Invalid Boot.ini Error in Windows

To resolve this issue, start the computer from the Windows XP CD, start the Recovery Console, and then use the Bootcfg.exe tool to rebuild the Boot.ini file
.
To do this, follow these steps:
1. Configure the computer to start from the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.
2. Insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, and then restart yourcomputer.
3. When you receive the "Press any key to boot from CD" message, press a key to start your computerfrom the Windows XP CD-ROM.
4. When you receive the "Welcome to Setup" message, press R to start the Recovery Console.
5. If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the installation that you have to use from the Recovery Console.
6. When you are prompted, type the administrator password, and then press ENTER.
7. At the command prompt, type bootcfg /list, and then press ENTER. The entries in your current Boot.ini file appear on the screen.
8. At the command prompt, type bootcfg /rebuild, and then press ENTER. This command scans the hard disks of the computer for Windows XP, Microsoft Windows 2000, or Microsoft Windows NT installations, and then displays the results. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to add the Windows installations to the Boot.ini file. For example, follow these steps to add a Windows XP installation to the Boot.ini file:

a. When you receive a message that is similar to the following message,

 press Y: Total Identified Windows Installs:

1 [1] C:\Windows
Add installation to boot list? (Yes/No/All)

b. You receive a message that is similar to the following message:

Enter Load Identifier

This is the name of the operating system. When you receive this message, type the name of your operating system, and then press ENTER. This is either Microsoft Windows XP Professional or Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition.
c. You receive a message that is similar to the following:

 Enter OS Load options
When you receive this message, type /fastdetect, and then press ENTER.

Note The instructions that appear on your screen may be different, depending on the configuration of your computer.
9. Type exit, and then press ENTER to quit Recovery Console. Your computer restarts, and the updated boot list appears when you receive the "Please select the operating system to start"message.

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Windows 2003 Server evaluation copy expiration behavior

This article describes the behavior of the evaluation version of Windows Server 2003. It also contains information about the 14-day activation grace period and the 180-day evaluation period, and it describes what occurs when these time periods expire.

Windows Product Activation (WPA) 

The End User License Agreement (EULA) for an evaluation version of Windows Server 2003 requires that you activate your installation of Windows Server 2003 within 14 days from the time that you install it. If you choose not to activate Windows the first time that you start it, an Activate icon is displayed in the notification area at the far right of the taskbar. This icon periodically displays notifications to remind you of the number of days remaining in the 14-day grace period. After this period expires, you must activate your installation of Windows Server 2003 before you can continue to use Windows

None of the information that is collected during product activation will be used to personally identify you. For more information about Windows Product Activation, visit the following Microsoft Web site

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http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/default.mspx

Evaluation time period 

The evaluation version of Windows Server 2003 expires 180 days from the time that you install and start it. You are reminded periodically of the number of days that are remaining in the 180-day evaluation period. Messages are logged to the Application Event log, and you also receive notification messages that are similar to the following when you log on to the computer

The evaluation period for this product will expire in Number days. Please upgrade this version to the retail product.

When the kernel time bomb period expires, you receive an error message that is similar to the following

The evaluation period for this installation of Windows has expired. This system will shut down in 1 hour. To restore access to this installation of Windows, please upgrade this installation using a licensed distribution of this product.

After approximately one hour (this time period may vary), you may receive the following Stop error message, and the computer may automatically restart:

*** STOP: 0x00000098 (parameter1, parameter2, parameter 3, parameter 4) END_OF_NT_EVALUATION_PERIOD

When the WPA time bomb period expires, you receive an error message after you log on to Windows that is similar to the following:

STOP: c000021a {Fatal System Error} The Windows Logon Process system process terminated unexpectedly with a status of 0xc0000268 (0x00000000 0x00000000). The system has been shut down.

When you receive this error message, you can no longer use the evaluation copy of Windows Server 2003. You must obtain and install the retail, released version of Windows Server 2003

Important You can log on to the computer in safe mode only if you log on to the computer by using the local administrator account. You can upgrade to the retail, released version of Windows Server 2003 while you are in safe mode. The option to upgrade in safe mode may not be available if your computer is running as a domain controller.

Use Winver.exe to Determine the Expiration Date 

You can run the Winver.exe command-line tool to determine the version of Windows Server 2003 that is installed on your computer and the date when your evaluation copy of Windows Server 2003 expires. To do so:

1. Click Start, and then click Run.

2. In the Open box, type winver.exe, and then press ENTER.

Upgrade an evaluation version of Windows Server 2003 to a retail version 

To remove the 180-day expiration period for an evaluation version of Windows Server 2003, upgrade your computer to the full retail, released version of Windows Server 2003. For more information about Windows Server 2003, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/default.mspx 

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Windows & systen admin Interview Questions and Answers- Part 2

what is RIS and what are its requirements

RIS is a remote installation service, which is used to install operation system remotely

Client requirements 
PXE DHCP-based boot ROM version 1.00 or later NIC, or a network adapter that is supported by the RIS boot disk.
Should meet minimum operating system requirements
Software Requirements 
Below network services must be active on RIS server or any server in the network Domain Name System (DNS Service) Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) Active directory “Directory” service

Can we establish trust relationship between two forests 
In Windows 2000 it is not possible. In Windows 2003 it is possible

What is FSMO Roles 
Flexible single master operation (FSMO) roles are

Domain Naming Master
Schema Master
PDC Emulator
Infrastructure Master
RID Master

Brief all the FSMO Roles 


Windows 2000/2003 Multi-Master Model 
A multi-master enabled database, such as the Active Directory, provides the flexibility of allowing changes to occur at any DC in the enterprise, but it also introduces the possibility of conflicts that can potentially lead to problems once the data is replicated to the rest of the enterprise. One way Windows 2000/2003 deals with conflicting updates is by having a conflict resolution algorithm handle discrepancies in values by resolving to the DC to which changes were written last (that is, "the last writer wins"), while discarding the changes in all other DCs. Although this resolution method may be acceptable in some cases, there are times when conflicts are just too difficult to resolve using the "last writer wins" approach. In such cases, it is best to prevent the conflict from occurring rather than to try to resolve it after the fact.

For certain types of changes, Windows 2000/2003 incorporates methods to prevent conflicting Active Directory updates from occurring.

Windows 2000/2003 Single-Master Model 
To prevent conflicting updates in Windows 2000/2003, the Active Directory performs updates to certain objects in a single-master fashion
In a single-master model, only one DC in the entire directory is allowed to process updates. This is similar to the role given to a primary domain controller (PDC) in earlier versions of Windows (such as Microsoft Windows NT 4.0), in which the PDC is responsible for processing all updates in a given domain
In a forest, there are five FSMO roles that are assigned to one or more domain controllers. The five FSMO roles are

Schema Master
The schema master domain controller controls all updates and modifications to the schema. Once the Schema update is complete, it is replicated from the schema master to all other DCs in the directory. To update the schema of a forest, you must have access to the schema master. There can be only one schema master in the whole forest.

Domain naming master
The domain naming master domain controller controls the addition or removal of domains in the forest. This DC is the only one that can add or remove a domain from the directory. It can also add or remove cross references to domains in external directories. There can be only one domain naming master in the whole forest.
Infrastructure Master
When an object in one domain is referenced by another object in another domain, it represents the reference by the GUID, the SID (for references to security principals), and the DN of the object being referenced. The infrastructure FSMO role holder is the DC responsible for updating an object's SID and distinguished name in a cross-domain object reference. At any one time, there can be only one domain controller acting as the infrastructure master in each domain.

