Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 Interview Question

Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 Interview Question

1. What are Exchange Sever 2013 and its evolution?

Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 is an email, calendaring, and address book system that runs on a centralized Windows Server system

Exchange 4.0 – 5.0 – 5.5 – 2000 – 2003 – 2007 – 2010- 2013

2. What are the new features in Exchange server 2013

PFs do take advantage of the existing high availability and storage technologies of the mailbox store, using specially designed mailboxes to store both the hierarchy (the properties of the PFs and the structure in which they are organized) and the content (the actual data) of PFs.

•  Site Mailbox was introduced in Exchange 2013

•  Exchange Administration Center was introduced.

•  New Managed Store completely rewritten in C# was introduced.

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj150540%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

http://www.msexchange.org/articles-tutorials/exchange-server-2013/planning-architecture/exchange-2013-preview-publicfolders-part1.html

3. What are the features removed from Exchange 2013 compared to legacy version of Exchange server

•  Exchange Management console was removed.

•  Removal of storage group.

•  Extensible Storage Engine (ESE) streaming backup APIs

•  User Datagram Protocol (UDP) notifications

•  Document Access, Message Flag, Spell Check, Search folder are removed from Outlook Web App

•  Client authentication using Integrated Windows authentication (NTLM) for POP3 and IMAP4 users

•  Managed Folder

•  Export-Mailbox, Import-Mailbox & Move-Mailbox cmdlets

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj619283%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

4. What are the feature still remains in Exchange Server 2013 that have not got removed out.

 Microsoft still use Jet EDB Database Structure

 Exchange 2013 still uses the VSSBackup application programming for backup

5. How many roles are there in Exchange Server 2013

 There are two roles In Exchange Server 2013.

1. Client Access Server Role and

2 . Mailbox Server Role

 There are three roles In Exchange Server 2013 SP1.

1. Client Access Server Role and

2 . Mailbox Server Role

3. Edge Server Role

6. What are different edition in Exchange Server 2010 and how do you find them

Two server editions:
Standard Edition
Enterprise Edition.

The Exchange server edition can be find using the build number. PowerShell command : Get-ExchangeServer | ft identity, admin*

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb232170%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

7. What is the latest service pack or patch available in Exchange server 2013.

 Exchange Server 2013 Service Pack 1 which got released on Feb 25 2014

8. List the Exchange server 2013 SP1 License Types

 Server licenses A license must be assigned for each instance of the server software that is being run. The Server license is sold in two server editions: Standard Edition and Enterprise Edition.

 Client Access licenses (CALs) Exchange 2013 also comes in two client access license (CAL) editions, which are referred to as a Standard CAL and an Enterprise CAL.

Ref: http://office.microsoft.com/en-in/exchange/microsoft-exchange-server-licensing-licensing-overview-FX103746915.aspx

9. What are the prerequisites needed to install exchange Server 2013 SP1 (CPU, Memory, Disk & OS )

 Microsoft Operating System: Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2008 R2 with

Service Pack 1 (SP1) operating system

•  Components:

o Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5

o Windows Management Framework 4.0

o Remote Tools Administration Pack

o ADLDS for Exchange Server 2013 Edge Server Role

•  Memory

o Mailbox 8GB minimum

o Client Access 4GB minimum

o Mailbox and Client Access combined 8GB minimum

o Edge Transport 4GB minimum

•  Disk space

o At least 30 GB on the drive on which you install Exchange

o An additional 500 MB of available disk space for each Unified Messaging (UM) language pack

o 200 MB of available disk space on the system drive

o A hard disk that stores the message queue database on with at least 500 MB of free space.

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb691354%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

10. Where Exchange Server stores the Exchange related information in Active Directory

 Domain Partition – Mail enable recipient, groups and contact related to domain level are stored

 Configuration Partition – Stores the Exchange configuration information like, policies, global settings, address list, connecters and it contains the information related to forest level

 Schema Partition – stores the Exchange specific classes and attributes

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa998561%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

11. What are the types of Active Directory deployment that server supported in Exchange Server 2013 deployment

 Single Forest

 Multi Forest

 Resource Forest

12. Difference between Exchange 2013 on-premises, Online, office 365 and Windows Azure Powershell

The Exchange Online is able to manage the users and permission of Exchange service. The Office 365 (Windows Azure AD) is to manage the whole Office 365 service. Windows Azure can use to manage users, domain and other things which will affect the whole Office 365 service. It is not able to be used to manage Exchange service, Lync service and SharePoint service. To manage Exchange service, you need to use Exchange Online PowerShell to perform the activity.

