properties. On the New window click the change Mode option. This changed

mode option will be unavailable if you are already in Native mode.

9. Which service needs to be restarted on all Exchange Server 2003 systems within the domain

once you have switched to native mode?

If you Know the answer, please help to Me publish

10. What is Clustering?

Its a technique for providing hardware and software redundancy for an application like exchange server

2003, with clustering you can ensure there is no single point of failure with your server hardware that would

results in email services going offline. Clustering allows you to bring one node for maintenance by allowing

other nodes to continue functioning.

11. What is Network Load balancing?

It is a resource (server-aware) clustering technology. Primary purpose to load balance by distributing the

TCP/IP traffic among each server node in cluster. To client computers, the cluster is seen as a single

resource and is address by a single IP

12. What are the advantages and disadvantages of Network Load Balancing?

Advantages


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No special hardware required

Cluster can use different operating system

Clusters are to be member of domain or perimeter

Disadvantages

NLB uses hear beat to communicate between cluster, if a server goes offline. It sent 5 heart beats

and if no response and if client if a client is requesting a request then it neglect the request

Work only with TCP/IP. It will not consider network link protocol

13. What is Failover?

Its related to cluster servers, it refers to the ability to of a backup server to immediate begin servicing

requests if a primary server fails, without an interruption in servicing user request

14. When Failover occurs?

Failover occurs when a primary server fails to function, this failback automatically process the service

request to secondary servers which is already clustered.

15. What is Failback?

Fail back defines how failed over application services are moved back to original server node, once the

node is back online

16. How Failback occurs?

By default, cluster groups that failover to another node do not automatically failback. In Failback policy we

can configure the allow failback option to take place immediately or over a certain period

To make a failback occur, we have to create a failback policy to occur immediately or over a certain period

17. What are the different clustering options in Exchange 2003?

Exchange server 2003 supports two types of clustering option which is already supported by windows

server 2003

1. Network Load balancing server aware clustering technology , load balance by distributing the TCP/IP

traffic among each server node in cluster. To client computers, the cluster is seen as a single resource and

is address by a single IP

2. Cluster service application or service aware clustering technology, provides continual application

service availability through failover and failback

18. Name the exchange server 2003 clustering configuring option

Single node server cluster can be configured with or without external cluster storage device. For this

clusters without an external storage device, the local disk in configured as the clustered storage device

Single Quorum device server cluster have two or more nodes and are configured so that every node

is shared to one or more shared devices. Cluster configuration is stored in single cluster storage device,

known as quorum device.

Majority node set server cluster have two or more node and are may or may not be attached to one

or more cluster storage devices. Cluster configuration data is stored on multiple disks across the cluster


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Heart beat is a special type of network packet that is sent out to each server node participating in a cluster

to determine the responsiveness of a node. Server nodes that do not respond to heart beat packets for a

configurable period of time are marked a inactive

26. What are the different numbers of nodes with different type of operating system for

Exchange Server 2003?

Windows server 2003 standard edition supports 4 nodes

Windows server 2003 enterprise edition or windows server 2003 Datacenter edition supports up to eight

node clusters

27. What are the different cluster models?

Two types of cluster models are there

1. Active/Active limited to two nodes and both the nodes are active at the same time, limited to 1900

concurrent client connection at a time

2. Active/Passive supports more than two nodes and highly reliable. Recommended by Microsoft.

28. Which are the Cluster operations modes?

N-Node failover server pairs applications are configured to failover only between two specified server

pairs

N+I Hot-Standby Server commonly referred to as active/passive mode, on two node cluster, one node

process the client request and the second node monitors the first node. where N Active node, I - Passive

Node

Fail over Ring - Active/Active all servers are active and process the client request, when one node fails

the cluster, failover the cluster to another active node. Administrator has to define the failover

Random Failover similar to failover ring, if a node fails the failover is randomly changed to active node.

The Administrative burden of having a define failover is removed

29. What is teaming?

Teaming is the process included in clustering service, where multiple adapters are joined through software

to function as a single unit, with a single MAC address and single IP address

30. Which settings must be configured for failover policies?

We can configure the number the times the node to failover (Threshold) during the period, which is defined

in hours

31. Which settings must be configured for failback policies?

By default, cluster groups that failover to another node do not automatically failback. In Failback policy we

can configure the allow failback option to take place immediately or over a certain period


This part of Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 technical interview questions contains interview questions onExchange 2003 address lists, Recipient Update Service and groups.

1. What are Address lists?


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A list used to organize the Global Address list into small, more manageable grouping. Address list in

Microsoft Exchange server 2003 are formed through administrator-defined Light weight Directory Access

Protocol queries

2. What is Global Address List (GAL)?

Global Address List is the Primary Address list that contains all Exchange objects in the entire organization

and mail-enabled objects in the Microsoft Exchange server organization

3. Where from the GAL retrieved?

Global address list are formed through LDAP queries that filters the Mailbox enabled and mail enabled

objects from the Active Directory. The GAL retrieved from the Global catalog servers.

4. How default GAL is created?

When we are installing exchange server 2003, the default address list are created by sending LDAP queries

to Active directory users and groups and filters the users that are mailbox enabled and mail enabled.

What is Custom Address list?

Custom address list are the address list that we are creating by providing LDAP queries that filter and

display the Address list with respect to users or departments

5. What is Default Address list?

Default Address list are similar to Global Address List, but in a distilled manner.

The default address lists are automatically created when Exchange Server is installed and there is no

administration required.