Note: The Infrastructure Master (IM) role should be held by a domain controller that is not a Global Catalog server (GC). If the Infrastructure Master runs on a Global Catalog server it will stop updating object information because it does not contain any references to objects that it does not hold. This is because a Global Catalog server holds a partial replica of every object in the forest. As a result, cross-domain object references in that domain will not be updated and a warning to that effect will be logged on that DC's event log. If all the domain controllers in a domain also host the global catalog, all the domain controllers have the current data, and it is not important which domain controller holds the infrastructure master role.

Relative ID (RID) Master:
The RID master is responsible for processing RID pool requests from all domain controllers in a particular domain. When a DC creates a security principal object such as a user or group, it attaches a unique Security ID (SID) to the object. This SID consists of a domain SID (the same for all SIDs created in a domain), and a relative ID (RID) that is unique for each security principal SID created in a domain. Each DC in a domain is allocated a pool of RIDs that it is allowed to assign to the security principals it creates. When a DC's allocated RID pool falls below a threshold, that DC issues a request for additional RIDs to the domain's RID master. The domain RID master responds to the request by retrieving RIDs from the domain's unallocated RID pool and assigns them to the pool of the requesting DC. At any one time, there can be only one domain controller acting as the RID master in the domain.

PDC Emulator
The PDC emulator is necessary to synchronize time in an enterprise. Windows 2000/2003 includes the W32Time (Windows Time) time service that is required by the Kerberos authentication protocol. All Windows 2000/2003-based computers within an enterprise use a common time. The purpose of the time service is to ensure that the Windows Time service uses a hierarchical relationship that controls authority and does not permit loops to ensure appropriate common time usage.
The PDC emulator of a domain is authoritative for the domain. The PDC emulator at the root of the forest becomes authoritative for the enterprise, and should be
configured to gather the time from an external source. All PDC FSMO role holders
follow the hierarchy of domains in the selection of their in-bound time partner
In a Windows 2000/2003 domain, the PDC emulator role holder retains the following
functions: 
Password changes performed by other DCs in the domain are replicated preferentially
to the PDC emulator
Authentication failures that occur at a given DC in a domain because of an incorrect password are forwarded to the PDC emulator before a bad password failure message is reported to the user.

Account lockout is processed on the PDC emulator
Editing or creation of Group Policy Objects (GPO) is always done from the GPO copy found in the PDC Emulator's SYSVOL share, unless configured not to do so by the administrator.
The PDC emulator performs all of the functionality that a Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Server-based PDC or earlier PDC performs for Windows NT 4.0-based or earlier clients.
This part of the PDC emulator role becomes unnecessary when all workstations, member servers, and domain controllers that are running Windows NT 4.0 or earlier are all upgraded to Windows 2000/2003. The PDC emulator still performs the other functions as described in a Windows 2000/2003 environment.
At any one time, there can be only one domain controller acting as the PDC emulator
master in each domain in the forest.

What is the difference between authoritative and non-authoritative restore
In authoritative restore, Objects that are restored will be replicated to all domain controllers in the domain. This can be used specifically when the entire OU is disturbed in all domain controllers or specifically restore a single object, which is disturbed in all DC’s
In non-authoritative restore, Restored directory information will be updated by other domain controllers based on the latest modification time

what is Active Directory De-fragmentation 
De-fragmentation of AD means separating used space and empty space created by deleted objects and reduces directory size (only in offline De-fragmentation

Difference between online and offline de-fragmentation 
The size of NTDS.DIT will often be different sizes across the domain controllers in a domain. Remember that Active Directory is a multi-master independent model where updates are occurring in each of the domain controllers with the changes being replicated over time to the other domain controllers.
The changed data is replicated between domain controllers, not the database, so there is no guarantee that the files are going to be the same size across all domain controllers.
Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 servers running Directory Services (DS) perform a directory online defragmentation every 12 hours by default as part of the garbage-collection process. This defragmentation only moves data around the database file (NTDS.DIT) and doesn’t reduce the file’s size - the database file cannot be compacted while Active Directory is mounted.
Active Directory routinely performs online database defragmentation, but this is limited to the disposal of tombstoned objects. The database file cannot be compacted while Active Directory is mounted (or online).
An NTDS.DIT file that has been defragmented offline (compacted), can be much smaller than
the NTDS.DIT file on its peers. However, defragmenting the NTDS.DIT file isn’t something you should really need to do. Normally, the database self-tunes and automatically tombstoning the records then sweeping them away when the tombstone lifetime has passed to make that space available for additional records
Defragging the NTDS.DIT file probably won’t help your AD queries go any faster in the long run.
So why defrag it in the first place? One reason you might want to defrag your NTDS.DIT file is to save space, for example if you deleted a large number of records at one time.
To create a new, smaller NTDS.DIT file and to enable offline defragmentation, perform the following steps: Back up Active Directory (AD). Reboot the server, select the OS option, and press F8 for advanced options. Select the Directory Services Restore Mode option, and press Enter. Press Enter again to start the OS. W2K will start in safe mode, with no DS running. Use the local SAM’s administrator account and password to log on. You’ll see a dialog box that says you’re in safe mode. Click OK. From the Start menu, select Run and type cmd.exe In the command window, you’ll see the following text. (Enter the commands in bold.) C:\> ntdsutil ntdsutil: files file maintenance:info .... file maintenance:compact to c:\temp
You’ll see the defragmentation process. If the process was successful, enter quit to return to the command prompt.
Then, replace the old NTDS.DIT file with the new, compressed version. (Enter the commands in bold.)
C:\> copy c:\temp\ntds.dit %systemroot%\ntds\ntds.dit

Restart the computer, and boot as normal.

What is tombstone period 
Tombstones are nothing but objects marked for deletion. After deleting an object in AD the objects will not be deleted permanently. It will be remain 60 days by default (which can be configurable) it adds an entry as marked for deletion on the object and replicates to all DC’s. After 60 days object will be deleted permanently from all Dc’s.

what are the monitoring tools used for Server and Network Heath. How to define alert mechanism 
Spot Light , SNMP Need to enable

How to deploy the patches and what are the softwares used for this process
Using SUS (Software update services) server we can deploy patches to all clients in the network. We need to configure an option called “Synchronize with Microsoft software update server” option and schedule time to synchronize in server. We need to approve new update based on the requirement. Then approved update will be deployed to clients
We can configure clients by changing the registry manually or through Group policy
by adding WUAU administrative template in group policy

What is Clustering. Briefly define & explain it 
Clustering is a technology, which is used to provide High Availability for mission critical applications. We can configure cluster by installing MCS (Microsoft cluster service) component from Add remove programs, which can only available in Enterprise Edition and Data center edition.In Windows we can configure two types of clusters

NLB (network load balancing) cluster for balancing load between servers. This cluster will not provide any high availability. Usually preferable at edge servers like web or proxy.
Server Cluster: This provides High availability by configuring active-active or active-passive cluster. In 2 node active-passive cluster one node will be active and one node will be stand by. When active server fails the application will FAILOVER to stand by server automatically. When the original server backs we need to FAILBACK the application
Quorum: A shared storage need to provide for all servers which keeps information about clustered application and session state and is useful in FAILOVER situation. This is very important if Quorum disk fails entire cluster will fails
Heartbeat: Heartbeat is a private connectivity between the servers in the cluster, which is used to identify the status of other servers in cluster.

