Raid

RAID
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This article is about the data storage technology. For other uses, see Raid (disambiguation).
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RAID, an acronym for Redundant Array of Independent Disks (formerly Redundant Array of
Inexpensive Disks), is a technology that provides increased storage reliability through
redundancy, combining multiple relatively low-cost, less-reliable disk drives components into a
logical unit where all drives in the array are interdependent. This concept was first defined by
David A. Patterson, Garth A. Gibson, and Randy Katz at the University of California, Berkeley
in 1987 as Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks.[1] Marketers representing industry RAID
manufacturers later attempted to reinvent the term to describe a redundant array of independent
disks as a means of dissociating a low-cost expectation from RAID technology.[2]
RAID is now used as an umbrella term for computer data storage schemes that can divide and
replicate data among multiple disk drives. The schemes or architectures are named by the word
RAID followed by a number (e.g., RAID 0, RAID 1). The various designs of RAID systems
involve two key goals: increase data reliability and increase input/output performance. When
multiple physical disks are set up to use RAID technology, they are said to be in a RAID array.[3]
This array distributes data across multiple disks, but the array is addressed by the operating
system as one single disk. RAID can be set up to serve several different purposes.
Contents
[hide]
• 1 Standard levels
• 2 Nested (hybrid) RAID
• 3 RAID Parity
• 4 RAID 10 versus RAID 5 in Relational Databases
• 5 New RAID classification
• 6 Non-standard levels
• 7 Data backup
• 8 Implementations
○ 8.1 Software-based RAID
○ 8.2 Hardware-based RAID
○ 8.3 Firmware/driver-based RAID
○ 8.4 Network-attached storage
○ 8.5 Hot spares
• 9 Reliability terms
• 10 Problems with RAID
○ 10.1 Correlated failures
○ 10.2 Atomicity
○ 10.3 Write cache reliability
○ 10.4 Equipment compatibility
○ 10.5 Data recovery in the event of a failed array
○ 10.6 Drive error recovery algorithms
○ 10.7 Increasing recovery time
○ 10.8 Operator skills, correct operation
○ 10.9 Other problems and viruses
• 11 History
• 12 Vinum
• 13 Software RAID vs. Hardware RAID
• 14 Non-RAID drive architectures
• 15 See also
• 16 References
• 17 Further reading
• 18 External links
[edit] Standard levels

Main article: Standard RAID levels
A number of standard schemes have evolved which are referred to as levels. There were five
RAID levels originally conceived, but many more variations have evolved, notably several
nested levels and many non-standard levels (mostly proprietary).
Following is a brief textual summary of the most commonly used RAID levels.[4]
• RAID 0 (block-level striping without parity or mirroring) provides improved
performance and additional storage but no redundancy or fault tolerance (making it not
true RAID, according to the acronym's definition). However, because of the similarities
to RAID (especially the need for a controller to distribute data across multiple disks),
simple stripe sets are normally referred to as RAID 0. Any disk failure destroys the array,
and the likelihood of failure increases with more disks in the array (at a minimum,
catastrophic data loss is twice as likely compared to single drives without RAID). A
single disk failure destroys the entire array because when data is written to a RAID 0
volume, the data is broken into fragments called blocks. The number of blocks is dictated
by the stripe size, which is a configuration parameter of the array. The blocks are written
to their respective disks simultaneously on the same sector. This allows smaller sections
of the entire chunk of data to be read off the drive in parallel, increasing bandwidth.
RAID 0 does not implement error checking, so any error is uncorrectable. More disks in
the array means higher bandwidth, but greater risk of data loss.
• In RAID 1 (mirroring without parity or striping), data is written identically to multiple
disks (a "mirrored set"). Although many implementations create sets of 2 disks, sets may
contain 3 or more disks. Array provides fault tolerance from disk errors or failures and
continues to operate as long as at least one drive in the mirrored set is functioning. With
appropriate operating system support, there can be increase to read performance, and only
a minimal write performance reduction. Using RAID 1 with a separate controller for each
disk is sometimes called duplexing.
• In RAID 2 (bit-level striping with dedicated Hamming-code parity), all disk spindle
rotation is synchronized, and data is striped such that each sequential bit is on a different
disk. Hamming-code parity is calculated across corresponding bits on disks and stored on
one or more parity disks. Extremely high data transfer rates are possible.
• In RAID 3 (byte-level striping with dedicated parity), all disk spindle rotation is
synchronized, and data is striped such that each sequential byte is on a different disk.
Parity is calculated across corresponding bytes on disks and stored on a dedicated parity
disk. Very high data transfer rates are possible.
• RAID 4 (block-level striping with dedicated parity) is identical to RAID 5 (see below),
but confines all parity data to a single disk, which can create a performance bottleneck. In
this setup, files can be distributed between multiple disks. Each disk operates
independently which allows I/O requests to be performed in parallel, though data transfer
speeds can suffer due to the type of parity. The error detection is achieved through
dedicated parity and is stored in a separate, single disk unit.
• RAID 5 (block-level striping with distributed parity) distributes parity along with the data
and requires all drives but one to be present to operate; drive failure requires replacement,
but the array is not destroyed by a single drive failure. Upon drive failure, any subsequent
reads can be calculated from the distributed parity such that the drive failure is masked
from the end user. The array will have data loss in the event of a second drive failure and
is vulnerable until the data that was on the failed drive is rebuilt onto a replacement drive.
A single drive failure in the set will result in reduced performance of the entire set until
the failed drive has been replaced and rebuilt.
• RAID 6 (block-level striping with double distributed parity) provides fault tolerance from
two drive failures; array continues to operate with up to two failed drives. This makes
larger RAID groups more practical, especially for high-availability systems. This
becomes increasingly important as large-capacity drives lengthen the time needed to
recover from the failure of a single drive. Single-parity RAID levels are as vulnerable to
data loss as a RAID 0 array until the failed drive is replaced and its data rebuilt; the larger
the drive, the longer the rebuild will take. Double parity gives time to rebuild the array
without the data being at risk if a single additional drive fails before the rebuild is
complete.
The following table provides an overview of the most important parameters of standard RAID
levels. Space efficiency is given as an equation in terms of the number of drives, n, which results
in a value between 0 and 1, representing the fraction of the sum of the drives' capacities that is
available for use. For example, if three drives are arranged in RAID 3, this gives a space
efficiency of 1-(1/3) = 0.66. If their individual capacities are 250 GB each, for a total of 750 GB
over the three, the usable capacity under RAID 3 for data storage is 500 GB.
Minimum Space Fault Read Write
Level Description Image
# of disks Efficiency Tolerance Benefit Benefit
Block-level
striping
RAID 0 without 2 1 0 (none) nX nX
parity or
mirroring.
Mirroring
without
RAID 1 2 1/n n-1 disks nX 1X
parity or
striping.
1 disk
when the
Bit-level
corrupt
striping
disk is
with 1 - 1/n ⋅
RAID 2 3 found by
dedicated log2(n-1)
the ( )
Hamming-
recover-
code parity.
record
code.
Byte-level
striping
RAID 3 with 3 1 - 1/n 1 disk
dedicated
parity.
Block-level
striping
RAID 4 with 3 1 - 1/n 1 disk
dedicated
parity.
Block-level
striping
RAID 5 with 3 1 - 1/n 1 disk (n-1)X variable
distributed
parity.
Block-level
striping
RAID 6 with double 4 1 - 2/n 2 disks
distributed
parity.
[edit] Nested (hybrid) RAID

Main article: Nested RAID levels
In what was originally termed hybrid RAID,[5] many storage controllers allow RAID levels to be
nested. The elements of a RAID may be either individual disks or RAIDs themselves. Nesting
more than two deep is unusual.
As there is no basic RAID level numbered larger than 9, nested RAIDs are usually
unambiguously described by attaching the numbers indicating the RAID levels, sometimes with
a "+" in between. The order of the digits in a nested RAID designation is the order in which the
nested array is built: for RAID 1+0 first pairs of drives are combined into two or more RAID 1
arrays (mirrors), and then the resulting RAID 1 arrays are combined into a RAID 0 array
(stripes). It is also possible to combine stripes into mirrors (RAID 0+1). The final step is known
as the top array. When the top array is a RAID 0 (such as in RAID 10 and RAID 50) most
vendors omit the "+", though RAID 5+0 is clearer.
• RAID 0+1: striped sets in a mirrored set ( minimum four disks; even number of disks)
provides fault tolerance and improved performance but increases complexity.
The key difference from RAID 1+0 is that RAID 0+1 creates a second striped set to
mirror a primary striped set. The array continues to operate with one or more drives failed
in the same mirror set, but if drives fail on both sides of the mirror the data on the RAID
system is lost.
• RAID 1+0: mirrored sets in a striped set (minimum two disks but more commonly four
disks to take advantage of speed benefits; even number of disks) provides fault tolerance
and improved performance but increases complexity.
The key difference from RAID 0+1 is that RAID 1+0 creates a striped set from a series of
mirrored drives. In a failed disk situation, RAID 1+0 performs better because all the
remaining disks continue to be used. The array can sustain multiple drive losses so long
as no mirror loses all its drives.
• RAID 5+1: mirrored striped set with distributed parity (some manufacturers label this as
RAID 53).
Whether an array runs as RAID 0+1 or RAID 1+0 in practice is often determined by the
evolution of the storage system. A RAID controller might support upgrading a RAID 1 array to a
RAID 1+0 array on the fly, but require a lengthy offline rebuild to upgrade from RAID 1 to
RAID 0+1. With nested arrays, sometimes the path of least disruption prevails over achieving the
preferred configuration.
[edit] RAID Parity
Many RAID levels employ an error protection scheme called "parity". Parity calculation, in and
of itself, is a widely used method in information technology to provide fault tolerance in a given
set of data. But how does it work?
It is actually very simple. In Boolean logic, there is a principle called "exclusive or", or
shorthand, "XOR", meaning "one or the other, but not neither nor both." For example:
0 XOR 0 = 0
0 XOR 1 = 1
1 XOR 0 = 1
1 XOR 1 = 0
The XOR operator is central to how parity data is created and used within an array; It is used
both for the protection of data, as well as for the recovery of missing data.
Let's suppose for the sake of simplicity that we have simple RAID made up of 6 hard disks (4 for
data, 1 for parity, and 1 for use as hot spare), where each drive is capable of holding just a single
byte worth of storage. This is how our initial RAID configuration would look, keeping in mind
no data has yet been written to it:
Drive #1: -------- (Data)
Drive #2: -------- (Data)
Drive #3: -------- (Data)
Drive #4: -------- (Data)
Drive #5 -------- (Hot Spare)
Drive #6 -------- (Parity)
Now, let's write some random bits to each of our four data drives.
Drive #1: 00101010 (Data)
Drive #2: 10001110 (Data)
Drive #3: 11110111 (Data)
Drive #4: 10110101 (Data)
Drive #6 -------- (Parity)
Every time we write anything on our data drives, we need to calculate parity to ensure we can
recover if we have a disk failure. To calculate the parity for this RAID, we simply take the XOR
of each drive's data. The resulting value is our parity data.
00101010 XOR 10001110 XOR 11110111 XOR 10110101 = 11100110
"11100110" is our parity data. We now write that data to our dedicated parity drive:
Drive #1: 00101010 (Data)
Drive #2: 10001110 (Data)
Drive #3: 11110111 (Data)
Drive #4: 10110101 (Data)
Drive #5: -------- (Hot Spare)
Drive #6: 11100110 (Parity)
Now, lets suppose one of those drives has disappeared. You can pick any, but, for this example,
let's say that Drive #3 has failed. In order to know what the contents of Drive #3 were, we
perform the same XOR calculation against all the remaining drives, and substituting our parity
value (11100110) in place of the missing/dead drive:
00101010 XOR 10001110 XOR 11100110 XOR 10110101 = 11110111
With the complete contents of Drive #3's now successfully recovered, the data is written to the
hot spare, and the RAID can continue operating as it had before.
Drive #1: 00101010 (Data)
Drive #2: 10001110 (Data)
Drive #3: --Dead-- (Data)
Drive #4: 10110101 (Data)
Drive #5: 11110111 (Hot Spare)
Drive #6: 11100110 (Parity)
Normally, someone at this point will replace the dead drive with a working one of the same size.
When this happens, the hot spare's contents are then automatically copied to it by the array
controller, allowing the hot spare to return to its original purpose as an emergency standby drive.
The resulting array is identical to its pre-failure state:
Drive #1: 00101010 (Data)
Drive #2: 10001110 (Data)
Drive #3: 11110111 (Data)
Drive #4: 10110101 (Data)
Drive #6 11100110 (Parity)
This same basic XOR principle applies to parity within RAID groups regardless of capacity or
number of drives. As long as there are enough drives present to allow for an XOR calculation to
take place, parity can be used to recover data from any single drive failure. (A minimum of three
drives must be present in order for parity to be used for fault tolerance, since the XOR operator
requires two operands, and a place to store the result.)
[edit] RAID 10 versus RAID 5 in Relational Databases
A common myth (and one which serves to illustrate the mechanics of proper RAID
implementation) is that in all deployments, RAID 10 is inherently better for relational databases
than RAID 5, due to RAID 5's need to recalculate and redistribute parity data on a per-write
basis. [2]
While this may have been a hurdle in past RAID 5 implementations, the task of parity
recalculation and redistribution within modern SAN appliances is performed as a back-end
process transparent to the host, not as an in-line process which competes with existing I/O. (i.e.
the RAID controller handles this as a housekeeping task to be performed during a particular
spindle's idle timeslices, so as not to disrupt any pending I/O from the host.) The "write penalty"
inherent to RAID 5 has been effectively masked over the past ten years by a combination of
improved controller design, larger amounts of cache, and faster hard disks. The effect of a write
penalty when using RAID 5 is mostly a concern when the workload has a high amount of
random writes (such as in some databases) while in other workloads modern RAID 5 systems
can be on par with RAID 10 performance. [3]
In the vast majority of enterprise-level SAN hardware, any writes which are generated by the
host are simply acknowledged immediately, and destaged to disk on the back end when the
controller sees fit to do so. From the host's perspective, an individual write to a RAID 10 volume
is no faster than an individual write to a RAID 5 volume; A difference between the two only
becomes apparent when write cache at the SAN controller level is overwhelmed, and the SAN
appliance must reject or gate further write requests in order to allow write buffers on the
controller to destage to disk. While rare, this generally indicates poor performance management
on behalf of the SAN administrator, not a shortcoming of RAID 5 or RAID 10. SAN appliances
generally service multiple hosts which compete both for controller cache and spindle time with
one another. This contention is largely masked, in that the controller is generally intelligent and
adaptive enough to maximize read cache hit ratios while also also maximizing the process of
destaging data from write cache.
The choice of RAID 10 versus RAID 5 for the purposes of housing a relational database will
depend upon a number of factors (spindle availability, cost, business risk, etc.) but, from a
performance standpoint, it depends mostly on the type of I/O that database can expect to see. For
databases that are expected to be exclusively or strongly read-biased, RAID 10 is often chosen in
that it offers a slight speed improvement over RAID 5 on sustained reads. If a database is
expected to be strongly write-biased, RAID 5 becomes the more attractive option, since RAID 5
doesn't suffer from the same write handicap inherent in RAID 10; All spindles in a RAID 5 can
be utilized to write simultaneously, whereas only half the members of a RAID 10 can be used .
[4] However, for reasons similar to what has eliminated the "write penalty" in RAID 5, the
reduced ability of a RAID 10 to handle sustained writes has been largely masked by
improvements in controller cache efficiency and disk throughput.
What causes RAID 5 to be slightly slower than RAID 10 on sustained reads is the fact that RAID
5 has parity data interleaved within normal data. For every read pass in RAID 5, there is a
probability that a read head may need to traverse a region of parity data. The cumulative effect of
this is a slight performance drop compared to RAID 10, which does not use parity, and therefore
will never encounter a circumstance where data underneath a head is of no use. For the vast
majority of situations, however, most relational databases housed on RAID 10 perform equally
well in RAID 5. The strengths and weaknesses of each type only become an issue in atypical
deployments, or deployments on overcommitted or outdated hardware.[5]
There are, however, other considerations which must be taken into account other than simply
those regarding performance. RAID 5 and other non-mirror-based arrays offer a lower degree of
resiliency than RAID 10 by virtue of RAID 10's mirroring strategy. In a RAID 10, I/O can
continue even in spite of multiple drive failures. By comparison, in a RAID 5 array, any
simultaneous failure involving greater than one drive will render the array itself unusable by
virtue of parity recalculation being impossible to perform. For many, particularly in mission-
critical environments with enough capital to spend, RAID 10 becomes the favorite as it provides
the lowest level of risk.[6]
Additionally, the time required to rebuild data on a hot spare in a RAID 10 is significantly less
than RAID 5, in that all the remaining spindles in a RAID 5 rebuild must participate in the
process, whereas only half of all spindles need to participate in RAID 10. In modern RAID 10
implementations, all drives generally participate in the rebuilding process as well, but only half
are required, allowing greater degraded-state throughput over RAID 5 and overall faster rebuild
times.[7]
Again, modern SAN design largely masks any performance hit while the RAID array is in a
degraded state, by virtue of selectively being able to perform rebuild operations both in-band or
out-of-band with respect to existing I/O traffic. Given the rare nature of drive failures in general,
and the exceedingly low probability of multiple concurrent drive failures occurring within the
same RAID array, the choice of RAID 5 over RAID 10 often comes down to the preference of
the storage administrator, particularly when weighed against other factors such as cost,
throughput requirements, and physical spindle availability. [8]
In short, the choice of RAID 5 versus RAID 10 involves a complicated mixture of factors. There
is no one-size-fits-all solution, as the choice of one over the other must be dictated by everything
from the I/O characteristics of the database, to business risk, to worst case degraded-state
throughput, to the number and type of disks present in the array itself. Over the course of the life
of a database, you may even see situations where RAID 5 is initially favored, but RAID 10
slowly becomes the better choice, and vice versa.
[edit] New RAID classification
In 1996, the RAID Advisory Board introduced an improved classification of RAID systems[citation
needed]
. It divides RAID into three types: Failure-resistant disk systems (that protect against data
loss due to disk failure), failure-tolerant disk systems (that protect against loss of data access due
to failure of any single component), and disaster-tolerant disk systems (that consist of two or
more independent zones, either of which provides access to stored data).
The original "Berkeley" RAID classifications are still kept as an important historical reference
point and also to recognize that RAID Levels 0-6 successfully define all known data mapping
and protection schemes for disk. Unfortunately, the original classification caused some confusion
due to assumption that higher RAID levels imply higher redundancy and performance. This
confusion was exploited by RAID system manufacturers, and gave birth to the products with
such names as RAID-7, RAID-10, RAID-30, RAID-S, etc. The new system describes the data
availability characteristics of the RAID system rather than the details of its implementation.
The next list provides criteria for all three classes of RAID:
- Failure-resistant disk systems (FRDS) (meets a minimum of criteria 1–6):
1. Protection against data loss and loss of access to data due to disk drive failure
2. Reconstruction of failed drive content to a replacement drive
3. Protection against data loss due to a "write hole"
4. Protection against data loss due to host and host I/O bus failure
5. Protection against data loss due to replaceable unit failure
6. Replaceable unit monitoring and failure indication
- Failure-tolerant disk systems (FTDS) (meets a minimum of criteria 7–15 ):
7. Disk automatic swap and hot swap
8. Protection against data loss due to cache failure
9. Protection against data loss due to external power failure
10. Protection against data loss due to a temperature out of operating range
11. Replaceable unit and environmental failure warning
12. Protection against loss of access to data due to device channel failure
13. Protection against loss of access to data due to controller module failure
14. Protection against loss of access to data due to cache failure
15. Protection against loss of access to data due to power supply failure
- Disaster-tolerant disk systems (DTDS) (meets a minimum of criteria 16–21):
16. Protection against loss of access to data due to host and host I/O bus failure
17. Protection against loss of access to data due to external power failure
18. Protection against loss of access to data due to component replacement
19. Protection against loss of data and loss of access to data due to multiple disk failure
20. Protection against loss of access to data due to zone failure
21. Long-distance protection against loss of data due to zone failure
[edit] Non-standard levels
Main article: Non-standard RAID levels
Many configurations other than the basic numbered RAID levels are possible, and many
companies, organizations, and groups have created their own non-standard configurations, in
many cases designed to meet the specialised needs of a small niche group. Most of these non-
standard RAID levels are proprietary.
• Storage Computer Corporation used to call a cached version of RAID 3 and 4, RAID 7.
Storage Computer Corporation is now defunct.
• EMC Corporation used to offer RAID S as an alternative to RAID 5 on their Symmetrix
systems. Their latest generations of Symmetrix, the DMX and the V-Max series, do not
support RAID S (instead they support RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 6.)
• The ZFS filesystem, available in Solaris, OpenSolaris and FreeBSD, offers RAID-Z,
which solves RAID 5's write hole problem.
• Hewlett-Packard's Advanced Data Guarding (ADG) is a form of RAID 6.
• NetApp's Data ONTAP uses RAID-DP (also referred to as "double", "dual", or
"diagonal" parity), is a form of RAID 6, but unlike many RAID 6 implementations, does
not use distributed parity as in RAID 5. Instead, two unique parity disks with separate
parity calculations are used. This is a modification of RAID 4 with an extra parity disk.
• Accusys Triple Parity (RAID TP) implements three independent parities by extending
RAID 6 algorithms on its FC-SATA and SCSI-SATA RAID controllers to tolerate three-
disk failure.
• Linux MD RAID10 (RAID 10) implements a general RAID driver that defaults to a
standard RAID 1 with 2 drives, and a standard RAID 1+0 with four drives, but can have
any number of drives, including odd numbers. MD RAID 10 can run striped and
mirrored, even with only two drives with the f2 layout (mirroring with striped reads,
giving the read performance of RAID 0; normal Linux software RAID 1 does not stripe
reads, but can read in parallel).[6][7]
• Infrant (now part of Netgear) X-RAID offers dynamic expansion of a RAID 5 volume
without having to back up or restore the existing content. Just add larger drives one at a
time, let it resync, then add the next drive until all drives are installed. The resulting
volume capacity is increased without user downtime. (It should be noted that this is also
possible in Linux, when utilizing Mdadm utility. It has also been possible in the EMC
Clariion and HP MSA arrays for several years.) The new X-RAID2 found on x86
ReadyNas, that is ReadyNas with Intel CPUs, offers dynamic expansion of a RAID 5 or
RAID 6 volume (note X-RAID2 Dual Redundancy not available on all X86 ReadyNas)
without having to back up or restore the existing content etc. A major advantage over X-
RAID, is that using X-RAID2 you do not need to replace all the disks to get extra space,
you only need to replace two disks using single redundancy or four disks using dual
redundancy to get more redundant space.
• BeyondRAID, created by Data Robotics and used in the Drobo series of products,
implements both mirroring and striping simultaneously or individually dependent on disk
and data context. It offers expandability without reconfiguration, the ability to mix and
match drive sizes and the ability to reorder disks. It supports NTFS, HFS+, FAT32, and
EXT3 file systems.[8] It also uses thin provisioning to allow for single volumes up to
16 TB depending on the host operating system support.
• Hewlett-Packard's EVA series arrays implement vRAID - vRAID-0, vRAID-1, vRAID-5,
and vRAID-6. The EVA allows drives to be placed in groups (called Disk Groups) that
form a pool of data blocks on top of which the RAID level is implemented. Any Disk
Group may have "virtual disks" or LUNs of any vRAID type, including mixing vRAID
types in the same Disk Group - a unique feature. vRAID levels are more closely aligned
to Nested RAID levels - vRAID-1 is actually a RAID 1+0 (or RAID 10), vRAID-5 is
actually a RAID 5+0 (or RAID 50), etc. Also, drives may be added on-the-fly to an
existing Disk Group, and the existing virtual disks data is redistributed evenly over all the
drives, thereby allowing dynamic performance and capacity growth.
• IBM (Among others) has implemented a RAID 1E (Level 1 Enhanced). With an even
number of disks it is similar to a RAID 10 array, but, unlike a RAID 10 array, it can also
be implemented with an odd number of drives. In either case, the total available disk
space is n/2. It requires a minimum of three drives.
• Hadoop has a RAID system that generates a parity file by xor-ing a stripe of blocks in a
single HDFS file. More details can be found here [9]
[edit] Data backup
A RAID system used as a main system disk is not intended as a replacement for backing up data.
In parity configurations it will provide a backup-like feature to protect from catastrophic data
loss caused by physical damage or errors on a single drive. Many other features of backup
systems cannot be provided by RAID arrays alone. The most notable is the ability to restore an
earlier version of data, which is needed to protect against software errors causing unwanted data
to be written to the disk, and to recover from user error or malicious deletion. RAID can also be
overwhelmed by catastrophic failure that exceeds its recovery capacity and, of course, the entire
array is at risk of physical damage by fire, natural disaster, or human forces. RAID is also
vulnerable to controller failure since it is not always possible to migrate a RAID to a new
controller without data loss.[10]
RAID drives can serve as excellent backup drives when employed as removable backup devices
to main storage, and particularly when located offsite from the main systems. However, the use
of RAID as the only storage solution does not replace backups.
[edit] Implementations
It has been suggested that Vinum volume manager be merged into this article or section.
(Discuss)
(Specifically, the section comparing hardware / software raid)
The distribution of data across multiple drives can be managed either by dedicated hardware or
by software. When done in software the software may be part of the operating system or it may
be part of the firmware and drivers supplied with the card.
[edit] Software-based RAID
Software implementations are now provided by many operating systems. A software layer sits
above the (generally block-based) disk device drivers and provides an abstraction layer between
the logical drives (RAIDs) and physical drives. Most common levels are RAID 0 (striping across
multiple drives for increased space and performance) and RAID 1 (mirroring two drives),
followed by RAID 1+0, RAID 0+1, and RAID 5 (data striping with parity) are supported. New
filesystems like btrfs may replace the traditional software RAID by providing striping and
redundancy at the filesystem object level.
• Apple's Mac OS X Server[11] and Mac OS X[12] support RAID 0, RAID 1 and RAID 1+0.
• FreeBSD supports RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 3, and RAID 5 and all layerings of the above
via GEOM modules[13][14] and ccd.,[15] as well as supporting RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID-Z,
and RAID-Z2 (similar to RAID 5 and RAID 6 respectively), plus nested combinations of
those via ZFS.
• Linux supports RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 4, RAID 5, RAID 6 and all layerings of the
above, as well as "RAID10" (see above).[16][17] Certain reshaping/resizing/expanding
operations are also supported.[18]
• Microsoft's server operating systems support RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 5. Some of the
Microsoft desktop operating systems support RAID such as Windows XP Professional
which supports RAID level 0 in addition to spanning multiple disks but only if using
dynamic disks and volumes. Windows XP supports RAID 0, 1, and 5 with a simple file
patch.[19] RAID functionality in Windows is slower than hardware RAID, but allows a
RAID array to be moved to another machine with no compatibility issues.
• NetBSD supports RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 4 and RAID 5 (and any nested combination of
those like 1+0) via its software implementation, named RAIDframe.
• OpenBSD aims to support RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 4 and RAID 5 via its software
implementation softraid.
• OpenSolaris and Solaris 10 supports RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 (or the similar "RAID Z"
found only on ZFS), and RAID 6 (and any nested combination of those like 1+0) via ZFS
and now has the ability to boot from a ZFS volume on both x86 and UltraSPARC.
Through SVM, Solaris 10 and earlier versions support RAID 1 for the boot filesystem,
and adds RAID 0 and RAID 5 support (and various nested combinations) for data drives.
• Linux and Windows FlexRAID is a snapshot RAID implementation.
• HP's OpenVMS provides a form of RAID 1 called "Volume shadowing", giving the
possibility to mirror data locally and at remote cluster systems.
Software RAID has advantages and disadvantages compared to hardware RAID. The software
must run on a host server attached to storage, and server's processor must dedicate processing
time to run the RAID software. The additional processing capacity required for RAID 0 and
RAID 1 is low, but parity-based arrays require more complex data processing during write or
integrity-checking operations. As the rate of data processing increases with the number of disks
in the array, so does the processing requirement. Furthermore all the buses between the processor
and the disk controller must carry the extra data required by RAID which may cause congestion.
Over the history of hard disk drives, the increase in speed of commodity CPUs has been
consistently greater than the increase in speed of hard disk drive throughput.[20] Thus, over-time
for a given number of hard disk drives, the percentage of host CPU time required to saturate a
given number of hard disk drives has been dropping. e.g. The Linux software md RAID
subsystem is capable of calculating parity information at 6 GB/s (100% usage of a single core on
a 2.1 GHz Intel "Core2" CPU as of Linux v2.6.26). A three-drive RAID 5 array using hard disks
capable of sustaining a write of 100 MB/s will require parity to be calculated at the rate of
200 MB/s. This will require the resources of just over 3% of a single CPU core during write
operations (parity does not need to be calculated for read operations on a RAID 5 array, unless a
drive has failed).
Software RAID implementations may employ more sophisticated algorithms than hardware
RAID implementations (for instance with respect to disk scheduling and command queueing),
and thus may be capable of increased performance.
Another concern with operating system-based RAID is the boot process. It can be difficult or
impossible to set up the boot process such that it can fall back to another drive if the usual boot
drive fails. Such systems can require manual intervention to make the machine bootable again
after a failure. There are exceptions to this, such as the LILO bootloader for Linux, loader for
FreeBSD,[21] and some configurations of the GRUB bootloader natively understand RAID 1 and
can load a kernel. If the BIOS recognizes a broken first disk and refers bootstrapping to the next
disk, such a system will come up without intervention, but the BIOS might or might not do that
as intended. A hardware RAID controller typically has explicit programming to decide that a
disk is broken and fall through to the next disk.
Hardware RAID controllers can also carry battery-powered cache memory. For data safety in
modern systems the user of software RAID might need to turn the write-back cache on the disk
off (but some drives have their own battery/capacitors on the write-back cache, a UPS, and/or
implement atomicity in various ways, etc.). Turning off the write cache has a performance
penalty that can, depending on workload and how well supported command queuing in the disk
system is, be significant. The battery backed cache on a RAID controller is one solution to have
a safe write-back cache.
Finally operating system-based RAID usually uses formats specific to the operating system in
question so it cannot generally be used for partitions that are shared between operating systems
as part of a multi-boot setup. However, this allows RAID disks to be moved from one computer
to a computer with an operating system or file system of the same type, which can be more
difficult when using hardware RAID (e.g. #1: When one computer uses a hardware RAID
controller from one manufacturer and another computer uses a controller from a different
manufacturer, drives typically cannot be interchanged. e.g. #2: If the hardware controller 'dies'
before the disks do, data may become unrecoverable unless a hardware controller of the same
type is obtained, unlike with firmware-based or software-based RAID).
Most operating system-based implementations allow RAIDs to be created from partitions rather
than entire physical drives. For instance, an administrator could divide an odd number of disks
into two partitions per disk, mirror partitions across disks and stripe a volume across the mirrored
partitions to emulate IBM's RAID 1E configuration. Using partitions in this way also allows
mixing reliability levels on the same set of disks. For example, one could have a very robust
RAID 1 partition for important files, and a less robust RAID 5 or RAID 0 partition for less
important data. (Some BIOS-based controllers offer similar features, e.g. Intel Matrix RAID.)
Using two partitions on the same drive in the same RAID is, however, dangerous. (e.g. #1:
Having all partitions of a RAID 1 on the same drive will, obviously, make all the data
inaccessible if the single drive fails. e.g. #2: In a RAID 5 array composed of four drives 250 +
250 + 250 + 500 GB, with the 500 GB drive split into two 250 GB partitions, a failure of this
drive will remove two partitions from the array, causing all of the data held on it to be lost).
[edit] Hardware-based RAID
Hardware RAID controllers use different, proprietary disk layouts, so it is not usually possible to
span controllers from different manufacturers. They do not require processor resources, the BIOS
can boot from them, and tighter integration with the device driver may offer better error
handling.
A hardware implementation of RAID requires at least a special-purpose RAID controller. On a
desktop system this may be a PCI expansion card, PCI-e expansion card or built into the
motherboard. Controllers supporting most types of drive may be used – IDE/ATA, SATA, SCSI,
SSA, Fibre Channel, sometimes even a combination. The controller and disks may be in a stand-
alone disk enclosure, rather than inside a computer. The enclosure may be directly attached to a
computer, or connected via SAN. The controller hardware handles the management of the drives,
and performs any parity calculations required by the chosen RAID level.
Most hardware implementations provide a read/write cache, which, depending on the I/O
workload, will improve performance. In most systems the write cache is non-volatile (i.e.
battery-protected), so pending writes are not lost on a power failure.
Hardware implementations provide guaranteed performance, add no overhead to the local CPU
complex and can support many operating systems, as the controller simply presents a logical disk
to the operating system.
Hardware implementations also typically support hot swapping, allowing failed drives to be
replaced while the system is running.
However, inexpensive hardware RAID controllers can be slower than software RAID due to the
dedicated CPU on the controller card not being as fast as the CPU in the computer/server. More
expensive RAID controllers have faster CPUs, capable of higher throughput speeds and do not
present this slowness.
[edit] Firmware/driver-based RAID
Operating system-based RAID doesn't always protect the boot process and is generally
impractical on desktop versions of Windows (as described above). Hardware RAID controllers
are expensive and proprietary. To fill this gap, cheap "RAID controllers" were introduced that do
not contain a RAID controller chip, but simply a standard disk controller chip with special
firmware and drivers. During early stage bootup the RAID is implemented by the firmware;
when a protected-mode operating system kernel such as Linux or a modern version of Microsoft
Windows is loaded the drivers take over.
These controllers are described by their manufacturers as RAID controllers, and it is rarely made
clear to purchasers that the burden of RAID processing is borne by the host computer's central
processing unit, not the RAID controller itself, thus introducing the aforementioned CPU
overhead from which hardware controllers don't suffer. Firmware controllers often can only use
certain types of hard drives in their RAID arrays (e.g. SATA for Intel Matrix RAID), as there is
neither SCSI nor PATA support in modern Intel ICH southbridges; however, motherboard
makers implement RAID controllers outside of the southbridge on some motherboards. Before
their introduction, a "RAID controller" implied that the controller did the processing, and the
new type has become known by some as "fake RAID" even though the RAID itself is
implemented correctly. Adaptec calls them "HostRAID". Various Linux distributions will refuse
to work with "fake RAID".[9].
[edit] Network-attached storage
Main article: Network-attached storage
While not directly associated with RAID, Network-attached storage (NAS) is an enclosure
containing disk drives and the equipment necessary to make them available over a computer
network, usually Ethernet. The enclosure is basically a dedicated computer in its own right,
designed to operate over the network without screen or keyboard. It contains one or more disk
drives; multiple drives may be configured as a RAID.
[edit] Hot spares
Both hardware and software RAIDs with redundancy may support the use of hot spare drives, a
drive physically installed in the array which is inactive until an active drive fails, when the
system automatically replaces the failed drive with the spare, rebuilding the array with the spare
drive included. This reduces the mean time to recovery (MTTR), though it doesn't eliminate it
completely. Subsequent additional failure(s) in the same RAID redundancy group before the
array is fully rebuilt can result in loss of the data; rebuilding can take several hours, especially on
busy systems.
Rapid replacement of failed drives is important as the drives of an array will all have had the
same amount of use, and may tend to fail at about the same time rather than randomly.[citation needed]
RAID 6 without a spare uses the same number of drives as RAID 5 with a hot spare and protects
data against simultaneous failure of up to two drives, but requires a more advanced RAID
controller. Further, a hot spare can be shared by multiple RAID sets.
[edit] Reliability terms
Failure rate
Two different kinds of failure rates are applicable to RAID systems. Logical failure is
defined as the loss of a single drive and its rate is equal to the sum of individual drives'
failure rates. System failure is defined as loss of data and its rate will depend on the type
of RAID. For RAID 0 this is equal to the logical failure rate, as there is no redundancy.
For other types of RAID, it will be less than the logical failure rate, potentially
approaching zero, and its exact value will depend on the type of RAID, the number of
drives employed, and the vigilance and alacrity of its human administrators.
Mean time to data loss (MTTDL)
In this context, the average time before a loss of data in a given array.[22] Mean time to
data loss of a given RAID may be higher or lower than that of its constituent hard drives,
depending upon what type of RAID is employed. The referenced report assumes times to
data loss are exponentially distributed. This means 63.2% of all data loss will occur
between time 0 and the MTTDL.
Mean time to recovery (MTTR)
In arrays that include redundancy for reliability, this is the time following a failure to
restore an array to its normal failure-tolerant mode of operation. This includes time to
replace a failed disk mechanism as well as time to re-build the array (i.e. to replicate data
for redundancy).
Unrecoverable bit error rate (UBE)
This is the rate at which a disk drive will be unable to recover data after application of
cyclic redundancy check (CRC) codes and multiple retries.
Write cache reliability
Some RAID systems use RAM write cache to increase performance. A power failure can
result in data loss unless this sort of disk buffer is supplemented with a battery to ensure
that the buffer has enough time to write from RAM back to disk.
Atomic write failure
Also known by various terms such as torn writes, torn pages, incomplete writes,
interrupted writes, non-transactional, etc.
[edit] Problems with RAID
[edit] Correlated failures
The theory behind the error correction in RAID assumes that failures of drives are independent.
Given these assumptions it is possible to calculate how often they can fail and to arrange the
array to make data loss arbitrarily improbable.
In practice, the drives are often the same ages, with similar wear. Since many drive failures are
due to mechanical issues which are more likely on older drives, this violates those assumptions
and failures are in fact statistically correlated. In practice then, the chances of a second failure
before the first has been recovered is not nearly as unlikely as might be supposed, and data loss
can, in practice, occur at significant rates.[23]
A common misconception is that "server-grade" drives fail less frequently than consumer-grade
drives. Two independent studies, one by Carnegie Mellon University and the other by Google,
have shown that the "grade" of the drive does not relate to failure rates.[24][25]
[edit] Atomicity
This is a little understood and rarely mentioned failure mode for redundant storage systems that
do not utilize transactional features. Database researcher Jim Gray wrote "Update in Place is a
Poison Apple"[26] during the early days of relational database commercialization. However, this
warning largely went unheeded and fell by the wayside upon the advent of RAID, which many
software engineers mistook as solving all data storage integrity and reliability problems. Many
software programs update a storage object "in-place"; that is, they write a new version of the
object on to the same disk addresses as the old version of the object. While the software may also
log some delta information elsewhere, it expects the storage to present "atomic write semantics,"
meaning that the write of the data either occurred in its entirety or did not occur at all.
However, very few storage systems provide support for atomic writes, and even fewer specify
their rate of failure in providing this semantic. Note that during the act of writing an object, a
RAID storage device will usually be writing all redundant copies of the object in parallel,
although overlapped or staggered writes are more common when a single RAID processor is
responsible for multiple drives. Hence an error that occurs during the process of writing may
leave the redundant copies in different states, and furthermore may leave the copies in neither the
old nor the new state. The little known failure mode is that delta logging relies on the original
data being either in the old or the new state so as to enable backing out the logical change, yet
few storage systems provide an atomic write semantic on a RAID disk.
While the battery-backed write cache may partially solve the problem, it is applicable only to a
power failure scenario.
Since transactional support is not universally present in hardware RAID, many operating systems
include transactional support to protect against data loss during an interrupted write. Novell
Netware, starting with version 3.x, included a transaction tracking system. Microsoft introduced
transaction tracking via the journaling feature in NTFS. Ext4 has journaling with checksums;
ext3 has journaling without checksums but an "append-only" option, or ext3COW (Copy on
Write). If the journal itself in a filesystem is corrupted though, this can be problematic. The
journaling in NetApp WAFL file system gives atomicity by never updating the data in place, as
does ZFS. An alternative method to journaling is soft updates, which are used in some BSD-
derived system's implementation of UFS.
This can present as a sector read failure. Some RAID implementations protect against this failure
mode by remapping the bad sector, using the redundant data to retrieve a good copy of the data,
and rewriting that good data to the newly mapped replacement sector. The UBE (Unrecoverable
Bit Error) rate is typically specified at 1 bit in 1015 for enterprise class disk drives (SCSI, FC,
SAS) , and 1 bit in 1014 for desktop class disk drives (IDE/ATA/PATA, SATA). Increasing disk
capacities and large RAID 5 redundancy groups have led to an increasing inability to
successfully rebuild a RAID group after a disk failure because an unrecoverable sector is found
on the remaining drives. Double protection schemes such as RAID 6 are attempting to address
this issue, but suffer from a very high write penalty.
[edit] Write cache reliability
The disk system can acknowledge the write operation as soon as the data is in the cache, not
waiting for the data to be physically written. This typically occurs in old, non-journaled systems
such as FAT32, or if the Linux/Unix "writeback" option is chosen without any protections like
the "soft updates" option (to promote I/O speed whilst trading-away data reliability). A power
outage or system hang such as a BSOD can mean a significant loss of any data queued in such a
cache.
Often a battery is protecting the write cache, mostly solving the problem. If a write fails because
of power failure, the controller may complete the pending writes as soon as restarted. This
solution still has potential failure cases: the battery may have worn out, the power may be off for
too long, the disks could be moved to another controller, the controller itself could fail. Some
disk systems provide the capability of testing the battery periodically, however this leaves the
system without a fully charged battery for several hours.
An additional concern about write cache reliability exists, specifically regarding devices
equipped with a write-back cache—a caching system which reports the data as written as soon as
it is written to cache, as opposed to the non-volatile medium.[27] The safer cache technique is
write-through, which reports transactions as written when they are written to the non-volatile
medium.
[edit] Equipment compatibility
The methods used to store data by various RAID controllers are not necessarily compatible, so
that it may not be possible to read a RAID array on different hardware, with the exception of
RAID 1, which is typically represented as plain identical copies of the original data on each disk.
Consequently a non-disk hardware failure may require the use of identical hardware to recover
the data, and furthermore an identical configuration has to be reassembled without triggering a
rebuild and overwriting the data. Software RAID however, such as implemented in the Linux
kernel, alleviates this concern, as the setup is not hardware dependent, but runs on ordinary disk
controllers, and allows the reassembly of an array. Additionally, individual RAID1 disks
(software, and most hardware implementations) can be read like normal disks when removed
from the array, so no RAID system is required to retrieve the data. Inexperienced data recovery
firms typically have a difficult time recovering data from RAID drives, with the exception of
RAID1 drives with conventional data structure.
[edit] Data recovery in the event of a failed array
With larger disk capacities the odds of a disk failure during rebuild are not negligible. In that
event the difficulty of extracting data from a failed array must be considered. Only RAID 1
stores all data on each disk. Although it may depend on the controller, some RAID 1 disks can be
read as a single conventional disk. This means a dropped RAID 1 disk, although damaged, can
often be reasonably easily recovered using a software recovery program. If the damage is more
severe, data can often be recovered by professional data recovery specialists. RAID 5 and other
striped or distributed arrays present much more formidable obstacles to data recovery in the
event the array fails.
[edit] Drive error recovery algorithms
This section does not cite any references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be
challenged and removed. (November 2009)
Many modern drives have internal error recovery algorithms that can take upwards of a minute
to recover and re-map data that the drive fails to easily read. Many RAID controllers will drop a
non-responsive drive in 8 seconds or so. This can cause the array to drop a good drive because it
has not been given enough time to complete its internal error recovery procedure, leaving the rest
of the array vulnerable. So-called enterprise class drives limit the error recovery time and prevent
this problem, but desktop drives can be quite risky for this reason. A fix specific to Western
Digital drives used to be known: a utility called WDTLER.exe could limit the error recovery
time of a Western Digital desktop drive so that it would not be dropped from the array for this
reason. The utility enabled TLER (time limited error recovery) which limits the error recovery
time to 7 seconds. As of October 2009 Western Digital has locked out this feature in their
desktop drives such as the Caviar Black.[28] Western Digital enterprise class drives are shipped
from the factory with TLER enabled to prevent being dropped from RAID arrays. Similar
technologies are used by Seagate, Samsung, and Hitachi.
As of late 2010, support for ATA Error Recovery Control configuration has been added to the
Smartmontools program, so it now allows configuring many desktop class hard drives for use on
a RAID controller.[28]
[edit] Increasing recovery time
Drive capacity has grown at a much faster rate than transfer speed, and error rates have only
fallen a little in comparison. Therefore, larger capacity drives may take hours, if not days, to
rebuild. The re-build time is also limited if the entire array is still in operation at reduced
capacity.[29] Given a RAID array with only one disk of redundancy (RAIDs 3, 4, and 5), a second
failure would cause complete failure of the array. Even though individual drives' mean time
between failure (MTBF) have increased over time, this increase has not kept pace with the
increased storage capacity of the drives. The time to rebuild the array after a single disk failure,
as well as the chance of a second failure during a rebuild, have increased over time.[30]
[edit] Operator skills, correct operation
In order to provide the desired protection against physical drive failure, a RAID array must be
properly set up and maintained by an operator with sufficient knowledge of the chosen RAID
configuration, array controller (hardware or software), failure detection and recovery. Unskilled
handling of the array at any stage may exacerbate the consequences of a failure, and result in
downtime and full or partial loss of data that might otherwise be recoverable.
Particularly, the array must be monitored, and any failures detected and dealt with promptly.
Failure to do so will result in the array continuing to run in a degraded state, vulnerable to further
failures. Ultimately more failures may occur, until the entire array becomes inoperable, resulting
in data loss and downtime. In this case, any protection the array may provide merely delays this.
The operator must know how to detect failures or verify healthy state of the array, identify which
drive failed, have replacement drives available, and know how to replace a drive and initiate a
rebuild of the array.
[edit] Other problems and viruses
While RAID may protect against physical drive failure, the data is still exposed to operator,
software, hardware and virus destruction. Many studies[31] cite operator fault as the most common
source of malfunction, such as a server operator replacing the incorrect disk in a faulty RAID
array, and disabling the system (even temporarily) in the process.[32] Most well-designed systems
include separate backup systems that hold copies of the data, but don't allow much interaction
with it. Most copy the data and remove the copy from the computer for safe storage.
[edit] History
Norman Ken Ouchi at IBM was awarded a 1978 U.S. patent 4,092,732[33] titled "System for
recovering data stored in failed memory unit." The claims for this patent describe what would
later be termed RAID 5 with full stripe writes. This 1978 patent also mentions that disk
mirroring or duplexing (what would later be termed RAID 1) and protection with dedicated
parity (that would later be termed RAID 4) were prior art at that time.
The term RAID was first defined by David A. Patterson, Garth A. Gibson and Randy Katz at the
University of California, Berkeley, in 1987. They studied the possibility of using two or more
drives to appear as a single device to the host system and published a paper: "A Case for
Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks (RAID)" in June 1988 at the SIGMOD conference.[1]
This specification suggested a number of prototype RAID levels, or combinations of drives. Each
had theoretical advantages and disadvantages. Over the years, different implementations of the
RAID concept have appeared. Most differ substantially from the original idealized RAID levels,
but the numbered names have remained. This can be confusing, since one implementation of
RAID 5, for example, can differ substantially from another. RAID 3 and RAID 4 are often
confused and even used interchangeably.
One of the early uses of RAID 0 and 1 was the Crosfield Electronics Studio 9500 page layout
system based on the Python workstation. The Python workstation was a Crosfield managed
international development using PERQ 3B electronics, benchMark Technology's Viper display
system and Crosfield's own RAID and fibre-optic network controllers. RAID 0 was particularly
important to these workstations as it dramatically sped up image manipulation for the pre-press
markets. Volume production started in Peterborough, England in early 1987.
[edit] Vinum
Vinum is a logical volume manager, also called Software RAID, allowing implementations of
the RAID-0, RAID-1 and RAID-5 models, both individually and in combination. Vinum is part
of the base distribution of the FreeBSD operating system. Versions exist for NetBSD, OpenBSD
and DragonFly BSD. Vinum source code is currently maintained in the FreeBSD source tree.
Vinum supports raid levels 0, 1, 5, and JBOD. Vinum is invoked as "gvinum" on FreeBSD
version 5.4 and up.
[edit] Software RAID vs. Hardware RAID
The distribution of data across multiple disks can be managed by either dedicated hardware or by
software. Additionally, there are hybrid RAIDs that are partly software- and partly hardware-
based solutions.
With a software implementation, the operating system manages the disks of the array through the
normal drive controller (ATA, SATA, SCSI, Fibre Channel, etc.). With present CPU speeds,
software RAID can be faster than hardware RAID.
A hardware implementation of RAID requires at a minimum a special-purpose RAID controller.
On a desktop system, this may be a PCI expansion card, or might be a capability built in to the
motherboard. In larger RAIDs, the controller and disks are usually housed in an external multi-
bay enclosure. This controller handles the management of the disks, and performs parity
calculations (needed for many RAID levels). This option tends to provide better performance,
and makes operating system support easier.
Hardware implementations also typically support hot swapping, allowing failed drives to be
replaced while the system is running. In rare cases hardware controllers have become faulty,
which can result in data loss. Hybrid RAIDs have become very popular with the introduction of
inexpensive hardware RAID controllers. The hardware is a normal disk controller that has no
RAID features, but there is a boot-time application that allows users to set up RAIDs that are
controlled via the BIOS. When any modern operating system is used, it will need specialized
RAID drivers that will make the array look like a single block device. Since these controllers
actually do all calculations in software, not hardware, they are often called "fakeraids". Unlike
software RAID, these "fakeraids" typically cannot span multiple controllers.
Example configuration. A simple example to mirror drive enterprise to drive excelsior (RAID1)
drive enterprise device /dev/da1s1d