6. What are the Default Address lists?

There are five Default Address lists. Following are the default address lists

All contacts

All groups

All users

Public folders

Default Global Address List

7. What is Offline Address List?

Offline Address list are not unique, that is they are not different address list than the regular online address

list. Offline Address list are used to make address list available to the users who are all not connected to

network.

By default, Global address list is made to be default Offline Address List

8. What is the use of hiding a mailbox?

Hiding a mailbox is to prevent the E-mail address to appear in Global address List. If you are creating a

mailbox to receive updates form antivirus and you dont want to show the Email address in GAL orpreventing internal users to send any mail to that particular mailbox from GAL

9. Where all the Exchange Address lists created and stored?


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Go to the properties of the user that you want to hide from Address list. Navigate to Exchange Advanced

Tab

Select the option to hide from Address list

19. How to hide Address list from users

Go to the properties of the Address list, point to security tab and select advanced button to open the

advanced setting

Browse the users or group and set deny permission to open the Address list

20. Which service is responsible for keeping the Exchange address lists up to date?

Recipient Update service is responsible for keeping the exchange Address list up to date

21. What is Recipient Update Service?

Recipient update service updates the email address and distribution list membership and replicates this

information on a schedule to other Microsoft Exchange Servers in the Domain

22. Besides keeping the Exchange address lists up to date, what other desirable function does

the Recipient Update Service perform in the Exchange organization?

It also updates the distribution list membership to other Exchange Servers inside the domain

23. What are the basic steps to troubleshoot RUS?

The first step in troubleshooting the Recipient Update Service, like most other services is to check the Event

Log, we are looking for the events that originated from the MSExchangeAL service.

The next step in troubleshooting the Recipient Update Service is to use ADSI Edit to check a mailbox that

should appear in the Global Address List. We need to check and see if the "showInAddressBook" attribute is

populated

If the "showInAddressBook" attribute is not populated, the Recipient Update Service may not yet have run,

in most cases manually forcing the Recipient Update Service to run will resolve the problems.

24. How to access the RUS?

1. Start System Manager
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2. On the Start menu, point to Programs,

3. point to Microsoft Exchange, then click System Manager.

4. In the console tree, double-click Recipients.

5. In the console tree, right-click Recipient Update Services,

25. What is the default preconfigured schedule for RUS?

Always Run schedule is the preconfigured option for RUS

26. Which two different instances are created of the Recipient Update Service?

The following are the two instances created in Recipient Update service

Recipient Update Service (Enterprise Configuration)

Recipient Update Service (Active Directory Domain)

27. What is Recipient Update Service (Enterprise Configuration)?

The Enterprise recipient update service is responsible for updating Email address of the recipients objects

located in configuration partition of the domain controller

28. What is Recipient Update Service (Active Directory Domain)?

The Domain Recipient Update Service is responsible for updating recipient objects located in the Active

directory

29. What are the group types?

Two types of groups are the

Security Group

Distribution Group

30. What is Distribution Group?

A type of Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Active Directory group that is used to define e-mail distribution

lists. Distribution Group has no security context and cannot be used to grant permission to resources, butthey are useful for grouping users that share a common purpose, such as all employees at a branch

location

31. How Distribution groups differ from Security groups?

Distribution Group has no security context and cannot be used to grant permission to resources. But

security groups can be used to assign permission on resources.

32. What is Security Group?

Security groups are the Microsoft windows Server 2003 Active Directory Group, with this group; we can

assign permission on a resource.

33. Can Security groups be used to distribute messages?


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Security Groups can be mail enabled and also used as a Distribution group to distribute messages

34. What is Query-based distribution group?

This group enables you to use a LDAP query to specify membership in a distribution group dynamically. This

result is that membership is automatically determined by attributes of a user account, such as department,

reducing the amount of administration required to manage distribution list

35. What are the types of Group Scopes?Following are the types of group scopes

Domain Local

Global Group

Universal


This chapter includes interview questions and Answers on Exchange Backup and Restore

1. Why Exchange data should be backed up?

In todays business environment, email is possibly the most used method of communication, and private

and public stores contain large volume of valuable information. In order to have safety and stability on this

valuable information we have to take back up the exchange data.

2. What are the types of Exchange Backup?

Full (Normal)

Daily Backup

Copy Backup

Incremental backup

3. What is Normal backup?

Full backup copies both the database and transactional log files. At the completion of full backup,

transactional logs that are committed to the database are deleted from the server. Perform everyday

4. What is Copy backup?

Copy backup same as the full Backup, except no file marling is performed. Copy backups are used to

archived data that can be stored offsite

5. What is Incremental backup?

Incremental backup performs backup on all selected data which are modifired after last backup. It removes

the archive bit, informs that backup has done on this

6. What is Differential backup?

Differential Backup backups all the selected data created or modified after the last backup. It does not

remove the archive bit. So when you performing differential back up on the next day, if will back up the

whole thing from the last backup

7. What is Daily backup?

Backup all the selected data, which are created or modified on daily basis.


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8. What is Online Backup?

When performing Exchange Server 2003 online backup, all services, including the exchange store, continue

to run normally throughout the backup process. This allows continuing to access their mailboxes during

backup process, whether the backup process is incremental, differential or full backup.

9. Which files are backed up with Online backup?

Following are the files that are copied during the online backup, the .edb, .stm and log files that comprisethe exchange stored. After the online backup done it will check for corruption at the file system level.

10. After performing an online backup which tool you should use to determine whether the

Exchange store is corrupt?

Event viewer is the tool to use to determine whether the exchange store is corrupt. If you see a page read

error, there may be problem with the Database.