How to configure SNMP
SNMP can be configured by installing SNMP from Monitoring and Management tools from Add and Remove programs.
For SNMP programs to communicate we need to configure common community name for those machines where SNMP programs (eg DELL OPEN MANAGER) running. This can be configured from services.msc--- SNMP service -- Security

Is it possible to rename the Domain name & how?
In Windows 2000 it is not possible. In windows 2003 it is possible. On Domain controller by going to MYCOMPUTER properties we can change.

What is SOA Record
SOA is a Start Of Authority record, which is a first record in DNS, which controls the startup behavior of DNS. We can configure TTL, refresh, and retry intervals in this record.

What is a Stub zone and what is the use of it. 
Stub zones are a new feature of DNS in Windows Server 2003 that can be used to streamline name resolution, especially in a split namespace scenario. They also help reduce the amount of DNS traffic on your network, making DNS more efficient especially over slow WAN links

What are the different types of partitions present in AD
Active directory is divided into three partitions
Configuration Partition—replicates entire forest
Schema Partition—replicates entire forest
Domain Partition—replicate only in domain
Application Partition (Only in Windows 2003)

What are the (two) services required for replication 
File Replication Service (FRS) Knowledge Consistency Checker (KCC)

Can we use a Linux DNS Sever in 2000 Domain 
We can use, But the BIND version should be 8 or greater

What is ASR (Automated System Recovery) and how to implement it 
ASR is a two-part system; it includes ASR backup and ASR restore. The ASR Wizard, located in Backup, does the backup portion. The wizard backs up the system state, system services, and all the disks that are associated with the operating system components. ASR also creates a file that contains information about the backup, the disk configurations (including basic and dynamic volumes), and how to perform a restore You can access the restore portion by pressing F2 when prompted in the text-mode portion of setup. ASR reads the disk configurations from the file that it creates. It restores all the disk signatures, volumes, and partitions on (at a minimum) the disks that you need to start the computer. ASR will try to restore all the disk configurations, but under some circumstances it might not be able to. ASR then installs a simple installation of Windows and automatically starts a restoration using the backup created by the ASR Wizard.

What are the different levels that we can apply Group Policy
We can apply group policy at SITE level---Domain Level---OU level

What is Domain Policy, Domain controller policy, Local policy and Group policy 
Domain Policy will apply to all computers in the domain, because by default it will be associated with domain GPO, Where as Domain controller policy will be applied only on domain controller. By default domain controller security policy will be associated with domain controller GPO. Local policy will be applied to that particular machine only and effects to that computer only.

What is the use of SYSVOL folder
Policies and scripts saved in SYSVOL folder will be replicated to all domain controllers in the domain. FRS (File replication service) is responsible for replicating all policies and scripts

What is folder redirection?
Folder Redirection is a User group policy. Once you create the group policy and link it to the appropriate folder object, an administrator can designate which folders to redirect and where To do this, the administrator needs to navigate to the following location in the Group Policy Object:

User Configuration\Windows Settings\Folder Redirection
In the Properties of the folder, you can choose Basic or Advanced folder redirection, and you can designate the server file system path to which the folder should be redirected.
The %USERNAME% variable may be used as part of the redirection path, thus allowing the system to dynamically create a newly redirected folder for each user to whom the policy object applies


Domain Functional Level 
Domain functionality activates features that affect the whole domain and that domain only. The four domain functional levels, their corresponding features, and supported domain controllers are as follows:

Windows 2000 mixed (Default)
Supported domain controllers: Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003
Activated features: local and global groups, global catalog support

Windows 2000 native
Supported domain controllers: Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003
Activated features: group nesting, universal groups, SidHistory, converting groups between security groups and distribution groups, you can raise domain levels by increasing the forest level settings

Windows Server 2003 interim 
Supported domain controllers: Windows NT 4.0, Windows Server 2003
Supported features: There are no domain-wide features activated at this level. All domains in a forest are automatically raised to this level when the forest level increases to interim. This mode is only used when you upgrade domain controllers in Windows NT 4.0 domains to Windows Server 2003 domain controllers.

Windows Server 2003
Supported domain controllers: Windows Server 2003
Supported features: domain controller rename, logon timestamp attribute updated and replicated. User password support on the InetOrgPerson objectClass. Constrained delegation, you can redirect the Users and Computers containersDomains that are upgraded from Windows NT 4.0 or created by the promotion of a Windows Server 2003-based computer operate at the Windows 2000 mixed functional level. Windows 2000 domains maintain their current domain functional level when Windows 2000 domain controllers are upgraded to the Windows Server 2003 operating system. You can raise the domain functional level to either Windows 2000 native or Windows Server 2003. After the domain functional level is raised, domain controllers that are running earlier operating systems cannot be introduced into the domain. For example, if you raise the domain functional level to Windows Server 2003, domain controllers that are running Windows 2000 Server cannot be added to that domain
The following describes the domain functional level and the domain-wide features that are activated for that level. Note that with each successive level increase, the feature set of the previous level is included.

Forest Functional Level 
Forest functionality activates features across all the domains in your forest. Three forest functional levels, the corresponding features, and their supported domain controllers are listed below

Windows 2000 (default) 
Supported domain controllers: Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003
New features: Partial list includes universal group caching, application partitions, install from media, quotas, rapid global catalog demotion, Single Instance Store (SIS) for System Access Control Lists (SACL) in the Jet Database Engine, Improved topology generation event logging. No global catalog full sync when attributes are added to the PAS Windows Server 2003 domain controller assumes the Intersite Topology Generator (ISTG) role.

Windows Server 2003 interim
Supported domain controllers: Windows NT 4.0, Windows Server 2003. See the "Upgrade from a Windows NT 4.0 Domain" section of this article.
Activated features: Windows 2000 features plus Efficient Group Member Replication using Linked Value Replication, Improved Replication Topology Generation. ISTG Aliveness no longer replicated. Attributes added to the global catalog. ms-DS-Trust-Forest-Trust-Info. Trust-Direction, Trust-Attributes, Trust-Type, Trust-Partner, Security-Identifier, ms-DS-Entry-Time-To-Die, Message Queuing-Secured-Source, Message Queuing-Multicast-Address, Print-Memory, Print-Rate, Print-Rate-Unit

Windows Server 2003 
Supported domain controllers: Windows Server 2003
Activated features: all features in Interim Level, Defunct schema objects, Cross Forest Trust, Domain Rename, Dynamic auxiliary classes, InetOrgPerson objectClass change, Application Groups, 15-second intrasite replication frequency for Windows Server 2003 domain controllers upgraded from Windows 2000
After the forest functional level is raised, domain controllers that are running earlier operating systems cannot be introduced into the forest. For example, if you raise forest functional levels to Windows Server 2003, domain controllers that are running Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000 Server cannot be added to the forest.
Different Active Directory features are available at different functional levels. Raising domain and forest functional levels is required to enable certain new features as domain controllers are upgraded from Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 to Windows Server 2003
Domain Functional Levels: Windows 2000 Mixed mode, Windows 2000 Native mode, Windows server 2003 and Windows server 2003 interim ( Only available when upgrades directly from Windows NT 4.0 to Windows 2003)

Forest Functional Levels: Windows 2000 and Windows 2003

Ipsec usage and difference window 2000 & 2003.
Microsoft doesn’t recommend Internet Protocol security (IPSec) network address translation (NAT) traversal (NAT-T) for Windows deployments that include VPN servers and that are located behind network address translators. When a server is behind a network address translator, and the server uses IPSec NAT-T, unintended side effects may occur because of the way that network address translators translate network traffic If you put a server behind a network address translator, you may experience connection problems because clients that connect to the server over the Internet require a public IP address. To reach servers that are located behind network address translators from the Internet, static mappings must be configured on the network address translator. For example, to reach a Windows Server 2003-based computer that is behind a network address translator from the Internet, configure the network address translator with the following static network address translator mappings

• Public IP address/UDP port 500 to the server's private IP address/UDP port 500
• Public IP address/UDP port 4500 to the server's private IP address/UDP port 4500.
These mappings are required so that all Internet Key Exchange (IKE) and IPSec NAT¬T traffic that is sent to the public address of the network address translator is automatically translated and forwarded to the Windows Server 2003-based computer

How to create application partition windows 2003 and its usage?