drive excelsior device /dev/da2s1d
volume mirror
plex org concat
sd length 512m drive enterprise
plex org concat
sd length 512m drive excelsior
[edit] Non-RAID drive architectures
Main article: Non-RAID drive architectures
Non-RAID drive architectures also exist, and are often referred to, similarly to RAID, by
standard acronyms, several tongue-in-cheek. A single drive is referred to as a SLED (Single
Large Expensive Drive), by contrast with RAID, while an array of drives without any additional
control (accessed simply as independent drives) is referred to as a JBOD (Just a Bunch Of
Disks). Simple concatenation is referred to a SPAN, or sometimes as JBOD, though this latter is
proscribed in careful use, due to the alternative meaning just cited.
[edit] See also
• Disk Data Format Structure (DDFS)
• Disk array controller
• Redundant Array of Inexpensive Nodes
• Stable storage
• Hard drives
• Disk array
• Storage area network (SAN)
[edit] References
1. ^ a b David A. Patterson, Garth Gibson, and Randy H. Katz: A Case for Redundant Arrays
of Inexpensive Disks (RAID). University of California Berkley. 1988.
2. ^ "Originally referred to as Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks, the concept of RAID
was first developed in the late 1980s by Patterson, Gibson, and Katz of the University of
California at Berkeley. (The RAID Advisory Board has since substituted the term
Inexpensive with Independent.)" Storage Area Network Fundamentals; Meeta Gupta;
Cisco Press; ISBN 978-1-58705-065-7; Appendix A.
3. ^ See RAS syndrome.
4. ^ "SNIA Dictionary". Snia.org. http://www.snia.org/education/dictionary. Retrieved
2010-08-24.
5. ^ Vijayan, S.; Selvamani, S. ; Vijayan, S (1995). "Dual-Crosshatch Disk Array: A Highly
Reliable Hybrid-RAID Architecture". Proceedings of the 1995 International Conference
on Parallel Processing: Volume 1. CRC Press. pp. I–146ff. ISBN 084932615X.
http://books.google.com/?id=QliANH5G3_gC&dq=%22hybrid+raid%22.
6. ^ [1], question 4
7. ^ "Main Page - Linux-raid". Linux-raid.osdl.org. 2010-08-20. http://linux-raid.osdl.org/.
Retrieved 2010-08-24.
8. ^ "Data Robotics, Inc". Drobo.com. http://www.drobo.com/products/drobo. Retrieved
2010-08-24.
9. ^ "Hdfs Raid". Hadoopblog.blogspot.com. 2009-08-28.
http://hadoopblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/hdfs-and-erasure-codes-hdfs-raid.html.
10. ^ "The RAID Migration Adventure". http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/RAID-
MIGRATION-ADVENTURE,1640.html. Retrieved 2010-03-10.
11. ^ "Apple Mac OS X Server File Systems".
http://www.apple.com/server/macosx/technology/file-system.html. Retrieved 2008-04-
23.
12. ^ "Mac OS X: How to combine RAID sets in Disk Utility".
http://support.apple.com/kb/TA24359. Retrieved 2010-01-04.
13. ^ "FreeBSD System Manager's Manual page for GEOM(8)".
http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=geom. Retrieved 2009-03-19.
14. ^ "freebsd-geom mailing list - new class / geom_raid5".
http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-geom/2006-July/001356.html. Retrieved 2009-
03-19.
15. ^ "FreeBSD Kernel Interfaces Manual for CCD(4)". http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?
query=ccd. Retrieved 2009-03-19.
16. ^ "The Software-RAID HOWTO". http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Software-RAID-
HOWTO.html. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
17. ^ "RAID setup". http://linux-raid.osdl.org/index.php/RAID_setup. Retrieved 2008-11-
10. [dead link]
18. ^ "RAID setup". https://raid.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/RAID_setup. Retrieved 2010-09-
30.
19. ^ "Using WindowsXP to Make RAID 5 Happen". Tomshardware.com.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/windowsxp-make-raid-5-happen,925.html.
20. ^ "Rules of Thumb in Data Engineering".
http://research.microsoft.com/pubs/68636/ms_tr_99_100_rules_of_thumb_in_data_engin
eering.pdf. Retrieved 2010-01-14.
21. ^ "FreeBSD Handbook". Chapter 19 GEOM: Modular Disk Transformation Framework.
http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/geom-mirror.html.
22. ^ Jim Gray and Catharine van Ingen, "Empirical Measurements of Disk Failure Rates and
Error Rates", MSTR-2005-166, December 2005
23. ^ Disk Failures in the Real World: What Does an MTTF of 1,000,000 Hours Mean to
You? Bianca Schroeder and Garth A. Gibson
24. ^ "Everything You Know About Disks Is Wrong". Storagemojo.com. 2007-02-22.
http://storagemojo.com/2007/02/20/everything-you-know-about-disks-is-wrong/.
25. ^ Eduardo Pinheiro, Wolf-Dietrich Weber and Luiz André Barroso (February 2007).
"Failure Trends in a Large Disk Drive Population". Google Inc.
http://labs.google.com/papers/disk_failures.pdf.
26. ^ Jim Gray: The Transaction Concept: Virtues and Limitations (Invited Paper) VLDB
1981: 144-154
27. ^ "Definition of write-back cache at SNIA dictionary".
http://www.snia.org/education/dictionary/w/.
28. ^ a b "Error recovery control with smartmontools".
http://www.csc.liv.ac.uk/~greg/projects/erc/. Retrieved 2010-09-30.
29. ^ Patterson, D., Hennessy, J. (2009). Computer Organization and Design. New York:
Morgan Kaufmann Publishers. pp 604-605.
30. ^ Newman, Henry (2009-09-17). "RAID's Days May Be Numbered".
EnterpriseStorageForum.
http://www.enterprisestorageforum.com/technology/features/article.php/3839636.
31. ^ These studies are: Gray, J (1990), Murphy and Gent (1995), Kuhn (1997), and
Enriquez P. (2003). See following source.
32. ^ Patterson, D., Hennessy, J. (2009), 574.
33. ^ US patent 4092732, Norman Ken Ouchi, "System for recovering data stored in failed
memory unit", issued 1978-05-30
[edit] Further reading
• Charles M. Kozierok (2001-04-17). "Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks". The PC
Guide. Pair Networks. http://pcguide.com/ref/hdd/perf/raid/index.htm.
• RAID Level 2
[edit] External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Redundant array of independent disks
• Tutorial on RAID 6 & performance implications

• Learning about RAID Tutorial, Levels 0, 1, 5, 10, and 50
• RAID at the Open Directory Project
• Introduction to RAID
• Working RAID illustrations
• RAID Levels — Tutorial and Diagrams
• Tutorial on Reed-Solomon Coding for Fault-Tolerance in RAID-like Systems
• Parity Declustering for Continuous Operation in Redundant Disk Arrays
• An Optimal Scheme for Tolerating Double Disk Failures in RAID Architectures
• Linux RAID and LVM Management
• RAIF: Redundant Array of Independent Filesystems
• Vinum page in the official FreeBSD handbook
• Sourceforge page
• Bootstrapping vinum - FreeBSD documentation project
• Vinum performance measurement
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID"
Categories: RAID
Hidden categories: All articles with dead external links | Articles with dead external links from
September 2010 | Articles lacking reliable references from September 2007 | Cleanup section
from February 2010 | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements
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with unsourced statements from February 2010 | Articles needing additional references from
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Related phrases: outlook express microsoft outlook flexity outlook outlook magazine microsoft outlook
express microsoft office outlook outlook web access saturn outlook outlook 2003
Definitions of outlook on the Web:
• mentality: a habitual or characteristic mental attitude that determines how
you will interpret and respond to situations
• expectation: belief about (or mental picture of) the future
• lookout: the act of looking out
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
• Outlook is one of India's four top-selling English weekly newsmagazines. Like
many other Indian magazines it is reluctant to reveal its circulation, but the
2007 National Readership Survey suggested 1.5 million copies. Outlook's
competitors are India Today, The Week, and Tehelka.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlook_(magazine)
• The Outlook (1870 - 1935) was a weekly magazine, published in New York
City.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Outlook_(New_York)
• Outlook: Canada's Progressive Jewish Magazine is an independent, secular
Jewish periodical based in Vancouver, British Columbia and published six
times a year. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlook_(Jewish_magazine)
• The Outlook is a newspaper published in Gresham, Oregon, a suburb of
Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is owned by the Pamplin Media Group.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Outlook_(Gresham)
• The Outlook is a newspaper based in Rathfriland, County Down, Northern
Ireland, serving the south of the county. It is published by Alpha Newspapers.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Outlook_(Rathfriland)
• A place from which something can be viewed; The view from such a place; An
attitude or point of view; Expectation for the future
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/outlook
• OUTLOOKS is a Canadian LGBT magazine, published 10x a year. Originally
founded in 1997 as a newsprint monthly, the publication is now a full gloss
lifestyle magazine magazine for the LGBT community. Outlooks is leading
nationally distributed LGBT publication in Canada. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlooks
• Open the email. Right-click the sender's email address. Click Add to contacts.
Click Save and close.
www.netlingo.com/more/whitelist.php
• (Microsoft Outlook) - An email software that allows a user to send and receive
email, keep an address book, sort and organize messages, filter messages.
Often it is just used as an email client and users are unaware of the other
information management features of the tool. ...
www.fullcirc.com/community/interactionterms.htm
• The existence of pain, the effects of some medications, poor family
interactions, these are just some factors that can affect a person's view of
their current situation and likely future.
cirrie.buffalo.edu/encyclopedia/article.php
• Like the wine industry, glass bottle packaging remains the material of choice
among domestic olive oil producers.
www.oliveoilsource.com/scripts/dictionary.asp
• A hazardous weather outlook is issued daily to indicate that a hazardous
weather or hydrologic event may occur in the next several days. The outlook
will include information about potential severe thunderstorms, heavy rain or
flooding, winter weather, extremes of heat or cold, etc. ...
www.answers.com/topic/severe-weather-terminology
Microsoft Outlook
For the e-mail and news client bundled with certain versions of Microsoft Windows,
see Outlook Express.
Microsoft Outlook
Outlook 2010 running on Windows 7
Developer(s) Microsoft
2010 (14.0.4760.1000) / June 15,

Stable
2010; 5 months ago (2010-06-
release
15)
Operating
Microsoft Windows
system
Type Personal information manager
License Proprietary commercial software
office.microsoft.com/en-
Website
us/outlook/en-us/outlook
Microsoft Outlook for Mac
Outlook 2011 running on Mac OS X Snow

Leopard
Developer(s) Microsoft
2011 (14.0.0.100825) / October

Stable
26, 2010; 41 days ago (2010-10-
release
26)
Operating
Mac OS X
system
Type Personal information manager
License Proprietary commercial software
Website microsoft.com/mac/outlook
Microsoft Outlook is a personal information manager from Microsoft, available both as a

separate application as well as a part of the Microsoft Office suite. The current version is
Microsoft Outlook 2010 for Windows and 2011 for Mac.
Although often used mainly as an e-mail application, it also includes a calendar, task manager,
contact manager, note taking, a journal and web browsing.
It can be used as a stand-alone application, or can work with Microsoft Exchange Server and
Microsoft SharePoint Server for multiple users in an organization, such as shared mailboxes and
calendars, Exchange public folders, SharePoint lists and meeting schedules. There are third-party
add-on applications that integrate Outlook with devices such as BlackBerry mobile phones and
with other software like Office & Skype internet communication. Developers can also create
their own custom software that works with Outlook and Office components using Microsoft
Visual Studio.[1] In addition, Windows Mobile devices can synchronize almost all Outlook data
to Outlook Mobile.
Contents
[hide]
• 1 Versions
○ 1.1 Windows
 1.1.1 Outlook 2007
 1.1.2 Outlook 2010
○ 1.2 Macintosh
• 2 Internet standards compliance
○ 2.1 HTML rendering
○ 2.2 Transport Neutral Encapsulation Format
○ 2.3 Calendar compatibility
• 3 Security concerns
• 4 Outlook Add-ins
• 5 Outlook Express
• 6 Importing from other email clients
• 7 See also
• 8 References
• 9 External links
[edit] Versions
Outlook has replaced Microsoft's previous scheduling and mail program, Schedule+ and
Exchange Client.
Versions of Microsoft Outlook include:
Version Release
Name Notes
Number[2] Date[3]
Outlook for
- - Bundled with Exchange Server 5.5
MS-DOS
Outlook for - - Bundled with Exchange Server 5.5