11. How to find out the most recent backup time?

Go to the properties of the Database in which you want to know the most recent backup time. On theproperties window it will show the recent backup time

12. What is Offline Backup?

Offline back up is not a recommended solution. To perform a offline backup you must dismount the mailbox

and public folder stores and then backup the database and transactional logs manually. However you may

to perform offline back if online backup fails

13. After performing an offline backup of your Exchange Server, which utility must you use to

check for corruption?

We can use backup logs

14. How to perform an online backup of a storage group?

1. Opening the Backup utility, on the backup and restore wizard click next

2. Select backup all files and settings and click next

3. On what to backup page, browse the Microsoft Exchange server and choose the Storage Group that

you want to backup

4. On the Backup type, destination and name click browse and enter the required information

5. On the completing backup page, click finish

15. What is the advantage of performing an online backup?

1. No need to stop database services

2. Users can access their mailbox during backup process

3. The database corruption is checked during the offline backup

4. The change of data loss is very less

16. How to backup the Exchange Store?

1. Opening the Backup utility, on the backup and restore wizard click next

2. Select backup all files and settings and click next

3. On what to backup page, browse the Microsoft Exchange server and choose the Storage Group that

you want to backup

4. Navigate the particular Mailbox store from the Storage Group and click next


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5. On the Backup type, destination and name click browse and enter the required information

6. On the completing backup page, click finish

17. What are the components of system state data?

System state holds the Active directory data, Microsoft certificate cervices, site replication services etc

18. Can you perform differential or incremental backups on the databases with circular logging

enabled?

We have to take full backup if circular logging is enabled. Because circular logging periodically deletes the

transactional logs

19. What are the methods for Exchange restoration?

Exchange 2003 has some nice features to prevent damage from a disaster or to recover Mailbox items and

mailboxes. Some of these features are:

Deleted item Recovery in Outlook

Mailbox Recovery through Mailbox Recovery Storage Group

Mailbox Recovery through Keep Deleted Mailbox for XX days

Mailbox Recovery Center

20. What are the methods of restoring an offline backup of exchange Database?

There are two methods to restore an offline backup of Exchange databases: a point-in-time

restoration and a roll-forward restoration.

The point-in-time method is used when a database is restored but no log files are replayed into the

database. All the data created after the backup is lost. This method is used to restore from an offline

backup when circular logging is enabled on the Exchange server. As circular logging reuses the log files, not

all files required to update the database are available. To perform restoration by using the point-in-timemethod, an administrator must ensure that the databases to be restored are dismounted and consistent

21. What is recovery storage group?

You can restore Mailbox stores and individual mailboxes to a recovery storage group and then merge them

with the contents of the original stores are mailboxes. You cannot restore a public folder to a recovery

storage group

22. What is Mailbox Recovery Center

The Mailbox Recovery Center is the weapon of choice when you accidentally delete a lot of Mailboxes.

You simply add the Mailbox store in which you have deleted the mailboxes to the Mailbox Recovery Center

and after the process has finished, you can see the deleted Mailboxes.

Mailbox Recovery Center
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Name the restore storage group and the restore logical database so that their name match the original

storage group and logical database names

Create a .pst file and move all data that you need to recover in to the .pst file

Open the .pst file on the original server and move the data back to appropriate location

Recovering messages

Exchange server 2003 performs backup and restore in page level rather than in mailbox level, so you

cannot easily restore individual messages in a mailbox from a backup.

You can allow users to retrieve messages from the delete items folder in outlook or OWA, to do so you have

to set the keep deleted items for certain days in individual user account setting from the Active directory

users and computers

Alternative you can create new mailbox policy using exchange system Manager. To recover deleted mails.

User has to point to the deleted items folder and use the recover deleted items option from the tools menu

in outlook or in OWA


1. What are the types of Exchange policies?

There are two types of Exchange policies:

1. Recipient policies

2. System policies

2. What is System Policy?

A system policy is a collection of configuration settings that you apply to one or more servers, mailboxstores, or public folder stores. For example, to enable storage limits for your mailbox stores, you can define

a single policy and apply them to all mailbox stores in your administrative group.

3. What are the types of System Policies?

System policies are policies that control the configuration settings for Exchange server and information

store objects. System policies reside in the System Policies container. You can create and apply three types

of system policies:

1. Mailbox store policies

2. Public store policies

3. Server policies

4. What is Mailbox Store Policy?

Mail box store policies allow you to configure settings across mailbox stores. Like storage limits etc

5. What is Public folder store policy?

Public folder store policies allow you to configure settings across public folder stores. Like setting storage

limits on public folder store or individual public folder

6. What is Server policy?

Server policies allow you to enable message tracking options on servers.


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7. What is Recipient Policy?

Recipient policy is the quick and effective way of defining different email address for users in your

organization

8. What are the types of Recipient Policies?

There are two types of Recipient policies, Mailbox Management policy and Email Address policy

9. What are the ways to apply mailbox storage limits?

We can create a Mailbox storage limits settings by

1. Setting storage limits on individual mailbox stores

2. Setting storage limits by using mailbox store policies

10. Does the mailbox store policy override any mailbox storage limits that have been directly

configured on the mailbox stores?

Yes, the mailbox store policies override any mailbox storage limits that have been directly configured on

the mailbox stores

11. Can we manually configure mailbox store limits directly on an individual mailbox if mailbox

store policy is applied?

No we cant do this. If we apply the mailbox store policy, the controls for individual users storage limits will

be disabled like this figure

12. What is Email Addresses Policy?

Email Address Policy is to change the Email Address for a particular user or a group or the whole exchange

organization.