An application directory partition is a directory partition that is replicated only to specific domain controllers. A domain controller that participates in the replication of a particular application directory partition hosts a replica of that partition. Only domain controllers running Windows Server 2003 can host a replica of an application directory partition.
Applications and services can use application directory partitions to store application-specific data. Application directory partitions can contain any type of object, except security principals. TAPI is an example of a service that stores its application-specific data in an application directory partition
Application directory partitions are usually created by the applications that will use them to store and replicate data. For testing and troubleshooting purposes, members of the Enterprise Admins group can manually create or manage application directory partitions using the Ntdsutil command-line tool.

Is it possible to do implicit transitive forest to forest trust relation ship in windows 2003? 
Implicit Transitive trust will not be possible in windows 2003. Between forests we can create explicit trust
Two-way trust
One-way: incoming
One-way: Outgoing

What is universal group membership cache in windows 2003
Information is stored locally once this option is enabled and a user attempts to log on for the first time. The domain controller obtains the universal group membership for that user from a global catalog. Once the universal group membership information is obtained, it is cached on the domain controller for that site indefinitely and is periodically refreshed. The next time that user attempts to log on, the authenticating domain controller running Windows Server 2003 will obtain the universal group membership information from its local cache without the need to contact a global catalog. By default, the universal group membership information contained in the cache of each domain controller will be refreshed every 8 hours

GPMC & RSOP in windows 2003?
GPMC is tool which will be used for managing group policies and will display information like how many policies applied, on which OU’s the policies applied, What are the settings enabled in each policy, Who are the users effecting by these polices, who is managing these policies. GPMC will display all the above informationRSoP provides details about all policy settings that are configured by an Administrator, including Administrative Templates, Folder Redirection, Internet Explorer Maintenance, Security Settings, Scripts, and Group Policy Software Installation.When policies are applied on multiple levels (for example, site, domain, domain controller, and organizational unit), the results can conflict. RSoP can help you determine a set of applied policies and their precedence (the order in which policies are applied).

Assign & Publish the applications in GP & how? 
Through Group policy you can Assign and Publish the applications by creating .msi package for that application
With Assign option you can apply policy for both user and computer. If it is applied to computer then the policy will apply to user who logs on to that computer. If it is applied on user it will apply where ever he logs on to the domain. It will be appear in Start menu—Programs. Once user click the shortcut or open any document having that extension then the application install into the local machine. If any application program files missing it will automatically repair.With Publish option you can apply only on users. It will not install automatically when any application program files are corrupted or deleted.

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How to Manually Configure FSMO Roles to Separate DC’s

How can I determine who are the current FSMO Roles holders in my domain/forest

Windows 2000/2003 Active Directory domains utilize a Single Operation Master method called FSMO (Flexible Single Master Operation), as described in Understanding FSMO Roles in Active Directory.

The five FSMO roles are:

Schema master - Forest-wide and one per forest.
Domain naming master - Forest-wide and one per forest.
RID master - Domain-specific and one for each domain.
PDC - PDC Emulator is domain-specific and one for each domain.
Infrastructure master - Domain-specific and one for each domain

In most cases an administrator can keep the FSMO role holders (all 5 of them) in the same spot (or actually, on the same DC) as has been configured by the Active Directory installation process. However, there are scenarios where an administrator would want to move one or more of the FSMO roles from the default holder DC to a different DC. The transferring method is described in the Transferring FSMO Roles article, while seizing the roles from a non-operational DC to a different DC is described in the Seizing FSMO Roles article
In order to better understand your AD infrastructure and to know the added value that each DC might possess, an AD administrator must have the exact knowledge of which one of the existing DCs is holding a FSMO role, and what role it holds. With that knowledge in hand, the administrator can make better arrangements in case of a scheduled shut-down of any given DC, and better prepare him or herself in case of a non-scheduled cease of operation from one of the DCs.

How to find out which DC is holding which FSMO role? Well,

one can accomplish this task by many means. This article will list a few of the available methods.

Method #1: Know the default settings

The FSMO roles were assigned to one or more DCs during the DCPROMO process. The following table summarizes the FSMO default locations

FSMO Roll -  Schema   

Number of DC's Holding this Role- One per forest

Original DC Holding this Role  - The first DC in the first Domin                   

Domain Naming	One per forest	forest (i.e. the Forest Root Domain)
RID	One per domain	The first DC in a domain (any domain,
PDC Emulator	One per domain	including the Forest Root Domain, any
Infrastructure	One per domain	Tree Root Domain, or any Child
		Domain)

Method #2:Use The GUI

The FSMO role holders can be easily found by use of some of the AD snap-ins. Use this table to see which tool can be used for what FSMO role

Fsmo Role                   Which snap-in should I use?

Schema                     Schema snap-in

Domain Naming           AD Domains and Trusts-in

RID                            AD User and Computers snap-in

PDC emulator

Infrastructure

Finding the RID Master, PDC Emulator, and Infrastructure Masters via GUI 

To find out who currently holds the Domain-Specific RID Master, PDC Emulator, and Infrastructure Master 

FSMO Roles: 

1.Open the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in from the Administrative Tools folder. 

2.Right-click the Active Directory Users and Computers icon again and press Operation Masters. 

3.Select the appropriate tab for the role you wish to view. 

4.When you're done click Close.

Finding the Domain Naming Master via GUI 

To find out who currently holds the Domain Naming Master Role: 

1.Open the Active Directory Domains and Trusts snap-in from the Administrative Tools folder. 

2.Right-click the Active Directory Domains and Trusts icon again and press Operation Masters. 

3.When you're done click Close. 

Finding the Schema Master via GUI 

To find out who currently holds the Schema Master Role: 

1.Register the Schmmgmt.dll library by pressing Start > RUN and typing: 

2.Press OK. You should receive a success confirmation. 

3.From the Run command open an MMC Console by typing MMC. 

4.On the Console menu, press Add/Remove Snap-in. 

5.Press Add. Select Active Directory Schema. 

6.Press Add and press Close. Press OK. 

7.Click the Active Directory Schema icon. After it loads right-click it and press Operation Masters. 

8.Press the Close button. 

Method #3: Use the Ntdsutil command 

The FSMO role holders can be easily found by use of the Ntdsutil command. 