Windows
3.1x[4]
Outlook for
- - Bundled with Exchange Server 5.5
Macintosh
January 16, Included in Office 97 and also bundled with

Outlook 97 8.0
1997 Exchange Server 5.5.
Freely distributed with books and magazines

June 21,
Outlook 98 8.5 for coping with newest Internet standard
1998
such as HTML mail[5]
June 7, Included in Office 2000 and also bundled with

Outlook 2000 9.0
1999 Exchange 2000 Server.
May 31,
Outlook 2002 10 Included in Office XP.
2001
Included in Office 2003 (incl. Standard

Office October 21,
11 Edition for Students and Teachers) and also
Outlook 2003 2003
bundled with Exchange Server 2003.
Office November Included in Office 2007, except Office Home

12
Outlook 2007 30, 2006 and Student edition.
April 15, Included in Office 2010 Home and Business,

Outlook 2010 14
2010 Standard, Professional, and Professional Plus.
Outlook 2011 October 26, Included in Office for Mac 2011 Home and
14
for Mac 2010 Business
Outlook 98 and Outlook 2000 could be installed in one of two configurations:

• Internet Mail Only or IMO mode: A lighter application mode with specific
emphasis on POP3 accounts and IMAP accounts and including a lightweight
Fax application.
• Corporate Workgroup or CW mode: A full MAPI client with specific emphasis
on Microsoft Exchange accounts.
[edit] Windows
[edit] Outlook 2007
Microsoft Outlook 2007
Outlook 2007 was available in retail stores at the end of January 2007. Features that debuted in
Outlook 2007 include:[6]
• A to-do bar added to the shell UI that shows a snapshot of the user's
upcoming appointments and active tasks for better time and project
management
• Improved calendar views that display the tasks due below each day on the
week view and supports overlaying multiple calendars
• Send your calendar information with calendar snapshots, which creates an
HTML representation of your calendar so you can share this information with
anyone
• Ability to publish calendars in Internet Calendar format to Microsoft Office
Online or to a WebDAV server
• Send text and picture messages from Outlook with Outlook Mobile Service to
a mobile phone. Forward Outlook e-mail messages, contacts, appointments,
and tasks as text messages. Automatically send e-mail messages, reminders,
and your daily calendar as text messages to a mobile phone
• Integrated RSS aggregator
• 'Instant Search' through a context indexer based search engine with Windows
Desktop Search
• Enhanced integration with Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server
• New programmability features[7]
• Preview Handler extension for previewing email attachment without leaving
Outlook
• Ability to add a picture or company logo to a contact or electronic business
card[8]
• Office Fluent user interface (though not for the main window)
• Color Categories give you an easy, visual way to distinguish any type of
information from one another, so it's easy to organize your data and search
your information
• Save as PDF or XPS
• Discontinuation of Common User Access cut and paste support
• Improved anti-phishing filters
• Office Outlook 2007 E-mail Postmark is designed to make it very time-
consuming and technologically detrimental for users to send mass e-mail like
spam, yet they do not change the user experience of sending e-mail.
• Information Rights Management (IRM) restricts and/or expires distribution of
email using Windows Server 2003 or later running Windows Rights
Management Services (RMS)
• Managed policy compliance features integration with Exchange Server 2007
[edit] Outlook 2010

This section does not cite any references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced
material may be challenged and removed. (December 2010)
• All features of Outlook 2007

• Ribbon interface in all views
• Grouping of conversations
• Social Networking features
[edit] Macintosh
Microsoft also released several versions of Outlook for Mac OS, though it was only for use with
Exchange servers. It was not provided as a component of Microsoft Office for Mac, but instead
made available to users from administrators or by download. The final version was Outlook for
Mac 2001, which was fairly similar to Outlook 2000 and 2002 apart from being exclusively for
Exchange users.
Microsoft Entourage was introduced as an Outlook-like application for Mac OS in Office 2001,
but it lacked Exchange connectivity. Partial support for Exchange server became available
natively in Mac OS X with Entourage 2004 Service Pack 2. Entourage is not directly equivalent
to Outlook in terms of design or operation; rather, it is a distinct application which has several
overlapping features including Exchange client capabilities. Somewhat improved Exchange
support was added in Entourage 2008 Web Services Edition.
Entourage was replaced by Outlook for Mac 2011, which features greater compatibility and
parity with Outlook for Windows than Entourage offered. It is the first native version of Outlook
for Mac OS X.
Outlook 2011 only supports Mac OS X's Sync Services for Contacts, not Events, Tasks or Notes.
It also does not have a Project Manager equivalent to that in Entourage.[9]
[edit] Internet standards compliance
[edit] HTML rendering
Outlook 2007 was the first Outlook to switch from Internet Explorer HTML rendering to
Microsoft Word 2007 HTML rendering. This means HTML and CSS items not handled by Word
are no longer supported. On the other hand, HTML messages composed in Word will look more
or less as they appeared to the author.[10]
This affects publishing newsletters and HTML/CSS reports, because they frequently use intricate
HTML and/or CSS to form their layout. For example, forms can no longer be embedded in e-
mail.
Microsoft Entourage is the only modern form of Outlook that properly supports CSS and allows
for seamless rendering between web browsers and email clients with little to no modifications to
the original HTML or CSS code.[11]
[edit] Transport Neutral Encapsulation Format
Main article: Transport Neutral Encapsulation Format
Outlook uses a proprietary attachment format called Transport Neutral Encapsulation Format
(TNEF) when editing messages in Rich Text Format, using embedded (OLE) documents or
Outlook-specific features. It is usually present in a form of attached files winmail.dat or win.dat
in the message. These files may also contain any regular files attached to the message.
TNEF is not RFC compliant. In addition, no e-mail clients other than Outlook support it natively,
although numerous tools for decoding TNEF files exist.
[edit] Calendar compatibility
Outlook does not fully support data and syncing specifications for calendaring and contacts, such
as iCalendar, CalDAV, SyncML and vCard 3.0. Outlook 2007 claims to be fully iCalendar
compliant; however, it does not support all core objects, such as VTODO, VJOURNAL.[12] Also,
Outlook supports vCard 2.1 and does not support multiple contacts in the vCard format as a
single file. Outlook has also been criticized for having proprietary "Outlook extensions" to these
Internet standards.
[edit] Security concerns
As part of its Trustworthy Computing initiative, Microsoft took corrective steps to fix Outlook's
reputation in Office Outlook 2003. Among the most publicized security features are that Office
Outlook 2003 does not automatically load images in HTML e-mails or permit opening
executable attachments by default, and includes a built-in Junk Mail filter.[13] Service Pack 2 has
augmented these features and adds an anti-Phishing filter.[14]
[edit] Outlook Add-ins
Main article: Outlook add-ins
(Other possible and frequently used names: Microsoft Outlook add-ons, Microsoft Outlook plug-
ins, Microsoft Outlook extensions, etc.)
Outlook Add-ins are small helping programs for the Microsoft Outlook application. The main
purpose of the add-ins is to add new functional capabilities into Microsoft Outlook and automate
some routine operations. Add-in also refers to programs where the main function is to work on
Outlook files such as synchronisation or backup utilities.
From Outlook 97 on, Exchange Client Extensions are supported in Outlook. Outlook 2000 and
later support specific COM components called Outlook AddIns. The exact supported features
(such as .NET components) for later generations were extended with each release.
[edit] Outlook Express
Main article: Outlook Express
Outlook Express was an e-mail client, newsgroup client, and contact management software
application that Microsoft bundled Internet Explorer 4, 5 and 6 and all version of Microsof
Windows from Windows 98 to Windows Server 2003. Other than the similar name there is no
connection between the two products and they originate from different divisions of Microsoft.
While both offer access to POP3 and IMAP4 e-mail accounts, only Outlook offers client access
(MAPI) to Microsoft Exchange. Outlook Express is succeeded by Windows Mail and
subsequently by Windows Live Mail.
[edit] Importing from other email clients
Currently, Outlook supports importing messages from Outlook Express and Lotus Notes. There
are some ways to get the emails from Thunderbird; the first is to use a tool[15] that can convert a
Thunderbird folder to a format that can be imported from Outlook Express. This method must be
processed folder by folder. The other method is to use a couple of free tools that keep the
original folder structure.[1
These are the minimum requirements for basic functionality. Actual requirements
vary, depending on the system configuration and the programs and features that
you choose to install. If you are installing Windows XP over a network, you may
need additional available hard-disk space.
The minimum hardware requirements for Windows

XP Home Edition are:
• Pentium 233-megahertz (MHz) processor or faster (300 MHz is
recommended)
• At least 64 megabytes (MB) of RAM (128 MB is recommended)
• At least 1.5 gigabytes (GB) of available space on the hard disk
• CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive
• Keyboard and a Microsoft Mouse or some other compatible pointing device
• Video adapter and monitor with Super VGA (800 x 600)or higher resolution
• Sound card
• Speakers or headphones
For more information about system requirements for Windows XP Home Edition,
visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/evaluation/sysreqs.mspx
(http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/evaluation/sysreqs.mspx)
For more information about Windows XP Home Edition, visit the following Microsoft
Web site:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/choosing2.mspx
(http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/choosing2.mspx)
The minimum hardware requirements for Windows XP Professional include:
• Pentium 233-megahertz (MHz) processor or faster (300 MHz is

recommended)
• At least 64 megabytes (MB) of RAM (128 MB is recommended)
• At least 1.5 gigabytes (GB) of available space on the hard disk
• CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive
• Keyboard and a Microsoft Mouse or some other compatible pointing device
• Video adapter and monitor with Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher resolution
• Sound card
• Speakers or headphones
Hardware requirements
The minimum hardware specification required to run each release of the professional workstation
version of Windows NT has been fairly slow-moving until the 6.0 Vista release, which requires a
minimum of 15 GB of free disk space, a 10-fold increase in free disk space alone over the
previous version.
Windows NT desktop (x86) minimum hardware
requirements
Free disk
NT version CPU RAM
space
NT 3.1
12 MB
NT 3.1 Advanced 386, 25 MHz 90 MB
16 MB
Server
NT 3.5 Workstation 12 MB
386, 25 MHz 90 MB[29]
NT 3.5 Server 16 MB
NT 3.51
12 MB
Workstation 386, 25 MHz 90 MB[29]
16 MB
NT 3.51 Server
NT 4.0 Workstation 12 MB
486, 25 MHz 124 MB[30]
NT 4.0 Server 16 MB
32 MB
2000 Professional Pentium,
128 650 MB[31]
2000 Server 133 MHz
MB
Pentium, 64*
XP 1.5 GB[32]
233 MHz MB
Pentium, 128
Server 2003 1.5 GB[31]
133 MHz MB
Pentium III, 512

Vista 15 GB[33]
800 MHz MB
Pentium III,
7 1 GB 16 GB[34]
1 GHz
*Windows XP can be run at 64 MB RAM. Some features require 128 MB RAM.[35]

As of June 2010[update], Microsoft have released seventeen editions for the x64 processor
architecture:[citation needed]
• Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
• Windows Server 2003 Standard x64 Edition
• Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition
• Windows Server 2003 Datacenter x64 Edition
• Windows Vista Home Basic x64 Edition
• Windows Vista Home Premium x64 Edition
• Windows Vista Enterprise x64 Edition
• Windows Vista Ultimate x64 Edition
• Windows Server 2008 Web Server x64 Edition
• Windows Server 2008 Standard x64 Edition
• Windows Server 2008 Enterprise x64 Edition
• Windows Server 2008 Datacenter x64 Edition
• Windows 7 Home Basic x64 Edition
• Windows 7 Home Premium x64 Edition
• Windows 7 Professional x64 Edition
• Windows 7 Enterprise x64 Edition
• Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Edition.
•
• DISK PARTITION
• A hard disk partition is a defined storage space on a hard drive.
• Most operating systems allow users to divide a hard disk into multiple partitions, in effect
making one physical hard disk into several smaller logical hard disks.
• Reasons to Use Hard Disk Partitions
• A user may decide to split a hard disk into multiple partitions in order to organize his data
more effectively. On Microsoft Windows machines, it is common to store the OS and
applications on one hard disk partition and user data on another hard disk partition. When
a problem occurs with Microsoft Windows, the OS partition can be completely formatted
and reinstalled without affecting the data partition.
• A user may decide to split a hard disk into multiple
partitions because smaller partitions often have
smaller cluster sizes. A cluster size is the smallest
chunk of data which a partition can store. A large
partition might have a cluster size of 16KB. This
mens that a file with one character in it will occupy
16KB of space on the disk. In a smaller partition,
that file might only require 4KB to store. This is a
useful strategy if you are storing a large number of
small files.
• A user may have to split a large hard disk into
multiple partitions if the hard disk is larger than the
partition size supported by the operating system.
• Creating Hard Disk Partitions
• Most operating system use the `fdisk` command to
create hard disk partitions. Many ooperating
systems also have graphical tools which accomplish
the same task.
• Hard Disk Partitions and File Systems
• You don't actually store data in hard disk partitions.
• You store file systems in hard disk partitions and then you store data in these file
systems.
• Some operating systems blur the lines between partitions and filesystems.
• The Partition Table
• Partition information is stored in the partition table, a reserved area at the beginning of a
hard disk.
• Extended Partitions
• A standard partition table is only able to store information about four partitions. At one
time this meant that a hard disk could have a maximum of four partitions.
• To work around this limitation, extended partitions were created.
• An extended partition stores information about other partitions. By using an extended
partition, you can create many more than four partitions on your hard disk.
• The four standard partitions are often called the primary partitions.
• Partitions configured into an extended partition are often referred to as logical partitions.
• Partition Types
• When a partition is created, a special byte of data is written to record what type of
partition it is.
• Because one hard disk may be shared by multiple operating systems, operating systems
tend to agree on the meaning of these values.
1. What is a hard disk partition

2. Why make partitions
What is a hard disk partition
When a hard drive is installed in a computer, it must be partitioned before you can format and
use it. Partitioning a drive is when you divide the total storage of a drive into different pieces.
These pieces are called partitions. Once a partition is created, it can then be formatted so that it
can be used on a computer. When partitions are made, you specify the total amount of storage
that you would like to allocate to that partition from the total size of the drive. For example, if
you have an 80 GB drive, then it would be possible to make one partition consisting of the entire
80 GB of available storage. Alternatively, you could make two partitions consisting of a 20 GB
partition that will be used for the operating system and programs and a 60 GB partition set aside
for data, music, and images.
In the current IBM PC architecture, there is a partition table in the drive's Master Boot Record
(section of the hard dirve that contains the commands necessary to start the operating system), or
MBR, that lists information about the partitions on the hard drive. This partition table is then
further split into 4 partition table entries, with each entries corresponding to a partition. Due to
this it is only possible to have four partitions. These 4 partitions are typically known as primary
partitions. To overcome this restriction, system developers decided to add a new type of
partition called the extended partition. By replacing one of the four primary partitions with an
extended partition, you can then make an additional 24 logical partitions within the extended
one. The table below illustrates this.
Partition Table
Primary Partition #1
(Extended Partition)
Logical Partition #1
Logical Partition #1
As you can see, this partition table is broken up into 4 primary partitions. The fourth partition,
though, has been flagged as an extended partition. This allows us to make more logical partitions
under that extended partition and therefore bypassing the 4 partition limit.
Each hard drive also has one of its possible 4 partitions flagged as an active partition. The
active partition is a special flag assigned to only one partition on a hard drive that the Master
Boot Record (MBR) uses to boot your computer into an operating system. As only one partition
may be set as the active partition, you may be wondering how people can have multiple
operating systems installed on different partitions, and yet still be able to use them all. This is
accomplished by installing a boot loader in the active partition. When the computer starts, it will
read the MBR and determine the partition that is flagged as active. This partition is the one that
contains the boot loader. When the operating system boots off of this partition the boot loader
will start and allow you to choose which operating systems you would like to boot from.
Why make partitions

Now that you know what a partition is, you may be wondering why you would even need to
make multiple partitions instead of just making one. Though there are quite a few reasons, we
will touch on some of the more important ones below:
• Multiple Filesystems - When you create a partition, you then need to
format it before it can be used. When formatting a partition you tell the
operating system what filesystem you would like that partition to be
formatted in. Once you format a partition, and therefore assign the type of
filesystem you want to use with it, you can not change that filesystem
without formatting the partition again and losing all the data contained on it.
If you require different filesystems on your computer, whether it be for
security or for a specific application, you can then make multiple partition
and assign one type of filesystem to one of the partitions and another to one
of the other partitions.
• Partition Size - On older operating systems the maximum size of a partition
was limited. Therefore if you had more storage space on a hard drive than
was usable in a single partition, you would need to create other partitions to
utilize this unused space.
• Multiple Operating Systems - Some operating systems use filesystems
that are not compatible with other operating systems. If you want to use two
operating systems on the same computer that are not compatible in this way,
you could then make two partitions, one for each operating system. Then a
boot loader could be used to switch between them when you start your
computer.
• Wasted disk Space - When a filesystems store data in a partition, the larger
the partition, the greater the chance of wasted space. By having multiple
partitions of smaller size, you reduce the amount of waste that filesystems
may create.
• Seperate system files from users files - Some components of an
operating system require storage space to operate. For example, in Windows
if you have no hard drive space available on the drive that Windows is
installed on, you will not be able to print. By creating a partition solely
devoted to the operating system and then another partition dedicated to your
own data and programs, there is less of a chance of you using up the space
on the operating system partition with your data, and thus not causing
problems.
PC partition types
This section describes the master boot record (MBR) partitioning scheme, as used in DOS,
Microsoft Windows and Linux on PC compatible computer systems. For examples of
partitioning schemes used in other operating systems, see GUID Partition Table, Slice (disk), or
BSD disklabel.
The total data storage space of a PC hard disk can be divided into at most four primary
partitions, or alternatively three primary partitions and an "extended partition". These partitions
are described by 16-byte entries that constitute the Partition Table, located in the master boot
record.
The partition type is identified by a 1-byte code found in its partition table entry. Some of these
codes (such as 0x05 and 0x0F) may be used to indicate the presence of an extended partition.
Most are used by an operating system's bootloader (that examines partition tables) to decide if a
partition contains a file system that can be used to mount / access for reading or writing data.
Once a specific partition's type has been identified, additional information about its purpose and
probable contents may be found (see: list of partition types). For example, some partition type
codes are used to hide a partition's contents from various operating systems. However, if an OS
or some partitioning tool has been programmed to also examine the boot sectors of any partition,
then its file system may no longer remain hidden. (Note: There are no officially assigned
partition types; thus, more than one kind of file system may lay claim to the same code value.)
Additionally, partition types and boot indicators can be easily modified using applications such
as MBRWizard if required.
[edit] Primary partition
A primary partition contains one file system. In DOS and earlier versions of Microsoft Windows
systems, the system partition was required to be the first partition. Windows operating systems
must be located in a primary partition. Other operating systems do not have this peculiar
requirement. However, other factors, such as a PC's BIOS (see Boot sequence on standard PC)
may also impart specific requirements as to which partition must contain the primary OS.
The partition type code for a primary partition can either correspond to a file system contained
within (e.g. 0x07 means either an NTFS or an OS/2 HPFS file system) or indicate that the
partition has a special use (e.g. code 0x82 usually indicates a Linux swap partition). The FAT16
and FAT32 file systems have made use of a number of partition type codes due to the limits of
various DOS and Windows OS versions. Though a Linux operating system may recognize a
number of different file systems (ext4, ext3, ext2, ReiserFS, etc.), they have all consistently used
the same partition type code: 0x83 (Linux native file system).
[edit] Extended partition
A hard disk may contain only one extended partition; the extended partition can be subdivided
into multiple logical partitions. In DOS/Windows systems, each logical partition may then be
assigned an additional drive letter. Linux operating systems can be installed into (and run from)
logical partitions, whereas Windows operating systems are restricted to primary partitions.
See extended boot record for information on the structure of an extended partition.
[edit] Partitioning schemes
[edit] DOS, Windows, and OS/2
With DOS, Microsoft Windows, and OS/2, a common practice is to use one primary partition for
the active file system that will contain the operating system, the page/swap file, and all utilities,
applications, and user data. On most Windows consumer computers, the drive letter C: is
routinely assigned to this primary partition. Other partitions may exist on the hard disk that may
or may not be visible as drives, such as recovery partitions or partitions with diagnostic tools or
data. (Microsoft drive letters do not correspond to partitions in a one-to-one fashion, so there
may be more or less drive letters than partitions.)
Proponents of multiple partitions assert that a benefit of having multiple partitions is the ability
to store data files on a partition separate from one containing the system files. If the system
partition then become corrupted for any reason, irreplaceable user files stored on the independent
partition would be able to be more easily retrieved (or recovered), not having been corrupted
along with the system files. Another operating system (loaded from a LiveCD or USB, for
example) could access the files on the (presumably) uncorrupted independent data partition
without having to worry about the corrupted system partition at all.
Further, when data files are kept in a separate partition, if an operating system needs to be re-
installed / restored (due to malware infiltration, for example), this can be done without risking
damage to the data files (that in a single-partition system are stored along with the operating
system files).
Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 include an inbuilt 'Disk
Management' program which allows for the creation, deletion and movement of Windows (but
not other types of) partitions. The Windows 7/Vista Disk Manager is not compatible with
Windows 2000 or XP, nor, for the most part, other operating systems.
Other examples of partition management programs for Windows are Acronis Disk Director,
Easeus Partition Master, Norton Ghost, and Perfect Disk. In some instances specialized recovery
programs are supplied with retail consumer computers.
[edit] Unix, Linux and Mac OS X
On Unix-based and Unix-like operating systems such as Linux and Mac OS X, it is possible to
use multiple partitions on a disk device. Each partition can be used for a file system or as a swap
partition.
Multiple partitions also allow directories such as /tmp, /usr, /var, or home directory space to be
allocated their own file system. Such a scheme has a number of potential advantages:
• If one file system gets corrupted, the data outside that filesystem/partition
stay intact, minimizing data loss.
• Specific file systems can be mounted read-only, or with the execution of
setuid files disabled (thus enhancing security).
• Performance may be enhanced due to less disk head travel.
• A program which produces too much output (such as a system logging
daemon) fills up only a single filesystem, therefore does not fill up more
critical filesystems. (Often systems will not function correctly if / or /tmp fills
up.)
However, the disadvantage of subdividing the drive into fixed-size partitions is that a file system
in one partition may become full, even though other file systems still have plenty of usable
space.
A good partitioning scheme requires the user to predict how much space each partition will need,
which may be a difficult task; especially for new users. Logical volume management (LVM),
often used in servers, increases flexibility by allowing data in volumes to expand into separate
physical disks (which can be added when needed). Another option is to resize existing partitions
when necessary. LVM allows this easily by resizing (shrinking) a filesystem, reducing the size of
the logical volume containing that filesystem, allocating that freed space to another logical
volume, and expanding (resizing) this other filesystem.
Typical Linux desktop systems use two partitions: one holding a file system mounted on "/" (the
root directory) and a swap partition. (However, an almost unlimited number of partitions can be
accommodated by Linux operating systems.)
By default, Mac OS X systems also use a single partition for the entire filesystem, but use a swap
file inside the file system (like Windows) rather than a swap partition.
[edit] Multi-boot and mixed-boot systems
Main article: Multi-boot
A GRUB startup menu showing Ubuntu Linux (with three different boot modes) and
Windows Vista options
Multi-boot systems are computers where the user can boot into one of two or more distinct
operating systems (OS) stored in separate storage devices or in separate partitions of the same
storage device. In such systems a menu at startup gives a choice of which OS to boot/start (and
only one OS at a time is loaded).
This is distinct from virtual operating systems, in which one operating system is run as a self-
contained virtual "program" within another already-running operating system. (An example is a
Linux OS "virtual machine" running from within a Windows OS).
Multi-boot systems are typically mixed-boot systems, with different OSes installed, although
multiple copies of the same OS can be installed for safety, testing, and redundancy. A mixture of
Windows, Mac OSX (facilitated by the switch to the x86 processor architecture), and Linux OSs
(such as Ubuntu) on the same computer can therefore be accommodated.
On computers with a single hard disk multi-boot systems require multiple partitions on that hard
disk. Each OS requires one or more special types of partitions whose file system may or may not
be compatible with the those of other OSs on the hard disk. Tools to manipulate different types
of filesystems may be specific for that type of filesystem. In general, Windows-based filesystem
and partition tools have historically been used to manipulate partitions with Windows filesystems
but not Linux or Mac OS X partitions. Linux-based partition managers can often (but not always)
manage both Linux/Mac OS X and Windows partitions.
A particular problem of multi-boot systems is the mutual incompatibility between the
bootloaders of different operating systems, which may compete with each other and
independently overwrite important settings.
When most computers boot up, an MBR is referenced by the BIOS. This record indicates the
partition in which the bootloader to be initially run is located. Each operating system usually
attempts to change the MBR so that it points to the partition of the particular bootloader program
installed by that OS. In other words, when Windows loads, it changes the MBR to point to the
Windows partition in which the Windows bootloader is stored. When Mac OS X loads, it
changes the MBR to point to the Mac OS X partition in which the Mac OS X bootloader is
stored. When a Linux OS is loaded, it changes the MBR to point to the Linux partition in which
the Linux OS bootloader (Grub) is stored.
Although all modern OSs include bootloaders that claim to be able to load other OSs as well as
the primary OS, in practice this is not guaranteed. Subtle differences in file systems and ongoing
changes to the various operating systems can eventually make the bootloaders of each OS unable
to recognize the file systems of the competing OSs (and therefore prevent correct bootloading).
One or more OSs may then appear to be "unbootable" on that computer. To rectify this, a new
bootloader must be installed and configured and the MBR reset to point to the new bootloader.
A popular way to circumvent this problem is to install a small, independent "boot" partition
(must be a primary partition) in which one specific bootloader is permanently stored. The MBR
is then permanently set to always refer to the partition of this primary bootloader (and is never
allowed to be changed or to refer to the partition of any other bootloader). This primary
bootloader (in the boot partition) loads no OS directly. It merely presents a menu of operating
system choices, and when one is chosen, its only function is to chainload the particular
secondary bootloader of whichever OS is selected. Each secondary bootloader resides in the
partition of the OS to which it belongs, and is only used to load its native OS (not any other OS).
By utilizing this scheme, incompatibilities between different bootloaders, file systems and
operating systems are avoided.[2]
[edit] Partition recovery
When a partition is deleted, in general, only its partition table entry is removed from a table; and
although the data are no longer accessible, some still remain on the disk until being overwritten.
Specialized recovery utilities, (such as TestDisk and gpart), can locate lost file systems and
recreate a partition table which includes entries for these recovered file systems. However, some
disk utilities may also overwrite a number of beginning sectors of a partition they delete. For
example, if Windows Disk Management (Windows 2000/XP, etc.) is used to delete a partition, it
will overwrite the first sector (relative sector 0) of the partition before removing it. It may be
possible to restore a FAT32 or NTFS partition if a backup boot sector is available.
[edit] Compressed disks
Hard disks can be compressed to create additional space. In DOS and early Microsoft Windows,
programs such as Stacker (DR-DOS except 6), SuperStor (DR-DOS 6), DoubleSpace, or
DriveSpace (Windows 95) were used. This compression was done by creating a very large file
on the partition, then storing the disk's data in this file. At startup, device drivers opened this file
and assigned it a separate letter. Frequently, to avoid confusion, the original partition and the
compressed drive had their letters swapped, so that the compressed disk is C:, and the
uncompressed area (often containing system files) is given a higher name. (SuperStor required a
separate device driver to be loaded, DEVSWAP.COM).
Versions of Windows using the NT kernel, including the most recent versions, XP and Vista,
contain intrinsic disk compression capability. The use of separate disk compression utilities has
declined sharply.
DOS
This article is about the family of operating systems for IBM PC-compatible
computers. For other uses, see DOS (disambiguation).
The FreeDOS startup sequence.
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System",[1] is an acronym for several closely related operating
systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about
2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and
Millennium Edition.
Related systems include MS-DOS, PC-DOS, DR-DOS, FreeDOS, PTS-DOS, ROM-DOS, JM-
OS, and several others.
In spite of the common usage, none of these systems were simply named "DOS" (a name given
only to an unrelated IBM mainframe operating system in the 1960s). A number of unrelated,
non-x86 microcomputer disk operating systems had "DOS" in their name, and are often referred
to simply as "DOS" when discussing machines that use them (e.g. AmigaDOS, AMSDOS,
ANDOS, Apple DOS, Atari DOS, Commodore DOS, CSI-DOS, ProDOS, and TRS-DOS).
While providing many of the same operating system functions for their respective computer
systems, programs running under any one of these operating systems would not run under others.
Design
All MS-DOS-type operating systems run on machines with the Intel x86 or compatible CPUs,
mainly the IBM PC and compatibles. Machine-dependent versions of MS-DOS were produced
for many non-IBM-compatible x86-based machines, with variations from relabelling of the
Microsoft distribution under the manufacturer's name, to versions specifically designed to work
with non-IBM-PC-compatible hardware. DOS-C's predecessor DOS/NT ran on Motorola 68000
CPU's.[citation needed]
DOS is a single-user, single-task operating system with basic kernel functions that are non-
reentrant: only one program at a time can use them. There is an exception with Terminate and
Stay Resident (TSR) programs, and some TSRs can allow multitasking. However, there is still a
problem with the non-reentrant kernel: once a process calls a service inside of operating system
kernel (system call), it must not be interrupted with another process calling system call, until the
first call is finished.[2]
The DOS kernel provides various functions for programs (an application program interface),
like displaying characters on-screen, reading a character from the keyboard, accessing disk files
and more.
DOS by default provides a primitive ability for shell scripting, via batch files (with the filename
extension .BAT). These are text files that can be created in any DOS text editor, such as the MS-
DOS Editor. They are executed in the same fashion as compiled programs, and run each line of
the batch file as a command. Batch files can also make use of several internal commands, such as
goto and conditional statements.[3] gosub and simple arithmetic is supported in some third-party
shells but can also be faked via strange workarounds; however, no real form of programming is
usually enabled.
The operating system offers a hardware abstraction layer that allows development of character-
based applications, but not for accessing most of the hardware, such as graphics cards, printers,
or mice. This required programmers to access the hardware directly, usually resulting in each
application having its own set of device drivers for each hardware peripheral. Hardware
manufacturers would release specifications to ensure device drivers for popular applications
were available.[4]
[edit] Drive naming scheme
Main article: Drive letter assignment
In DOS, drives are referred to by identifying letters. Standard practice is to reserve "A" and "B"
for floppy drives. On systems with only one floppy drive DOS assigns both letters to the drive,
prompting the user to swap disks as programs alternate access between them. This facilitates
copying from floppy to floppy or having a program run from one floppy while accessing its data
on another. Hard drives were originally assigned the letters "C" and "D". DOS could only
support one active partition per drive. As support for more hard drives became available, this
developed into first assigning a drive letter to each drive's active primary partition, then making a
second pass over the drives to allocate letters to logical drives in the extended partition, then a
third pass to give any other non-active primary partitions their names (where such additional
partitions existed and contained a DOS-supported file system.) Lastly, DOS allocates letters for
optical disc drives, RAM disks, and other hardware. Letter assignments usually occur in the
order the drivers are loaded, but the drivers can instruct DOS to assign a different letter; drivers
for network drives, for example, typically assign letters nearer the end of the alphabet.[5]
Because DOS applications use these drive letters directly (unlike the /dev directory in Unix-like
systems), they can be disrupted by adding new hardware that needs a drive letter. An example is
the addition of a new hard drive having a primary partition where a pre-existing hard drive
contains logical drives in extended partitions; the new drive will be assigned a letter that was
previously assigned to one of the extended partition logical drives. Moreover, even adding a new
hard drive having only logical drives in an extended partition would still disrupt the letters of
RAM disks and optical drives. This problem persisted through the 9x versions of Windows until
NT, which preserves the letters of existing drives until the user changes them.[5]
[edit] Reserved device names
Main article: Device file system
There are reserved device names in DOS that cannot be used as filenames regardless of
extension; these are used to send application output to hardware peripherals. These restrictions
also affect several Windows versions, in some cases causing crashes and security vulnerabilities.
[6]
A partial list of these reserved names is: NUL:, COM1: or AUX:, COM2:, COM3:, COM4:, CON:,
LPT1: or PRN:, LPT2:, LPT3:, and CLOCK$.[7]
A Short History of MS-DOS