This policy will be used when two companies are merging and they want to have different E-mail ID for

some reasons

13. How to create the System Policy container?

First we have to enable the Display administrative group from the properties of Exchange organization

Point to the Administrative Group, right click and select new to create a New System policy container
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14. How to create the Mailbox Store Policy, Public Folder Store Policy or Server Policy?

Create a system policy container on the Administrative group

Point to the system policy container, from here we can create a New Mailbox store policy, public folder

policy or server policy

15. Which mailbox store properties can be controlled using mailbox store policy?

We can control the below properties

Default offline Address list

Default public folder

Enable or disable S\MIME setting

Storage limits

Deletion settings

Database maintenance setting16. Which public folder store properties can be controlled using public folder store policy?

We can also have control on

Enable or disable S\MIME setting
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Storage limits

Deletion settings

Database maintenance setting

17. Which server properties can be controlled using server policy?

We can control subject logging and message tracking in server policy properties window

18. How to access the Recipient Policies?

On the Exchange System Manager, point to the recipient container and from there point to Recipient

policies

19. Which options are available with Mailbox Manager Settings (Policy)?

Following figure shows the available options for Mailbox Manager setting policy

20. How to remove the system policy from an object?

After the mailbox store policy is applied to the mailbox stores, you can no longer use the property pages of

the object to modify the settings controlled by the policy. To change the settings on the object, you must

either modify the policy or remove the policy.

To remove the mailbox store policy from a mailbox store:

1. Use Exchange System Manager and navigate to the system policy object in the system policy

container.
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2. In the properties of the system policy object, right-click the object that you want to remove from the

system policy.

3. Select Remove from policy

Removing a system policy from an object doesnt remove the applied settings to the object. To override a

mailbox store policy, you can override policy settings manually on each mailbox or move the users to a

different mailbox store that has the other settings applied to it.


This chapter discuss the interview questions and answers on Public Folders

1. What is Public Folder?

Public folder is a collaboration feature of Microsoft Exchange Server that creates a repository of information

that is accessible to any user who has been granted permission to the folder. A public folder can contain

mail items calendar item, task items or custom forms

2. What is Default Public Folder Tree?

The default public folder tree is automatically created by the setup program when you install the first

exchange server 2003 and create your organization. It is listed as public folders in Exchange system

Manager as public folder and it is displayed as all public folders in outlook

3. How the Default Public Folder Tree is listed in Exchange System Manager and Outlook?

Default Public Folder is listed as public folders in Exchange system Manager as public folder and it is

displayed as all public folders in outlook

4. What protocols can clients use to access the default public folder tree in Exchange Server

2003?

Client can use MAPI clients or NNTP or HTTP protocols to access the default public folder tree

5. What is General-purpose public folder tree?

General-Purpose public folder trees are additional public folders that you can create. Similar to default

public folder tree, the general purpose public folder tree is replicated to each exchange server running

Exchange 2000 or later that contains public folder store that associated with that tree.

6. What is the use of general purpose public folder store?

The general purpose of public folder tree is to store custom application

Another purpose of general public folder tree is to make the public folder available to users outside the

exchange organization

7. What protocols can clients use to access the General-purpose public folder tree in Exchange

Server 2003?

This did not support MAPI clients. So it is not accessible to outlook users. Access only by NNTP or HTTP

protocols

8. What are the steps involved in configuring Public Folder replication?

In order to setup replication for the additional public folder,


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First you have to create a public store on the destination server that holds the replica.

When you configure the public store, you associate the public folder store with public folder tree.

Even though you associate the public folder store to existing public folder tree, this by itself it wont enable

replication.

Once you have public store on the destination server, you can configure public folder to replicate to other

server

9. How does Public folder replication occur?

Exchange server 2003 uses multi master replication model, which means that all replicas of the public

folder are equal and contain the same content. A replica copied from one server to another will be a

separate instance of public folder and its content, because of this there is no master replica, which means

modifications to one replica will be replicated to other replicas equally.

Exchange Information Store service is the primary mechanism used for public folder replication; it is not the

only mechanism at work. Active Directory uses a replication method of its own to keep domain controllers

synchronized with each other. This replication occurs at the Windows operating system level and iscompletely independent of Exchange Server.

10. Can Public folder be accessed using a uniform resource locator (URL)?

Yes we can access public folder via URL, example http://servername/virtualdirectory

11. What are the Exchange Public folder permission types?

Following are the Exchange server public folder permissions

Client permission enables you to control the permission of users who are accessing the public folder

Directory rights enables you to control which user can manipulate a mail enabled public folder object

that is stored in AD

Administrative rights enables you to assign administrative permission to administrator to run

administrative utilities

12. Which services control the Public folder replication process?

Exchange Information Store service is the primary mechanism used for public folderreplication Recipient update service controls the recipient replication process

Note: Although the Exchange Information Store service is the primary mechanism used for public folder

replication, it is not the only mechanism at work. Active Directory uses a replication method of its own to

keep domain controllers synchronized with each other. This replication occurs at the Windows operating

system level and is completely independent of Exchange Server. Active Directory replication occurs even if

Exchange Server is not installed on the forest

13. Which processes are involved in Public Folder Replication?

Exchange Information Store service is the primary mechanism used for public folder replication; it is not theonly mechanism at work. Active Directory uses a replication method of its own to keep domain controllers

synchronized with each other. This replication occurs at the Windows operating system level and is

completely independent of Exchange Server. Active Directory replication occurs even if Exchange Server is

not installed on the forest
http://servername/virtualdirectoryhttp://servername/virtualdirectory


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14. How to create the General Purpose Public folder tree?