Caution: Using the Ntdsutil utility incorrectly may result in partial or complete loss of Active Directory functionality

1.On any domain controller, click Start, click Run, type Ntdsutil in the Open box, and then click OK. 

2.Type roles, and then press ENTER. 

Note:To see a list of available commands at any of the prompts in the Ntdsutil tool, type ?, and then press ENTER

1.Type connections, and then press ENTER. 

2.Type connect to server <servername>, where <servername> is the name of the server you want to use, and then press ENTER. 

3.At the server connections: prompt, type q, and then press ENTER again. 

4.At the FSMO maintenance: prompt, type Select operation target, and then press ENTER again.

At the select operation target: prompt, type List roles for connected server, and then press ENTER again. select operation target: List roles for connected server 

Server "server100" knows about 5 roles Schema - CN=NTDS Settings,CN=SERVER100,CN=Servers,CN=Default-First-Site-Name,CN=Sites,CN=C  

onfiguration,DC=dpetri,DC=net 

Domain - CN=NTDS 

Settings,CN=SERVER100,CN=Servers,CN=Default-First-Site-Name,CN=Sites,CN=C 

onfiguration,DC=dpetri,DC=net PDC - CN=NTDS 

Settings,CN=SERVER100,CN=Servers,CN=Default-First-Site

Name,CN=Sites,CN=Conf 

iguration,DC=dpetri,DC=net 

RID - CN=NTDS Settings,CN=SERVER100,CN=Servers,CN=Default-First-Site-Name,CN=Sites,CN=Conf iguration,DC=dpetri,DC=net 

Infrastructure - CN=NTDS 

Settings,CN=SERVER100,CN=Servers,CN=Default-First-Site-Name,CN=Si 

tes,CN=Configuration,DC=dpetri,DC=net 

Select operation target:

8.Type q 3 times to exit the Ntdsutil prompt

Note: You can download THIS nice batch file that will do all this for you (1kb). 

Another Note: Microsoft has a nice tool called Dumpfsmos.cmd, found in the Windows 2000 Resource Kit (and can be downloaded here: Download Free Windows 2000 Resource Kit Tools). This tool is basically a one-click Ntdsutil script that performs the same operation described above

Method #4: Use the Netdom command 

The FSMO role holders can be easily found by use of the Netdom command

Netdom.exe is a part of the Windows 2000/XP/2003 Support Tools. You must either download it separately (from here Download Free Windows 2000 Resource Kit Tools) or by obtaining the correct Support Tools pack for your operating system. The Support Tools pack can be found in the \Support\Tools folder on your installation CD (or you can Download Windows 2000 SP4 Support Tools, Download Windows XP SP1 Deploy Tools). 

1.On any domain controller, click Start, click Run, type CMD in the Open box, and then click OK. 

2.In the Command Prompt window, type netdom query /domain:<domain> fsmo (where <domain> is the name of YOUR domain)

Close the CMD window

Note: You can download THIS nice batch file that will do all this for you (1kb).  

Method #5: Use the Replmon tool 

The FSMO role holders can be easily found by use of the Netdom command. 

Just like Netdom, Replmon.exe is a part of the Windows 2000/XP/2003 Support Tools. Replmon can be used for a wide verity of tasks, mostly with those that are related with AD replication. But Replmon can also provide valuable information about the AD, about any DC, and also about other objects and settings, such as GPOs and FSMO roles. Install the package before attempting to use the tool. 

1On any domain controller, click Start, click Run, type REPLMON in the Open box, and then click OK. 

2.Right-click Monitored servers and select Add Monitored Server. 

3.In the Add Server to Monitor window, select the Search the Directory for the server to add. Make sure your AD domain name is listed in the drop-down list. 

4.In the site list select your site, expand it, and click to select the server you want to query. Click Finish. 

5.Right-click the server that is now listed in the left-pane, and select Properties. 

6.Click on the FSMO Roles tab and read the results. 

7.Click Ok when you're done.

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Windows & systen admin Interview Questions and Answers- Part 1

Difference between 2000 &2003
Application Server mode is introduced in windows 2003 Possible to configure stub zones in windows 2003 DNS Volume shadow copy services is introduced Windows 2003 gives an option to replicate DNS data b/w all DNS servers in forest or All DNS servers in the domain.

Difference between PDC & BDC
PDC contains a write copy of SAM database where as BDC contains read only copy of SAM database. It is not possible to reset a password or create objects with out PDC in Windows NT.

Difference between DC &ADC
There is no difference between in DC and ADC both contains write copy of AD. Both can also handles FSMO roles (If transfers from DC to ADC). It is just for identification. Functionality wise there is no difference.

What is DNS & WINS
DNS is a Domain Naming System, which resolves Host names to IP addresses. It uses fully qualified domain names. DNS is a Internet standard used to resolve host names
WINS is a Windows Internet Name Service, which resolves Netbios names to IP Address. This is proprietary for Windows

Types of DNS Servers
Primary DNS Secondary DNS Active Directory Integrated DNS Forwarder Caching only DNS

If DHCP is not available what happens to the client
Client will not get IP and it cannot be participated in network . If client already got the IP and having lease duration it use the IP till the lease duration expires.

what are the different types of trust relationships
Implicit Trusts Explicit Trusts—NT to Win2k or Forest to Forest

what is the process of DHCP for getting the IP address to the client
There is a four way negotiation process b/w client and server DHCP Discover (Initiated by client) DHCP Offer (Initiated by server) DHCP Select (Initiated by client)
DHCP Acknowledgement (Initiated by Server)
DHCP Negative Acknowledgement (Initiated by server if any issues after DHCP offer)

Difference between FAT,NTFS &amp; NTFSVersion5
NTFS Version 5 features
Encryption is possible We can enable Disk Quotas File compression is possible Sparse files Indexing Service NTFS change journal In FAT file system we can apply only share level security. File level protection is not
possible. In NTFS we can apply both share level as well as file level security NTFS supports large partition sizes than FAT file systems NTFS supports long file names than FAT file systems
What are the port numbers for FTP, Telnet, HTTP, DNS
FTP-21, Telnet – 23, HTTP-80, DNS-53, Kerberos-88, LDAP-389

what are the different types of profiles in 2000
Local Profiles Roaming profiles Mandatory Profiles

what is the database files used for Active Directory
The key AD database files—edb.log, ntds.dit, res1.log, res2.log, and edb.chk—all of which reside in \%systemroot%\ntds on a domain controller (DC) by default. During
AD installation, Dcpromo lets you specify alternative locations for these log files and database files

What is the location of AD Database
%System root%/NTDS/NTDS&gt;DIT

What is the authentication protocol used in NT
NTLM (NT LAN Manager

What is subnetting and supernetting
Subnetting is the process of borrowing bits from the host portion of an address to provide bits for identifying additional sub-networks
Supernetting merges several smaller blocks of IP addresses (networks) that are continuous into one larger block of addresses. Borrowing network bits to combine several smaller networks into one larger network does supernetting

what is the use of terminal services
Terminal services can be used as Remote Administration mode to administer remotely as well as Application Server Mode to run the application in one server and users can login to that server to user that application

what is the protocol used for terminal services
RDP

what is the port number for RDP
Port Number-3389    


what is the difference between Authorized DHCP and Non Authorized DHCP
To avoid problems in the network causing by mis-configured DHCP servers, server in windows 2000 must be validate by AD before starting service to clients. If an authorized DHCP finds any DHCP server in the network it stop serving the clients