Known variously as Seattle Computer 86-DOS, IBM Personal Computer DOS, and Zenith Z-
DOS, MS-DOS was developed by Seattle Computer Products for its 8086-based computer
system. The MS-DOS history is intertwined with the general development of software for 8086-
based computers.
In May 1979, Seattle Computer made the first prototype of its 8086 microprocessor card for the
S-100 bus. There were brief discussions with Digital Research about using one of Seattle
Computer's prototypes to aid in developing CP/M-86, which was to be ready "soon." Although
Seattle Computer was considering using CP/M-86 when it became available (expected no later
than the end of 1979), there were only two working prototypes of the 8086 processor card, and it
was felt that both were needed in house. Therefore, there wasn't one free for Digital Research.
Microsoft had already started a strong 8086 software-development program. The firm was ready
to try the 8086 version of Stand-Alone Disk BASIC, which is a version of its BASIC interpreter
with a built-in operating system. During the last two weeks of May 1979, this BASIC was made
completely functional using the hardware that Seattle Computer provided for Microsoft. Seattle
Computer Products displayed the complete package (8086 running disk BASIC) in New York
the first week of June at the 1979 National Computer Conference. (This was the first-ever public
display of an 8086 BASIC and of an 8086 processor card for the S-100 bus.)
Seattle Computer shipped its first 8086 cards in November 1979, with Stand-Alone Disk BASIC
as the only software to run on it. The months rolled by, and CP/M-86 was nowhere in sight.
Finally, in April 1980, Seattle decided to create its own DOS. This decision resulted just as much
from concern about CP/M's shortcomings as from the urgent need for a general-purpose
operating system.
The first versions of the operating system, called QDOS 0.10, were shipped in August 1980.
QDOS stood for Quick and Dirty Operating System because it was thrown together in such a
hurry (two man-months), but it worked surprisingly well. It had all the basic utilities for
assembly-language development except an editor. One week later, Seattle Computer had created
an operating system with an editor, an absurdity known as EDLIN (editor of lines). A primitive
line-oriented system, it was supposed to last less than six months. (Unfortunately, it has lasted
much longer than that as part MS-DOS.)
In the last few days of 1980, a new version of the DOS was released, now known as 86-DOS
version 0.3. Seattle Computer passed this new version on to Microsoft, which had bought non-
exclusive rights to market 86-DOS and had one customer for it at the time. Also about this time,
Digital Research released the first copies of CP/M-86. In April 1981, Seattle Computer Products
released 86-DOS version 1.00, which was very similar to the versions of MS-DOS that are
widely distributed today.
In July 1981, Microsoft bought all rights to the DOS from Seattle Computer, and the name MS-
DOS was adopted. Shortly afterward, IBM announced the Personal Computer, using as its
operating system what was essentially Seattle Computer's 86-DOS 1.14. Microsoft has been
continuously improving the DOS, providing version 1.24 to IBM (as IBM's version 1.1) with
MS-DOS version 1.25 as the general release to all MS-DOS customers in March 1982. Now
version 2.0, released in February 1983, has just been announced with IBM's new XT computer.
Desktop Support Interview Questions
Date Added
Sorting Options :
SMS Update
A PC did not receive an update from SMS. What steps would we take to resolve
this?
View Question | Asked by : msid82
Answer Question Subscribe
Connectivity Troubleshooting
A user in a corporate network contacts service desk saying he/she has lost network
connectivity: How will you troubleshoot the issue? What are the steps to followed?
Latest Answer: First you check to see if the cable is in plugged in the machine. Then
you check to see if you can connect to a web site. ...
Read Answers (1) | Asked by : kalahari
Windows XP Firewall
How would you Enable or Disable the Firewall in Windows XP?
Latest Answer: Press window+r key on keyboard than type firewall.cpl than you can
easily On or Off firewall. ...
Read Answers (4) | Asked by : navaneethreddy
Set IP address from CMD Prompt

How do you set the IP address by using the command prompt?
Latest Answer: There are Two ways to Set the IP address from CMD Prompt1. Go to
start, select run, type CMD, and in CMD Prompt type the command C:>netsh
interface ip set address name="Local Area Connection" source=dhcp2.Go to start,
select ...
Read Answers (3) | Asked by : dreamcast
Troubleshooting a Slow Computer

A User calls in and complains that her computer and network is running very slow.
How would go about troubleshooting it?
Latest Answer: First question, when did the problem start? Is anyone else in the
same work group experience slowness.Does it happen all the time, or is it
intermittent, any patterns of timings eg, in the morning or late at night. If they are
you need to take the ...
Read Answers (8) | Asked by : sanj108
Blackberry Synchronization
If a customers blackberry stopped syncing their calendar wirelessly, what would you
do?
Latest Answer: The first step before wiping the Blackberry is to remove the battery
for 20 sec. put it back and check the sync again. While all other steps are correct,
most BB issues will be resolve by a hard reset. ...
Read Answers (6) | Asked by : Rrahul Arora
Add a User to Network

Explain how will you add a user to network?
Latest Answer: First you need to figure out what role the user is going to have and if
there is anyone on that has the correct set of permissions as the user. If this is true,
on the server or on your desktop if you are an admin and have the admin tools
installed. then ...
Read Answers (5) | Asked by : charla
Artribation Process
Which layer provides Physical link, Flow control, Artribation process?
Latest Answer: Its the Data Link Layer ...
Read Answers (1) | Asked by : rameshrgen
Low Level Formatting

Define Low Level Formatting?
Latest Answer: Low level formatting is a type of formatting where new track and
sector are created after erasing old one. This type of formatting is very slow.
Actually it is a outlining the track and sector of hard disk where actual data will be
store and writing the ...
Read Answers (1) | Asked by : parameshg
FireWire Port
What is Firewire Port? What are its uses?
Latest Answer: Firewire port is a form of Serial Port that make use of FireWire
Technology to transfer data rapidly from one electronic device to another.FireWire
port has the ability to interact with a number of different devices. For example
FireWire can provide ...
LDAP on OutlookWhat is the IP range in networking side? How do we troubleshoot
Outlook? How do we configure ldap on Outlook?
I am hoping I am submiting the correct answer. IP range in netwroking side is

related to DHCP and Address pools. Ex: 192.168.0.10 to 192.168.0.200 -> Can be
defined as address range allowed to distribute and 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.0.9 are
restricted to destribute to client computers.
LDAP on outlook can be configured through Tools menu->Account settings-Address

books-Select new address book->Select LDAP address book->in next window add
server details.
Windows XP Boot OptionsWhat advance boot options are available for

Windows XP?
Following are the Windows XP advance boot Options.

Safe Mode
Safe Mode With Networking
Safe Mode With Command Prompt
Enable Boot Logging
Enable VGA Mode
Last Known Good Configuration
Directory Services Restore Mode
Debugging Mode
Disable automatic restart on system failure
Start Windows Normally
Reboot
Return to OS Choice Menu
Bootloader
What is bootloader?
Bootloader is called Master Boot Record(MBR), where our os is loaded.
Restore Windows XPHow to restore Windows XP in Command Mode
To start System Restore using the Command prompt, follow these steps:
1. Restart your computer, and then press and hold F8 during the initial startup to start your
computer in safe mode with a Command prompt.
2. Use the arrow keys to select the Safe mode with a Command prompt option.
3. If you are prompted to select an operating system, use the arrow keys to select the
appropriate operating system for your computer, and then press ENTER.
4. Log on as an administrator or with an account that has administrator credentials.
5. At the command prompt, type %systemroot%system32restorerstrui.exe, and then press
ENTER.
6. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to restore your computer to a functional
state.
Install Operating System on more than 50 PCHow will you install
Operating System in more than 50 PC at a time when the all Pcs
having same configuration.
it is very simple. just install the os and all the drivers in one system and make a
ghost image using norton ghost and restore it in remaining 49 systems. restoring a
ghost takes 5-6 mins while os and drivers will take more than one hour for each.
Windows XP Core Files

What are the core files required to boot Windows XP?
Latest Answer: ntldr, boot.ini, bootsect.dos, ntdetect.com, ntbootdd.sys,
ntoskrnl.exe, hal.dll, system, device drivers (s.sys) ...
Read Answers (1) | Asked by : rrsain
Desktop Support & Help Desk What is the technical difference between
Desktop Support & Help Desk ?
The difference between desktop support and helpdesk are the following:
1. Desktop support is the one doing the troubleshooting on hand.
2. Helpdesk support is the one receiving the call and troubleshoot it remotely
Installing PrinterYou are required to install a new printer on the Print

Server what are your steps? Remember this will be a shared printer
if you want to set up a network printer Start > Settings > Printers >add
printer. after that you can configure it to your own preference. XP
First Start--->Control Panel--->Printers---->Add printer--->Local (or) Network

Printer--->Choose which brand printer and which one type of printer
(if it's needed drivers push the driver CD in that PC)---->Select TYPE (LPT1 or USB)---
>Finish.
It's ready to use printer. now printer is online.
What is APIPA stand for?what does APIPA stand for and how can you tell if
your computer is using it? why would your computer be using it?
APIPA - Automatic Priavte IP addressing.
This is a dynamic service (I mentioned here dynamic means you have not need to
start & stop this service, computer will automatically started this service when
DHCP is down & stop this service when DHCP is up) that means this service is
related with DHCP.
APIPA assign private IP address from 169.254.0.1 to 169.254.255.254.
APIPA also check presence DHCP server every 5 miniute ( according to microsoft )
removal of virusyou have a virus that loaded several processes every time
you stop the process it restarts itself you tried going into safe mode but it
does the same thing...you found the DLL files associated with it but you
cant stop or delete them what is the easiest way to repair?
Encourage your users to back up their important files constantly
1) Run virus removal software in Safe mode

2) Disable all unknown start up protocols using msconfig.
3) Be ready to format or restore a ghost image if neccessary.
If this is an office network teach users to save and store important data on a
mapped network drive.
What is the difference between LCD and TFT ?
A liquid crystal display (commonly abbreviated LCD) is a thin flat display device
made up of any number of color or monochrome pixels arrayed in front of a light
source or reflector. It is prized by engineers because it uses very small amounts of
electric power and is therefore suitable for use in battery-powered electronic
devices.
TFT-LCD (Thin Film Transistor-Liquid Crystal Display) is a variant of Liquid Crystal

Display (LCD) which uses Thin-Film Transistor (TFT) technology to improve image
quality. TFT LCD is one type of active matrix LCD though it is usually synonymous
with LCD. It is used in both flat panel displays and projectors. In computing TFT
monitors are rapidly displacing competing CRT technology and are commonly
available in sizes from 12 to 30 inches.
How will you install Operating System in more than 50 PC at a time when
the all Pcs having same configuration.
Create a image of Operating System and the software’s which you want to install on all systems from
Symantec ghost and paste or distribute the image on the network.
what type of problems are associated with operating system like window
XP?
If that PC having Windows XP Operating System

Given below are the problems
1. Select boot device in BIOS

2. If you are installed Multiple operating system, select which one you want it (that
files Boot.ini)
3. ntldr misssing press ctrl+alt+del to restart
4. ntdetect.com file is missing press
5. Kernel file is missing press c+a+d to restart (ntkernol)
6. Chkdsk error
7. No media device
8. Bad RAM
9. Fatal Error (Blue Screen)
10. Once enter the OS it is showing low disk space / low virtual memory, etc..
11. Not properly installed hardware and software drivers (see the device manager)
12. Your HDD having Bad Sectors
13. Again and again restart
14. System is hanging
What is the difference between Outlook & Outlook Express?

What is IP range in networking side?
How we will troubleshoot Outlook?
How we will configure LDAP on Outlook?
Express Version is Limited features cannot work with the exchange server use POP
as a protocol.
Outlook is Fully featured version and you can customize as you want. Work with
email servers. Also you can used Ldap servers.
Outlook Express is a POP3- and IMAP-compatible mail client with a built-in newsreader. It is
available with Internet Explorer for Windows or as a stand-alone client.
Outlook is also an email client but unlike Outlook Express it is also a personal information
manager. We can use it for viewing and maintaining calendars organizing contacts and managing
tasks. When we use it with an Exchange server account you can use it for group scheduling and
sharing your contacts and tasks with others.
What is IMAP? How does it work?
IMAP is short for Internet Message Access Protocol, and this is precisely what it is
for.
When you retrieve your email messages from your ISP's mail server in your email
program, the server and your program (the client) probably use the Post Office
Protocol (POP) to talk to each other.
Providing a way to get email messages to your computer is what IMAP and POP
share. While POP was designed to do merely that, IMAP does provide more useful
functionality
IMAP is basically for when your using multiple computers to check your email.
With POP3 it will download to your computer.. but with IMAP I believe the emails
stay on the server.
UNC
Universal Naming Convention
\\servername\shared name (It is used to access the shared folder)
MAC
Media Access Control
PDC
Primary Domain Controllers
BDC
Backup Domain Controllers
SMP
Symmetric Multi Processors
AMP
Asymmetric Multi Processing
EFS
Encrypted File System
FAT
File Allocation Table
HCL
Hardware Compatibility List
IIS
Internet Information Service
LSA
Local Security Authority
MMC
Microsoft Management Console
OU
Organizational Unit
RAS
Remote Access Service
RDP
Remote Desktop Protocol (used for Terminal Services)
RRAS
Routing and Remote Access Service
SID
Security Identifier
WINS
Windows Internet Name Service
GUID
Globally Unique identifier
IAS
UNC
Universal Naming Convention
\\servername\shared name (It is used to access the shared folder)
MAC
Media Access Control
PDC
Primary Domain Controllers
BDC
Backup Domain Controllers
SMP
Symmetric Multi Processors
AMP
Asymmetric Multi Processing
EFS
Encrypted File System
FAT
File Allocation Table
HCL
Hardware Compatibility List
IIS
Internet Information Service
LSA
Local Security Authority
MMC
Microsoft Management Console
OU
Organizational Unit
RAS
Remote Access Service
RDP
Remote Desktop Protocol (used for Terminal Services)
RRAS
SID
Security Identifier
WINS
Windows Internet Name Service
GUID
Globally Unique identifier
IAS
Internet Authentication Service
UPN
User Principle Name (Username@domainname.com)
BIOS
Basic Input Output System
Net BIOS
Network Basic Input/Output System
ARP
Address Resolution Protocol
DVD
Digital Video Disk
GPO
Group Policy Object (LGPO Local Group Policy Object)
IPsec
Internet Protocol Security
ISP
Internet Service Provider
NAT
Network Address Translation
MBT
Master Boot Record
USB
Universal Serial Bus
POST
Power On Self Test
SCSI
Small Computer System Interface
SMTP
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
URL
Uniform Resource Locator
RAID
Redundant Array of Independent Disk
IDE
Intelligent drive Electronicsor Integrated Drive Electronics
FQDN
Fully Qualified Domain Name (full computer name)
[computername.domainname.com]
OSPF
Open Shortest Path First
(these two are routing protocols)
RIP
Routing Information Protocol
POP3
Post Office Protocol (used to receive the mails)
SMTP
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
(Used to send the mails)
SMPS
Switch Mode Power Supply
PING
Packet Internet Grope
VNC
Virtual Network Computing
EULA
End User License Agreement
CAL
Client Access License
TSCAL
Terminal Services Client Access License
UPS
Uninterruptible Power Supply
BIND
Berkeley Internet Name Domain
PXE
Pre boot eXecutable Environment
UDF
Uniqueness Database file
LDAP
Light weight Directory Access Protocol
ISDN
Integrated Services Digital Network
VLSM
Variable Length Subnet Mask
CIDR
Classless Inter Domain Routing
IGMP
Internet Group Management Protocol
FSMO
Flexible Single Master Operations
APIPAAutomatic IP addressing
NetBEUI
Net Bios Enhanced User Interface
UDP
User Datagram Protocol
FTP
File Transfer Protocol
Mbps
Mega bits per second
Ntds.dit
Nt directory services.directory information tree.
ICMP
Internet Control message Protocol
IGMP
Internet group Management Protocol
NNTP
Network News Transfer Protocol
RADIUS
Remote Authentication Dial In User service
SNMP
Simple Network Management protocol
VPN
Virtual Private Network
L2TP
Layer2 Tunneling Protocol
PPTP
Point to Point Tunneling Protocol
ADSI
Active Directory Service Interfaces
SUS
Software Update Service
SMS
System Management Service
WUS
Windows Update service
TFTP
Trivial File Transfer Protocol
List of important port numbers

15

Netstat
21

FTP
23

Telnet
25

SMTP
42

WINS
53

DNS
67

Bootp
68

DHCP
80

HTTP
88

Kerberos
101

HOSTNAME
110

POP3
119

NNTP
123

NTP (Network time protocol)
139

NetBIOS
161

SNMP
180

RIS
389

LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol)
443

HTTPS (HTTP over SSL/TLS)
520

RIP
79

FINGER
37

Time
3389
Terminal services
443

SSL (https) (http protocol over TLS/SSL)
220

IMAP3
3268
AD Global Catalog
3269
AD Global Catalog over SSL
500

Internet Key Exchange, IKE (IPSec) (UDP 500)
diskpart.exeThis command is used for disk management in Windows 2003.

nltest /dsgetdc:domainname
replacing domainname with the name of the domain that you are trying to log on to. This command verifies that a
domain controller can be located. Nltest is included in Support Tools
How to synchronize manually a client computer to a domain controller?
Windows 2000 (Win2K) and later computers in a domain should automatically
synchronize time with a domain controller. But some times you may get a situation to
synchronize manually.
To manually synchronize time, open a command-line window, and run
Net stop w32time
Run
w32time –update
Run
Net start w32time
Manually verify the synchronization between the client computer and a domain
controller. Also check the System event log to ensure that the W32Time service has not
logged additional error messages.
Properties
What are the properties of Taskbar?
We can see two tabs namely General, Advanced
What are the properties of Desktop?
The tabs that are there
Background
Screen saver
Appearance
Web
Effects
Settings
What are the properties of My computer?
The tabs that are there are
General
Network Identification
Hardware
Profile
Advanced
What are the properties of My Network places?
You will get one window, containing
Make new connection
Local Area connection
Now go to the properties of Local Area Connections
What are the properties of Internet Explorer?
What are the properties of a folder? What are the properties of a Drive? What are the folder options?
Double click on my computerTools folder options
General
View
File types
Offline files
What are the properties of folder?
What are the properties of file?
What are the print options do u get when you give a print in word?
What are the icons available in Control Panel?

Around 27 icons are available in control panel
Accessibility options, Add/Remove Hard ware, Add/Remove Programs, Administrative
tools, Automatic updates.
Key board, mouse, printer, Phone and modem, Scanner and cameras, Power options
System, Display, Network and dial up connections, Internet options, folder options
Date and time, Sounds and multi media, Regional settings, Users and passwords,
Scheduled tasks
What are the icons that don’t get delete option on the Desktop (up to 2000 O. S.)?
My Computer
My Network Places
Recycle Bin
Note: In Windows 2003 you can delete My computer, My network places. You can also
get back them.

Right click on DesktopProperties Click on Desktop tab click on customize
desktop select the appropriate check boxes.
Even in 2003 you cannot delete Recycle bin.
Note: You can delete any thing (even Recycle bin) from the desktop by using registry
settings in 2000/2003.
What are the properties of Recycle bin?
GeneralCheck box for Display delete confirmation dialogue box
Check box for whether to move a deleted to Recycle bin or directly delete
Global options (applies to all drives)
Individual Partitions (for each partition there exist one partition)
How to configure the DNS?
Open the DNS Console
Then you will find there
DNSServer name
Forward Lookup Zone
Reverse Lookup Zone
Note: If you have selected create automatically zones during the setup, then it creates the
root zone and domain zone under forward lookup zone.
If no zones are there under forward lookup zone first create root zone then create
domain zone.
How to create a zone?
k on forward lookup zonenew zone
Active Directory Integrated
Primary
Secondary
Select any one of above.
Note: The option Active Directory Integrated Zone is available on when you have
installed the Active Directory; if you have not installed Active Directory the option is
disabled.
Note: If you want to select a Secondary zone u should have already a primary zone or
Active Directory Integrated zone.
DNS Name [____________________]
Give the DNS name
Note: If you r creating a root zone then just type in the name box “.” (only dot)
Then clickNext
Finish
After creating the root zone then create another zone with Domain Name
Right click on Forward Lookup zone New zoneActive Directory Integrated
(you can choose any one)DNS Name [___]NextFinish
Creation of zone in Reverse lookup zone
Right Click on Reverse lookup zoneNew zoneType Network IdNext
NameFinish
After this
Right Click on zoneselect Create associate Ptr (pointer) recordNextfinish
What tabs are there on properties of Domain?
General
Start of Authority (SOA)
Named servers
WINS
Zone transfers
What tabs are there on properties of sever?
Interface
Forwarders
Advanced
Root hints
Logging
Monitoring
Where to create the primary, secondary, Active Directory Integrated zones?
If you want to create an Active Directory integrated zone, the server must be Domain
Controller.
If you want to create the Primary DNS, you can create on Domain Controller or Member
server. But if create on member you could not get 4 options under the domain which are
meant for Active directory.
You can create Secondary zone on a Member Server or on a Domain Controller. There is
no difference between them.
What are the advantages with Windows 2000 DNS?
Or
What are the features of Widows 2000 DNS?
Supports SRV (service) records
Supports Dynamic Updates
Supports IXFR (Incremental Zone Transfer)
Supports security
Explain each one of the above?
In windows 2000 Domain you need to have a DNS server to find different
services. The SRV records identify these services.
When you enable the Dynamic updates, all the records in the zone are
automatically created. As we add a computer to the domain, as we add a Domain
controller to the domain the corresponding records are automatically created. I.e., you
need to create a record in the DNS zone manually to identify those computers or services.
When an update is made in the Master it has to be replicated to the Secondary.
Previous we used to transfer the entire zone (which is called AXFR (entire zone
transfer)). But with Windows 2000 domain we transfer on the records that have been
modified. This is called IXFR (Incremental Zone Transfer).
We get the security with Active Directory Integrated zone. We can set permission
on Active Directory like who can use and who can't use the DNS. And also we have
Secure Dynamic updates with Active Directory Integrated zone. By this only specified
computers only can dynamically update the records in the zone.
What are the commands do we use for DNS?
Nslookup (and all interactive mode commands)
Ipconfig /fulshdns
Ipconfig /registerdns
Note: A best strategy of using DNS in corporate network is use two DNS servers. One is
on internal network and another one is between two firewalls. For more security keep the
zone as secondary in the DNS server which is between firewalls.
How we make more available our DNS?
By adding more tuple servers or By windows 2000 clustering.
FAQ’s on DNS
What is the purpose of forward lookup?
It resolves the Host names (Friendly Name) to IP addresses
What is the purpose of Reverse lookup zone?
It resolves the IP addresses to Host names
What is the difference between Primary zone and Secondary zone?
Primary zone has read and write permissions, where as Secondary zone has read only
permission.
Note: Secondary zone is used for Backup and Load balancing.
How to check whether DNS is working or not?
Type the command “nslookup” at command prompt
Then it gives the DNS server name and its IP address
What is Dynamic Updates in DNS?
Generally we need to create a host record for newly joined computer (either client or
Member server or Domain controller). If you enable dynamic Update option, then DNS it
self creates associated host record for newly joined computers.
How to get Dynamic Update option?
Right Click on any zone properties on General tab u will get Allow Dynamic
Updates? [_Yes/No/Secure Updates]
Note: Put always Dynamic Updates “YES”
Note: If it is Active Directory Integrated zone you will get above three options.
But if it is Primary or Secondary zone you will get only “YES/NO” (You won’t get
secure updates)
What is name Resolution?
The process of translating the name into some object or information that the name
represents is called name resolution. A telephone book forms a namespace in which the
names of telephone subscribers can be resolved to the phone numbers.
What is BIND?
What are the ports numbers used for Kerberos, LDAP etc in DNS?
Additional Material
What is a zone?
A database of records is called a zone.
Also called a zone of authority, a subset of the Domain Name System (DNS) namespace
that is managed by a name server.
What is an iterative query?
The query that has been sent to the DNS server from a Client is called iterative query.
(i. e., iterative query is nothing but give the answer for my question, don’t ask to contact
that person or this person or don’t say some thing else. Simply just answer to my
question. That’s all)
What is Recursive query?
Now your DNS server requests the root level DNS server for specific IP address. Now DNS server says that I
don’t know but I can give the address other person who can help you in finding IP address.
What Type of Records do you find in DNS database?
Host Record
Mail Exchange Record (MX record)
Alias
How to convert a Domain Controller to a member server?
Go to registryHkey_local_machine systemcontolset001 control
productoptions
In that change product type from “lanmanNt” to “serverNt”
Or
Go to Registry then search for lanmanNt then change it as serverNt
Is there any possibility to have two Primary DNS zones?
No, you should not have two primary DNS zones. Why because if u have two primary
DNS zones some clients contacts first one, some clients contacts second one according to
their configuration in TCP/IP properties. Then you will get problems. Actually Primary
DNS zone means Single master. i.e., master is only one that is only one primary DNS
zone. But you can have as many as Secondary zones.
To overcome from above problem (i.e., single master problem) in Windows 2000 we
have Active Directory Integrated zones, which are multi masters.
How to create a Secondary DNS zone?
To create a secondary zone you should have Primary DNS zone or Active Directory
Integrated DNS zone.
You have to follow the same procedure as same as primary DNS configuration.
But at the time selection, select Secondary zone instead of primary zone. After that it asks
the primary DNS zone address provide that address.
Create forward lookup zone and reverse lookup zone as usual.
Then,
Right click on forward lookup zoneNew zone

Primary
Secondary
Select Secondary zone
(Note:-The option Active Directory Integrated Zone is available on when you have
disabled.)
Then it asks for Primary DNS zone details, provide those details then click on
finish.
Now go to Primary or Active Directory integrated zone then right click on zone
name propertiesclick on zone transfer Tab
Select allow zone Transfers
Here you can see three options.
To any server
Only to servers listed on the Name servers tab
Only to the following servers
Select anyone and give the details of secondary zone (only in case of second and third
option).
Click on apply, thenOK
Note: In zone transfers tab you can find another option Notify, this is to automatically
notify secondary severs when the zone changes. Here also you can select appropriate
options.
Note: In secondary zone you cannot modify any information. Every one has read only
permission.
Whenever Primary DNS is in down click on “change” tab on general tab of properties, to
change as primary, then it acts as primary, there you can write permission also.
What is the default time setting in primary zone to refresh, Retry, Expire intervals for
secondary zone?
The default settings are
To Refresh interval 10 minutes
To Retry interval,
15 minutes
To Expire after
1 day
Suppose the Secondary zone is Expired then, how to solve the problem?
First go to primary zone check primary zone is working or not.
IF primary zone is working then go to secondary zone, Right click on zone name select
the “Transfer from Master” then it automatically contacts the primary DNS, if any
updates are there then it takes the updates from the Primary.
How to know whether the recent changes in Primary are updated to secondary zone
or not?
Compare the Serial Number on Start of Authority tab in both secondary on primary DNS
zone properties.
If both are same then recent updates are made to secondary zone.
If not (i.e., secondary is less then primary) click on “Transfer from Master”
How to change form Primary to Secondary or Secondary to primary or Active directory integrated to
secondary or primary like that (simply one type of zone to another type of zone)?
Go to the properties of the zone click on general tab, there you can find the option called
“Change” click on it then select appropriate option.
Then click on OK
How to pause the zone?
Go to properties of a zone click on General tabclick on Pause button.
What system is used before DNS to resolve this host names?
How to know whether a DNS name is exist or not in the internet?
CBT nuggets
Iterative query
The query that has been sent to my DNS server from my computer.
Recursive query
The query that has been sent to other DNS servers to know the IP address of a particular
server from my DNS server.
When you install a Windows 2000 DNS server, you immediately get all of the records of
root DNS servers. So every windows 2000 DNS server installed on Internet has pre
configured with the address of root DNS servers. So every single DNS server in the
Internet can get root servers.
DNS requirements:
First and foremost has to support SRV records (SRV record identifies a particular
service in a particular computer) (in windows 2000 we use SRV records to identify
Domain controllers, identifying Global Catalogue, etc.
Second and third are not requirements but recommended.
Second is Dynamic Updates
Third one is IXFR (Incremental Zone Transfer)
Note: Most DNS servers support AXFR (i.e., Entire zone transfer)
In incremental we transfer only changes, but in AXFR we transfer whole.
How does DNS server know the root domain server addresses?
Every DNS server that has installed on Internet has pre configured with root DNS server
addresses.
Every single server can get to the root. So that only every DNS server on the Internet first
contacts root DNS servers for name resolution.
Where can you find the address of root servers in the DNS server?
Open the DNS console Right click on the domain name drag down to properties
click on Root hints. Here you can find different root server addresses.
Note: When you install DNS service in a 2000 server operating system (still you have not
configured anything on DNS server), then it starts its functionality as caching only DNS
server.
What is caching only DNS server?
What is a forwarder?
(Open DNS console Right click on Domain name Click on forwarder tab)
A forwarder is server, which has more access than the present DNS server. May be our
present DNS server is located in internal network and it cannot resolve the Internet
names. May be it is behind a firewall or may it is using a proxy server or NAT server to
get to the Internet. Then this server forwards the query to another DNS server that can
resolve the Internet names.
Dynamic Host Configuration System (DHCP)
What is DHCP?
How to install DHCP?
We can install DHCP by two ways
1) While installing Operating System
While installing Operating System, It asks at Network Settings whether u
want Typical settings or Custom Settings
Select Custom SettingsSelect Network Servicesclick on Details
Select DHCPclick onOK
2) Independently
ProgramsSettingsControl PanelAdd/Remove Programs
Add/Remove Windows ComponentsSelect the Network ServicesClick
onpropertiesSelect DHCPOK
(During the installation it asks for CD)
Note: When you have installed DHCP a icon will appear in Administrative Tools
(DHCP)
How to uninstall DHCP?

on propertiesDeselect DHCPOK
How to open DHCP?
StartProgramsAdministrative ToolsDHCP
Or
StartRundhcpmgmt.msc
How to configure DHCP?
Open DHCP console by typing “dhcpmgmt.msc” at run prompt
Now you will find in DHCP console
DHCP
Right Click on DHCPClick on Add Server
Then you will get a window
This server
[________________] BROWSE
Select the DHCP server
OK
Now you will get
DHCP
Servername.domain.com [IP address]
Note: Some time the window comes automatically with creating the “Add Server”. Such
cases check the IP address whether it is correct or not. If it is wrong delete it and recreate
it.
Now you have DHCP server.
Now you have to authorize the DHCP Server to provide IP addresses to the clients.
Who can authorize DHCP server in the entire domain?
An Enterprise administrator can only authorize DHCP server. No other person in the domain can authorize the
DHCP server. Even if u r Administrator without enterprise administrator privileges you can’t authorize the
DHCP server.
Note: If it is not authorized a red symbol (down red arrow) will appear, if u authorize it
then a green up arrow will appear.
How to authorize the DHCP server?
Login with Enterprise administrator privileges.
Right Click on Servername.Domainname.com
Click on Authorize
Then it will be authorized (Indication is you will get green up arrow)
Now you have to create scope.
Note: A scope is range of IP addresses that you want to allocate to the clients.
How to create a scope?
Right click on servername.Domainname.com
Click on New Scope.
Click on Next.
Type Name
[______________________]
Description [_______________________]
Note: Generally we give the name as Network ID.
Click on Next.
Start IP address [______________________]
End IP address [______________________]
(Provide the starting IP address and End IP address)
Click on Next
Note: If you want to any exclusion you can do.
Starting IP address [______________] Ending IP address [__________]
Add
Remove
What is the default lease duration, minimum lease duration and maximum lease
duration?
By default any system will get 8 lease days to use IP address.
Note: You can increase or decrease the Lease duration, You have assign at least minimum
duration of 1 second and you can assign Maximum duration of 999 days 23 hours 59
minutes.
Note: If you haven’t log on for 50% of the duration continuously the IP address will be
released.
ClickNe xt
Now you will get a Window asking whether you want to configure the options (DNS,
WINS, and Router etc.)
You can configure the options now itself or you can authorize after completion of this.
Select any one then clickNext.
ClickFin ish.
Note: If u have selected “NO” in the above window you can configure above things
anytime like below
Click on server optionconfigure options 
Select the required ones
Enter server name, IP address
Click OK
Now you have to activate the “Scope”
Right click on Scope Click on Activate
Note: You can reserve IP address for specific Clients. Or You can Exclude IP address
(without allocation) for future purpose.
The above things all are in server.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Now you have to configure Client system.
Go to Client System
Right click on My Network Placesdrag down to properties Right click on Local
area connectiondrag down to properties select TCP/IP click on properties
Now you will get one window containing TCP/IP properties
In that select “assign IP address automatically” and select “assign DNS address
automatically”
Click on “More” delete the DNS suffix if anything is there.
ClickOK
Then the client takes IP address automatically from DHCP server.