You can have as many General Purpose Public Folder tree as necessary though you must associate the

public folder tree with the public folder store in order to use it

First you have to create a public folder tree using exchange system manger

Second you have to create a public folder store

Third you have to associate the store with the public folder tree.

15. How to create a full-text indexing on a public folder?

Expand the First administrative Group, navigate through server, first

16. What is the use of public store policy?

Storage limits and public folder replication settings can be configured through public store policy, through

and individual public store, or through individual public folders

17. What is public folder referral?

When a user connects to a public folder store and the store does not contain the copy of the contentment

the user is requesting exchange server 2003 automatically redirects the user to the server where theoriginal content resides. This is known as Public folder referral. Usually the public folder referrals with takes

place within the routing groups


1. What is Front-end Server?

A Front-End server is a Microsoft Exchange server 2003 configuration where servers are used for

authentication and fault tolerance.

2. What is Back-end Server?

A Back-End server is a Microsoft Exchange server 2003 configuration where servers are used to hold the

users data. There is no special configuration to designate a server as a Backend server.

3. What are the advantages of Front End and Backend architecture?

1. Unified Name Space can have single name space for multiple exchange servers

2. Reduced over head for SSL

3. Firewall place the Back-end behind the firewall and allow only traffic from frontend

4. How to increase security of the communications between your front- and back-end Exchange

servers?

We can increase the security of communication between your frontend and Back-end Exchange Server by

placing the Backend behind the firewall and allow only traffic from Front End
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5. Which services must be disabled to increase the security of front-end servers?

Recipient Update services, offline address lists, the mailbox management service, and the free busy

services are not supported on front end server

6. Which server can be used in place of a front-end server?

ISA server can be used in place of a Front End Server

7. Which is the best clustering Technology for frontend and backend server?

Front-end best work with Network load balancing and Backend best works with the cluster services

8. How to configure Exchange Server 2003 to run as a front end server?

In the Exchange server, remove the Recipient update service and default offline Address list. On the server

container right click the server which you want to designate as a Front end server and go to properties and

designate the server by selecting this is a front end server. Click ok and finish

9. Does Exchange Server 2003 front-end server support Exchange 2000 back-end server?

Yes, Exchange Server 2003 front-end server support Exchange 2000 back-end server

10. Does Exchange 2000 front-end server support an Exchange Server 2003 back-end server?

Exchange 2000 Server can be used only as a back-end server in a front-end and back-end configuration.

However, Exchange 2000 Enterprise Server can be used as a front-end server or a back-end server in a

front-end and back-end configuration

11. What all ports are required by front-end server to communicate with back-end servers?

443 for HTTPS

993 for SSL-enabled IMAP

995 for SSL-enabled POP

25 for SMTP (including TLS)

12. What are the steps involved in troubleshooting front-end and back-end servers?

1. Make sure that all the appropriate services are started on the front-end and back-end servers. This

includes the relevant Exchange services in addition to the World Wide Web Publishing service and SMTP

service,

2. If you have a perimeter network, make sure that the appropriate ports are opened

3. Ensure that the front-end server can successfully connect to the global catalog servers and DNS server.

4. If you cannot connect to the back-end server from the front-end server using the hostname with any

protocol, try to use the IP address. If this works, verify that you can connect to the DNS server the front-end

server is using. Also verify that the name to IP mapping is correct in DNS.

5. If the front-end server is configured with the list of domain controllers and global catalog servers in the

registry, verify that the front-end can reach each of those servers exactly as specified in the registry entry.

6. Make sure that the combination of IP address and host header is unique for each virtual server.


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7. If you have a load balancing solution for the front-end servers, make sure that the shared IP can be

reached from client computers.

8. Administration: If you want to use Exchange System Manager, ensure that the System Attendant service

is running. Also recall that you cannot use the Internet Services Manager after deleting the stores on the

front-end server.

9. If users complain that the state of read and unread messages in public folders fluctuates, consider the

following:

Was a back-end public folder server added or removed?

Is authentication enabled on the front-end?

Are any back-ends that host the folder down?

13. Which port is used by front-end server to communicate with back-end server?

All communication between the Front-end and Back-end server are TCP port 80, regardless of the port used

for communication between the client computer and the front end server

14. What needs to be created on Exchange front-end server for SMTP access to the Exchange

organization?

SMTP must be available on the front-end server to allow POP and IMAP clients to submit e-mail messages.

You can install SMTP on the front-end server or set up a separate SMTP server. To install SMTP on the front-

end server, configure SMTP for internal and external domains

Mail for Internal Domains

For the front-end server to accept mail that is inbound from the Internet, the front-end server needs to

know the domains for which it should accept mail. Adding recipient policies for each of your domains tells

all servers in the Exchange organization to accept mail for those domains. Additionally, you must enable

anonymous access for other SMTP servers on the Internet to successfully route mail to your organization

(this is the default setting).

Mail for External Domains

In the default configuration, any SMTP mail that is submitted to your server and addressed to external

domains is denied. This occurs because relaying is turned off for all anonymous access (however,

authenticated users can still send e-mail to any external domain). Users who try to anonymously submit e-

mail to external domains receive an error, such as "550 5.7.1 Unable to relay for [email protected]." The

clients must be configured to use SMTP authentication.