Ref:http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2012/09/19/comparing-exchange-online-and-exchange-server-2013.aspx

http://community.office365.com/en-us/forums/148/t/193946.aspx

13. List out the purpose of running prepare schema and prepare AD switches in Exchange server 2013

 Prepare Schema – After running the Prepare Schema switch, the Active directory will contain the classes and attributes required to support Exchange environment

 Prepare AD – after running the Prepare AD switch, new container will be created to hold the details of the information from server to databases to connectors. This process also created universal security groups to manage Exchange and sets appropriate permissions on objects to allow them to be managed

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb125224%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

14. What happened to HT, UM and Edge role in Exchange Server 2013

 The hub transport role and unified message role are splited on the Client access server role and mailbox server role to perform the complete operation. Edge Server was launched again in the Exchange server 2013 service pack 1

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/jj851175.aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj150569%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

15. How many user databases and recovery databases are supported in Exchange server 2013

 Enterprise Edition can support 50 mounted databases per server in the Release to Manufacturing (RTM) and (CU1) versions, and 100 mounted databases per server in (CU2) and later versions; Standard Edition is limited to 5 mounted databases per server

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb232170%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

16. What is the change in the MAPI connectivity with Exchange Server 2013

 Microsoft removed MAPI over RPC in Exchange Server 2013 and they used RPC over HTTP. The also introduced MAPI Over HTTP in Exchange 2013 SP1 which works if you have Outlook 2013 SP1

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn635177%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb123741%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

17. What is the purpose of Autodiscover service & Availability Service?

 Auto discover service— The Autodiscover service does the following:

o Automatically configures user profile settings for clients running Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, Outlook 2010, or Outlook 2013, as well as supported mobile phones.

o Provides access to Exchange features for Outlook 2007, Outlook 2010, or Outlook 2013 clients that are connected to your Exchange messaging environment.

o Uses a user's email address and password to provide profile settings to Outlook 2007, Outlook 2010, or

Outlook 2013 clients and supported mobile phones. If the Outlook client is joined to a domain, the user's domain account is used.

 Availability service—The Availability service is the replacement for Free/Busy functionality responsible for making a user’s calendar availability visible to other users making meeting requests.

o Retrieve current free/busy information for Exchange 2013 mailboxes

o Retrieve current free/busy information from other Exchange 2013 organizations

o Retrieve published free/busy information from public folders for mailboxes on servers that have previous versions of Exchange

o View attendee working hours

o Show meeting time suggestions

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124251%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb232134%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

18. What are the DNS host record required to receiving email from the internet

 A mail exchange (MX) record that contains information about which mail server the domain uses to receive mail.

19. Explain the list of files will be there under Exchange 2013 database folder

 *.edb File - A mailbox database is stored as an Exchange database (.edb) file.

 Checkpoint file .chk, keeps track of which transactional logs moves into database files. Keep on check the log file entering the database in a current order

 Transactional log – eoo.log file which write the current transactions into transactional logs. If it reaches 1 MB, it will rename the log file into E00000001.log

 Temp.EDB – Temporary database file, which will process the transactional logs that are to be to write in .EDB Database file

 .JRS – Reserved Log files – if the size of the disk is full and you can’t write any mails as transactional logs these files will help into action

20. What you mean by database portability

 Database portability is a feature that enables a Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 mailbox database to be moved to or mounted on any other Mailbox server in the same organization running Exchange 2013 that has databases with the same database schema version. Mailbox databases from previous versions of Exchange can't be moved to a Mailbox server running Exchange 2013. By using database portability, reliability is improved by removing several error-prone, manual steps from the recovery processes. In addition, database portability reduces the overall recovery times for various failure scenarios.

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd876873%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

21. What is the purpose of DAC?

 DAC mode is used to control the startup database mount behavior of a DAG. When DAC mode isn't enabled and a failure occurs that affects multiple servers in the DAG, and then when a majority of the DAG members are restored after the failure, the DAG will restart and attempt to mount databases. In a multi-datacenter configuration, this behavior could cause split brain syndrome, a condition that occurs when all networks fail, and DAG members can't receive heartbeat signals from each other. Split brain syndrome can also occur when network connectivity is severed between datacenters. Split brain syndrome is prevented by always requiring a majority of the DAG members (and in the case of DAGs with an even number of members, the DAG's witness server) to be available and interacting for the DAG to be operational. When a majority of the members are communicating, the DAG is said to have quorum.

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd979790%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

22. How to check backup is completed successfully for the Exchange 2013 mailbox database

 Powershell Command - Get-Mailboxdatabase -status | Format-List Identity, *backup*

23. What is the purpose of site mailbox in Exchange server 2013

 Site mailbox requires Exchange 2013 and Sharepoint 2013 which has the functionally of shared storage through an Exchange 2013 mailbox for email messages and a SharePoint 2013 site for documents, and a management interface that addresses provisioning.

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj150499%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

24. What is the change on public folder in Exchange Server 2013

 Public folder uses specially designed mailboxes to store both the public folder hierarchy and the content. This also means that there’s no longer a public folder database. High availability for the public folder mailboxes is provided by a database availability group (DAG).

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj150538%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

25. Explain the mail flow in Exchange server 2013

The below diagram provides more detail on the mail flow in Exchange server 2013. To have more detail look on

http://blogs.technet.com/b/rischwen/archive/2013/03/13/exchange-2013-mail-flow-demystified-hopefully.aspx

26. What is S/MIME certificate and how to send email using S/MIME certificate

 S/MIME (Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions)used for users to encrypt outgoing messages and attachments so that only intended recipients who have a digital identification (ID), also known as a certificate, can read them. With S/MIME, users can digitally sign a message, which provides the recipients with a way to verify the identity of the sender and that the message hasn't been tampered with.