The DHCP server also provides DNS, WINS, ROUTER addresses also.
Note: You must assign a static IP address for DHCP server.
(Generally in real time people will assign static IP address not only for DHCP server but also for all servers.
Because if you assign automatic IP Address if DHCP is down then all servers will not function properly.)
Note: The DHCP server assigns IP address to the clients. But apart from that it also
provides DNS address, default gateway, WINS address and so on, which are configured
in DHCP server.
What is the protocol that is used for DHCP process?
Bootp
Why DHCP Relay Agent is used?
To extend DHCP services beyond routers (IF “bootp” is not installed in router)
What are the commands used for DHCP?
Ipconfig
Ipconfig /all
Ipconfig /release
Ipconfig /renew
What is the process of assigning IP address by DHCP service?
There are four stages in assigning IP address to a host by DHCP server.
1) DHCP discover
2) DHCP offer
3) DHCP request
4) DHCP Acknowledge
DHCP Discover:
When ever client has to obtain an IP address from a DHCP server it will broadcast a message called
“DHCP discover” , which contains destination address 255.255.255.255 and source IP address as 0.0.0.0 and
its MAC address.
DHCP offer:
The DHCP server on the network will respond to DHCP discover by sending a
DHCP offer message to the client requesting an IP address.
DHCP request:
The client after receiving offer message will send a “DHCP request” message
asking the DHCP server to confirm the IP address it has offered to it through DHCP offer
message.
DHCP Acknowledge:
DHCP server will respond to the “DHCP request” message by sending
acknowledge message through which it confirms the IP address to other machine.
Note: You can also enable DHCP in work group for dynamic allocation of IP addresses.
Configure the server operating system in work group as a DHCP then go for client in
TCP/IP properties select obtain IP address automatically. Then the client gets IP address
from the DHCP server.
Note: You need not to configure DNS or anything.
Using APIPA
On occasion, a network PC boots up and finds that the DHCP server is not available. When this happens, the
PC continues to poll for a DHCP server using different wait periods.
The Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) service allows the DHCP client to
automatically configure itself until the DHCP server is available and the client can be
configured to the network. APIPA allows the DHCP client to assign itself an IP address in
the range of 169.254.0.1 to 169.254.254.254 and a Class B subnet mask of 255.255.0.0.
The address range that is used by APIPA is a Class B address that Microsoft has set aside
for this purpose.
General Questions
What is the family of Windows 2000?
Windows 2000 Professional
(Desktop Operating System)
Windows 2000 Server
(Server Operating System)
Windows 2000 Advanced Server
Windows 2000 Data center Server (Server Operating System)
What is the family of Windows NT?
Windows NT workstation
(Desktop)
Windows NT 4.0 server
(Server)
Windows NT 4.0 Enterprise server (Server)
What is the family of Widows 2003 family?
■ Windows Server 2003, Web Edition
■ Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition
■ Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition
■ Windows Server 2003, Data center Edition

What is the Difference between Desktop and Server?
In desktop system we cannot load Active directory.
In server system we can load Active directory. So that we can create a Domain in server,
advanced server, Data center server.
In professional there is no fault tolerance on the hard drive (i.e., disk mirroring, RAID 5).
In server we have fault tolerance on the hard drive.
What is the difference between windows 2000 server and Windows 2000 advanced
server, Data center server?
In Windows 2000 server we don’t have Clustering, Network load balancing.
Where as in Windows 2000 advanced server and in Data center server we have Clustering
and Network load balancing.
In 2000-Advanced server and Data center server we have more RAM and more
Processors.
What are the minimum and Maximum configurations for Windows family?
Windows 2000 Operating System family
OS Name
Processor
RAM
(min.)
RAM
(rec.)
Free Hard
disk space
Supported
no. of Pros.
RAM
Windows 2000
Professional
Pentium / 133MHz
32 MB
64 MB
650 MB
1 GB (rec.)
2
4 GB
Windows 2000
Server
Pentium / 133MHz
128 MB
256 MB Approx.1 GB
(Rec. 2 GB)
4
4 GB
Windows 2000
Advanced Server
Pentium / 133MHz
128 MB
256 MB Approx 1 GB
(Rec. 2 GB)
8
8 GB
Windows 2000
Datacenter Server
Pentium / 133MHz
128 MB
256 MB Approx 1 GB
(Rec. 2 GB)
32
64 GB
CPU Requirements for Windows Server 2003
Specification
Windows
Server 2003,
Standard Edition
Windows
Server 2003,
Enterprise Edition
Minimum recommended
CPU speed
550 MHz
550 MHz
Number of CPUs supported 1–4
1–8
Minimum and Maximum RAM for Windows Server 2003
RAM Specification
Windows
Server 2003,
Standard Edition
Windows
Server 2003,
Enterprise Edition
Minimum recommended RAM 256 megabytes(MB) 256 MB
Maximum RAM
4 gigabytes (GB)
32 GB
What are the differences between windows 2000 professional and server versions?
In professional we don’t have fault tolerance (Mirroring, RAID5) where as in all server
versions we have.
In professional we cannot load Active Directory where as in all server versions we can.
In professional and 2000 server we don’t clustering and network load balancing where as
in 2000 advanced server and in Data centre server we have Clustering and NLB.
As you move from server to advanced server, advanced server to data centre server we
get more RAM and more Processors.
What are the features of Windows 2000 professional?
Windows 2000 Professional improves the capabilities of previous versions of Windows in
five main areas: ease of use, simplified management, increased hardware support,
enhanced file management, and enhanced security features.
What are the features of windows 2000?
What are the Operating Systems can u upgrade to Windows 2000?
We cannot upgrade window 3.1 to windows 2000.
We can upgrade directly from windows 95/98/NT 3.51/NT 4.0 to Windows 2000.
If we have Windows NT 3.1/NT 3.50 first we need to upgrade to Windows NT3.51 or NT
4.0 then we can upgrade to windows 2000.
What is the primary difference between a workgroup and a domain?
A workgroup is a distributed directory maintained on each computer within the
workgroup. A domain is a centralized directory of resources maintained on domain
controllers and presented to the user through Active Directory services.
What is a Stand-alone computer?
A computer that belongs to a workgroup, not a domain, is called a stand-alone computer.
What is Domain Controller and Member server?
With Windows 2000, servers in a domain can have one of two roles:
Domain controllers, which contain matching copies of the user accounts and other Active
Directory data in a given domain.
Member servers, which belong to a domain but do not contain a copy of the Active
Directory data.
Member servers running Windows 2000 Server: A member server is a server that isn't
configured as a domain controller. A member server doesn't store Directory information
and can't authenticate users. Member servers provide shared resources such as shared
folders or printers.
Client computers running Windows 2000 Professional: Client computers run a user's
desktop environment and allow the user to gain access to resources in the domain.
Can you change the Name of a Domain Controller?
You cannot change the name of a server while it is a domain controller in windows 2000 domain. Instead, you
must change it to a member or stand-alone server, change the name, and finally make the server a domain
controller once again.
But you can change the name of a domain controller in windows 2003 Operating System.
Why do we need Multiple Domain Controllers?
If you have multiple domain controllers, it provides better support for users than having
only one. Multiple domain controllers provide automatic backup for user accounts and
other Active Directory data, and they work together to support domain controller
functions (such as validating logons).
What is the structure and purpose of a directory service?
A directory service consists of a database that stores information about network
resources, such as computer and printers, and the services that make this information
available to users and applications.
What is Active Directory?
Active Directory is a directory service, which stores information about network resources
such as users, groups, computes, printers, and shares. Active Directory provides single
point for organization, control, management.
Note: In a lay man language Active Directory is some thing like Yellow Pages.
What roles does a Main Domain Controller (the first domain controller in the entire
forest) will have by default?
By default it gets 5 roles.
Schema Master
Domain Naming Master
PDC Emulator
Relative Identifier
(RID)
Infrastructure Master (IM)
Note: The above roles are called operations master roles.
What are the roles an Additional Domain controller will have by default?
By default you cannot get any role. But if you want to assign any role you can transfer
from master.
What are the roles a Child Main Domain Controller will have by default?
By default it gets only three roles.
PDC Emulator
Relative Identifier
(RID)
Infrastructure Master (IM)
What are the roles a Child additional Domain controller will have by default?
By default it won’t get any role. But if want to assign you can transfer from main child
domain controller.
Explain the activities of each role?
1) Schema Master:
It will govern the Active Directory to all the Domain Controllers in a forest.
2) Domain Naming Master:
Maintains the unique Domain Naming System in a forest to avoid duplication.
3) RID master:
It assigns unique ID to every user account. (Domain + RID)
4) PDC Emulator:
If PDC is upgraded to windows 2000 it will send data to BDC’s on the network.
(Replication of user Database)
If the user password is not matching in a particular Domain, then it will contact
PDC emulator of first Domain Controller (Master Domain controller)
5) Infrastructure Master:
Maintains the infrastructure group proper files on the master Domain controller.
What are the roles must be on the same server?
Domain Naming Master and Global catalogue
What are the roles those must not be on the same Domain Controller?
Infrastructure Master and Global Catalogue
Note: If you have only one domain then you won’t get any problem even if you have both
of them in the same server.
If you have two or more domains in a forest then they shouldn’t be in the same server.
What is Global Catalogue?
This is a database on one or more domain controllers. Each copy of the database contains
a replica of every object in the Active Directory but with a limited number of each
object's attributes.
Use of Global catalogue
Contains partial replica of all objects in the entire forest
Contains universal groups
Validates user principle names (UPN) when you are creating. This checks that any UPN
exists with this name or not in the entire forest.
How to check the above roles to which server they have assigned?
Install support tools from CD

Programssupport toolstoolscmd prompt (Go to the command prompt in this way
only)
At command prompt type “netdom query fsmo”
What is FSMO?
Flexible Single Master Operations
Note: The above five roles are called FSMO roles.
How to check which server is having Global Catalogue?
First load support tools
Run cmdldp
Then you will get a window there
Click on file Select connect to type the required server
Then you will get some information, at the bottom you can find “Global Catalogue”
TRUE/FALSE. If TRUE is there then it is a global catalogue server. If FALSE is there
then it is not a global catalogue server.
Note: By default the Global Catalogue service is enabled in Main Domain controller.
And by default the Global Catalogue service is disabled in additional Domain
Controllers. If you want to transfer Global Catalogue service from Main Domain
Controller to Additional Domain Controller, then you can transfer.
How to transfer a role from on Domain Controller to another Domain controller?
Start Programs Administrative tools Active Directory sites and services

Right click on Domain NameFirst connect to the required server by the option
“connect to”. Then Right click on Domain Nameselect Operations Masters there
you will get 3 roles tabs. Select the required one click on change tab OK
How to start/stop a service from command prompt?
Go to the command prompt, type
“Net start service name” (To start a service)
“Net stop service name” (To stop a service)
Ex: “net start netlogon”
“Net stop netlogon”
What is a Domain controller?
Domain controllers, which contain matching copies of the user accounts and other Active
Directory data in a given domain.
What is a Member server?
Member servers, which belong to a domain but do not contain a copy of the Active
Directory data.
What is standalone server?
A server that belongs to a workgroup, not a domain, is called a stand-alone server.
What is standalone computer?
A computer that belongs to a workgroup, not a domain, is called a stand-alone computer.
Note: With Windows 2000, it is possible to change the role of a server back and forth
from domain controller to member server (or stand-alone server), even after Setup is
complete.
What is a client?
A client is any device, such as personal computer, printer or any other server, which
requests services or resources from a server. The most common clients are workstations.
What is a server?
A server is a computer that provides network resources and services to workstations and
other clients.
What is Main Domain Controller?
The first computer in the entire forest on which you have performed DCPROMO.
What is additional Domain controller?
What is child domain controller?
How to know whether a server is Domain Controller or not?

You can find in three ways
1) By log on dialogue box
If it is a Domain Controller at Domain Names you won’t get “this
computer” option.
If you get “this computer” option in a server Operating System that must
be a Member Server.
2) By My computer Properties
On Network Identification tab, the Properties button will be disabled.
3)
By typing DCPROMO
If it is already a Domain Controller you will uninstallation wizard for
Active Directory.
If it is not a Domain Controller you will get installation wizard for Active
Directory.
4.
You should see the share of netlog and sysvol … just type netshare at the
cmd prompt
5.
You should be able o see the ntds setting in the winnt directory
6.
You should see the ntds folder in regedit ..
Who will replicate the Password changes?
PDC emulator (immediately it replicates to all the Domain Controllers)
What are the file systems we have in windows?

FAT/FAT16/FAT32/NTFS 4.0/NTFS 5.0
How to convert from FAT to NTFS?
Convertdri ve /fs:ntfs
What is a forest?
Collection of one or more domain trees that do not form a contiguous namespace. Forests
allow organizations to group divisions that operate independently but still need to
communicate with one another.
All trees in a forest share common Schema, configuration partitions and Global Catalog.
All trees in a give forest trust each other with two way transitive trust relations.
What is a Domain?
A group of computers that are part of a network and shares a common directory and
security polices. In Windows 2000 a domain is a security boundary and permissions that
are granted in one domain are not carried over to other domains
What is a user principle name?
username@domainname.com
What is Fully Qualified Domain Name?
Hostname.domainname.com (this is also referred as computer name)
How many hard disks can you connect to a system at a time?
Maximum we can connect four Hard disks (If we don’t have CD ROM).
What are they?
Primary Master
Primary Slave
Secondary Master
Secondary Slave
Note: We cannot have two of same type at a time.
How types of disks are there in windows 2000?
Basic Disk
Dynamic Disk
Dynamic disk format does not work on a computer that contains more than one operating
system. The only operating system that can access a hard disk using dynamic disk format
is windows 2000.
What is a partition?
Disk Partition is a way of dividing your Physical Disk so that each section functions as a
separate unit.
A partition divides a disk into sections that function as separate units and that can be
formatted for use by a file system.
How many types of partitions are there?
Two types of partitions are there.
Primary partition
Extended partition.
What is the difference between primary and secondary partition?
A primary partition or system partition is one on which you can install the files needed to
load an operating system.
How many partitions can you create maximum? (Among that how many primary
and how many Extended?)
Maximum we can create 4 partitions in basic disk. Among that we can create maximum 1
extended partition. You can create 4 primary partitions if you do not have Extended.
What is a volume?
Disk volume is a way of dividing your Physical Disk so that each section functions as a
separate unit.
How many types of volumes are there?
There are 5 types of volumes are there.
Simple
Spanned
Striped (also called RAID 0)
Mirror (Also called RAID 1)
RAID 5 (Also called striped volumes with parity)
What is the difference between partition and volume?
You have limitations on number of Partitions.
You don’t have limitations on number of volumes.
You cannot extend the size of a partition.
You can extend the size of a volume.
What is active (system) partition?
The partition in which your current Operating System boot files are there.
What is system volume and boot volume?
The system volume is the one in which your boot files are there.
Whatever partition is marked as active that partition is called system partition.
The boot volume is the one in which your system files are there.
Note: In Windows NT and Windows 2000 by default the system files will be copied to
winnt directory and in Windows 2003 by default they are copied into Windows
directory.
What can you understand by seeing Logon Dialogue box?
IF it is windows 2000 professional operating system, that may be standalone computer or
a client in a domain.
If you can see the domain name, then it is client. If not it is standalone.
If it is Windows 2000 server family operating system, that may be standalone computer
or member server or Domain controller.
If you can see the domain name, then it is either member server or Domain controller.
If not it is standalone computer.
You have domain name but you don’t have this computer option then it must be domain
controller.
You have domain name and also you have this computer option then it is member server.
1.I have a file to which the user has access, but he has no folder permission to
read it. Can he access it? It is possible for a user to navigate to a file for which
he does not have folder permission. This involves simply knowing the path of the
file object. Even if the user can’t drill down the file/folder tree using My
Computer, he can still gain access to the file using the Universal Naming
Convention (UNC). The best way to start would be to type the full path of a file
into Run… window.
What are Unicast, Multicast, and Broad cast?
Unicast:
Just from one computer to one computer.
Multicast:
Those who ever register for a particular multicast group to those only.
Broadcast:To all the computers.
What is BIOS?
A computer's basic input/output system (BIOS) is a set of software through which the
operating system (or Setup) communicates with the computer's hardware devices.
What is the advantage of NTFS over FAT?
You must use the NTFS file system on domain controllers. In addition, any servers that
have any partition formatted with FAT or FAT32 will lack many security features. For
example, on FAT or FAT32 partitions, a shared folder can be protected only by the
permissions set on the share, not on individual files, and there is no software protection
against local access to the partition.
•
File and folder level security
•
We can do disk compression
•
We can do disk quotas
•
We can encrypt files
•
We can do remote storage
•
We can do dynamic volume
•
We can mount volumes to folders
•
We can support Macintosh files
•
POSIX sub system
Note: When you format the operating system with NTFS then Windows NT and
Windows 2000 are only the operating systems that can read the data.
Note: The only reason to use FAT or FAT32 is for dual booting with previous versions
windows 2000 O. S.
What is NetMeeting? What is the use of NetMeeting?
NetMeeting enables you to communicate with others over the Internet or your local
intranet. Using NetMeeting you can:
•
Talk to others
•
Use video to see others and let others see you
•
Share applications and documents with others
•
Collaborate with others in shared applications
•
Send files to others
•
Draw with others in a shared Whiteboard
•
Send messages to others in chat
What are the features will you get when you upgrade from Windows NT to
Windows 2000?
Active Directory includes the following features:
* Simplified management of network-resource information and user information.
* Group Policy, which you can use to set policies that apply across a given site,
domain, or organizational unit in Active Directory.
* Security and authentication features, including support for Kerberos V5, Secure
Sockets Layer v3, and Transport Layer Security using X.509v3 certificates.
* Directory consolidation, through which you can organize and simplify the
management of users, computers, applications, and devices, and make it easier for users
to find the information they need. You can take advantage of synchronization support
through interfaces based on the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), and
work wit
directory consolidation requirements specific to your applications.
* Directory-enabled applications and infrastructure, which make it easier to configure
and manage applications and other directory-enabled network components.
* Scalability without complexity, a result of Active Directory scaling to millions of
objects per domain and using indexing technology and advanced replication techniques to
speed performance.
* Use of Internet standards, including access through Lightweight Directory Access
Protocol and a namespace based on the Domain Name System (DNS).
* Active Directory Service Interfaces (ADSI), a powerful development environment.
* Additional features
Features Available with Upgrade of Any Server
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The features in the following list are available when member servers are upgraded in a
domain, regardless of whether domain servers have been upgraded. The features available
when domain controllers are upgraded include not only the features in the following list,
but also the features in the previous one.
* Management tools:
Microsoft Management Console Plug and
Play Device Manager Add/Remove Hardware wizard (in Control
Panel) Support for universal serial bus New Backup utility
* File system support:
Enhancements to the latest version of the NTFS file system include support for disk
quotas, the ability to defragment directory structures, and compressed network I/O.
* Application services:
Win32 Driver Model DirectX 5.0 Windows Script Host
* Printer protocol support:
Device and protocol support allowing choices from more than 2,500 different printers.
Other printing enhancements are included, for example, Internet Printing Protocol
support, which allows users to print directly to a URL over an intranet or the Internet.
* Scalability and availability:
Improved symmetric multiprocessor support
* Security:
Encrypting file system
Is there any situation to use the file system FAT or FAT32?
There is one situation in which you might want to choose FAT or FAT32 as your file
system. If it is necessary to have a computer that will sometimes run an earlier operating
system and sometimes run Windows 2000, you will need to have a FAT or FAT32
partition as the primary (or startup) partition on the hard disk.
Note: For anything other than a situation with multiple operating systems, however, the
recommended file system is NTFS.
NTFS
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Some of the features you can use when you choose NTFS are:
* Active Directory, which you can use to view and control network resources easily.
* Domains, which are part of Active Directory, and which you can use to fine-tune
security options while keeping administration simple. Domain controllers require NTFS.
* File encryption, which greatly enhances security.
* Permissions that can be set on individual files rather than just folders.
* Sparse files. These are very large files created by applications in such a way that only
limited disk space is needed. That is, NTFS allocates disk space only to the portions of a
file that are written to.
* Remote Storage, which provides an extension to your disk space by making
removable media such as tapes more accessible.
* Recovery logging of disk activities, which helps you restore information quickly in
the event of power failure or other system problems.
* Disk quotas, which you can use to monitor and control the amount of disk space used
by individual users.
* Better scalability to large drives. The maximum drive size for NTFS is much greater than that for FAT, and
as drive size increases, performance with NTFS doesn't degrade as it does with FAT.
Note:
It is recommended that you format the partition with NTFS rather than converting from
FAT or FAT32. Formatting a partition erases all data on the partition, but a partition that is
formatted with NTFS rather than converted from FAT or FAT32 will have less
fragmentation and better performance.
What are the options do u get when you are shut downing?
Log off
Restart
Shut down
Stand by
Hibernate
Disconnect
Standby: Turns off your monitor and hard disks, and your computer use less
power.
A state, in which your computer consumes less electric power when it is idle, but remains available
for immediate use. Typically, you’d put your computer on stand by to save power instead of leaving it on for
extended periods.
In stand by mode, information in computer memory is not saved on your hard
disk. If the computer loses power, the information in memory will be lost.
This option appears only if your computer supports this feature and you have
selected this option in Power Options. See Power Options overview in Help.
Hibernation: Turns off your monitor and hard disk, saves everything in memory on disk,
and turns off your computer. When you restart your computer, your desktop is restored
exactly as you left it.
A state in which your computer saves any Windows settings that you changed,
writes any information that is currently stored in memory to your hard disk, and turns off
your computer. Unlike shutting down, when you restart your computer, your desktop is
restored exactly as it was before hibernation.
Hibernate appears only if your computer supports this feature and you have selected the Enable
hibernate support option in Power Options. See Power Options overview in Help.
Disconnect
A state, in which your Terminal Services session is disconnected, but remains
active on the server. When you reconnect to Terminal Services, you are returned to the
same session, and everything looks exactly as it did before you disconnected.
Disconnect appears only if you are connected to a Windows 2000 Server running
Terminal Services.
Shut down
A state in which your computer saves any Windows settings that you changed and writes any
information that is currently stored in memory to your hard disk. This prepares your computer to be turned off.
RestartA state in which your computer saves any Windows settings that you changed,
writes any information that is currently stored in memory to your hard disk, and then
restarts your computer.
Log offA state in which your computer closes all your programs, disconnects your
computer from the network, and prepares your computer to be used by someone else.
When connected to a Windows 2000 Server running Terminal Services, Log off closes all programs
running in your Terminal Services session, disconnects your session, and returns you to your Windows
desktop.
What are the setup files that are used to install windows 2000?
If you are installing from the Operating system DOS the setup file iswinnt.
If you are installing from Operating system windows 95/98, Win NT, Win 2000, the setup
file iswinnt32.
What is the error message do u get when you run “winnt” instead ofwinnt32 on 32
bit windows operating system (like Win 95/98, Win NT, and Win 2000)?
You will get the following message in DOS mode screen.
Windows 2000 Setup
════════════════════
This program does not run on any 32-bit version of Windows.
Use WINNT32.EXE instead.
Setup cannot continue. Press ENTER to exit.