15. What are the important Services that should run on Frontend server?

It depends on the services that we want the frontend server to function

WWW

POP3

Exchange system attend

Exchange Information store

IMAP4

16. What is Smart Host?

A Smart host is a common term for a server that accepts outbound mail and passes it on to a recipient
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Smart host are used to connect Exchange Server to an external messaging system. Typical use of a smart

host involves relaying outbound SMTP email to a Non-Exchange SMTP host in perimeter networks, or to ISP

or hosted service that may offer functionality like mail relaying and spam and virus scanning

17. What are the considerations for deploying front end and backend server?

Do not cluster Frontend servers

One front-end server is reasonable for every four back-end servers. However, this number is

provided only as a suggested ratio and starting point Load balancing is suitable for front end servers

Encrypt the communication between Frontend and Backend by IPSec


1. What are the tools to monitor Exchange Server 2003?

Following are the Tools to Monitor Exchange Server 2003

Event Viewer Exchange Specific events are logged in application logs

Performance Monitor - view real-time Exchange server statistics Exchange System Manager enable Protocol logging for virtual server instance

Message Tracking center view the message flow

Monitoring and status tool monitor servers and connectors

Message queue viewer view messages waiting to be delivered

MBSA analyze security settings

2. What is the tool to diagnose queue problems?

Queue viewer is the Tool to diagnose queue problems. The queue viewer shows the protocol, queue state,

and the number of messages in the queue.

3. Where is Queue viewer located?

Queue viewer located at the Server container, following figure shows the diagram

4. What are the types of logs provided in the Event Viewer?

Application Log - events logged by applications or programs

System Log - events logged by the Windows operating system components

Security log - security events such as valid and invalid logon attempts

Directory Service log - Server directory service logs events

File replication service log logs replication of files

DNS Server service log - events related to the Domain Name System (DNS) Server service

5. What are the types of Events?

Error - significant problem, such as loss of data or loss of functionality

Warning - not necessarily significant, but may indicate a possible future problem

Information - event that describes the successful operation of an application, driver, or service

Success Audit - audited security access attempt that succeeds
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Failure Audit - audited security access attempt that fails

6. What are the types of events for Security log?

The Security log can record security events such as valid and invalid logon attempts as well as events

related to resource use, such as creating, opening, or deleting files. An administrator can specify what

events are recorded in the Security log.

7. Where are Exchange Monitors located?

Following figure shows the location of Exchange Monitor

8. Which additional items can be added for monitoring in Exchange Monitors?

We can configure Notifications and also we can see the status of the exchange servers that are running

by using the Monitoring and status tool

9. Where is Exchange Notification located?

Exchange Notifications are located at Monitoring and Status tool on the Tools container in Exchange System

Manager

10. What are the types of notifications?

Two types of Notification we can configure, they are

E-Mail Notification

Script Notification

11. What is Exchange Diagnostics logging?

Enable diagnostic logging for a server in Exchange System Manager to send Exchange event information to

the Event Viewer.

Enable diagnostic logging to log events related to authentication, connections, and client actions.

When troubleshooting, activate the category specific to the problem at a medium or maximum level.

Use Event Viewer to view the logged information.

Disable logging when not needed to improve performance and reduce the amount of information sent to

the Event Viewer

12. How to configure the Exchange Diagnostics logging?

1. Open Exchange System Manager.

2. Locate the Exchange server that you want to configure.3. Right click the Exchange server and select Properties from the shortcut menu.

4. Click the Diagnostics Logging tab.

5. In the Services area of the tab, click service.
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6. Select the appropriate entry in the Category area of the tab.

13. What are the four levels of logging available in Exchange Diagnostics Logging?

None - only critical events and error events are recorded.

Minimum - one entry is logged for each key task performed by the service.

Medium- for each action needed to execute a task, entries are logged.

Maximum - entries are logged for each line of code. The Maximum logging level should be enabled

only when you need comprehensive debugging information. This is due to the impact this logging level

has on server performance.

14. Where is System Monitor located?

System Monitor: The System Monitor utility is the main tool for monitoring system performance. System

Monitor can track various processes on your Windows system in real time. The utility uses a graphical

display that you can use to view current, or log data. You can determine resource usage by monitoring

trends. System Monitor can be displayed in a graph, histogram, or report format. System Monitor uses

objects, counters and instances to monitor the system.

Located in Performance Monitor on Administrative Tools container

15. What are the Useful Memory Counters to Monitor in System Monitor?

Pages/sec

Page faults/sec

Page inputs/sec

Page outputs/sec

Write copies/sec

16. What are the Useful Processor Counters to Monitor in System Monitor?

Process total

Process Interrupt

%Idle Time

% user Time

17. What are Performance logs and alerts?

Performance Logs and Alerts: By using the Performance Logs And Alerts tool included in the Performance

console, you can track the performance of the server by creating counter logs, trace logs, and defining

alerts.

Counter Logs: Counter logs collect data on the selected counters once a predefined interval has passed.

A few features of counter logs are listed below:
https://w17mma.bay.livefilestore.com/y1mbyRtWmVVuMvzdyyZ8mASmIcg444kENHZOW6uB6t14E-icMlHj8J0Dr4No-1Z4IoBoORR6THBvb3GDpU4udZSiF43YKTLPtcdT_IxK1WDKABLIfR3o0LuLmpuZlijEiyrOVYvGSjHltESziizAabyCA/clip_image008%5B3%5D%200E78278F.jpg


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Collect performance data on the activities of system services.

Collect performance data on hardware usage.

Manually log data.