 Setting up S/MIME for Outlook Web App needs Exchange 2013 SP1 which can be configured using Powershell command

Get-SmimeConfig and Set-SmimeConfig

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb738140%28v=exchg.141%29.aspx

http://office.microsoft.com/en-in/mac-outlook-help/send-a-digitally-signed-or-encrypted-message-HA102928381.aspx

27. What is RBAC and list out the management role present in Exchange Server 2013

 Role Based Access Control (RBAC) is the permissions model used in Microsoft Exchange Server 2013. With RBAC, you don't need to modify and manage access control lists (ACLs), which was done in Exchange Server 2007. ACLs created several challenges in Exchange 2007, such as modifying ACLs without causing unintended consequences, maintaining ACL modifications through upgrades, and troubleshooting problems that occurred due to using ACLs in a nonstandard way.

o Organization Management

o View-Only Organization Management

o Recipient Management

o UM Management

o Discovery Management

o Records Management

o Server Management

o Help Desk

o Hygiene Management

o Compliance Management

o Public Folder Management

o Delegated Setup

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd298183%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

28. How to enable Offline Outlook Web App (OWA) in Exchange Server 2013

 Microsoft Outlook Web App (OWA) 2013 has the new option called "Offline" use. It allows you to use Webmail without being connected to the server. OWA in "Offline" mode can also be used when you have no Internet connection. When you turn on "Offline" use, a local copy of your mailbox data is created. The supported browsers are Internet Explorer 10, Safari 5 or Chrome 16.

 To set offline access for an Outlook Web App mailbox policy, use:

Set-OwaMailboxPolicy –AllowOfflineOn [NoComputers | AllComputers | PrivateComputers]

 To set offline access for an Outlook Web App virtual directory:

Set-OwaVirtualDirectory –AllowOfflineOn [NoComputers | AllComputers | PrivateComputers]

Ref: http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2012/11/06/offline-access-in-outlook-web-app-2013.aspx

29. How Activesync works in Exchange Server 2013

 Microsoft ActiveSync provides for synchronized access to email from a handheld device, such as a Pocket PC or other Windows Mobile device. It allows for real-time send and receives functionality to and from the handheld, through the use of push technology.

 A mobile device that's configured to synchronize with an Exchange 2013 server issues an HTTPS request to the server.

This request is known as a PING. The request tells the server to notify the device if any items change in the next 15 minutes in any folder that's configured to synchronize. Otherwise, the server should return an HTTP 200 OK message.

The mobile device then stands by. The 15-minute time span is known as a heartbeat interval.

 If no items change in 15 minutes, the server returns a response of HTTP 200 OK. The mobile device receives this response, resumes activity (known as waking up), and issues its request again. This restarts the process.

 If any items change or new items are received within the 15-minute heartbeat interval, the server sends a response that informs the mobile device that there's a new or changed item and provides the name of the folder in which the new or changed item resides. After the mobile device receives this response, it issues a synchronization request for the

folder that has the new or changed item. When synchronization is complete, the mobile device issues a new PING request and the whole process starts over.

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa997252%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

30. What is the purpose of retention policy tag

 Retention tags are used to apply retention settings to folders and individual items such as e-mail messages and voice mail. These settings specify how long a message remains in a mailbox and the action to be taken when the message reaches the specified retention age. When a message reaches its retention age, it's moved to the user’s In-Place Archive or deleted.

 Unlike managed folders (the MRM feature introduced in Exchange Server 2007), retention tags allow users to tag their own mailbox folders and individual items for retention. Users no longer have to file items in managed folders provisioned by an administrator based on message retention requirements.

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd297955%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

31. What is the advantage of mailbox movement in Exchange Server 2013

 It’s online mailbox movement where we don’t user intervention to close their outlook while moving the mailbox between exchange server or databases

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj150543%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

32. What are PowerShell cmdlet used to check the mailbox connectivity with Exchange Server 2013

 Test-Mapiconnectivity

 Test-Outlookconnectivity

 Test-ImapConnectivity

 Test-PopConnectivity

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb123681%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd638082%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb738126%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb738143%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

33. How to determine the Exchange server 2013 health status

 Test-ServiceHealth

 Get-ServerHealth -Identity Server01

 Test-ReplicationHealth -Identity MBX1

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa998852%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj218703%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb691314%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

34. Difference between proxy and re-direction terminology in Exchange Server 2013

 Microsoft Client Access server can act as a proxy for other Client Access servers within the organization. This is useful when multiple Client Access servers exist in different Active Directory sites in an organization, and at least one of those sites isn't exposed to the Internet.