Difference between inter-site and intra-site replication. Protocols using for replication.
Intra-site replication can be done between the domain controllers in the same site. Inter-site replication can be done between two different sites over WAN links
BHS (Bridge Head Servers) is responsible for initiating replication between the sites. Inter-site replication can be done B/w BHS in one site and BHS in another site.
We can use RPC over IP or SMTP as a replication protocols where as Domain partition is not possible to replicate using SMTP

How to monitor replication 

We can user Replmon tool from support tools

Brief explanation of RAID Levels 

Microsoft Windows XP, Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 offer two types of disk storage: basic and dynamic

Basic Disk Storage
Basic storage uses normal partition tables supported by MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me), Microsoft Windows NT, Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP. A disk initialized for basic storage is called a basic disk. A basic disk contains basic volumes, such as primary partitions, extended partitions, and logical drives. Additionally, basic volumes include multidisk volumes that are created by using Windows NT 4.0 or earlier, such as volume sets, stripe sets, mirror sets, and stripe sets with parity. Windows XP does not support these multidisk basic volumes. Any volume sets, stripe sets, mirror sets, or stripe sets with parity must be backed up and deleted or converted to dynamic disks before you install Windows XP Professional

Dynamic Disk Storage
Dynamic storage is supported in Windows XP Professional, Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003. A disk initialized for dynamic storage is called a dynamic disk. A dynamic disk contains dynamic volumes, such as simple volumes, spanned volumes, striped volumes, mirrored volumes, and RAID-5 volumes. With dynamic storage, you can perform disk and volume management without the need to restart Windows.
Note: Dynamic disks are not supported on portable computers or on Windows XP Home Edition-based computers.
You cannot create mirrored volumes or RAID-5 volumes on Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Professional, or Windows XP 64-Bit Edition-based computers. However, you can use a Windows XP Professional-based computer to create a mirrored or RAID-5 volume on remote computers that are running Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2000 Advanced Server, or Windows 2000 Datacenter Server, or the Standard, Enterprise and Data Center versions of Windows Server 2003.
Storage types are separate from the file system type. A basic or dynamic disk can contain any combination of FAT16, FAT32, or NTFS partitions or volumes.
A disk system can contain any combination of storage types. However, all volumes on the same disk must use the same storage type.

To convert a Basic Disk to a Dynamic Disk

Use the Disk Management snap-in in Windows XP/2000/2003 to convert a basic disk to a dynamic disk. To do this, follow these steps: 

1Log on as Administrator or as a member of the Administrators group. 

2Click Start, and then click Control Panel. 

3Click Performance and Maintenance, click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management. You can also right-click My Computer and choose Manage if you have My Computer displayed on your desktop. 

4In the left pane, click Disk Management. 

5In the lower-right pane, right-click the basic disk that you want to convert, and then click Convert to Dynamic Disk. You must right-click the gray area that contains the disk title on the left side of the Details pane. 

6Select the check box that is next to the disk that you want to convert (if it is not already selected), and then click OK. 

7Click Details if you want to view the list of volumes in the disk. Click Convert. 

8Click Yes when you are prompted to convert the disk, and then click OK. 

Warning: After you convert a basic disk to a dynamic disk, local access to the dynamic disk is limited to Windows XP Professional, Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003. Additionally, after you convert a basic disk to a dynamic disk, the dynamic volumes cannot be changed back to partitions. You must first delete all dynamic volumes on the disk and then convert the dynamic disk back to a basic disk. If you want to keep your data, you must first back up the data or move it to another volume. 

Dynamic Storage Terms 

A volume is a storage unit made from free space on one or more disks. It can be formatted with a file system and assigned a drive letter. Volumes on dynamic disks can have any of the following layouts: simple, spanned, mirrored, striped, or RAID-5. 

A simple volume uses free space from a single disk. It can be a single region on a disk or consist of multiple, concatenated regions. A simple volume can be extended within the same disk or onto additional disks. If a simple volume is extended across multiple disks, it becomes a spanned volume. 

A spanned volume is created from free disk space that is linked together from multiple disks. You can extend a spanned volume onto a maximum of 32 disks. A spanned volume cannot be mirrored and is not fault-tolerant. 

A striped volume is a volume whose data is interleaved across two or more physical disks. The data on this type of volume is allocated alternately and evenly to each of the physical disks. A striped volume cannot be mirrored or extended and is not fault-tolerant. Striping is also known as RAID-0. 

A mirrored volume is a fault-tolerant volume whose data is duplicated on two physical disks. All of the data on one volume is copied to another disk to provide data redundancy. If one of the disks fails, the data can still be accessed from the remaining disk. A mirrored volume cannot be extended. Mirroring is also known as RAID-1. 

A RAID-5 volume is a fault-tolerant volume whose data is striped across an array of three or more disks. Parity (a calculated value that can be used to reconstruct data after a failure) is also striped across the disk array. If a physical disk fails, the portion of the RAID-5 volume that was on that failed disk can be re-created from the remaining data and the parity. A RAID¬5 volume cannot be mirrored or extended. 

The system volume contains the hardware-specific files that are needed to load Windows (for example, Ntldr, Boot.ini, and Ntdetect.com). The system volume can be, but does not have to be, the same as the boot volume. 

The boot volume contains the Windows operating system files that are located in the %Systemroot% and %Systemroot%\System32 folders. The boot volume can be, but does not have to be, the same as the system volume. 

RAID 0 – Striping 

RAID 1- Mirroring (minimum 2 HDD required) 

RAID 5 – Striping With Parity (Minimum 3 HDD required) 

RAID levels 1 and 5 only gives redundancy 

What are the different backup strategies are available 

Normal Backup 

Incremental Backup 

Differential Backup 

Daily Backup 

Copy Backup 

What is a global catalog 

Global catalog is a role, which maintains Indexes about objects. It contains full information of the objects in its own domain and partial information of the objects in other domains. Universal Group membership information will be stored in global catalog servers and replicate to all GC’s in the forest. 

What is Active Directory and what is the use of it 

Active directory is a directory service, which maintains the relation ship between resources and enabling them to work together. Because of AD hierarchal structure windows 2000 is more scalable, reliable. Active directory is derived from X.500 standards where information is stored is hierarchal tree like structure. Active directory depends on two Internet standards one is DNS and other is LDAP. Information in Active directory can be queried by using LDAP protocol 

What is the physical and logical structure of AD 

Active directory physical structure is a hierarchal structure which fallows Forests— Trees—Domains—Child Domains—Grand Child—etc 

Active directory is logically divided into 3 partitions 

1.Configuration partition 2. Schema Partition 3. Domain partition 4. Application Partition (only in windows 2003 not available in windows 2000) 

Out of these Configuration, Schema partitions can be replicated between the domain controllers in the in the entire forest. Where as Domain partition can be replicated between the domain controllers in the same domain 

What is the process of user authentication (Kerberos V5) in windows 2000 

After giving logon credentials an encryption key will be generated which is used to encrypt the time stamp of the client machine. User name and encrypted timestamp information will be provided to domain controller for authentication. Then Domain controller based on the password information stored in AD for that user it decrypts the encrypted time stamp information. If produces time stamp matches to its time stamp. It will provide logon session key and Ticket granting ticket to client in an encryption format. Again client decrypts and if produced time stamp information is matching then it will use logon session key to logon to the domain. Ticket granting ticket will be used to generate service granting ticket when accessing network resources 

What are the port numbers for Kerberos, LDAP and Global catalog 

Kerberos – 88, LDAP – 389, Global Catalog – 3268 

What is the use of LDAP (X.500 standard?) 