Trace Logs: Trace logs differ to counter logs in that trace logs monitors data constantly and then records

performance data when a specific event occurs. The collected data is written to a trace log file.

Alerts: You can configure alerts to be generated when a predefined counter reaches, exceeds or falls

beneath a defined threshold or value. When you configure alerts, you can specify that the following actions

occur when an alert condition is met:

18. What is the use of Nslookup?

NSLookup is to Query a DNS domain name server to lookup and find IP address information of computers in

the internet, like MX record details

19. What is the command to locate a SMTP server for a particular domain or to determine if the

MX records have been configured properly in DNS

To verify this use the below commands

NSLOOKUP

Set q =MX

20. How to identify if the problem is with smart host or exchange server?

Smart host are used to relay the mails outside of your exchange organization, if any problem in sending

mails outside and we can send mails within the organization then there is problem with smart host.

21. What could be the problem if incoming mail queue is becoming unmanageably large?

A large number of SMTP queues may indicate that there is either a denial of service attack, a lot of spam

that is leaving the server, or an Internet connection that may be down.

22. What are the counters to diagnose whether a global catalog server is the cause of a

lengthening incoming mail queue?

MSExchangeDSAccess Processes is the counters to diagnose whether a global catalog server is the

cause of a lengthening incoming mail queue

23. What is command to run dcdiag from another member server to check domain controllerdiagnosis?

Dcdiag /test:DNS /s:TargetDCName /v /f:LogFileName

24. Which tests are performed by dcdiag?

DNS: Checks the health of Domain Name System (DNS) settings for the enterprise.

CheckSecurityError: Locates security errors or errors that might be related to security problems, and

performs initial diagnosis of the problems.

25. What is ISinteg ?


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Isinteg is a command-line tool that analyzes and makes some repairs to the Exchange databases.

Use Isinteg for problems similar to the following:

Users are continuously connecting to their mailboxes and keep getting disconnected.

Users report corruption within their mailboxes.

Users report error messages that are associated with the database not being able to be mounted.

26. What is ESutil ?

Eseutil is more powerful than Isinteg for repairing problems in the database. When using Eseutil:

Dismount the stores you want to analyze. The Information Store must still be running.

Common options with Eseutil include:

/d to perform an offline defragmentation.

/r to perform a database recovery.

/g to check database integrity.

/p to repair a database.27. What is the use of Ping?

You can use the Ping command to perform several useful Internet network diagnostic tests, such as the

following

Access - You can use Ping to see if you can reach another computer

Distance & Time - You can use the Ping command to determine how long it takes to bounce a packet off

of another site, which tells you its Internet distance in network terms

Domain IP Address - You can use the Ping command to probe either a domain name or an IP address. If

you ping a domain name, it helpfully displays the corresponding IP address in the response.

28. What is the use of Tracert?

Trace route command determine how packets are travel between your computer and the destination. Trace

provides a quick response

29. What is the use of Pathping?

Path PING its same as that of trace route which determine how packets travel between your computer andthe destination. Path ping provides a more detailed and reliable analysis of network performance.

30. What is the use of Telnet?

Telnet is a program to let you login to another computer on the Internet in order to use typed commands

31. Which tests are performed by netdiag?

Gathers static network information and tests the network driver, protocol driver, send/receive capability,

and well-known target accessibility.

Can be used by network administrators in conjunction with the Scheduler Service, to generate reports at

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32. Which switch is used with netdiag to display only errors and warnings?

To run the tool, you must

Open a command prompt, change to the folder containing the extracted files and run the tool from

there.

All these diagnostic tools run from a command prompt,

you can't just double-click them.

Netdiag /q show the quiet output (error and warnings only)

33. How to install the Network Monitor tool?

To install the Windows version of Network Monitor,

1. Open the Control Panel and select the Add / Remove Programs option. Next, click the Add / Remove

Windows Components button to launch the Windows Components wizard.

2. Scroll through the list of components until you locate the Management and Monitoring Tools option.

3. Select the Management and Monitoring Tools option and click the Details button.

4. Select the Network Monitor Tools option and click Next.5. Windows will now begin the installation process.

6. You may be prompted to insert your Windows installation CD.

7. Click Finish to complete the installation process.

34. What is the use of Network Monitor?

It allows you to monitor any machine on your network and to determine which users are consuming the

most bandwidth. You can also use the SMS version of Network Monitor to determine which protocols are

using the most bandwidth on the network, locate network routers, and resolve device names into MAC

addresses.

Ability to capture, edit, and retransmit a packet. This functionality is used by hackers when performing areplay attack.

35. What is DcDiag?

DCDiag command-line tool analyzes the state of domain controllers in a forest or enterprise and reports any

problems to assist in troubleshooting

36. What is NetDiag?

This is a command-line diagnostic tool helps to isolate networking and connectivity problems by performinga series of tests to determine the state of your network client. These tests and the key network status

information they expose give network administrators and support personnel a more direct means of

identifying and isolating network problems. Moreover, because this tool does not require parameters or

switches to be specified, support personnel and network administrators can focus on analyzing the output

rather than on training users how to use the tool.


1. Name some Exchange Server 2003 clients

Outlook 2000/2003

Outlook Web Access.

Outlook Mobile Access.

RPC over Http/Https.

2. What is Outlook Web Access (OWA)?


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Outlook Web Access 2003 (known as OWA 2003) allows you to gain access to your messages, calendars,

contacts, tasks and public folders from any computer with internet access. OWA 2003 has many added

features which allow for improved performance, better security and a fresh new look.