 A Client Access server can also perform redirection for Microsoft Office Outlook Web App URLs and for Exchange ActiveSync devices. Redirection is useful when users connect to a Client Access server that isn't in their local Active

Directory site, or if a mailbox has moved between Active Directory sites. It's also useful if users should actually be using a more effective URL. For example, users should be using a URL that's closer to the Active Directory site in which their mailbox resides.

Ref: http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2013/01/25/exchange-2013-client-access-server-role.aspx

35. How to check Exchange 2013 autodiscover service

 To verify the auto discover use the Microsoft Remote Connectivity Analyzer - https://testconnectivity.microsoft.com/

 Test-OutlookWebServices -identity:Rajis@mail.com | ft * -AutoSize –Wrap

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc539050.aspx

36. What is the new feature added in Exchange 2013 Transport rule

New predicates and actions are added in Exchange 2013

o New predicates

 AttachmentExtensionMatchesWords Used to detect messages that contain attachments with specific extensions.

 AttachmentHasExecutableContent Used to detect messages that contain attachments with executable content.

 HasSenderOverride Used to detect messages where the sender has chosen to override a DLP policy restriction.

 MessageContainsDataClassifications Used to detect sensitive information in the message body and any of the attachments. For a list of data classifications available, see Sensitive Information Types

Inventory.

 MessageSizeOver Used to detect messages whose overall size is greater than or equal to the specified limit.

 SenderIPRanges Used to detect messages sent from a specific set of IP address ranges.

o New actions

 GenerateIncidentReport Generates an incident report that is sent to a specified SMTP address.

The action also has a parameter called IncidentReportOriginalMail that accepts one of two values: IncludeOriginalMail or DoNotIncludeOriginalMail.

 NotifySender Controls how the sender of a message that goes against a DLP policy is notified. You can choose to simply inform the sender and route the message normally, or you can choose to reject the message and notify the sender.

 StopRuleProcessing Stops the processing of all subsequent rules on the message.

 ReportSeverityLevel Sets the specified severity level in the incident report. Values for the action are: Informational, Low, Medium, High, and Off.

 RouteMessageOutboundRequireTLS Requires Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption when routing this message outside your organization. If TLS encryption isn't supported, the message is rejected and not delivered.

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj150483%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

37. How to move the database from one drive to another disk

 Using Exchange 2013 Powershell command: Move-DatabasePath

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124742%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

38. What are the Outlook client versions and browser supported in Exchange Server 2013

 Outlook 2013

 Outlook 2010 SP1 with November 2012 Cumulative Update

 Outlook 2007 SP3 with November 2012 Cumulative Update

 Entourage 2008 for Mac, Web Services Edition

 Outlook for Mac 2011

Ref:https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/845.outlook-versions-supported-by-exchange- 200720102013online.aspx

39. List the different type of mailboxes can be created in Exchange Server 2013

 User Mailbox

 Room Mailbox

 Shared Mailbox

 Site Mailbox

 Linked User Mailbox

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb201680%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

40. List out the service used for CAS server and Mailbox Server

 Microsoft Exchange 2013 Mailbox Services

 MSExchangeADTopology.exe Microsoft Exchange Active Directory Topology

 MSExchangeAntispamUpdate.exe Microsoft Exchange Anti-spam Update

 MSExchangeDagMgmt.exe Microsoft Exchange DAG Management

 MSExchangeDelivery.exe Microsoft Exchange Mailbox Transport Delivery

 MSExchangeDiagnostics.exe Microsoft Exchange Diagnostics

 MSExchangeEdgeSync.exe Microsoft Exchange EdgeSync

 MSExchangeFastSearch.exe Microsoft Exchange Search

 MSExchangeHM.exe Microsoft Exchange Health Manager

 MSExchangeIMAP4BE.exe Microsoft Exchange IMAP4 Backend

 MSExchangeIS.exe Microsoft Exchange Information Store

 MSExchangeMailboxAssistants.exe Microsoft Exchange Mailbox Assistants

 MSExchangeMailboxReplication.exe Microsoft Exchange Mailbox Replication

 MSExchangeMigrationWorkflow.exe Microsoft Exchange Migration Workflow

 MSExchangePOP3BE.exe Microsoft Exchange POP3 Backend

 MSExchangeRepl.exe Microsoft Exchange Replication

 MSExchangeRPC.exe Microsoft Exchange RPC Client Access

 MSExchangeServiceHost.exe Microsoft Exchange Service Host

 MSExchangeSubmission.exe Microsoft Exchange Mailbox Transport Submission

 MSExchangeThrottling.exe Microsoft Exchange Throttling

 MSExchangeTransport.exe Microsoft Exchange Transport

 MSExchangeTransportLogSearch.exe Microsoft Exchange Transport Log Search

 MSExchangeUM.exe Microsoft Exchange Unified Messaging

 Exchange 2013 Client Access Services

 MSExchangeADTopology.exe Microsoft Exchange Active Directory Topology

 MSExchangeDiagnostics.exe Microsoft Exchange Diagnostics

 MSExchangeFrontEndTransport.exe Microsoft Exchange Frontend Transport

 MSExchangeHM.exe Microsoft Exchange Health Manager

 MSExchangeIMAP4.exe Microsoft Exchange IMAP4

 MSExchangePOP3.exe Microsoft Exchange POP3

 MSExchangeServiceHost.exe Microsoft Exchange Service Host

 MSExchangeUMCR.exe Microsoft Exchange Unified Messaging Call Router

41. What is the service needed to move mailbox in Exchange 2013

Move requests are processed by two services:

o Microsoft Exchange Mailbox Replication service (MRS)

o Microsoft Exchange Mailbox Replication Proxy (MRSProxy) service

Ref: http://www.msexchange.org/articles-tutorials/exchange-server-2013/mobility-client-access/exchange-2013-local-mailboxmoves-part1.html