What are the switches that are available with winnt32?
Winnt32Sets up or upgrades Windows 2000 Server or Windows 2000 Professional. You
can run the winnt32 command at a Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT command
prompt.
winnt32 [/s:sourcepath] [/tempdrive:drive_letter] [/unattend[num]:[answer_file]]
[/copydir:
folder_name] [/copysource:folder_name] [/cmd:command_line]
[/debug[level]:[filename]] [/udf:id[,
UDF_file]] [/syspart:drive_letter] [/checkupgradeonly] [/cmdcons] [/m:folder_name] [
/makelocalsource] [/noreboot]
Parameters
/s:sourcepath
Specifies the source location of the Windows 2000 files. To simultaneously copy files
from multiple servers, specify multiple /s sources. If you use multiple /s switches, the
first specified server must be available or Setup will fail.
/tempdrive:drive_letter
Directs Setup to place temporary files on the specified partition and to install
Windows 2000 on that partition.
/unattend
Upgrades your previous version of Windows 2000, Windows NT 3.51–4.0, Windows 98,
or Windows 95 in unattended Setup mode. All user settings are taken from the previous
installation, so no user intervention is required during Setup.
Using the /unattend switch to automate Setup affirms that you have read and accepted the
End User License Agreement (EULA) for Windows 2000. Before using this switch to
install Windows 2000 on behalf of an organization other than your own, you must
confirm that the end user (whether an individual, or a single entity) has received, read and
accepted the terms of the Windows 2000 EULA. OEMs may not specify this key on
machines being sold to end users.
/unattend[num]:[answer_file]
Performs a fresh installation in unattended Setup mode. The answer file provides Setup
with your custom specifications.
Num is the number of seconds between the time that Setup finishes copying the files and
when it restarts your computer. You can use num on any computer running Windows NT
or Windows 2000.
Answer_file is the name of the answer file.
/copydir:folder_name
Creates an additional folder within the folder in which the Windows 2000 files are
installed. For example, if the source folder contains a folder called Private_drivers that
has modifications just for your site, you can type /copydir:Private_drivers to have Setup
copy that folder to your installed Windows 2000 folder. So then the new folder location
would be C:\Winnt\Private_drivers. You can use /copydir to create as many additional
folders as you want.
/copysource:folder_name
Creates a temporary additional folder within the folder in which the Windows 2000 files
are installed. For example, if the source folder contains a folder called Private_drivers
that has modifications just for your site, you can type /copysource:Private_drivers to have
Setup copy that folder to your installed Windows 2000 folder and use its files during
Setup. So then the temporary folder location would be C:\Winnt\Private_drivers. Unlike
the folders /copydir creates, /copysource folders are deleted after Setup completes.
/cmd:command_line
Instructs Setup to carry out a specific command before the final phase of Setup. This
would occur after your computer has restarted twice and after Setup has collected the
necessary configuration information, but before Setup is complete.
/debug[level]:[filename]
Creates a debug log at the level specified, for example, /debug4:C:\Win2000.log. The
default log file is C:\
%Windir%\Winnt32.log, with the debug level set to 2. The log levels are as follows: 0-
severe errors, 1-errors, 2-warnings, 3-information, and 4-detailed information for
debugging. Each level includes the levels below it.
/udf:id[,UDB_file] indicates an identifier (id) that Setup uses to specify how a
Uniqueness Database (UDB) file modifies an answer file (see the /unattend entry). The
UDB overrides values in the answer file, and the identifier determines which values in
the UDB file are used. For example, /udf:RAS_user,Our_company.udb overrides settings
specified for the identifier RAS_user in the Our_company.udb file. If no UDB_file is
specified, Setup prompts the user to insert a disk that contains the $Unique$.udb file.
/syspart:drive_letter
Specifies that you can copy Setup startup files to a hard disk, mark the disk as active, and
then install the disk into another computer. When you start that computer, it automatically
starts with the next phase of the Setup . You must always use the /tempdrive parameter
with the /syspart parameter.
The /syspart switch for Winnt32.exe only runs from a computer that already has
Windows NT 3.51, Windows NT 4.0, or Windows 2000 installed on it. It cannot be run
from Windows 9x.
/checkupgradeonly
Checks your computer for upgrade compatibility with Windows 2000. For Windows 95
or Windows 98 upgrades, Setup creates a report named Upgrade.txt in the Windows
installation folder. For Windows NT 3.51 or 4.0 upgrades, it saves the report to the
Winnt32.log in the installation folder.
/cmdcons
Adds to the operating system selection screen a Recovery Console option for repairing a
failed installation. It is only used post-Setup.
/m:folder_name
Specifies that Setup copies replacement files from an alternate location. Instructs Setup to
look in the alternate location first and if files are present, use them instead of the files
from the default location.
/makelocalsource
Instructs Setup to copy all installation source files to your local hard disk. Use
/makelocalsource when installing from a CD to provide installation files when the CD is
not available later in the installation.
/noreboot
Instructs Setup to not restart the computer after the file copy phase of winnt32 is
completed so that you can execute another command.
What is the location of “hcl.txt” (Hard ware compatibility list)?
In Windows 2000 (either professional or any kind of server) CD, there is a folder called
“support”. In the support folder the HCL.txt is placed.
What is the location ofwinnt andwinnt32?
They are located in “i386” folder.
Where is the location of support tools?
In Windows 2000 (either professional or any kind of server) CD, there is a folder called
“support”. In the support folder there is a sub folder called “Tools”
How to load support tools?
In the Windows 2000 CD (either professional or any kind of server),
Click on support Click on tools Click on setup.exe
How to load Admin Pack?
In windows 2000 CD (Only server family),
Click on i386 folder Click on adminpak.msi
Or
Go to command prompt (in server operating system only) Go towinnt /system32
directory typeadminpa k.msi or type Msiexec /i adminpak.msi
Note: Adminpak.msi is not included in the professional CD.
If you want to load the administrative tools in the local computer you can load. But you
must have administrative permissions for the local computer to install and run
Windows 2000 Administration Tools.
How do you install the Windows 2000 deployment tools, such as the Setup Manager
Wizard and the System Preparation tool?
To install the Windows 2000 Setup Tools, display the contents of the Deploy. cab file, which is located in the
Support\Tools folder on the Windows 2000 CD-ROM. Select all the files you want to extract, right-click a
selected file, and then select Extract from the menu. You will be prompted for a destination, the location and
name of a folder, for the extracted files.
How to create a boot floppy?
To create a boot floppy, open windows 2000 CD.
Click on boot disk folder click on eithermakeboo t ormakebt32
Note: If you want to boot from MS-DOS then create floppy disk by using the command
Makeboot.
What is Desktop?
The desktop, which is the screen that you see after you log on to Windows 2000, is one of the most important
features on your computer. The desktop can containshortcuts to your most frequently usedprograms,
documents, and printers.
Suppose if your CD is auto play CD. Then what is the key that is used to stop the
auto play of the CD?
Hold the shift key for some time immediately after inserting the CD.
What is Netware?
Netware is a computer network operating system developed byNove ll.
What is Network?
A network is a group of computers that can communicate with each other, share resources
such as hard disks and printers, and access remote hosts or other networks.
The basic components of a network are:
•
One or more servers
•
Workstations
•
Network Interface Cards
•
Communication media
•
Peripheral devices (such as printers)
What is network Interface card?
A Network Interface Card is a circuit board installed on each computer to allow servers
and workstations to communicate with each other.
What are peripheral devices?
Peripheral devices are computer related devices, such as local printers, disk drivers and
modems.
What is LAN driver?
The LAN driver controls the workstation’s Network Interface card.
A LAN driver serves as a link between an operating system of a station and the physical
network parts.
Why should we logon?
Login enables the user to use the resources and services, such as files, printers and
messaging, which are available in the Network.
When the user Identity is authenticated and his or her rights to resources and
services are determined.
When the user logs out, he or she is then disconnected from all parts of the
network.
Drive Letters:
Each workstation can assign up to 26 letters to regular drive mappings. Drive
letters that are not used by local devices are available for network drives.
Generally the Drive lettersA andB represents floppy disk drives andC represents
the local hard disk.
What do you call the right hand side portion (i.e., where the clock and other icons
exist) of task bar?
System Tray or Notification area
What is Plug and Play?
Plug and Play hardware, which Windows 2000 automatically detects, installs, and
configures.
What is the command to encrypt a file from command prompt?
Cipher.exe
What is the minimum and maximum configuration to create a partition in NTFS?
The minimum size to create a partition in NTFS is 8 MB.
The maximum size to create a partition in NTFS is the disk capacity.
How many ways can you install Windows 2000?
1) Insert the CD, boot from the CD, and install the O.S. (This is the best way)
2) Boot from the floppy, insert the CD, and install the O.S.
3) Install over the network or install over the Hard disk. For this you have to run the files
WinNT or winnt32.
Note: WinNT is used when you r installing from the operating system other than
Windows NT or 2000. (I.e., DOS, windows 95/98 or any other)
Winnt32 is used if you are installing from O.S. Windows NT or Windows 2000.
What is WINS and what it does?
WINS stands for Windows Internet Naming Service. It resolves NETBIOS names
to IP addresses. WINS is used only when you need to access the NETBIOS resources.
What is there in the network before wins?
Initially the computers in the network used to communicate with broadcast. If
there is less number of hosts, then there is no problem. But when there is more number of
hosts on the network more traffic will be generated. So later they invented lmhost file
(LAN Manager Host file). By this they configure the lmhost file of each computer with
the entries of each computer’s IP address and NETBIOS name. So each computer will
look into its lmhost file to resolve NETBIOS names. But configuring each computer
lmhost file manually is time consuming and more difficult. Later then invented
centralized lmhost file. By this they configure lmhost on one server, and tell each
computer to use that lmhost file. But in this you need to configure the centralized lmhost
file manually. So Microsoft introduced WINS. By this you need to install WINS on a
server in the network and configure the computers to use that WINS server. That’s all, you need not configure
any thing on WINS server. The WINS server makes an entry automatically when a client is initialized to use
WINS.
Note: A UNIX does not have ability to register into WINS database. But if a UNIX
server is there in network and you need to resolve it, then for this you need to configure
manually the entry of that UNIX server in the WINS server.
What is NETBIOS?
NETBIOS stands for Network Basic Input Output System. It is a naming interface, it is
interface by which client can connect to access the lower level of the TCP/IP model to be
able to communicate and access those resources.
We share resources with the NETBIOS interface in windows NT. This means that
we are using NetBIOS name to connect the client to the server.
What is the length of NETBIOS name?
A NETBIOS name is 16 characters long. The first fifteen characters you can use
for the server name, the 16th character is an identifier for what type of service it is
registering.
What is the location of lmhost file (LAN Manager Host file) in windows 2000?
Winnt/system32/drivers/etc/lmhost.sam
Note: Extension represents that it is a sample file. You can create lmhost file with out that
extension.
What are Windows 2000 WINS enhancements when compare to the previous
versions?
•
Better Management interface
•
Better clients
•
Replication can maintain persistent connections.
•
Supports automatic partner discovery
•
Integrates with DNS and DHCP
•
Supports burst mode handling
What is the port used for Terminal Services?
3389
How to know 3389 is working or not?
Netstat -a
(Displays all connections and listening of ports)
What are the different sub net classes are there?
Class A Addresses
1-126.x.x.x
Class B Addresses
128-191.x.x.x
Class C Addresses
192-223.x.x.x
Class D Addresses
224-239.x.x.x
Class E Addresses
240-254.x.x.x
What are the features and benefits of windows 2000 professional?
 W i n d o w s 2 0 0 0 p r o f e s s i o n a l i s a n
u p g r a d e o f W i n d o w s N T
w o r k s t a t i o n . S o w e
have the base code of Windows NT rather than Windows 95/98. So you get the security and stability of
Windows NT. But from Windows 2000 we get some of the features of 95/98. Specifically Plug and Play,
Device manager.
 W e h a v e p e r s o n a l i z e d s t a r t m e n u s
w i t h w i n d o w s 2 0 0 0 .
 W e c a n d e p l o y s o f t w a r e
a u t o m a t i c a l l y .
 W e a l s o h a v e W i d o w s i n s t a l l e r
p a c k a g e .
 W e h a v e s y n c h r o n i z a t i o n m a n a g e r .
 W e h a v e I n t e r n e t p r i n t i n g
p r o t o c o l .
 W e h a v e K e r b e r o s V 5 p r o t o c o l
t e c h n o l o g y .
 W e h a v e E F S ( E n c r y p t i n g f i l e
s y s t e m ) .
 W e h a v e I P S e c p r o t o c o l .
 W e h a v e a s u p p o r t f o r s m a r t c a r d .
 W e h a v e s e c o n d a r y l o g o n s e r v i c e .
 K e r b e r o s 5 s e c u r i t y p r o t o c o l
And many more
Note: Suppose you have a computer in remote location. In that you have multiple
operating systems. You want to restart it from here with a specific operating system. Then
go to Properties of My computer Advanced tab settings
At this place set default operating system as required operating system. Then restart the
computer.
Note: In windows 2000 if you want to update objects immediately we use secedit
/refreshpolicy refresh_machine and another one. In windows 2003 the alternate
command for this isgpupdate, type this command at run prompt then it updates
automatically.
How can you know that Active directory is installed properly?
It will create a folder calledsysvol under c:\windows. With in the sysvol folder you
should have four folders, namely Domain, staging, sysvol, staging area. Apart form this
you should have NTDS folder (In c:\windows) containing ntds.dit file and four log files.
How can you see the post screen when the system started?
When the system starts press theBrea k key. Then it post screen is stopped there only, to
continue pressEnter.
When a user logs on the start up options will be loaded. How to stop them? (The
notification area icons)
When a user types user name and password, and presses enter immediately hold down
Shift key. Then the above things will not be loaded.
What are the features of Active directory?
See the “benefits of Active directory” document in this folder.
1.What is the range of addresses in the classes of internet addresses?
Class A
0.0.0.0
-
127.255.255.255
Class B
128.0.0.0
-
191.255.255.255
Class C
192.0.0.0
-
223.255.255.255
Class D
224.0.0.0
-
239.255.255.255
Class E
240.0.0.0
-
254.255.255.255
Note: Class A, Class B, Class C are used to assign IP addresses. Class D is used for
Multicasting. Class E is reserved for the future (Experimental).
What is hot swapping?
Replacing the hard disks other than active disk, when the computers on.
What commands do you need to execute before upgrading to windows 2000 to
windows 2003?
Before upgrading to windows 2000 to windows 2003 insert the CD of windows 2003
then open 1386 folder, then at command prompt type the following commands.
Adprep /forestprep
Adprep /domainprep
(i. e., f:\1386(2003)>adprep /forestprep and f:\1386(2003)>adprep /domainprep)
If you are upgrading entire forest type the adprep /forestprep at root domain.
If you are upgrading only a domain then type the adprep /domainprep at
root domain.
Note: You have to type the above commands on the server which has IM role.
Then only you have to upgrade your systems.
How to take backup?
StartProgramsAccessoriesSystem tools backup click on backup tab
There you can select the required one.
The system state backup includes the following files
•
Boot files
•
Com+ class registration database
•
Registry
If the system is domain controller then apart from above files it takes backup of the
following files also.
•
Active directory
•
Sys vol
Note: If you want to restore the system state backup on a domain controller you have to
restart the computer in Directory Services restore mode, because you are restoring Active
Directory when it is in active. If you want to restore Active Directory it should not be in
active. If you restart the computer in Directory services restore mode the Active directory
is not in active, so you can restore the Active directory.
You can restore Active Directory in two ways
Authoritative restore
Non Authoritative restore
Non Authoritative restore
Restart the computer
Press F8 to select Directory services restore mode
Start ProgramsAccessories system tools Backup Click on restore
tab Select the restore file Click on restore now
Authoritative Restore mode
Press F8 to select Directory services restore mode
Start ProgramsAccessories system tools Backup Click on restore
tab Select the restore file Click on restore now
Open command prompt
Type ntdsutil
Type authoritative restore
Note: Here you can restore authoritatively entire database or a particular OU. But you
cannot restore a particular object.
Type restore sub tree distinguished name of OU
Ex: research is a OU under yahoo.com, then you have to type distinguished name like
ou=research, dc=yahoo, dc=com
What are the logical components of Active Directory?
Organizational Units
Domains
Trees
Forests
What are the physical components of Active Directory?
Sites
Domain Controllers
Global Catalogue
Who can create site level Group Policy?
Enterprise Admin
Who can create Domain lever Group Policy?
Domain Admin
Who can create Organization Unit lever Group Policy?
Domain Admin
Who can create Local Group Policy?
Local Administrator or Domain Administrator
What is the hierarchy of Group Policy?
Local policy

Site Policy

Domain Policy

OU Policy

Sub OU Policy (If any are there)
Explain about Active Directory database.
The information stored in the Active Directory is called Active Directory database.
The information stored in the Active Directory (i. e., Active directory database) on every
domain controller in the forest is partitioned into three categories. They are
•
Domain Partition
•
Configuration Partition
•
Schema Partition
Domain Partition
The domain partition contains all of the objects in the directory for a domain.
Domain data in each domain is replicated to every domain controller in that domain, but
not beyond its domain.
Configuration Partition
Schema Partition
The schema partition contains all object types and their attributes that can be
created in Active Directory. This data is common to all domain controllers in the domain
tree or forest, and is replicated by Active Directory to all the domain controllers in the
forest.
What is Global Catalogue?
The global catalogue holds a partial replica of domain data directory partitions for
all domains in the forest. By default, the partial set of attributes stored in the global
catalog includes those attributes most frequently used in search operations, because one
of the primary functions of the global catalogue is to support clients querying the
directory.
Explain about different groups in Active directory.
There are two types of groups are the in Active directory.
Security group
Distributed group
What is the protocol that is used for security in Windows 2000?
Kerberos V5
How many can you open Task Manager?
One can open Task Manager in three ways
1)StartRunTaskmgrok
2)Right click on Task barSelect Task manager
3)Press CTRL + ALT + DELETE click on Task Manager
4) Press CTRL+ Shift + ESC (short cut key)
How many ways do you have to determine whether a computer is Domain
Controller or not?
There are several ways to determine
1)On log on Windows dialogue box see whether the log on field has this computer
option or not. If it contains only domain names then it is a Domain Controller, if it
contains this computer option then it is either Work station or Member server.
2)Start RunType netdom query fsmo The computer names that have been
listed there are Domain Controller.
3)Search forNTDS andSy svol folder in system directory, if they are there then it is a
Domain Controller.
4)StartRunRegedit32Search forNTDS folder in HKEY_LOCALMACHINE
If you find that one then it is a Domain Controller.
5)Start ProgramsAdministrative tools Active Directory Users and Computers
 Click on Domain Controller OU  the names that are listed
there are the names
of the domain controllers.
6)In 2000 you cannot change the name of the Domain Controller so Right click on My
computerPropertiesNetwork Identification ThereChange button is grayed
out.
Sub Netting
Class C sub netting
IP address
198.100.98.0
Decimal mask
255.255.255.224
Convert 224 into binary 11100000(2)
Maximum no. of combinations = 2n (Wheren is number of masked bits)
Note: Masked bit = 1, UN masked bit= 0.

Maximum number of subnets 2n-2
Maximum number of hosts/subnet 2m-2 (Wherem is number of unmasked bits)
Now 224(10) = 11100000(2)
Maximum no. of combinations
= 2n =23 = 8
Maximum no. of subnets
=2n-2 = 23-2 = 6
Maximum no. of hosts/subnet=2m -2 =25 -2 = 30
Available combinations
0
000
(This is not used for assigning IP address)
1
001
2
010
3
 0 11
4
100
5
101
6
 11 0
7
 111
Octant contains 8 bits, presently we have 3 bits (Remaining 5 bits are zeros)
00100000
= 32
01000000
= 64
01100000
= 96
10000000
= 128
10100000
= 160
11000000
= 192
Therefore modified subnets are
255.255.255.32
255.255.255.64
255.255.255.96
255.255.255.128
255.255.255.160
255.255.255.192
IP addressing for subnet 255.255.255.32
First IP address
198.100.98.33
Subnet mask
255.255.255.32
Second IP address
198.100.98.34
Subnet mask
255.255.255.32
Third IP address
198.100.98.35
Subnet mask
255.255.255.32
Fourth IP address
198.100.98.36
Subnet mask
255.255.255.32
↓↓↓
Last IP address
198.100.98.63
Subnet mask
255.255.255.32
First IP address
198.100.98.64
Subnet mask
255.255.255.64
Second IP address
198.100.98.65
Subnet mask
255.255.255.64
Third IP address
198.100.98.66
Subnet mask
255.255.255.64
Fourth IP address
198.100.98.67
Subnet mask
255.255.255.64
↓↓↓
Last IP address
198.100.98.95
Subnet mask
255.255.255.64
First IP address
198.100.98.64
Subnet mask
255.255.255.96
Second IP address
198.100.98.65
Subnet mask
255.255.255.96
Third IP address
198.100.98.66
Subnet mask
255.255.255.96
Fourth IP address
198.100.98.67
Subnet mask
255.255.255.96
↓↓↓
Last IP address
198.100.98.95
Subnet mask
255.255.255.96
First IP address
198.100.98.64
Subnet mask
255.255.255.128
Second IP address
198.100.98.65
Subnet mask
255.255.255.128
Third IP address
198.100.98.66
Subnet mask
255.255.255.128
Fourth IP address
198.100.98.67
Subnet mask
255.255.255.128
↓↓↓
Last IP address
198.100.98.95
Subnet mask
255.255.255.128
First IP address
198.100.98.64
Subnet mask
255.255.255.160
Second IP address
198.100.98.65
Subnet mask
255.255.255.160
Third IP address
198.100.98.66
Subnet mask
255.255.255.160
Fourth IP address
198.100.98.67
Subnet mask
255.255.255.160
↓↓
Last IP address
198.100.98.95
Subnet mask
255.255.255.160
First IP address
198.100.98.64
Subnet mask
255.255.255.192
Second IP address
198.100.98.65
Subnet mask
255.255.255.192
Third IP address
198.100.98.66
Subnet mask
255.255.255.192
Fourth IP address
198.100.98.67
Subnet mask
255.255.255.192
↓↓
Last IP address
198.100.98.95
Subnet mask
255.255.255.192
Another Example:
200.150.80.0
255.255.255.192
192(10) 11000000(2)
Class B Sub netting
Example:
IP address
140.80.1.0
Subnet mask 255.255.240.0
240(10) 11110000(2)
Heren=4
(Because 148.80.1.0 11111111.11111111.11110000.00000000)
m= 12
(Because 148.80.1.0 11111111.11111111.11110000.00000000)
Maximum no. of combinations 2n = 24 = 16

Max no. of subnets 2n-2 = 14
Max no. of hosts/subnet
 2 m - 2 = 2 12- 2 = 4 0 9 6 - 2 = 4 0 9 4
Number of combinations (16)
00000000
=0
00010000
= 16
00100000
= 32
00110000
= 48
01000000
= 64
01010000
= 80
01100000
= 96
01110000
= 112
10000000
= 128
↓↓
11100000
= 224
11110000
= 240
Modified subnets are
255.255.16.0
255.255.32.0
255.255.48.0
255.255.64.0
255.255.80.0
255.255.96.0
↓↓
255.255.224.0
IP addressing for modified subnets:

255.255.16.0 Subnet
IP address
140.80.16.1
Subnet mask
255.255.16.0
↓↓
IP address
140.80.16.254
Subnet mask
255.255.16.0
And
IP address
140.80.17.1
Subnet mask
255.255.16.0
↓↓
IP address
140.80.17.254
Subnet mask
255.255.16.0
And
IP address
140.80.18.1
Subnet mask
255.255.16.0
↓↓
IP address
140.80.18.254
Subnet mask
255.255.16.0
And
IP address
140.80.19.1
Subnet mask
255.255.16.0
↓↓
IP address
140.80.19.254
Subnet mask
255.255.16.0
And
IP address
140.80.20.1
Subnet mask
255.255.16.0
↓↓
IP address
140.80.20.254
Subnet mask
255.255.16.0
And 21, 22, 23, 24 up to 31.
255.255.32.0 Subnet
IP address
140.80.32.1
Subnet mask
255.255.32.0
↓↓
IP address
140.80.32.254
Subnet mask
255.255.32.0
And
IP address
140.80.33.1
Subnet mask
255.255.32.0
↓↓
IP address
140.80.33.254
Subnet mask
255.255.32.0
And
IP address
140.80.34.1
Subnet mask
255.255.32.0
↓↓
IP address
140.80.34.254
Subnet mask
255.255.32.0
And
IP address
140.80.35.1
Subnet mask
255.255.32.0
↓↓
IP address
140.80.35.254
Subnet mask
255.255.32.0
And 36, 37, 38, 39 up to 48.
Next subnets are 64, 80, and 96, up to 224.
Diagnostic Utilities
a) PING
b) finger
c) hostname d) Nslookup e) ipconfig
f) Netstat
g) NBTStat h) Route
i) Tracer
j) ARP
PING:
Verifies that TCP/IP is configured and another host is available.
FINGER:
Retrieves system information from a remote computer that supports TCP/IP
finger services
HOSTNAME:
It displays the host name.
NSLOOKUP:
Examines Entries in the DNS database, which pertains to a particular host or
domain
NETSTAT:
Displays protocol statistics and the current state of TCP/IP concepts.
NBTSTAT:
Checks the state of current NetBIOS over TCP/IP connections, updates LMhost’s
cache or determines your registered name or scope ID.
Route:
Views or modifies the local routing table.
TRACERT
Verifies the route from the local host to remote host
ARP
Displays a cache of local resolved IP address to MAC address
What is Dedicated Line?
Any telecommunications line that is continuously available for the subscriber with
little or no latency. Dedicated lines are also referred to as “leased lines.”
Note: The other one is the Dial up line.
What is Dial up line?
Any telecommunications link that is serviced by a modem. Dial-up lines are
ordinary phone lines used for voice communication, while dedicated or leased lines are
digital lines with dedicated circuits. Dial-up lines are generally much less expensive to
use, but they have less available bandwidth.
What is FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name)?
Hostname.Domain.com
Give an Example for FQDN?
For example, the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) barney.northwind.microsoft.com
can be broken down as follows:
•
Host name: barney

•
Third-level domain: north wind (stands for North wind Traders Ltd., a fictitious
Microsoft subsidiary)
•
Second-level domain: Microsoft (Microsoft Corporation)

•
Top-level domain: com (commercial domain)

The root domain has a null label and is not expressed in the FQDN
How to know port 3389 (Terminal services) is working or not?
netstat -a
(Displays all connections and listening of ports)
What is a host?
Any device on a TCP/IP network that has an IP address. Example includes severs, clients,
network interface print devices, routers.
How is the host identified in the network?
By a TCP/IP address.
What is a Host name?
An alias given to a computer on TCP/IP network to identify it on the network. Host
names are friendlier way to TCP/IP hosts than IP address.
A host name can contain A-Z, 0-9, “.”, “-“, characters.
What is Logon Credentials?
The information authenticate a user, generally consisting of
User Name
Password
Domain Name
What is the Refresh interval for Group Policy?
Refresh interval for Domain Controllers is 5 minutes, and the refresh interval for all
other computers in the network is 45 minutes (doubt).
How many ports are there?
There are 65535 ports are there.
Note: The ports 0-1023 are called well known ports and all other ports are called
Dynamic or private ports (i.e., 1024-65535)
How to do quick shutdown/restart?
Press Ctrl +Alt +Del, on the dialogue box you canshutdown button.
While pressingshutdow n button holdCTRL key
What is native mode and what is mixed mode?
If some of your domain controller are Windows NT in the windows 2000 domain,
that is called mixed mode. If you want to compatible with NT domain controller in
windows 2000 domain you should be in mixed mode.
If all of your domain controllers are windows 2000 then you can change mixed
mode to native mode. After changing to native mode you will some extra functionality to
secure your windows 2000 domain.
Ex: On user account properties, click on dial-in tab then you can see some extra options.
How to change mixed mode to native mode?
Start Programs Administrative tools Active directory users and computers
Right click on Domain Drag down to properties onGeneral tab click onChange
modebutton Click Yes
Note: By default windows 2000 will be loaded in mixed mode. You can change windows
2000 from mixed mode to native mode, but once if you change mixed mode to native
mode you cannot change from native mode to mixed mode.
Note: When you are formatting the disk, if you set the block size as default, windows
2000/XP/2003 divides the partition into 4 KB blocks. When you are creating a file or
folder it allocates space to that file or folder in multiples of 4 KB. When you create a
new file first time it allocates 4 KB, after 4 KB is filled up it allocates another 4 KB size,
it goes on like this until the disk space is completed.
Note: With windows 2000 advanced server and data centre server we can NLB cluster 2
to 32 servers. It supports clustering up to 2 nodes.
Note: With disk quotas we can track the usage of disk space for each user. We can limit
each user to use certain amount of space.
What is latency?
The required time for all updates to be completed throughout all domain
controllers on the network domain or forest.
What is convergence?
The state at which all domain controllers have the same replica contents of the
Active Directory database.
How to force KCC to generate connection object immediately without delay?
Type the command repadmin /kcc. This command forces the KCC to generate
connection object immediately without any delay.
What are the file names that we cannot create in Windows operating system?
The file names that cannot be created in Windows operating system are
 C o n
 P r n
 L p t 1 , L p t 2 , L p t 3 , L p t 4 , … . . , L p t 9
 C o m 1 , c o m 2 c o m 3 , c o m 4 , c o m 5 , … . . ,
c o m 9
 N u l
 A u x
Note: The file name clock$ cannot be created in DOS 6.22 or earlier versions of DOS.
What is QoS?
QoS stands for Quality of Service. With QoS we can reserve bandwidth to certain
applications.
What is NAT?
NAT stands for Network Address Translation. It is a device between the Internet
(i.e., public network) and our private network. On one NIC card it has valid Internet
address; on the other NIC it has our private (internal) network address.
NAT is a device that translates one valid public IP address to more tuple internal
private address.
We load Windows 2000 RRAS (Routing and Remote Access service) service into
this Windows 2000 server and we turn in to a router. Now we add NAT protocol, so now
onwards our internal clients sends their traffic through this router to the internet, when it
passing through this NAT server it stripes off the internal network IP address and assigns
a valid public IP address. So goes out and communicates with that valid public IP
address, comes back in the NAT server stripes off the public IP address and replaces
private IP address, sends the traffic back to that particular client.
For client perspective they don’t know any thing except they are surfing internet.
We load RRAS in to windows 2000 server; we turn this server as router. Now we add
NAT protocol, so that now on our clients can send traffic to internet through this router ,
as it passes through the NAT server this server stripes off the internal IP address and
replaces with a valid public IP address. Then it goes to the internet surf the internet when
it comes back through the NAT server, now NAT server stripes off the valid public IP
address and replaces it with its internal IP address sends the traffic to that particular
client.
How to go to the NAT options?
Start Programs Administrative tools RRAS IP routing NAT
Note: Windows 2000 NAT can acts as a DHCP server. So it is possible to give IP address
with our NAT server. When you are doing this make sure that you don’t have DHCP
server in your network.
If you have less clients (5 or 6) then there is no harm assigning IP address through
NAT, but if your network is big then best is to use DHCP.
How to enable DHCP service through NAT?
Start Programs Administrative tools RRAS IP routing Right click on NAT
go to properties  Click on Address assignment  Select the
optionautom atical ly
assign IP address by using DHCP
Note: If don’t want to use your NAT server to assign IP addresses clear the check box.
Note: NAT server contains at least two NIC, because one for internal IP address and
another one for external (Public IP).
How to add public IP address pools to our NAT server?
Start Programs Administrative tools RRAS IP routing click on NAT on Right hand side you see
network cards click on external NIC (which has a valid public IP)Click on Address pool tab Click on add
button Give the pool of IP addresses.
Note: By default there is no access to the internal devices on the NAT network to out side
clients. By default out side clients cannot access any thing in our Nat network.
What are the limitations of Windows 2000 NAT?
 S u p p o r t s o n l y T C P / I P
There is no support for IPX or other protocol.
No support for:
 S N M P ( s o w e c a n n o t d o S N M P
m o n i t o r i n g f o r o u r N A T d e v i c e s )
 L D A P
 C o m / D c o m
 K e r b e r o s V 5
 R P C
 I P S e c
Note: Windows 2000 NAT doesn’t allow L2TP traffic, it allows only PPTP traffic.
What is proxy?
NAT server helps the client to access Internet, where as proxy server does every thing for client.
When a request comes from the client the proxy server surfs the internet and caches the results to its local disk,
sends that result to the client.
With proxy we have performance improvement, because results are cached to the
local hard disk.
With proxy we have security, because only one system in the internal network
communicating with the Internet.
Rather than allowing clients to access internet by changing IP address, the proxy
server does all the surfing for clients and caches to its local disk and gives to the clients.
How to install proxy server 2.0 on windows 2000?
There is a patch to install proxy on windows 2000. It doesn’t install natively on windows
2000. You have to install along with the windows 2000 patch. You can download this
patch from Microsoft website. Or you can get this in windows proxy CD.
Go to Proxy folder Click on windows proxy update click on the patch file Go
through the wizard.
This patch file invokes the proxy installation.
To configure the proxy settings
Start ProgramsMicrosoft proxy server Microsoft management console we get
MMC for Internet Information Service, because our proxy server is incorporated with in
IIS service.
With proxy we have two types of caching.
Active caching
Passive caching
How to set proxy setting to the clients?
Right click Internet explorer Click on connections Click on LAN settings Click
use proxy server type the IP address of the proxy server and port that we are using
What are the features of Microsoft proxy 2.0?
Active / Passive caching
User level control
IP filters
Access logs
Access to the internet for IPX clients
What we get with RRAS?
We will get with RRAS the ability to create a fully functional router with our windows
2000 server.
We will get quite a bit of Remote connectivity functionality. It also can support clients dialing in
through phone lines, or through the internet through a virtual private network.
What IAS does for us?
Internet Authentication server gives us RADIUS server. RADIUS stands for Remote
Authentication Dial in User Server, RADIUS is an industry standard.
Note: an IP address is assigned to every device that you want access on the network, and
each have unique IP address. A client, server, every interface of router, printer and all
devices on the network should have an IP address to communicate in the network.
Note: In classC address we have 254 clients for each subnet.
In classB address we have approximately 65,534 hosts per subnet.
In classA address we have millions of hosts per subnet.
Numbers can range from 0-255, but x.x.x.0 is used for identifying network and
x.x.x.255 is used for broadcasting, so we use the numbers from 1-254.
Note: The portion between two firewalls is called screened subnet, in corporate network
we call it as DMZ (De Militarized zone)
Who is responsible to assign Public IP address?
The responsible organization to assign IP address isIntetNIC (Internet Network
Information Centre). This organization assigns public IP address to all individuals or
organizations. But you can take IP address from ISP’s (Internet Service Providers),
because ISP’s buys a pool IP addresses fromInterNIC and then sells to others.
Note:Tr a c r t command traces the root (path) for which we are connecting.
Pathping is combination of tracert and ping. It displays path and some other
information.
Note:When DNS stops you will see the event ID is 2.
When DNS starts you will see the event ID is 3.
When GC is enabled you will see the event ID 1119 on that particular server.
When time synchronization enabled you can see event ID’s 35 and 37.
How to increase or decrease tomb stone interval?
By default tomb stone interval is 60 days. You can increase or decrease the tomb stone
interval. You can decrease till 2 days. You can increase as much as you want.
To decrease tomb stone interval we use ADSI edit.
With windows 2000 we have the advantage being able to configure our Windows
2000 server with RRAS service, and turn our windows 2000 server into a router.
What are the functionalities of RRAS?
 S u p p o r t s I P + I P X r o u t i n g
 S u p p o r t s n u m e r o u s i n t e r f a c e t y p e s
 I P f i l t e r s
 I n t e g r a t e s w i t h a c t i v e d i r e c t o r y
 S u p p o r t s s t a n d a r d r o u t i n g
p r o t o c o l s
•
RIP version 1 or version 2
(Routing information protocol)
•
OSPF
•
IGMP ( Internet Group Management Protocol)

This is for multicasting. Ex: Video conference sent to more people at a
time.
What are Unicast, Multicast, and Broad cast?
Unicast:
Just from one computer to one computer.
Multicast:
Those who ever register for a particular multicast group to those only.
Broadcast:To all the computers.
Note: with RIP version 1 we cannot do CIDR /VLSM. To transfer the route table to the
all routers RIP version 1 uses broad cast. With RIP version 2 we can do CIDR. To transfer
the route table to all routers RIP version 2 uses multicast. Also with version 2 we have
password authentication to transfer router table.
What is VPN?
VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. By using public media we are
establishing a private secure connection. To communicate through VPN we use PPTP
(Point to Point Tunneling Protocol) or L2TP (Layer2 Tunneling Protocol).
Most cases we use L2TP because this is more secure. The only one case that we
use PPTP is only when we are trying to use VPN through a NAT server, another reason to
use is if don’t have windows clients that have capability to establish L2TP VPN
connection.
RADIUS
RADIUS stands for Remote Authentication Dial in User Service. It is used to
authenticate remote users. Instead of authenticating users at individual RAS server, we
pass a request to central server (RADIUS server), and let the authentication happen there. All RAS servers pass
authentication requests to this central server (RADIUS server) that is doing the authentication. It is
authenticating users based on Active Directory. It is also doing reporting, so it is doing .accounting and
authentication. With RADIUS authentication will takes place at a central location. Now there is no need to
maintain a local database of users for each RAS server. When ever authentication needed RAS server forwards
query to RADIUS server.
Accounting means we keep tracking who is connected, how long, why they failed to
connect etc., the information is all centralized here.
By centralizing accountability and authentication we are doing our RAS servers as dumb devices. So
when RAS server fails then there is no need to worry about the 100 or 1000 accounts we manually created on
the RAS server, so that we can authenticate. All you need to do is swap out this device with another and
configure it to pass the authentication to RADIUS server.
Note: Terminology wise the central server is RADIUS server. Clients for RADIUS are
RAS servers.
How to configure RADIUS client?
RADIUS client is nothing but RAS server. In windows 2000 it is RRAS server.
Go to RRAS server Start Programs Administrative tools RRAS Right
click the server drag down to the properties click on security Select
Authentication provider as RADIUS server Select Accounting provideras
RADIUS server Click onconfigure (at Authentication as well as at Accounting)

Add the server that is going to act as a RADIUS server hit OK Restart RRAS
service.
How to create a RADIUS server?
To make server as a RADIUS server we install Internet Authentication Service.
Start Settings Control panel Add/Remove programs Add/Remove windows
components Select Network services click on details Select Internet
Authentication service Click on OK
Now you can open IAS MMC.