LDAP is a directory access protocol, which is used to exchange directory information from server to clients or from server to servers 

What are the problems that are generally come across DHCP 

Scope is full with IP addresses no IP’s available for new machines 

If scope options are not configured properly eg default gateway 

Incorrect creation of scopes etc 

what is the role responsible for time synchronization 

PDC Emulator is responsible for time synchronization. Time synchronization is important because Kerberos authentication depends on time stamp information 

What is TTL & how to set TTL time in DNS 

TTL is Time to Live setting used for the amount of time that the record should remain in cache when name resolution happened. 

We can set TTL in SOA (start of authority record) of DNS 

How to take DNS and WINS,DHCP backup 

%System root%/system32/dns 

%System root%/system32/WINS 

%System root%/system32/DHCP 

What is recovery console 

Recovery console is a utility used to recover the system when it is not booting properly or not at all booting. We can perform fallowing operations from recovery console 

We can copy, rename, or replace operating system files and folders Enable or disable service or device startup the next time that start computer Repair the file system boot sector or the Master Boot Record Create and format partitions on drives 

What is DFS & its usage 

DFS is a distributed file system used to provide common environment for users to access files and folders even when they are shared in different servers physically. 

There are two types of DFS domain DFS and Stand alone DFS. We cannot provide redundancy for stand alone DFS in case of failure. Domain DFS is used in a domain environment which can be accessed by /domain name/root1 (root 1 is DFS root name). Stand alone DFS can be used in workgroup environment which can be accessed through /server name/root1 (root 1 is DFS root name). Both the cases we need to create DFS root ( Which appears like a shared folder for end users) and DFS links ( A logical link which is pointing to the server where the folder is physically shared) 

The maximum number of Dfs roots per server is 1. 

The maximum numbers of Dfs root replicas are 31. 

The maximum number of Dfs roots per domain is unlimited. 

The maximum number of Dfs links or shared folders in a Dfs root is 1,000 

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Difference Between NT & 2000

NT SAM database is a flat database. Where as in windows 2000 active directory

database is a hierarchical database. In windows NT only PDC is having writable copy of SAM database but the BDC is only read only database. In case of Windows 2000 both DC and ADC is having write copy of the database

Windows NT will not support FAT32 file system. Windows 2000 supports FAT32

Default authentication protocol in NT is NTLM (NT LAN manager). In windows 2000 default authentication protocol is Kerberos V5. Windows 2000 depends and Integrated with DNS. NT user Netbios names Active Directory can be backed up easily with System state data

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Video for Windows Server 2008 DNS Manual Setup

This is how you setup DNS manually. You can le

t windows setup for you or you can manually set it up. This will be a good practice to learn.

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Differences between Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2007

Implementing Exchange Server 2007 for coexistence with Exchange Server 2003

How Exchange Server 2007 can coexist with Exchange Server 2003 and their main differences.

Differences between Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2007
Let us start by explaining the key differences between Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange

Server 2007, especially for coexistence:

Administrative Groups
Routing Groups
Server Roles

It is possible to install Exchange Server 2007 into an existing Exchange Server 2003 organization that is operating in Exchange native mode. The existing Exchange organization can contain Exchange 2003 servers, and Exchange 2000 servers.
There are many differences between Exchange Server 2007 and Exchange Server 2003. To explain these differences and how the different features can coexist is the main focus of this article.

Understanding Coexistence between Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2007
Depending on the size of the Exchange Organization in which you are performing a migration to Exchange Server 2007, the migration can consume a lot of time so both versions have to coexist for a time. Second, it is not possible to directly migrate Exchange Server 2003 to Exchange Server 2007. You have to install an additional Exchange Server 2007 into the existing Exchange Server 2003 organization.

Successful coexistence of Exchange 2007 with Exchange Server 2003
Exchange 2003 Server depends on the correct configuration of routing group connectors between Exchange 2007 Hub Transport servers and Exchange Server 2003 Bridgehead servers. When you install Exchange 2007 in a Windows Server 2003 forest with an existing Exchange 2003 organization, you select to join Exchange 2007 to that Exchange 2003 organization.
During Exchange Server 2007 installation, you must specify an Exchange 2003 Bridgehead server in the routing group to which you want to create the initial Routing Group connector.
Because Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2007 use different Server to Server communication, you must configure routing group connectors to enable message transfer between these two Exchange versions. Exchange Server 2003 uses SMTP as the primary communication protocol between Exchange 2003 servers. Exchange Server 2007 uses RPC for Server to Server communication (like Exchange Server 5.5) and depends on the Hub Transport server role to perform SMTP to send and receive messages. It is no longer possible to use an Exchange Server 2007 organization without a Hub Transport Server because this Exchange Server role is responsible for message conversion and much more.


Administrative Group
Exchange Server 2003 uses administrative groups to delegate permissions to manage parts of the Exchange organization. Exchange 2007 does not use administrative groups as a logical management unit for administrative delegation (there is only one administrative group that all Exchange Server 2007 are members of, and the administrative group exists only for compatibility reasons with Exchange Server 2003).
To allow coexistence between Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange 2007, all Exchange 2007 servers are automatically installed in a single administrative group when Exchange 2007 is installed.
The Exchange Server 2007 administrative group is recognized in the Exchange System Manager of Exchange Server 2003 as Exchange administrative group (FYDIBOHF23SPDLT). The Microsoft Exchange Team had a wonderful idea when they created this name. Do you think the name sounds illogical? It is logical, decoded the administrative Group has the name EXCHANGE12ROCKS. The Exchange team used the well known Caesar cipher. Now you have to research how the name FYDIBOHF23SPDLT corresponds to EXCHANGE12ROCKS!

Administrative groups are not displayed in the Exchange 2007 Exchange Management Console but you can see the default administrative group with ADSIEDIT.




Utilities to manage Exchange Server 2003
You can use the Exchange tasks in Active Directory Users and Computers to manage Exchange Server 2003 mailboxes. In Exchange 2007, you must manage servers and mailboxes by using the Exchange Management Console or the Exchange Management Shell. The related management tasks to configure Exchange 2003 recipients have been moved to the EMS or EMC.