42. What is the purpose of File Share Witness

 A witness server is a server outside a DAG that's used to achieve and maintain quorum when the DAG has an even number of members. DAGs with an odd number of members don't use a witness server. All DAGs with an even number of members must use a witness server. The witness server can be any computer running Windows Server. There is no requirement that the version of the Windows Server operating system of the witness server matches the operating system used by the DAG members

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd638104%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

43. Llist out the different type of quorum model used in Exchange server 2013

 Even - Node and File Share Majority quorum mode

 Odd - Majority quorum mode

 DAGs with an even number of members use the failover cluster's Node and File Share Majority quorum mode, which employs an external witness server that acts as a tie-breaker. In this quorum mode, each DAG member gets a vote. In addition, the witness server is used to provide one DAG member with a weighted vote (for example, it gets two votes instead of one). The cluster quorum data is stored by default on the system disk of each member of the DAG, and is kept consistent across those disks. However, a copy of the quorum data isn't stored on the witness server. A file on the witness server is used to keep track of which member has the most updated copy of the data, but the witness server doesn't have a copy of the cluster quorum data. In this mode, a majority of the voters (the DAG members plus the witness server) must be operational and able to communicate with each other to maintain quorum. If a majority of the voters can't communicate with each other, the DAG's underlying cluster loses quorum, and the DAG will require administrator intervention to become operational again.

 DAGs with an odd number of members use the failover cluster's Node Majority quorum mode. In this mode, each member gets a vote, and each member's local system disk is used to store the cluster quorum data. If the configuration of the DAG changes, that change is reflected across the different disks. The change is only considered to have been committed and made persistent if that change is made to the disks on half the members (rounding down) plus one. For

example, in a five-member DAG, the change must be made on two plus one members, or three members total.

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd979799%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

44. Difference between Primary Active Manager and Standby Active Manager

 Primary Active Manager which runs inside the Microsoft Exchange Replication Service used to notify and react in case of server failure. The PAM owns the cluster quorum resource and holds the information about active, passive and mounted databases.

 Standby Active Manager provides information of the server hosting the active copy of a mailbox database to the Client Access or Transport services.

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd776123%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

45. What is the purpose of safety-net and transport dumpster

 Transport dumpster helps to protect against data loss by maintaining a queue of successfully delivered messages that hadn't replicated to the passive mailbox database copies in the DAG. When a mailbox database or server failure required the promotion of an out-of-date copy of the mailbox database, the messages in the transport dumpster were

automatically resubmitted to the new active copy of the mailbox database.

 The transport dumpster has been improved in Exchange 2013 and is now called Safety Net.

Similarity between Safety Net and transport dumpster in Exchange 2010:

 Safety Net is a queue that's associated with the Transport service on a Mailbox server. This queue stores copies of messages that were successfully processed by the server.

 You can specify how long Safety Net stores copies of the successfully processed messages before they expire and are automatically deleted. The default is 2 days.

Here's how Safety Net is different in Exchange 2013:

 Safety Net doesn't require DAGs. For Mailbox servers that don't belong to a DAGs, Safety Net stores copies of the delivered messages on other Mailbox servers in the local Active Directory site.

 Safety Net itself is now redundant, and is no longer a single point of failure. This introduces the concept of the Primary Safety Net and the Shadow Safety Net. If the Primary Safety Net is unavailable for more than 12 hours, resubmit requests become shadow resubmit requests, and messages are re-delivered from the Shadow Safety Net.

 Safety Net takes over some responsibility from shadow redundancy in DAG environments. Shadow redundancy doesn't need to keep another copy of the delivered message in a shadow queue while it waits for the delivered message to replicate to the passive copies of mailbox database on the other Mailbox servers in the DAG. The copy of the delivered message is already stored in Safety Net, so the message can be resubmitted from Safety Net if necessary.

 In Exchange 2013, transport high availability is more than just a best effort for message redundancy. Exchange 2013 attempts to guarantee message redundancy. Because of this, you can't specify a maximum size limit for Safety Net. You can only specify how long Safety Net stores messages before they're automatically deleted.

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj657495%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

46. What is the purpose of crimson log channel in Exchange Server 2013

 The HighAvailability channel contains events related to startup and shutdown of the Microsoft Exchange Replication service and other components that run within it, such as Active Manager or VSS writer for example. The HighAvailability channel is also used by Active Manager to log events related to Active Manager role monitoring and database action events, such as a database mount operation and log truncation, and to record events related to the DAG's underlying

cluster.