3. How to access OWA?

Open your browser and type in the following address:

https://DomainName/exchange

4. How OWA works?

1. The client issues a HTTP request using browser using URL.

2. The DNS resolves the request and forward to the IIS server.

3. The HTTP request flows across the network to the IIS server.

4. Exchange registers itself with IIS as a valid application, so when a request is received byHTTP client

IIS redirect the request to application. Davex.dll is an ISAPI extension thatincludes the functions

necessary to communicate with the Store. Exchange also registersDavex.dll with IIS as the

component to handle all incoming requests for the Exchange application.

5. Davex.dll checks the request and contacts the Store through the epoxy inter process communication

channel. Communication goes to the HTTP epoxy stub. Eproxy does notuse RPC.

6. The HTTP epoxy stub communicates with Store using exoledb.dll to get the necessary information

from the Store.

7. After getting information from Store the reverse path is followed and client gets itsmailbox on

browser.

5. What are the limitations of OWA?

We cant access offline address list

A lot of attachments have to be saved to the local drive first, in order to be able to open them.

Adding recipients when sending an E-mail is a pain. You cannot work offline.

6. What is RPC over HTTP?

The RPC over HTTP protocol allows your full Outlook 2003 MAPI clients to connect to Exchange 2003

Servers using HTTP/HTTPS. This solves the problem remote Outlook 2003 users have when located behind

restrictive firewalls.

By using RPC over HTTP, users no longer have to use a virtual private network (VPN) connection to connect

to Exchange mailboxes. Users who are running Outlook 2003 on client computers can connect to an

Exchange server in a corporate environment from the Internet. The Windows RPC over HTTP feature

enables an RPC client such as Outlook 2003 to establish connections across the Internet by tunneling theRPC traffic over HTTP.

7. What are the requirements to use RPC over HTTP?

Server Requirement

RPC over HTTP/S requires Windows Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2003. RPC over HTTP/S also requires

Windows Server 2003 in a Global Catalog role.

Client Requirement

The client computer must be running Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 1 (SP1) or later.

The client computer must be running Microsoft Office Outlook 2003.
https://domainname/exchangehttps://domainname/exchange


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8. What is the procedure to configure RPC over HTTP?

Verify that your server computer and your client computer meet the requirements to use RPC over HTTP/S.

Configure Exchange to use RPC over HTTP/S.

Configure the RPC virtual directory in Internet Information Services.

Configure the RPC proxy server to use specific ports.

Configure your client computers to use RPC over HTTP/S

9. Why you must create an additional Outlook profile for RPC over HTTP connections?

For users to use RPC over HTTP from their client computer, they must create an outlook profile that uses

the required RPC over HTTP settings. These settings enable SSL communication with Basic Authentication,

which is required when using RPC over HTTP

10. How to prepare an Exchange Server 2003 computer to support RPC over HTTP?

Configure Exchange to use RPC over HTTPS.

Configure the RPC virtual directory in Internet Information Services.

Configure the RPC proxy server to use specific ports.

11. What is Exchange recipient?

In Exchange, the term recipient refers to an Active Directory object that is mailbox-enabled or mail-enabled.

Mailbox-enabled recipients can send, receive, and store messages. Mail-enabled recipients can only receive

messages.

12. What are the types of Exchange recipient objects?

1. Mailbox-enabled recipients

2. Mail-enabled

3. Contacts

4. Resource mailbox

13. What is a mailbox-enabled object?

Users can log on to networks and access domain resources. Users can be added to groups and appear in

the global address list (GAL).

Mailbox-enabled users can send and receive messages and store messages on their Exchange server.

14. What is mail-enabled object?

Mail-enabled users can receive messages at an external e-mail address only. They cannot send or store

messages on Exchange.

15. What is Encryption?

Encryption refers to algorithmic schemes that encode plain text into non-readable form or cyphertext,

providing privacy. The receiver of the encrypted text uses a "key" to decrypt the message, returning it to

its original plain text form. The key is the trigger mechanism to the algorithm.

16. What is the purpose of Digital Signatures?


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Digital signatures are used to digitally sign the messages and encrypt them. Digital signatures provide

authentication, non repudiation and data integrity. Encryption keeps message contents confidential

17. How to verify that S/MIME is supported by mailbox store so that users are able to store

encrypted or digitally signed messages?

1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.

2. Click Administrative Groups,

3. Click Administrative Group,4. Click Servers, click servername,

5. Click Storage Group,

6. Right click either the Mailbox Storeor the Public Folder Store, and then click Properties.

7. On the properties page, verify that the Clients support S/MIME signatures check box is selected.

18. What is the use of Key Recovery Agent?

We need to enable a Key Recovery Agent. A Key Recovery Agent is a highly trusted person which is

responsible for recovering lost or damaged archived certificates for users.

We must issue a Key Recovery Agent certificate for this user. To do this:

1. Start the Windows 2003 CA console

2. Issue a new template named Key Recovery Agent

3. Request this certificate for the user who becomes the Key Recovery Agent

4. Manually Issue the Key Recovery Agent Certificate at the CA

19. How to configure Outlook to enable Digital Signatures and Encryption?

Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Office, and then click Microsoft Office Outlook

2003.

Click Tools, and then click Options.

Click on the Security tab and click Settings.

Outlook populates the Change Security Settings dialog box with default information. Click OKto accept

the defaults.

20. What are the components of PKI?

Certification Authorities - Provide services that authenticate the identity of individuals, computers, and

other entities in a network. This encompasses both root certification authorities and subordinate

authorities.

Documents

Exchange Server 2003 Interview Q