Figure 2: Exchange 2007 User and recipient management with EMC

Routing Groups
Exchange Server 2003 uses routing groups and routing group connectors to route messages between Exchange Servers in different routing groups. A routing group is defined as a boundary of physical sites and to establish a SMTP connection between these sites. Typically a routing group is used to group Exchange Servers which are connected through a high speed network link. Exchange Servers in the same routing group can communicate directly with each other without the use of routing group connectors and possible limitations on connector sites. Typically, there is a 1:1 relationship with Exchange routing groups and Active Directory sites. Exchange 2003 and Windows Administrators always had to configure and maintain two site concepts – Exchange Routing Groups and Active Directory sites.
Exchange Server 2007 uses the existing Active Directory site topology to define the Routing topology. Exchange 2007 Servers that exist in the same Active Directory site can communicate with each other without the use of connectors. E-Mail that must be delivered to Exchange Servers in other Active Directory sites will be transmitted to Hub Transport Servers. The Hub Transport Server is then responsible for transmitting the message to the destination Hub Transport server in the other Active Directory site. Exchange Server 2007 automatically creates these connectors between the Active Directory sites but it is possible to manually configure the routing topology. You can’t see these connectors in the Exchange Management Console.
In the case of coexistence, all of Exchange Server 2007 will be installed in a single Routing Group that is used for coexistence with Exchange Server 2003.
The default Exchange 2007 routing group is displayed in Exchange 2003 System Manager as Exchange Routing Group (DWBGZMFD01QNBJR) within the Exchange Administrative Group (FYDIBOHF23SPDLT) – think again that the Caesar cipher is used here to create the name of the Routing Group.
When the first Exchange 2007 Hub Transport server is installed into an existing Exchange 2003 organization, you must select an Exchange 2003 bridgehead server to which the routing group connector should establish a connection.
The Hub Transport Server from Exchange Server 2007 and the remote Bridgehead server from Exchange Server 2003 are automatically configured with a routing group connector that connects both routing groups. The Exchange Server 2003 Bridgehead Server is automatically added as a member of the Legacy Interop Universal Security Group. This group has the permission to send and receive e-mail through Exchange Server 2007.
You must use the Exchange Management Shell (EMS) with the New-RoutingGroupConnector cmdlet to create additional Routing Group connectors on the Exchange Server 2007 Hub Transport Servers. Please note that Exchange Server 2007 and Exchange Server 2003 cannot exist in the same routing group.


Important: 
If you install Exchange 2007 to build a new Exchange organization and not to install into an existing Exchange 2003 Organization you cannot install Exchange 2003 in the Exchange 2007 organization.

Link State Routing
Exchange 2003 servers use Link State Routing to exchange routing table entries for the path that messages will take through the exchange organization. A routing group master collects information about the status of other Exchange Servers and creates a small table in memory, the Link State Table (LST). The LST is then distributed to other Exchange Servers and will be updated at fixed intervals. Based on the Information about the status of other Exchange servers, a lost connection to another Exchange Server will be saved in the LST and Exchange tries to route the message over another Exchange server to the destination.
Link state routing is not used by Exchange 2007 Hub Transport servers and Exchange 2007 can't propagate link state updates. When a Hub Transport server sends an e-mail to another Active Directory site where a Hub Transport server cannot be contacted, the Hub Transport server does not recalculate the route. Hub Transport servers always try to communicate directly with other Hub Transport servers.
If there is more than one Hub Transport Server in a site, messaging traffic is automatically load balanced and the sending Hub Transport Server tries to reach each Hub Transport Server in the destination site before the connection fails.
When the connection to the destination site is unavailable, Exchange Server 2007 uses the associated site link costs to an Active Directory site to deternmine the closest site to send the mail to. This behavior is known as queue at point of failure.
If multiple routing paths exist between the default Exchange 2007 Routing Group and any Exchange Server 2003 routing group, Link State updates must be suppressed to ensure that no message loops occur when a route is recalculated. Microsoft recommends suppressing Link State updates if multiple connections exist between Exchange Server 2007 and 2003. It is possible to disable Link State updates through a registry patch. Configuration changes such adding a connector in the Exchange organization is still propagated by using the Link State information.

Send Connectors and Receive Connectors
Exchange Server 2003 uses Virtual SMTP Servers to send and receive messages. An SMTP connector is logically bound to an SMTP Virtual Server.
Exchange Server 2007 doesn’t use SMTP Virtual Servers. Instead Exchange Server 2007 uses the new Hub Transport Server role.
The Exchange 2007 Hub Transport servers provide SMTP transport for the organization. Hub Transport servers use an automatically created connector to route messages between Active Directory sites. You cannot see these connectors in the Exchange Management Console. The connector is called an intra-organization Send connector.
The Exchange Server 2007 setup creates an SMTP receive connector to receive SMTP messages from any sender on Port 25. The Exchange Server 2007 setup process also creates a second connector to receive SMTP traffic from non MAPI clients. This connector listens on Port 587.
If you want to enable your Exchange organization to send e-mail through the Internet you must create an SMTP Send connector to route e-mail to the Internet. If your organization is large, you should implement an Edge Transport Server in the perimeter network. An Exchange Edge Transport Server is a secured, hardened and reduced functionality version of Exchange Server 2007. The SMTP Send connector on the Hub Transport Server should point to the Edge Transport Server.

Message Tracking
Message Tracking is the process of archiving the path messages have taken when they reached or left the Exchange organization. With the help of message tracking you will easily find which routes the message passed.
The message tracking feature in Exchange 2007 is different from the message tracking feature in Exchange Server 2003. The events that are logged by Exchange 2007 message tracking do not correspond directly to the message tracking events that are logged by Exchange Server 2003.
Messages that are sent and received by Exchange 2007 can only be tracked by Exchange 2007 servers. You cannot use the message tracking feature of Exchange Server 2003, because Exchange Server 2007 doesn’t support WMI for this function.
If your Exchange organization is in mixed mode with Exchange Server 2003 and 2007, you have to use the message tracking feature of Exchange Server 2007 to track messages in Exchange Server 2007. If this message is transmitted to Exchange Server 2003, you have to use the message tracking feature in Exchange Server 2003.

Mailbox Server Coexistence
The Mailbox server role can coexist with Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2007. Exchange 2007 uses the Hub Transport server to send and receive mail. A Hub Transport server must be installed in every Active Directory site that contains an Exchange 2007 Mailbox server. It is possible to move mailboxes between Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2007.

Client Access Server Coexistence
The Client Access server (CAS) role in Exchange Server 2007 has the same (and more) functionality as a front-end server in Exchange 2003. You must deploy the Client Access Server role if you have e-mail clients that access Exchange by using Microsoft Outlook Web Access (OWA), POP3, IMAP4, or mobile devices with Exchange Active Sync (EAS). The Client Access Server role from Exchange Server 2007 can coexist with Exchange Server 2003 but the right combination of Exchange Server 2003 / 2007 and Exchange 2003 Front End Server and Exchange Server 2007 Client Access Server role is important for which version of Outlook Web Access clients will see. If the user’s mailbox is located on an Exchange Server 2003 Backend server and the Client Access Server is running Exchange 2007, the user will have access to the Exchange Server 2003 version of Outlook Web Access. Only if you use the Exchange Server 2007 version on both Backend Server (Mailbox Server role) and Client Access Server role, users will participate from the new Outlook Web Access version of Exchange Server 2007.

Different URLs to use OWA (Outlook Web Access)
The Outlook Web Access URL that users have to use also depends on the location of the user’s mailbox. If the mailbox is located on an Exchange 2003 back-end server you must use the URL http://<servername>/Exchange.
If the mailbox is located on an Exchange 2007 Mailbox server, you can use http://<servername>/owa or http://<servername>/Exchange.



Figure 3: OWA and Exchange Virtual Directory in Exchange Server 2007

Edge Transport Server coexistence
The Exchange Server 2007 Edge Transport Server role is new in Exchange Server 2007 but this role is not exclusive to Exchange Server 2007. You can use a server with the Edge Transport server role as a smarthost in an Exchange Server 2003 environment with some limitations. One of the most important limitations is that you cannot use the Exchange Server 2007 Edge Subscription to synchronize recipient lists, or safelist senders from Outlook.

Conclusion
There are many more differences between Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2007. Exchange Server 2007 has many more new and improved features compared to Exchange Server 2003 but I hope that I successfully explained the key differences between the both and how to establish a coexistence between them.

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