 The MailboxDatabaseFailureItems channel is used to log events associated with any failures that affect a replicated mailbox database.

Ref: http://www.msexchange.org/kbase/ExchangeServerTips/ExchangeServer2013/ManagementAdministration/exchange- 2013-crimson-channel-event-logs.html

47. How EWS plays their role in Exchange Server 2013

 The Exchange Web Service holds the below list of features

o eDiscovery

o Archiving

o Personas

o Unified Contact Store

o Retention Policies

o User Photos

o Mail Apps for Outlook Management

o Propose new meeting time

Ref: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/jj190903%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

48. What is Outlook Anywhere and how to configure in email client

 In Microsoft Exchange Server 2013, the Outlook Anywhere feature, formerly known as RPC over HTTP, lets clients who use Microsoft Outlook 2013, Outlook 2010, or Outlook 2007 connect to their Exchange servers from outside the corporate network or over the Internet using the RPC over HTTP Windows networking component. This topic describes the Outlook Anywhere feature and lists the benefits of using Outlook Anywhere.The Windows RPC over HTTP Proxy component, which Outlook Anywhere clients use to connect, wraps remote procedure calls (RPCs) with an HTTP layer.

This allows traffic to traverse network firewalls without requiring RPC ports to be opened. In Exchange 2013, this feature is enabled by default, because all Outlook connectivity takes place over Outlook Anywhere.

o On the Tools menu, click Account Settings, select the Exchange account, and then click Change.

o Click More Settings, and then click the Connection tab- Under Outlook Anywhere,

o Select the Connect to Microsoft Exchange using HTTP check box.

o To specify a proxy server, click Exchange Proxy Settings.

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb123741%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

49. How to set Out-of-Office by Exchange admin when user is on vacation

 Using Exchange 2013 Powershell command - Set- MailboxAutoReplyConfiguration

 Example: Set-MailboxAutoReplyConfiguration -Identity 'Rajis' -StartTime '03/27/2014 19:30' -AutoReplyState Enabled -EndTime '03/29/2014 07:00' –InternalMessage 'I am on vacation and will respond to your message after I return'–

ExternalMessage 'I am on vacation' –ExternalAudience 'Known'

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd638217%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

50. Difference between accepted domain and remote domain in Exchange Server 2013

 Remote domains are SMTP domains that are external to your Microsoft Exchange organization. You can create remote domain entries to define the settings for message transferred between your Exchange organization and specific external domains. The settings in the remote domain entry for a specific external domain override the settings in the default remote domain that normally apply to all external recipients. The remote domain settings are global for the Exchange organization

 An accepted domain is any SMTP namespace for which a Microsoft Exchange Online organization sends or receives.

Windows Server 2008 Interview Question & Answer

What are some of the new tools and features provided by Windows Server 2008?

Windows Server 2008 now provides a desktop environment similar to Microsoft Windows Vista and includes tools also found in Vista, such as the new backup snap-in and the BitLocker drive encryption feature. Windows Server 2008 also provides the new IIS7 web server and the Windows Deployment Service.

What are the different editions of Windows Server 2008?

The entry-level version of Windows Server 2008 is the Standard Edition. The Enterprise Edition provides a platform for large enterprisewide networks. The Datacenter Edition provides support for unlimited

Hyper-V virtualization and advanced clustering services. The Web Edition is a scaled-down version of Windows Server 2008 intended for use as a dedicated web server. The Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter Editions can be purchased with or without the Hyper-V virtualization technology.

What two hardware considerations should be an important part of the planning process for a Windows Server 2008 deployment?

Any server on which you will install Windows Server 2008 should have at least the minimum hardware requirement for running the network operating system. Server hardware should also be on the Windows Server 2008 Hardware Compatibility List to avoid the possibility of hardware and network operating system incompatibility.

What are the options for installing Windows Server 2008?

You can install Windows Server 2008 on a server not currently configured with NOS, or you can upgrade existing servers running Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003.

How do you configure and manage a Windows Server 2008 core installation?

This stripped-down version of Windows Server 2008 is managed from the command line.

Which Control Panel tool enables you to automate the running of server utilities and other applications?

The Task Scheduler enables you to schedule the launching of tools such as Windows Backup and Disk Defragmenter.

What are some of the items that can be accessed via the System Properties dialog box?

You can access virtual memory settings and the Device Manager via the System Properties dialog box.

When a child domain is created in the domain tree, what type of trust relationship exists between the new child domain and the trees root domain?

Child domains and the root domain of a tree are assigned transitive trusts. This means that the root domain and child domain trust each other and allow resources in any domain in the tree to be accessed by users in any domain in the tree.

What is the primary function of domain controllers?

The primary function of domain controllers is to validate users to the network. However, domain controllers also provide the catalog of Active Directory objects to users on the network.

What are some of the other roles that a server running Windows Server 2008 could fill on the network?