Start Programs Administrative tools Internet Authentication Service Right
click oncl ient Add new client give the names of RAS servers Select the
appropriate options click finish
Note: One of thing you have to do is Register Internet Authentication service in Active
Directory.
Administrative tools Internet Authentication service Right click at the root
select Register service in Active Directory
Now our IAS can access Active Directory so that it can authenticate users by using
Active Directory our Active Directory database.
Note: Put your RAS server close to the clients. Put your RADIUS server close to the
Active Directory database.
Tell me how to upgrade from 2000 to 2003?
Actually it is one month procedure. I will brief you important things.
Perform adprep /forestprep on the domain controller which has schema role.
This is one time operation per forest.
Perform adprep /domainprep on the domain controller which has IM role (You have to
this in the domain for which you want up gradation)
This is one time operation per domain.
Now the following things are common to all domain controllers which you are upgrading
from 2000 to 2003.
 R e m o v e a d m i n i s t r a t i v e t o o l s a n d
s u p p o r t t o o l s
 R u n t h e c o m m a n d w i n n t 3 2 . e x e
/ c h e c k u p g r a d e o n l y .
 I n s t a l l a n y h o t f i x e s , i f t h e r e a r e
a n y s u g g e s t e d M i c r o s o f t , o r
s u g g e s t e d b y E n d
market administrator (if they have any own applications)
 T h e n u p g r a d e b y r u n n i n g t h e
c o m m a n d w i n n t 3 2 . e x e f r o m w i n d o w s
2 0 0 0 3 C D
ROM
How do you take back ups?
On Monday we will take Normal backup.
Then we follow Incremental backup till Friday
Note: For incremental backup more no. of tapes are required. For differential backup
much space is required on the tape, but we need only two tapes to restore the data.
How to know the MAC address of a Network interface card?
First type thePing IP address (IP address of the Network interface card for which you
want to know the MAC address)
Then it caches the MAC address.
Now type Arp –a
This command shows the cached MAC address of that particular NIC.
Note: If you install DCPROMO in member server then it will become Domain
Controller, if you uninstall DCPROMO in Domain Controller then it will become Member server, if you are
uninstalling DCPROMO on last domain controller then it will become standalone server.
Note: Always file size is less than or equal to file size on disk except when file
compressed. If file is compressed file size greater than file size on disk.
The data replicated between domain controllers is calleddata and also called
naming context. Once a domain controller has been established only changes are
replicated.
The replication path that Active Directory data travels through an enterprise is
called the replication topology.
The change will be replicated to all domain controllers in the site with in 15
minutes since there can only be three hops.
Note: Each domain controller keeps a list of other known domain controllers and the last
USN received from each controller.
What is propagation dampening?
This is used to prevent unnecessary replication by preventing updates from being
sent to the servers that are sent already. To prevent this domain controller usesup-to-
vectornu mbers.
In windows 2000 SYSVOL share is used to authenticate users. The sysvol share
includes group policies information which is replicated to all local domain controllers.
File replication service (FRS) is used to replicate sysvol share. The “Active Directory
users and computers” tool is used to change the file replication service schedule.
The DNS IP address and computer name is stored in Active Directory for Active
Directory integrated DNS zones and replicated to all local domain controllers. DNS
information is not replicated to domain controllers outside the domain.
What is the protocol that is used to replicate data?
Normally Remote Procedure Call (RPC) is used to replicate data and is always used for intrasite replication
since it is required to support the FRS. RPC depends on IP (Internet Protocol) for transport.
SMTP may be used for replication between sites, where each site is separate
domain, because SMTP can’t replicate the domain partition.
Clustering: This is supported by only Windows 2000 advanced server and datacenter
server. Cluster makes several computers appear as one to applications and clients. It
supports clustering up to 2 nodes. You can cluster 2 to 32 servers. The “cluster service”
must be installed to implement clustering.
Note: FAT16 supports partitions up to 4 GB in Windows 2000. FAT32 supports partitions up to 32 GB in Windows 2000. NTFS
supports partitions 7 MB to 2 TB.
When you are formatting a partition,
 I f y o u e n t e r t h e s i z e l e s s t h a n 4
G B , o n f i l e s y s t e m d i a l o g u e b o x
y o u c a n s e e F A T ,
FAT32, and NTFS.
 I f y o u e n t e r t h e b e t w e e n 4 G B a n d
3 2 G B , o n f i l e s y s t e m d i a l o g u e b o x
y o u c a n
see FAT32, and NTFS.
 I f y o u e n t e r t h e s i z e m o r e t h a n 3 2
G B , o n f i l e s y s t e m d i a l o g u e b o x
y o u c a n s e e
only NTFS.
Note: You cannot compress or encrypt folders on FAT partition.
Internet Information Service (IIS)
This is used to host web sites.
First install the IIS service.
How to install IIS?
Start Settings Control panel add/remove programs Add/remove Windows
components Select Application server Select Internet Information Service Click
OK
How to open IIS?
Start Programs Administrative tools IIS

Or
Start Run type inetmgr.exe click OK
How to host a website?
Start Programs Administrative tools IIS Right click on web sites Select
New Select website  Click Next  give description of the web site  Enter the IP
address to use web site, enter the port number (by default port 80) Enter the path for
home directory Select Read, Run Scripts, andBrow se Click finish
Note: If you want you can change the port number, but generally we don’t change the
port number. If you have changed the port number, then when typing URL you have to
type the port number followed by the URL.
Ex:www.google.co m:83
If you haven’t typed any thing by default it takes the port number as80.
OSI Layers & Functions
Layer
Protocol
Responsibility
Application
FTP, HTTP, Telnet, DNS, TFTP,
POP3, SMTP, News
Provides network services
to the end users
Presentation
PCT, TIFF, JPEG, MIDI, MPEG
Session
NFS, SQL, RPC, X Windows
Transport
TCP, UDP
Network
IP, IPX, ICMP, ARP, RIP, OSPF, IGRP,
EIGRP, IPSec
Data-Link
PPP, PPTP, L2TP, HDLC, Frame relay
Physical
WINS (Windows Internet Naming Service)
What is WINS and what it does?
WINS stands for Windows Internet Naming Service. It resolves NETBIOS names
to IP addresses. WINS is used only when you need to access the NETBIOS resources.
What is NetBIOS?
NetBIOS stands for Network Basic Input Output System. It is naming interface by which
client can access network resources. It manages data transfer between nodes on a
network.
What is NETBIOS?
NETBIOS stands for Network Basic Input Output System. It is a naming interface, it is
interface by which client can connect to access the lower level of the TCP/IP model to be
able to communicate and access those resources.
We share resources with the NETBIOS interface in Windows NT. This means that
we are using NetBIOS name to connect the client to the server.
What is the length of NETBIOS name?
A NETBIOS name is 16 characters long. The first fifteen characters you can use for the
server name, the 16th character is an identifier for what type of service it is registering.
Note: Computer names are not the only names that are registered as a NetBIOS names, a
domain name can be registered as NetBIOS name, any service on the network can be
registered as the NetBIOS names, for example messenger service.
Note: Communication in the network happen IP address to IP address, ultimately MAC
address to MAC address.
What is there in the network before WINS?
Initially the computers in the network used to communicate with broadcast. If there is less number of
hosts, then there is no problem. But when there is more number of hosts on the network more traffic will be
generated. So later they invented lmhost file (LAN Manager Host file). By this they configure the lmhost file
of each computer with the entries of each computer’s IP address and NETBIOS name. So each computer will
look into its lmhost file to resolve NETBIOS names. But configuring each computer lmhost file manually is
time consuming and more difficult. Later then invented centralized lmhost file. By this they configure lmhost
on one server, and configure each computer to use that lmhost file. But in this you need to configure the
centralized lmhost file manually. So Microsoft introduced WINS. By this you need to install WINS on a server
in the network and configure the computers to use that WINS server. That’s all, you need not configure any
thing on WINS server. The WINS server makes an entry automatically when a client is initialized to use
WINS.
Note: A UNIX does not have ability to register into WINS database. But if a UNIX
server is there in network and you need to resolve it, then for this you need to configure
manually the entry of that UNIX server in the WINS server.
What is the location of lmhost file (LAN Manager Host file) in windows 2000?
Winnt/system32/drivers/etc/lmhost.sam
Note: Extension represents that it is a sample file. You can create lmhost file with out that
extension.
What are Windows 2000 WINS enhancements when compare to the previous
versions?
•
Better Management interface
•
Better clients
•
Replication can maintain persistent connections.
•
Supports automatic partner discovery
•
Integrates with DNS and DHCP
•
Supports burst mode handling
Note: Windows 2000 doesn’t use WINS for its naming structure. Windows 2000 uses
DNS for its naming structure. The only time that you need WINS in Windows 2000
environment is when you want resolve NETBIOS based resources such as NT file server.
In native Windows 2000 environment there is no need to use WINS.
How to install WINS?
Start Settings Control Panel Add/remove programs Add/remove Windows
components Select Network Services Select WINS Click next insert the
Windows 2000 CD click OK click on finish
This is all you have to do in WINS server. Now go to each and every client and configure
them to use WINS server.
How to configure a client to use WINS server?
Go to the client computer Open TCP/IP properties dialogue box Click on
Advanced button Click on WINS tab give the IP address of WINS server click
OK
How to open WINS?
Start Programs Administrative tools WINS

Or
Start Run winsmgmt.msc
How to see records in WINS database?
Open WINS MMC Right click on Active Registration Select either find by
owneror find by name Provide appropriate details  Then you can see records in
WINS database.
How to configure an entry manually in WINS?
Open WINS MMC Click on Active Registration Right click on right hand side
Select new static entryEnter the NETBIOS name and IP address Click OK
Note: You can configure as many as WINS servers as you want on the network. No
matter that which client is using which WINS server, but all WINS server should be
configured to replicate the data with each other.
How to configure the WINS servers to replicate database with other WINS servers
on the network?
Open WINS MMC Right click on Replication partners Select New replication
partner Give the IP address of the other WINS server  click OK
Note: By default WINS makes its replications partners as push/pull replication partners.
Note: Group policies won’t apply for Windows 95/98 clients.
First create a shared folder and put installation files on that shared folder.
What is the program that is used to create .msi files when .msi files are not
available?
Wininstall
How to deploy software using Group Policy?
Open the Group Policy Object Here you have two places to set deployment of
software, one is software settings under computer configuration and another one is
software settingsunder user configuration to set a package for either user or
computer right click on appropriate software installation Select New Select
package
 Select the .msi file or .zap file of an application  Select
eitherassign orpublish
 Click OK.
Perform the above procedure for each application that you want to deploy through Group
Policy.
What is the different between deploying applications per computer or per user
basis?
If you deploy applications per computer that applications will be deployed to that
computer when the computer has started. If you deploy applications per user basis then
applications will be deployed when a users logs on.
For computers you can onlyassign packages.
For users you canassign orpublish packages.
What isassign of a application to a computer?
For computer we can only assign, we cannot publish. For computersassign means when
the computer starts that time only those applications will be installed. For assigning
applications to the computers we have to have.m si files.
What is difference between assign and publish of a package to a user?
When we assign an application
•
Icons are placed (in start menu or on desktop), but application will be installed on
demand. i.e., when you click on the icon then only application will be installed.
Or application will be installed when you are trying corresponding document.
Or go to Add/Remove programs add corresponding package.
When we publish an application
•
Application will be installed when you are trying corresponding document.
Or go to Add/Remove programs add corresponding package.
Note: With assign we install a package in 3 ways where as with publish we can install in
2 ways.
Toassign a package you have to have a.m si file.
Topublish a package you have to have either.m si files or. zap files
Note:Wi t h assign you will get the more functionality than publish. So when it is
possible forassign, chooseassign only.
Note: When ever you have a .msi file then only you can repair or upgrade that
application. With .zap you cannot do them.
How to install published applications through Add/Remove programs?
Start Settings Control panel Add/Remove programs Click on Add New
programs Click on required application Click on add button.
How to upgrade an existing application in software installation folder of GPO?
How to apply service packs to an existing application in software installation folder
of GPO?
How to delete a application from software installation folder of GPO?
How to set minimum password length through Group Policy?
Open GPO Click on Computer configuration Windows settings Security settings
Account policies  Password policies  select minimum
password length give
the number click OK
What do we call the area between two firewalls?
The area between two firewalls is called DMZ (De Militarized Zone) or Screened subnet.
Note: Depending on the situation, Windows 2000 can be licensed in a per-seat or per-
server mode. Per-server can be changed to Per-Seat once. Per-seat is a permanent choice. When licensing
Windows 2000 Server, Client Access Licenses (CALs) must also be purchased for the number of clients that
will be accessing the server, regardless of the desktop operating system that is installed on the clients.
Note: For Disk Management in Windows 2003 you can use command line tool
diskpart.exe (New feature in Windows 2003). For more details type diskpart.exe at
command prompt and then type “?”.
Note:Foreig nSecurity Princ ipals Container for security principals
from trusted external domains. Administrators should not manually change
the contents of this container.
Note: By default Search doesn’t display hidden files. i.e., you are searching for a file
which hashidden attribute, even though it is exists your search doesn’t display it.
Note: By default search doesn’t displays hidden files. But if you want to search hidden
files also you can search by modifying the following key in registry.
Mycomputer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\CUR
RENTVERSION\EXPLORER\
Here you can search hidden attribute. Click on this and change value from0 to1.
File and folder Attributes:
Write Users can copy and paste new files and folders and users can change folder
attributes. However, users cannot open or browse the folder unless you grant the Read
permission.
Read Users can see the names of files and subfolders in a folder and view folder
attributes, ownership, and permissions. Users can open and view files, but they cannot
change files or add new files.
List Folder Contents Users can see the names of files and subfolders in the folder.
However, users cannot open files to view their contents.
Read & Execute Users have the same rights as those assigned through the Read
permission, as well as the ability to traverse folders. Traverse folders rights allow a user
to reach files and folders located in subdirectories, even if the user does not have
permission to access portions of the directory path.
What is the work FRS (File Replication Service?
It is used to replicate both the contents of the SYSVOL share between domain controllers
and the contents of Distributed File System (DFS) replicas.
What are the contents of SYSVOL folder?
SYSVOL includes the actual SYSVOL file share, the NETLOGON file share, all Windows 9x and
Windows NT System Policies, and all Win2K and later Group Policy Objects (GPOs).
SYSVOL also contains all user and computer logon and logoff (and startup and shutdown) scripts. By default,
SYSVOL is stored in C:\Windows\Sysvol, exists on all domain controllers, and should be identical on each
domain controller in a domain.
What is Distinguished Name (DN)?
The DN identifies the domain that holds the object, as well as it provides complete path
through the container hierarchy by which the object is reached. A typical DN is as
follows. CN=someone, CN=Users, DC=Microsoft, DC=com.
What is Relatively Distinguished Name (RDN)?
The RDN is part of the name that is an attribute of the object it self. In the above example The RDN of
thesomeo ne user object is “CN=someone”. The RDN of the parent object is “CN=Users”.
Note: The replication happen for every 5 minutes. Because if replication happen
immediately for each modification there will more traffic, so it replicates modifications
collectively that are done during default interval.
How do determine the Operating system type that you are working on?
Right click on My computer Select properties on general tab you can see operating
system type and version.
ADSI edit:
When you open ADSI edit you can see 3 database partitions, i.e.,domain partition,
configuration partition, and schema partition. Under this you can see CN, and
Distinguished names of different objects.
How to cluster two computers?
First go to one of the computer that is going to cluster.
Start Programs Administrative tools Cluster administrator You will getopen
connection to cluster dialogue box (if you wont get this dialogue box, then click on file
click on open connection) Select Create new cluster Go
through the wizard.
Then go to the 2nd computer
Start Programs Administrative tools Cluster administrator You will getopen
connection to cluster dialogue box (if you wont get this dialogue box, then click on file
click on open connection) Select Add a node to the cluster
Go through the
wizard.
Note:In 2003 Cluster administrator installed by default.
In 2000 Cluster administrator installed when Cluster service component is
installed.
How to install cluster service component?
Start Settings Control panel Add/remove programs Add/remove windows
components Select Cluster services Click ok
Note: By using cluster Administrator you can configure, control, manage and monitor
clusters.
Note: Clustering is only supported with Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition and
Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition, Windows 2000 Advanced server and Data
center server.
A cluster consists of at least two connected physical computers, or nodes, and a
shared storage device, such as RAID-5 disk set channel. The cluster provides a redundant
hardware solution. Because services can run on one or both of the nodes in the cluster,
users can connect to either node in the same way that they would connect to a stand-alone
server; thereby providing greater user availability.

What is failover?
Cluster service monitors the services on all nodes. If a node fails, Cluster service restarts or moves the
services on the failed node to a functional node. This process is calledfai lover. The ability to use multiple
servers at all times reduces system costs while increasing reliability, because you do not have to dedicate
servers for disaster recovery. When the failed node is restored, the resources may be returned to the original
node. This process is calledfailba ck Failover and failback in a cluster can be performed manually by the people
who maintain the cluster or can occur automatically when there is an unplanned hardware or application
failure.
What is active/active clustering and active/passive clustering?
Active/active clustering describes clustering when both members of the cluster are online and able to
accept user service requests. This is different from active/passive clustering where only one member of a
cluster provides service to users at a time. Active/passive is the preferred recommended cluster configuration.
In an active/passive cluster, the cluster includes at least onepassive node and one or moreact ive nodes.
A node is active if it runs an instance of an Exchange virtual server (EVS). A node is passive if it does not run
an instance of EVS (Exchange Virtual Server)

or any other application. A passive node is ready to take over the tasks of an active node whenever a failover
occurs on any active node. Whether a node is active or passive may change over the lifetime of a node. After a
failover, the passive node which now runs the failed-over EVS is an active node and the original node became
a passive node. In an active/passive cluster, the active node is actively handling requests while the passive
node is standing by waiting for another node to fail.
Similar to active/passive clustering, in active/active clustering, when one node fails or is taken offline,
the other node in the cluster takes over for the failed node. However, because the failover causes the other node
to take on additional processing operations, the overall performance of your Exchange cluster may be reduced.
Note: Microsoft recommends active/passive cluster configurations over active/active configurations.
Active/active clusters have more limitations than active/passive clusters. Active/active clusters have a limit of
1,900 concurrent connections to a node hosting EVSs, and they are only supported on two nodes.
Note: Windows 2000 Advanced server supports 2 nodes clustering.
Windows 2000 Data center server supports 4 nodes clustering.
Windows 2003 Enterprise and Data center supports 8 nodes clustering.

Features of Active Directory:
Table 1. Features Enabled or Enhanced by Active Directory
Feature
Enabled by Active
Directory
Enhanced by
Active Directory
IntelliMirror
Remote OS Installation Services (RIS)
Delegation of Administration
Multimaster Replication
Global Catalog
Active Directory Sites

Kerberos Authentication
Domain Trusts
Quality of Service (QOS)
File Replication Service (FRS)
Group Policy
Security Groups
Domain Name System (DNS)
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)
Virtual Private Network (VPN)
IP Security (IP sec)

Telephony API (TAPI)
File Services
Distributed File System (DFS)
Encrypting File System (EFS)

Print Services
Internet Information Services (IIS)
Smart Cards
Terminal Services
Microsoft Certificate Server
Services for NetWare

Search Assistant
Message Queuing Services
Exchange 2000
Kerberos Authentication
•
Kerberos is the Internet standard security protocol for handling authentication of users or
system identity.
•
Kerberos allows UNIX clients and servers to have Active Directory accounts and obtain
authentication from a domain controller.
•
Services can impersonate users allowing middle-tier service to authenticate to a back-end
data server on behalf of the user.
Scripts
Scripts are used to run commands automatically when a user logging on. Generally in
small organizations scripts are used to map drives automatically.
How to create a Script?
Open note pad.
Write the script.
Save it as *.bat file in net logon folder.

Then go to the user properties for whom you want to run that particular script Click on
profile type the file name in the logon script box. (Just type the file name, no need to
give path of the file) Click OK.
Example of a script for mapping drives.
Open a note pad file. Type the following information (with in the lines) as it is.
Net use p:\\liveserver\ common
Net use x:\\liveserver\pd ata

Save it as *.bat in net logon folder.
Note: The contents of a script file are nothing but command those we use at command
prompt. A user can run these commands when he logs on and can get same functionality. But running all these
commands at each log on will be difficult. So to automatically run all these commands at command prompt
when ever a user logs on, we use scripts.

Note: The location of the net logon folder is My network places Entire Network
Microsoft Windows Network Click on Domain name Click on Server name
Select NET LOGON folder.
Note:Actua ll y NET LOGON is not a folder but it is share name of the folder
%systemroot%\sysvol\sysvol\domainname.com\scripts. So there is no folder called NET
LOGON in the server but it is share namescripts folder.
So when you save a script file it will be saved in theScript folder
Note: You have store scripts in Scripts folder. So when Sysvol is replicated to all Domain
controllers in the domain these scripts are also replicated.
Note:In Sysvol folder policies and Scripts are stored in respective sub folders.
Suppose you have deleted Active Directory Users and Computers from
Administrative tools, how to restore it?
Start Programs Right click on Administrative tools Select All Users Right
click in the window drag down toN ew Select short cut click on Browse My
computer C:\Windows\System32 Selectdsa.m sc Click OK Give the name as
Active Directory Users and Computers Click OK.
Note: You can add all snap ins in Administrative tools like this only.
Note: The same procedure applied for any thing to place in start menu, just right click on
the parent folder select open all users, and create a short cut there, that’s all.
How to dismount a volume through command line?
The command to dismount a volume through command prompt is
“fsutil volume dismount <volume pathname>”
How can I quickly find all the listening or open ports on my computer?
Usually, if you want to see all the used and listening ports on your computer, you'd use
the NETSTAT command.
Open Command Prompt and type: C:\WINDOWS>netstat -an |find /i "listening"
This command displays all listening ports.
C:\netstat -an |find /i "listening" > c:\openports.txt
This command redirects the output to a file openport.txt in C drive.
C:\netstat -an |find /i "listening" > c:\openports.txt
This command is used to see what ports your computer actually communicates with.
Note: Suppose you have some roles on a domain controller. With out transferring the
roles to other domain controller you have demoted the domain controller to a member
server by the commanddcpromo . Then what will happen?
When you demote a domain controller which has roles by the commanddcprom o, during
the demotion the roles will be transferred to the nearest domain controller.
What is the location of device manager?
Right click on My computer drag down toproperties Click onhardwa re tab
Click on device manager
Or
Start programs Administrative tools computer management device manager
Or
Start Run typecomp mgmt .m sc

Where do you get windows 2000 professional resource kit?
You get Windows 2000 professional resource kit along with Microsofttechnet
subscription.
Note: If you want to know complete information about system hardware, software
and everything regarding system use the command winmsd.exe.
Note: Disk quotas cannot be applied to groups in Windows 2000/2003.

You can apply disk quotas to groups in Unix.
Windows Server 2003
When you first logon to a new installation of W2k3 the default desktop is blank apart
from the Recycle bin. All the rest of the icons are moved to the start menu.
You can readjust the desktop to the old Windows 2000 style by the following way.
Right click on Taskbar Select Properties Click onStart tab SelectClassic
Right click on Start menu Select Properties Select Classic Start menu
What is Manage your Server Wizard?
When you first logon to the Windows 2003 you will get Manage Your Server Wizard.
A host of configuration and management tools have been brought together in the Manage
Your Server Wizard. It also includes the ability to configure a profile – called a server
role. There are 11 roles. (What are they?)
The roles are

•
File server
•
Print server
•
Application server (IIS, ASP.NET)
•
Mail Server (POP3, SMTP)
•
Terminal Server
•
Remote Access/ VPN server
•
Domain Controller (Active Directory)
•
DNS Server
•
DHCP server
•
Streaming Media Server
•
WINS server
There is a role called “application server” but this provides IIS, ASP.NET and Web
development functionality only and should only be selected if these are required.
How to add a role to a server?
Click on start menu Choose Manage Your Server Click on Add or Remove Role
Icon Highlight the role you wish to Add Click Next
Note: When adding a role, depending upon your choice, you may be prompted to provide
additional information to configure the role. You may be also prompted for the W2K3 CD
if additional files are required.
You can remove a role from the server using this Wizard.
Click on start menu Choose Manage Your Server Click on Add or Remove Role
Icon Highlight the role you wish to Add Click Next
By this if a role has not been added, it can be added. If it has already been added, you can
remove it.
Note: If the role you want to add or remove is not listed in Manage Your server Wizard,
go to Add/Remove Programs.
Note: You can change the computer name by using Manage Your server Wizard, you
can also add it to aWo r k g ro u p orDomai n.
Remote Administration (formerly Terminal Services in Administration Mode)
Remote Administration is now installed by default, you do not need to install Terminal
Services separately as this is now solely for user Terminal Sessions. It will need to be
enabled and access granted to the appropriate users.
Administrator has access by default but you must have a password set or otherwise you
will not be able to logon.
Remote Administation can be configured by
Right Click on My computer Select properties click on Remote tab

Adding/Removing Users to Remote Administration
Click on the Select Remote user button click on Add/Remove button If adding
either enter the full user name (Domain\username) or select Advanced and search for the
user locally or in a domain.

Volume Shadow copy (Currently Not Recommended)
Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) was specifically designed to provide point – in –
time snapshots of volumes and eliminated problems with backups of open files. It can
also provide recovery of files for end users or Administrators without having to do a
restore from backup.
The shadow copy process works on a schedule and is not recommended to be done more
than once per hour. The default schedule is twice a day.
In order for the copy to work you will need to set aside a certain amount of space on the
same or another volume.
Users can access the previous versions of the files through Explorer. If they have
Windows 2000 then they will require the installation of a software to enable the Explorer
options.
Note: In Windows 2003 you can add upto 32 servers can work in a NLB.
In Windows 2003 you can add upto 8 server to participate in a cluster.
Windows System Resource Manager (WSRM)
Microsoft Windows System Resource Manager (WSRM) provides resource management
and enables the allocation of resources, including processor and memory resources,
among multiple applications. It has uses in enabling consolidaion of applications but
ensuring they are given the resources they require to run on a single server.
Note: WSRM only runs on Windows server 2003 Enterprise and Datacenter Editions.
WSRM allows administrators to control CPU and memory resource allocation to
applications, services, and processors. This feature can be used to manage multiple
applications on a single computer or multiple users on a computer that runs Microsoft
Terminal Services. The WSRM architecture also allows administrators to manage
resources on multiple systems. WSRM provides GUI as well as command line interfaces
for resource management.

What is the location of the event log files in the system?
The location of event viewer log files is %systemroot%\system32\config\ . Here all
event log files i.e., application log, security log, system log etc will be stored.
What are the switches that are available withrepadmi n?
Repadmin /showrepl Shows replication status
Repadmin /failcache Show recent failed cached replication events.
Repadmin /syncall Synchronizes replication to all domain controllers in entire
forest. If you want to synchronize to only one domain controller type the FQDN of the
domain controller followed by the repadmin /syncall.
Nltest
Replmon
Adsiedit.msc
How to associate a existing subnet object with a site?
Associating existing subnet with a site under the following conditions.
 W h e n y o u a r e r e m o v i n g t h e s i t e t o
w h i c h t h e s u b n e t w a s a s s o c i a t e d .
 W h e n y o u h a v e t e m p o r a r i l y
a s s o c i a t e d t h e s u b n e t w i t h a
d i f f e r e n t s i t e a n d w a n t
to associate it with its permanent site.
Required credentials : Enterprise Admins
To associate an existing subnet object with a site
Start Programs Administrative tools Active Directory Sites and Services
Click onsites Click onsubnet container Right click on the subnet with which you
want to associate the site and click onproperties On thesite box click the site with
which you want to associate the subnet, clickok.