A server running Windows Server 2008 can be configured as a domain controller, a file server, a print server, a web server, or an application server. Windows servers can also have roles and features that provide services such as DNS, DHCP, and Routing and Remote Access.

Which Windows Server 2008 tools make it easy to manage and configure a servers roles and features?

The Server Manager window enables you to view the roles and features installed on a server and also to quickly access the tools used to manage these various roles and features. The Server Manager can be used to add and remove roles and features as needed.

What Windows Server 2008 service is used to install client operating systems over the network?

Windows Deployment Services (WDS) enables you to install client and server operating systems over the network to any computer with a PXE-enabled network interface.

What domain services are necessary for you to deploy the Windows Deployment Services on your network?

Windows Deployment Services requires that a DHCP server and a DNS server be installed in the domain

How is WDS configured and managed on a server running Windows Server 2008?

The Windows Deployment Services snap-in enables you to configure the WDS server and add boot and install images to the server.

What is the difference between a basic and dynamic drive in the Windows Server 2008 environment?

A basic disk embraces the MS-DOS disk structure; a basic disk can be divided into partitions (simple volumes). Dynamic disks consist of a single partition that can be divided into any number of volumes. Dynamic disks also support Windows Server 2008 RAID implementations.

What is RAID in Windows Server 2008?

RAID, or Redundant Array of Independent Disks, is a strategy for building fault tolerance into your file servers. RAID enables you to combine one or more volumes on separate drives so that they are accessed by a single drive letter. Windows Server 2008 enables you to configure RAID 0 (a striped set), RAID 1 (a mirror set), and RAID 5 (disk striping with parity).

What conceptual model helps provide an understanding of how network protocol stacks such as TCP/IP work?

The OSI model, consisting of the application, presentation, session, transport, network, data link, and physical layers, helps describe how data is sent and received on the network by protocol stacks.

What protocol stack is installed by default when you install Windows Server 2008 on a network server?

TCP/IP (v4 and v6) is the default protocol for Windows Server 2008. It is required for Active Directory implementations and provides for connectivity on heterogeneous networks.

How is a server running Windows Server 2008 configured as a domain controller, such as the domain controller for the root domain or a child domain?

Installing the Active Directory on a server running Windows Server 2008 provides you with the option of creating a root domain for a domain tree or of creating child domains in an existing tree. Installing Active Directory on the server makes the server a domain controller.

What are some of the tools used to manage Active Directory objects in a Windows Server 2008 domain?

When the Active Directory is installed on a server (making it a domain controller), a set of Active Directory snap-ins is provided. The Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in is used to manage Active Directory objects such as user accounts, computers, and groups. The Active Directory Domains and Trusts snap-in enables you to manage the trusts that are defined between domains. The Active Directory Sites and Services snap-in provides for the management of domain sites and subnets.

How are domain user accounts created and managed?

The Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in provides the tools necessary for creating user accounts and managing account properties. Properties for user accounts include settings related to logon hours, the computers to which a user can log on, and the settings related to the user’s password.

What type of Active Directory objects can be contained in a group?

A group can contain users, computers, contacts, and other nested groups.

What type of group is not available in a domain that is running at the mixed-mode functional level?

Universal groups are not available in a mixed-mode domain. The functional level must be raised to Windows 2003 or Windows 2008 to make these groups available.

What types of Active Directory objects can be contained in an Organizational Unit?

Organizational Units can hold users, groups, computers, contacts, and other OUs. The Organizational Unit provides you with a container directly below the domain level that enables you to refine the logical hierarchy of how your users and other resources are arranged in the Active Directory.

What are Active Directory sites in Windows Server 2008?

Active Directory sites are physical locations on the network’s physical topology. Each regional domain that you create is assigned to a site. Sites typically represent one or more IP subnets that are connected by IP routers. Because sites are separated from each other by a router, the domain controllers on each site periodically replicate the Active Directory to update the Global Catalog on each site segment.

Can servers running Windows Server 2008 provide services to clients when they are not part of a domain?

Servers running Windows Server 2008 can be configured to participate in a workgroup. The server can provide some services to the workgroup peers but does not provide the security and management tools provided to domain controllers.

What does the use of Group Policy provide you as a network administrator?

Group Policy provides a method of controlling user and computer configuration settings for Active Directory containers such as sites, domains, and OUs. GPOs are linked to a particular container, and then individual policies and administrative templates are enabled to control the environment for the users or computers within that particular container.

What tools are involved in managing and deploying Group Policy?

GPOs and their settings, links, and other information such as permissions can be viewed in the Group Policy Management snap-in.

How do you deal with Group Policy inheritance issues?

GPOs are inherited down through the Active Directory tree by default. You can block the inheritance of settings from upline GPOs (for a particular container such as an OU or a local computer) by selecting Block Inheritance for that particular object. If you want to enforce a higher-level GPO so that it overrides directly linked GPOs, you can use the Enforce command on the inherited (or upline) GPO.

How can you make sure that network clients have the most recent Windows updates installed and have other important security features such as the Windows Firewall enabled before they can gain full network access?

You can configure a Network Policy Server (a service available in the Network Policy and Access Services role). The Network Policy Server can be configured to compare desktop client settings with health validators to determine the level of network access afforded to the client.

What is the purpose of deploying local DNS servers?

A domain DNS server provides for the local mapping of fully qualified domain names to IP addresses. Because the DNS is a distributed database, the local DNS servers can provide record information to remote DNS servers to help resolve remote requests related to fully qualified domain names on your network.

In terms of DNS, what is a caching-only server?

A caching-only DNS server supplies information related to queries based on the data it contains in its DNS cache. Caching-only servers are often used as DNS forwarders. Because they are not configured with any zones, they do not generate network traffic related to zone transfers.

How the range of IP addresses is defined for a Windows Server 2008 DHCP server?

The IP addresses supplied by the DHCP server are held in a scope. A scope that contains more than one subnet of IP addresses is called a superscope. IP addresses in a scope that you do not want to lease can be included in an exclusion range.

DNS Interview Questions and Answer

1. Secure services in your network require reverse name resolution to make it more difficult to launch successful attacks against the services. To set this up, you configure a reverse lookup zone and proceed to add records. Which record types do you need to create?

Answer - PTR Records

2.What is the main purpose of a DNS server?

Answer - DNS servers are used to resolve FQDN hostnames into IP addresses and vice versa. 

3.SOA records must be included in every zone. What are they used for?

Answer - SOA records contain a TTL value, used by default in all resource records in the zone. SOA records contain the e-mail address of the person who is responsible for maintaining the zone. SOA records contain the current serial number of the zone, which is used in zone transfers.

4.By default, if the name is not found in the cache or local hosts file, what is the first step the client takes to resolve the FQDN name into an IP address? 

Answer - Performs a recursive search through the primary DNS server based on the network interface configuration

5.What is the main purpose of SRV records? 

Answer - SRV records are used in locating hosts that provide certain network services.

6.Before installing your first domain controller in the network, you installed a DNS server and created a zone, naming it as you would name your AD domain. However, after the installation of the domain controller, you are unable to locate infrastructure SRV records anywhere in the zone. What is the most likely cause of this failure?

Answer - The zone you created was not configured to allow dynamic updates. The local interface on the DNS server was not configured to allow dynamic updates.

7.Which of the following conditions must be satisfied to configure dynamic DNS updates for legacy clients? 

Answer - The zone to be used for dynamic updates must be configured to allow dynamic updates. The DHCP server must support, and be configured to allow, dynamic updates for legacy clients.

8. At some point during the name resolution process, the requesting party received authoritative reply. Which further actions are likely to be taken after this reply?

Answer - After receiving the authoritative reply, the resolution process is effectively over. 

9. Your company uses ten domain controllers, three of which are also used as DNS servers. You have one companywide AD-integrated zone, which contains several thousand resource records. This zone also allows dynamic updates, and it is critical to keep this zone up-to-date.Replication between domain controllers takes up a significant amount of bandwidth. You are looking to cut bandwidth usage for the purpose of replication. What should you do?

Answer - Change the replication scope to all DNS servers in the domain.
 

10.You are administering a network connected to the Internet. Your users complain that everything is slow. Preliminary research of the problem indicates that it takes a considerable amount of time to resolve names of resources on the Internet. What is the most likely reason for this?  

Answer - DNS servers are not caching replies.. Local client computers are not caching replies… The cache.dns file may have been corrupted on the server.

 

 

 

Blender ( OPEN Source 2D & 3D software )

Blender is free and open source software

Blender is an integrated application that enables the creation of a broad range of 2D and 3D content. Blender provides a broad spectrum of modeling, texturing, lighting, animation and video post-processing functionality in one package. Through it's open architecture, Blender provides cross-platform interoperability, extensibility, an incredibly small footprint, and a tightly integrated workflow. Blender is one of the most popular Open Source 3D graphics application in the world.

Key Features:

• Fully integrated creation suite, offering a broad range of essential tools for the creation of 3D content, including modeling, uv-mapping, texturing, rigging, skinning, animation, particle and other simulation, scripting, rendering, compositing, post-production, and game creation;
• Cross platform, with OpenGL uniform GUI on all platforms, ready to use for all versions of Windows (98, NT, 2000, XP), Linux, OS X, FreeBSD, Irix, Sun and numerous other operating systems;
• High quality 3D architecture enabling fast and efficient creation work-flow;
• More than 200,000 downloads of each release (users) worldwide;
• User community support by forums for questions, answers, and critique at http://BlenderArtists.org and news services at http://BlenderNation.com;
• Small executable size, easy distribution. 

 Download Link

Kali Linux - Penetration Testing Platform

Kali Linux contains a large amount of tools from various different niches of the security and forensics fields. This site aims to list them all and provide a quick reference to these tools. In addition, the versions of the tools can be tracked against their upstream sources.

The Kali Linux penetration testing platform contains a vast array of tools and utilities, from information gathering to final reporting, that enable security and IT professionals to assess the security of their systems.

Kali Linux  Download Link