How to change the delay of initial Notification of an Intrasite Replication partner?
Or
How to change the default replication interval between domain controller with in a
site?
The default Replication interval between the Domain controllers with in a site is 5
minutes (300 seconds). To change the interval follow the below steps
Log in as Domain Administrator Start Run Regedt32.exe Navigate to

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlset\services\NTDS\ Click on Parameters
Double click on Replication notify pause after modify (secs) In thebase box, click
decimal In the value data box, type the number of seconds for the delayClick OK
How to change the Garbage Collection Period?
The Garbage collection period determines how often expired tombstones are removed
from the directory database. This period is governed by an attribute value on the
Directory services object in the configuration container. The default value is 12 (hours).
Decrease the period to perform garbage collection more frequently. Increase the period to
perform garbage collection less frequently.

Log in Enterprise Admin Start Programs Support tools Tools ADSI Edit
ExpandConfiguration container Expand CN= Configuration
 E x p a n d CN =
Services Expand CN =Windows NT Right Click CN=Directory Service click
onproperties ClickGarbagecollperiod clickSet ClickOK
How to change the Priority for DNS SRV Records in the Registry?
To prevent Clients from sending all requests to a single domain controller, the domain
controllers are assigned a priority value. Client always send requests to the domain
controller that has the lowest priority value. If more than one domain controller has the
same value, The clients randomly choose from the group of domain controllers with the
same value. If no domain controllers with the lowest priority value are available, then the
clients send requests to the domain controller with the next highest priority. A domain
Controller’s priority value is stored in registry. When the domain controller starts, the Net
Logon service registers domain controller, the priority value is registered with the rest of
its DNS information. When a client uses DNS to discover a domain controller, the
priority for a given domain controller is returned to the client with the rest of the DNS
information. The client uses the priority values to help determine to which domain
controller to send requests.
The value is stored in theLdapSrvPr iority registry entry. The default value is0 and it
can be range from0 through65535.
Note: A lower value entered forLdapSrvPr iority indicates a higher priority. A domain controller with
anLdapSrvPrior ity setting of 100 has a lower priority than a domain controller with a setting of 10. Therefore,
client attempts to use the domain controller with the setting of 100 first.
To change priority for DNS SRV records in the registry
Log on as Domain Admin Start Run Regedit HKLM\SYSTEM|
CurrentControlSet\Services\Netlogon\Parameters ClickEdit ClickNew Click
DWORD value For the New value name, type LdapSrvPriority Click Enter 
Double click the value name that just you typed to open the Edit DWORD Value
dialogue box Enter a value from 0 through 65535. The default value is 0 Choose
Decimal as the Baseoption Cli ck OK Close the Registry editor.
How to change the Weight for DNS Records in the Registry?
To increase client requests sent to other domain controllers relative to a particular domain
controller, adjust the weight of the particular domain controller to a lower value than the
others. All domain controllers starts with a default weight setting of 100 and can be
configured for any value from 0 through 65535, with a data type of decimal. When you
adjust the weight, consider it as a ratio of the weight of this domain controller to the
weight of the other domain controllers. Because the default for the other domain
controller is 100, the number you enter for weight is divided by 100 to establish the ratio.
For example, if you specify a weight of 60, the ratio to the other domain controller is
60/100. The reduces to 3/5, so you can expect clients to be referred to other domain
controller 5 times for every 3 times they get referred to the domain controller you are
adjusting.
To change weight for DNS SRV records in the registry
Log on As domain Admin Start Run regedit
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Netlogon\Parameters Clickedit
ClickNew Click DWORD Value For the new value name, typeLdapSrvWeight
 C l i c k E n te r  Do u b l e c l ic k o n t h e v a l u e n a m e y o u ju s t ty p e d t o o p e n t h e E d i t
DWORD Value dialogue box Enter a Value from 0 through 65535, the default value
is 100. ChooseDecimal as theBase option ClickOK Close Registry editor.
How to check Directory Database Integrity?
Prior to performing any other troubleshooting procedures relative to a suspected database
problem, or immediately following offline defragmentation, perform a database integrity
check.
Restart the domain controller in Directory Services Restore Mode Open command
prompt TypeNtdsutil, press enter Typefiles, press Enter typeintegr ity, press
enter.
Note the status that is reported when the integrity check is completed.
 I f t h e i n t e g r i t y c h e c k c o m p l e t e s
s u c c e s s f u l l y , t y p e q a n d p r e s s E n t e r
t o r e t u r n t o
thentdsutil prompt. Then go for semantic database analysis.
 I f t h e i n t e g r i t y c h e c k r e p o r t s
e r r o r s , p e r f o r m d i r e c t o r y d a t a b a s e
r e c o v e r y .
Semantic Database Checkup:
Atntdsutil prompt type Semantic database analysis, press enter At theSema ntic
checker: prompt type verbose on, and then press Enter at the semantic checker:
prompt typeGo and then pressenter
Complete the Database Integrity check as follows:
 I f n o e r r o r s a r e d e t e c t e d i n t h e
s t a t u s a t t h e e n d o f t h e p r o c e d u r e ,
t y p e q u i t a g a i n
to close Ntdsutil.exe, and then restart in normal mode.
 I f S y m a n t i c D a t a b a s e a n a l y s i s
r e p o r t s r e c o v e r a b l e e r r o r s , t h e n
p e r f o r m
semantic database analysis with fixup. If errors are not recoverable, then either
restore the domain controller from backup or rebuild the domain controller.
How to do metadata clean up?
If you give the new domain controller the same name as the failed computer, then you
need perform only the first procedure to clean up metadata, which removes the NTDS
settings object of the failed domain controller. If you will give the new domain controller
a different name, then you need to perform all three procedures.: Clean up metadata,
remove failed server object from the site and remove the computer object from the
domain controller container.
Log on as Enterprise admin Open command prompt Typentdsutil Type

metadata cleanup At the metadata cleanup: prompt type connect to the server
servername, Whereservername is the name of the domain controller (any functional
domain controller in the same domain) from which you plan to clean up the metadata of
the failed domain controller, press Enter Typequit and press Enter to return to the
metadata cleanup: prompt. Type Select operation target and press Enter Type List
domains and press Enter, this list the all domains in the forest with a number associated
with each. Type select domainnum b e r, wherenumber is the number corresponding to
the domain in which he failed server was located, press Enter Type list sites, press
enter Type select sitenum ber, wherenumber is the number of the site in which the
domain controller was a member, press enter Type list servers in site press Enter
Type Select servernum b e r, and then press Enter wherenum ber refers to the domain
controller to be removed. Typequit press Enter, the metadata cleanup menu is
displayed. Type remove selected server press Enter.
At this point, Active Directory confirms that the domain controller was removed
successfully. If you receive an error that the object could not be found, Active Directory
might have already removed from the domain controller.
Typequit, and press Enter until you return to the command prompt.
If a new domain controller receives a different name than the failed domain controller,
perform the following additional steps.

Note: Do not perform the additional steps if the computer will have the same name as the
failed computer,. Ensure that the hardware failure was not the cause of the problem. If the
faulty hardware is not changed, then restoring through reinstallation might not help.
To remove the failed server object from the sites
In the Active Directory sites and services, Expand the appropriate site Delete the
server object associated with the failed domain controller.
To remove the failed server object from the domain controllers container
In Active Directory users and computers, expand the domain controllers container
Delete the computer object associated with the failed domain controller.
How to view the list of preferred list of Bridgehead servers?
To see all servers that have been selected as preferred bridgehead servers in a forest, you
can view thebridg eheadserverlist BL attribute on the IP container object.
Log in Domain Admin Open ADSI edit Expand Configuration container
ExpandCN=Configuration,DC=ForestRootDomainName,CN=Sites, andC N =In t er-

Site Trasports. Right Click on CN=IP and then click properties In the Select a
property to view box, clickbridg eheadServerListBL.
TheVa lues box displays the distinguished name for each server object that is currently
selected as a preferred bridgehead server in the forest. If the value is <not set>, no
preferred bridgehead servers are currently selected.

How to view replication metadata of an object?
Replication metadata identifies the history of attributes that have been replicated for a
specified object. Use this procedure to identify time, dates, and Update Sequence
Numbers (USNs) of attribute replications, as well as the domain controller on which
replication originated.
To view replication metadata of an object
Log in as Domain Admin Open command prompt and type the following command
press enter.
Repadmin /showmeta distinguishedName serverName
/u:DomainName\Username /pw:*
Where:
 D i s t i n g u i s e d n a m e i s t h e
L D A P d i s t i n g u i s h e d n a m e o f
a n o b j e c t t h a t e x i s t s o n
ServerName.
 D o m a i n N a m e i s t h e
d o m a i n o f S e r v e r N a m e
 U s e r n a m e i s t h e n a m e o f
a n a d m i n i s t r a t i v e a c c o u n t
i n t h a t d o m a i n .
Note: If you are logged on as an administrator in the domain of the destination domain
controller, omit the/u: and /pw: switches.
How to verify the Existence of the Operations Master?
Or
How do you verify whether Operations Masters working properly or not?
This test verifies that the operations masters are located and that they are online and
responding.
Dcdiag /s:domaincontroller /test:knowsofroleholders
Dcdiag /s:domaincontroller /test:fsmocheck

How to verify that Windows Time Service is Synchronizing Time?
To verify use the following commands.
Net stop w32time
W32tm –once –test
Net start w32time

How to verify Successful Replication to a Domain Controller?
Use Repadmin.exe to verify success of Replication to a specific domain controller. Run
the /showreps command on the domain controller that receives replication (the
destination domain controller). In the output under INBOUND NEIGHBORS,
Repadmin.exe shows the LDAP distinguished name of each directory partition for which
inbound directory replication has been attempted, the site and name of the source domain
controller, and whether it succeeded or not, as follows.

 L a s t a t t e m p t @ Y Y Y Y - M M - D D
H H : M M . S S w a s s u c c e s s f u l .
 L a s t a t t e m p t @ [ N e v e r } w a s
s u c c e s s f u l .
To verify successful replication to a domain controller
Use the following command
Repadmin /showreps ServerName /u:domainName\Username /pw:*
Where servername is the name of the destination domain controller.

How to verify Replication is Functioning?
To check if replication is working, use the following command
Dcdiag /test:replications
To verify that the proper permissions are set for replication, use the following command.
Dcdiag /test:netlogons
How to verify Network connectivity?
To verify network connectivity first ping to the self IP address, and then ping to the
default gateway, and then ping to the remote computer.
To verify that the routers on the way to the destination are functioning correctly. Use the
pathpingcommand.
Pathping <IP address>
What is the switch that is used to restart in Directory service Restore mode in
boot.ini file?
Use the following switch along with the path.
/safeboot:dsrepair (I hope this switch is available in Windows 2003 only)
Suppose ipconfig /registerdns command is not working. What could be the
problem?
The dhcp client service might be stopped. So go to the services.msc and enable the dhcp
client service.
What are the functional levels we have in Windows 2003?
There are 2 types of functional levels in Windows 2003.
 F o r e s t F u n c t i o n a l L e v e l
 D o m a i n F u n c t i o n a l L e v e l
What is forest functional level in Windows 2003?
The functional level of Active Directory forest that has one or more domain controllers
running Windows server 2003. The functional level of a forest can be raised to enable
new Active Directory features that will apply to every domain controller in the forest.
There are 3 forest functional level.
 Windows 2000 (Supports NT, 2000, 2003 domain controllers)
 Windows server 2003 interim (supports only NT, 2003 domain controllers)
 Windows server 2003
(Supports only 2003 family domain controllers)
Note: When you raise the functional level to windows server 2003 interim or windows
server 2003 you will get advanced forest wide Active Directory features.
What is domain functional level in Windows 2003?
The functional level of Active Directory domain that has one or more domain controllers
running Windows server 2003. The functional level of a domain can be raised to enable
new Active Directory features that will apply to that domain only. There are 4 domain
functional level.
 Windows 2000 mixed (supports NT, 2000, 2003 domain controllers)
 Windows 2000 native (supports 2000, 2003 domain controllers only)
 Windows server 2003 interim (supports NT, 2003 domain controllers only)
 Windows server 2003 (Supports only 2003 domain controllers)
Note: When you raise the domain functional level you will get additional features.
Note: By default domain operates at the Windows 2000 mixed mode functional level.
How to raise forest functional level in Windows 2003?

Start Programs Administrative tools Active Directory Domains and Trusts
Right click on the Active Directory Domains and Trusts Select Raise Forest
functional level Select the required forest functional level  click OK
Note: To perform this you must be member of Domain Admin group (in the forest root
domain) or the Enterprise admin group.
How to raise domain functional level in Windows 2003?
Start Programs Administrative tools Active Directory Users and computes Right click on the domain
name Select Raise domain functional level Select the appropriate domain level clickOK
Note: If the functional level is windows server 2003 then you will get all the features that
are available with 2003. When Windows NT or Windows 2000 domain controllers are
included in your domain or forest with domain controller running Windows server 2003,
Active Directory features are limited.

Note: Once if you raise the domain or forest functional level you cannot revert back.
Advantages of different functional levels:
When ever you are in Windows 2000 mixed mode the advantage is you can use
Windows NT, 2000, 2003 domain controllers. The limitations are
 you cannot create universal groups
 You cannot nest groups
 You cannot convert groups (i.e., conversion between security groups and
distribution groups)
 some additional dial in features will be disabled
 you cannot rename the domain controller.
 SID history disabled.
About cable modems
Unlike traditional modems, which convert analog and digital signals to
exchange data over a telephone line, cable modems use Internet
protocol to transmit data over a cable television line.
About digital subscriber lines
Digital subscriber lines, such as ADSL or DSL, are high-speed Internet connections offered by an Internet
service provider (ISP). You operate as though you are on a network and are assigned an IP address.
About ISDN lines
Integrated Services Digital Networks (ISDN) are digital telephone
services that can transmit digital and voice data at much faster speeds
than traditional modems.
What is Automated System Recovery?
Windows server 2003 has some tools to assist the administrator in safeguarding the
system against failure. One such tools is the Automated System Recovery (ASR) set that
should be created after installing the server, after major changes are made and also
schedule at a regular interval.

How to create an ASR set?
Logon as administrator or backup operator start Run ntbackup.exe Select
Automated System Recovery
How to Recovering from a system failure with the ASR set?
Insert the original operating system Installation CD into CD drive Restart your
computer boot from CD Press F6 when prompted for Automated System Recovery
 Insert the Floppy disks of ASR
How to redirect output of a command to a text file from command prompt?
To redirect output of a command to a text file use the following syntax,
Commandname > filename.txt
What is the command that is used to display and modify security permissions of a
folder?
The command isxcacls.exe.
What is teaming?
Teaming is the concept of combing two or more LAN cards for more speed. Forn number of LAN cards there
will be only one IP address. By teaming you can increase speed. For example if you are teaming 5 LAN cards
of 100 MBPS now your network speed is 500 MBPS.
Note: You can assign one IP address to n number of LAN cards and at the same you can
assignn number of IP addresses to LAN card
dddd
diskpart.exeThis command is used for disk management in Windows 2003.
nltest /dsgetdc:domainname
replacing domainname with the name of the domain that you are trying to log on to. This command verifies that a
domain controller can be located. Nltest is included in Support Tools
How to synchronize manually a client computer to a domain controller?
Windows 2000 (Win2K) and later computers in a domain should automatically
synchronize time with a domain controller. But some times you may get a situation to
synchronize manually.
To manually synchronize time, open a command-line window, and run
Net stop w32time
Run
w32time –update
Run
Net start w32time
Manually verify the synchronization between the client computer and a domain
controller. Also check the System event log to ensure that the W32Time service has not
logged additional error messages.
Properties
What are the properties of Taskbar?
We can see two tabs namely General, Advanced
What are the properties of Desktop?
The tabs that are there
Background
Screen saver
Appearance
Web
Effects
Settings
What are the properties of My computer?
The tabs that are there are
General
Network Identification
Hardware
Profile
Advanced
What are the properties of My Network places?
You will get one window, containing
Make new connection
Local Area connection
Now go to the properties of Local Area Connections
What are the properties of Internet Explorer?
What are the properties of a folder? What are the properties of a Drive? What are the folder options?
Double click on my computerTools folder options
General
View
File types
Offline files
What are the properties of folder?
What are the properties of file?
What are the print options do u get when you give a print in word?
What are the icons available in Control Panel?

Around 27 icons are available in control panel
Accessibility options, Add/Remove Hard ware, Add/Remove Programs, Administrative
tools, Automatic updates.
Key board, mouse, printer, Phone and modem, Scanner and cameras, Power options
System, Display, Network and dial up connections, Internet options, folder options
Date and time, Sounds and multi media, Regional settings, Users and passwords,
Scheduled tasks
What are the icons that don’t get delete option on the Desktop (up to 2000 O. S.)?
My Computer
My Network Places
Recycle Bin
Note: In Windows 2003 you can delete My computer, My network places. You can also
get back them.

Right click on DesktopProperties Click on Desktop tab click on customize
desktop select the appropriate check boxes.
Even in 2003 you cannot delete Recycle bin.
Note: You can delete any thing (even Recycle bin) from the desktop by using registry
settings in 2000/2003.
What are the properties of Recycle bin?
GeneralCheck box for Display delete confirmation dialogue box
Check box for whether to move a deleted to Recycle bin or directly delete
Global options (applies to all drives)
Individual Partitions (for each partition there exist one partition)
How to configure the DNS?
Open the DNS Console
Then you will find there
DNSServer name
Forward Lookup Zone
Reverse Lookup Zone
Note: If you have selected create automatically zones during the setup, then it creates the
root zone and domain zone under forward lookup zone.
If no zones are there under forward lookup zone first create root zone then create
domain zone.
How to create a zone?
Right click on forward lookup zonenew zone

Primary
Secondary
Select any one of above.
Note: The option Active Directory Integrated Zone is available on when you have
disabled
Note: If you want to select a Secondary zone u should have already a primary zone or
Active Directory Integrated zone.
DNS Name [____________________]
Give the DNS name
Note: If you r creating a root zone then just type in the name box “.” (only dot)
Then clickNext
Finish
After creating the root zone then create another zone with Domain Name
Right click on Forward Lookup zone New zoneActive Directory Integrated
(you can choose any one)DNS Name [___]NextFinish
Creation of zone in Reverse lookup zone
Right Click on Reverse lookup zoneNew zoneType Network IdNext
NameFinish
After this
Right Click on zoneselect Create associate Ptr (pointer) recordNextfinish
What tabs are there on properties of Domain?
General
Start of Authority (SOA)
Named servers
WINS
Zone transfers
What tabs are there on properties of sever?
Interface
Forwarders
Advanced
Root hints
Logging
Monitoring
Where to create the primary, secondary, Active Directory Integrated zones?
If you want to create an Active Directory integrated zone, the server must be Domain
Controller.
If you want to create the Primary DNS, you can create on Domain Controller or Member
server. But if create on member you could not get 4 options under the domain which are
meant for Active directory.
You can create Secondary zone on a Member Server or on a Domain Controller. There is
no difference between them.
What are the advantages with Windows 2000 DNS?
Or
What are the features of Widows 2000 DNS?
Supports SRV (service) records
Supports Dynamic Updates
Supports IXFR (Incremental Zone Transfer)
Supports security
Explain each one of the above?
In windows 2000 Domain you need to have a DNS server to find different
services. The SRV records identify these services.
When you enable the Dynamic updates, all the records in the zone are
automatically created. As we add a computer to the domain, as we add a Domain
controller to the domain the corresponding records are automatically created. I.e., you
need to create a record in the DNS zone manually to identify those computers or services.
When an update is made in the Master it has to be replicated to the Secondary.
Previous we used to transfer the entire zone (which is called AXFR (entire zone
transfer)). But with Windows 2000 domain we transfer on the records that have been
modified. This is called IXFR (Incremental Zone Transfer).
We get the security with Active Directory Integrated zone. We can set permission
on Active Directory like who can use and who can't use the DNS. And also we have
Secure Dynamic updates with Active Directory Integrated zone. By this only specified
computers only can dynamically update the records in the zone.
What are the commands do we use for DNS?
Nslookup (and all interactive mode commands)
Ipconfig /fulshdns
Ipconfig /registerdns
Note: A best strategy of using DNS in corporate network is use two DNS servers. One is
on internal network and another one is between two firewalls. For more security keep the
zone as secondary in the DNS server which is between firewalls.
How we make more available our DNS?
By adding more tuple servers or By windows 2000 clustering.
FAQ’s on DNS
What is the purpose of forward lookup?
It resolves the Host names (Friendly Name) to IP addresses
What is the purpose of Reverse lookup zone?
It resolves the IP addresses to Host names
What is the difference between Primary zone and Secondary zone?

Primary zone has read and write permissions, where as Secondary zone has read only
permission.
Note: Secondary zone is used for Backup and Load balancing.
How to check whether DNS is working or not?
Type the command “nslookup” at command prompt
Then it gives the DNS server name and its IP address
What is Dynamic Updates in DNS?
Generally we need to create a host record for newly joined computer (either client or
Member server or Domain controller). If you enable dynamic Update option, then DNS it
self creates associated host record for newly joined computers.
How to get Dynamic Update option?
Right Click on any zone properties on General tab u will get Allow Dynamic
Updates? [_Yes/No/Secure Updates]
Note: Put always Dynamic Updates “YES”
Note: If it is Active Directory Integrated zone you will get above three options.
But if it is Primary or Secondary zone you will get only “YES/NO” (You won’t get
secure updates)
What is name Resolution?
The process of translating the name into some object or information that the name
represents is called name resolution. A telephone book forms a namespace in which the
names of telephone subscribers can be resolved to the phone numbers.
What is BIND?
What are the ports numbers used for Kerberos, LDAP etc in DNS?
Additional Material
What is a zone?
A database of records is called a zone.
Also called a zone of authority, a subset of the Domain Name System (DNS) namespace
that is managed by a name server.
What is an iterative query?
The query that has been sent to the DNS server from a Client is called iterative query
(i. e., iterative query is nothing but give the answer for my question, don’t ask to contact
that person or this person or don’t say some thing else. Simply just answer to my
question. That’s all)
What is Recursive query?
Now your DNS server requests the root level DNS server for specific IP address. Now DNS server says that I
don’t know but I can give the address other person who can help you in finding IP address.
What Type of Records do you find in DNS database?
Host Record
Mail Exchange Record (MX record)
Alias
How to convert a Domain Controller to a member server?
Go to registryHkey_local_machine systemcontolset001 control
productoptions
In that change product type from “lanmanNt” to “serverNt”
Or
Go to Registry then search for lanmanNt then change it as serverNt
Is there any possibility to have two Primary DNS zones?
No, you should not have two primary DNS zones. Why because if u have two primary
DNS zones some clients contacts first one, some clients contacts second one according to
their configuration in TCP/IP properties. Then you will get problems. Actually Primary
DNS zone means Single master. i.e., master is only one that is only one primary DNS
zone. But you can have as many as Secondary zones.
To overcome from above problem (i.e., single master problem) in Windows 2000 we
have Active Directory Integrated zones, which are multi masters.
How to create a Secondary DNS zone?
To create a secondary zone you should have Primary DNS zone or Active Directory
Integrated DNS zone.
You have to follow the same procedure as same as primary DNS configuration.
But at the time selection, select Secondary zone instead of primary zone. After that it asks
the primary DNS zone address provide that address.
Create forward lookup zone and reverse lookup zone as usual.
Then,
Right click on forward lookup zoneNew zone

Primary
Secondary
Select Secondary zone
(Note:-The option Active Directory Integrated Zone is available on when you have
disabled.)
Then it asks for Primary DNS zone details, provide those details then click on
finish.
Now go to Primary or Active Directory integrated zone then right click on zone
name propertiesclick on zone transfer Tab
Select allow zone Transfers
Here you can see three options.
To any server
Only to servers listed on the Name servers tab
Only to the following servers
Select anyone and give the details of secondary zone (only in case of second and third
option).
Click on apply, thenOK
Note: In zone transfers tab you can find another option Notify, this is to automatically
notify secondary severs when the zone changes. Here also you can select appropriate
options.
Note: In secondary zone you cannot modify any information. Every one has read only
permission.
Whenever Primary DNS is in down click on “change” tab on general tab of properties, to
change as primary, then it acts as primary, there you can write permission also.
What is the default time setting in primary zone to refresh, Retry, Expire intervals for
secondary zone?
The default settings are
To Refresh interval 10 minutes
To Retry interval,
15 minutes
To Expire after
1 day
Suppose the Secondary zone is Expired then, how to solve the problem?
First go to primary zone check primary zone is working or not
IF primary zone is working then go to secondary zone, Right click on zone name select
the “Transfer from Master” then it automatically contacts the primary DNS, if any
updates are there then it takes the updates from the Primary.
How to know whether the recent changes in Primary are updated to secondary zone
or not?
Compare the Serial Number on Start of Authority tab in both secondary on primary DNS
zone properties.
If both are same then recent updates are made to secondary zone.
If not (i.e., secondary is less then primary) click on “Transfer from Master”
How to change form Primary to Secondary or Secondary to primary or Active directory integrated to
secondary or primary like that (simply one type of zone to another type of zone)?
Go to the properties of the zone click on general tab, there you can find the option called
“Change” click on it then select appropriate option.
Then click on OK
How to pause the zone?
Go to properties of a zone click on General tabclick on Pause button.
What system is used before DNS to resolve this host names?
How to know whether a DNS name is exist or not in the internet?
CBT nuggets
Iterative query
The query that has been sent to my DNS server from my computer.
Recursive query
The query that has been sent to other DNS servers to know the IP address of a particular
server from my DNS server.
When you install a Windows 2000 DNS server, you immediately get all of the records of
root DNS servers. So every windows 2000 DNS server installed on Internet has pre
configured with the address of root DNS servers. So every single DNS server in the
Internet can get root servers.
DNS requirements:
First and foremost has to support SRV records (SRV record identifies a particular
service in a particular computer) (in windows 2000 we use SRV records to identify
Domain controllers, identifying Global Catalogue, etc
How to install DHCP?

We can install DHCP by two ways
1) While installing Operating System
While installing Operating System, It asks at Network Settings whether u
want Typical settings or Custom Settings
Select Custom SettingsSelect Network Servicesclick on Details
Select DHCPclick onOK
2) Independently
onpropertiesSelect DHCPOK
(During the installation it asks for CD)
Note: When you have installed DHCP a icon will appear in Administrative Tools
(DHCP)
OK
Now you will get
DHCP
Servername.domain.com [IP address]
Note: Some time the window comes automatically with creating the “Add Server”. Such
cases check the IP address whether it is correct or not. If it is wrong delete it and recreate
it.
Now you have DHCP server.
Now you have to authorize the DHCP Server to provide IP addresses to the clients.
Who can authorize DHCP server in the entire domain?
An Enterprise administrator can only authorize DHCP server. No other person in the domain can authorize the
DHCP server. Even if u r Administrator without enterprise administrator privileges you can’t authorize the
DHCP server.
Note: If it is not authorized a red symbol (down red arrow) will appear, if u authorize it
then a green up arrow will appear.
How to authorize the DHCP server?
Login with Enterprise administrator privileges.
Right Click on Servername.Domainname.com
Click on Authorize
Then it will be authorized (Indication is you will get green up arrow)
Now you have to create scope.
Note: A scope is range of IP addresses that you want to allocate to the clients.
How to create a scope?
Right click on servername.Domainname.com
Click on New Scope.
Click on Next.
Type Name
[______________________]
Description [_______________________]
Note: Generally we give the name as Network ID.
Click on Next.
Start IP address [______________________]
End IP address [______________________]
(Provide the starting IP address and End IP address
How to uninstall DHCP?

on propertiesDeselect DHCPOK
How to open DHCP?
StartProgramsAdministrative ToolsDHCP
Or
StartRundhcpmgmt.msc
How to configure DHCP?
Open DHCP console by typing “dhcpmgmt.msc” at run prompt
Now you will find in DHCP console
DHCP
Right Click on DHCPClick on Add Server
Then you will get a window
This server
[________________] BROWSE
Select the DHCP server
Click on Next
Note: If you want to any exclusion you can do.
Starting IP address [______________] Ending IP address [__________]
Add
Remove
What is the default lease duration, minimum lease duration and maximum lease
duration?
By default any system will get 8 lease days to use IP address.
Note: You can increase or decrease the Lease duration, You have assign at least minimum
duration of 1 second and you can assign Maximum duration of 999 days 23 hours 59
minutes.
Note: If you haven’t log on for 50% of the duration continuously the IP address will be
released.
ClickNe xt
Now you will get a Window asking whether you want to configure the options (DNS,
WINS, and Router etc.)
You can configure the options now itself or you can authorize after completion of this.
Select any one then clickNext.
ClickFin ish.
Note: If u have selected “NO” in the above window you can configure above things
anytime like below
Click on server optionconfigure options 
Select the required ones
Enter server name, IP address
Click OK
Now you have to activate the “Scope”
Right click on Scope Click on Activate
Note: You can reserve IP address for specific Clients. Or You can Exclude IP address
(without allocation) for future purpose.
The above things all are in server.
Now you have to configure Client system.

Go to Client System
Right click on My Network Placesdrag down to properties Right click on Local
area connectiondrag down to properties select TCP/IP click on properties
Now you will get one window containing TCP/IP properties
In that select “assign IP address automatically” and select “assign DNS address
automatically”
Click on “More” delete the DNS suffix if anything is there.
ClickOK
Then the client takes IP address automatically from DHCP server.

The DHCP server also provides DNS, WINS, ROUTER addresses also.
Note: You must assign a static IP address for DHCP server.
(Generally in real time people will assign static IP address not only for DHCP server but also for all servers.
Because if you assign automatic IP Address if DHCP is down then all servers will not function properly.)
Note: The DHCP server assigns IP address to the clients. But apart from that it also
provides DNS address, default gateway, WINS address and so on, which are configured
in DHCP server.
What is the protocol that is used for DHCP process?
Bootp
Why DHCP Relay Agent is used?
To extend DHCP services beyond routers (IF “bootp” is not installed in router)
What are the commands used for DHCP?
Ipconfig
Ipconfig /all
Ipconfig /release
Ipconfig /renew
General Questions
What is the family of Windows 2000?
Windows 2000 Professional
(Desktop Operating System)
Windows 2000 Server
Windows 2000 Advanced Server
Windows 2000 Data center Server (Server Operating System)
What is the family of Windows NT?
Windows NT workstation
(Desktop)
Windows NT 4.0 server
(Server)
Windows NT 4.0 Enterprise server (Server)
What is the family of Widows 2003 family?
■ Windows Server 2003, Web Edition
■ Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition
■ Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition
■ Windows Server 2003, Data center Edition

What is the Difference between Desktop and Server?
In desktop system we cannot load Active directory.
In server system we can load Active directory. So that we can create a Domain in server,
advanced server, Data center server.
In professional there is no fault tolerance on the hard drive (i.e., disk mirroring, RAID 5).
In server we have fault tolerance on the hard drive.
What is the difference between windows 2000 server and Windows 2000 advanced
server, Data center server?
In Windows 2000 server we don’t have Clustering, Network load balancing.
Where as in Windows 2000 advanced server and in Data center server we have Clustering
and Network load balancing.
In 2000-Advanced server and Data center server we have more RAM and more
Processors.

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