Top Interview Questions for IT Pro

Top Interview Questions for IT Pro

1. What is the difference between a hub and a switch?

2. What is a network?

3. What is Active Directory?

4. What is TCP/IP and what does it stand for?

5. What is a default gateway?

6. What does DHCP stand for?

7. What is an IP Address?

8. What is the significance of the IP address 255.255.255.255?

9. What are the 3 major classes of an IP network?

10. What is a Class D IP address?

11. What is OSPF?

12. A user is complaining of delays when using the network. What would you do?

Network Administrator Positions

Some of these questions may also be included in the previous category for Help Desk Technician positions. In either case, they’re worth preparing for.

13. What is the difference between layer 2 and layer 3 in the OSI model?

14. What is the difference between a hub, switch, and router?

15. What is a VLAN?

16. What is the difference between TCP and UDP?

17. How do you distinguish a DNS problem from a network problem?

18. What are a runt, Giant, and collision?

19. What is a broadcast storm?

20. What is the purpose of VRRP?

21. What is a VPN?

22. What is a default route?

23. How do you set a default route on an IOS Cisco router?

24. What is a metric?

25. What is a MAC address?

26. What is ARP/RARP?

27. Describe a TCP connection sequence.

28. What is MTU?

29. What other TCP setting can you modify besides MTU to shorten packets?

System Administration Position

Here are a few more questions that are a little bit more difficult. System Admins should know all these answers by heart in addition to the Network Administrator questions.

30. What is the difference between layer 2 and layer 3 devices?

31. What is the subnet for a class C network?

32. Have you configured a NIS server/client before? If so, describe what you did.

33. Have your configured a NFS server?

34. What are RAID 1 and RAID 5?

35. What are the required components of Windows Server 2003 for installing Exchange 2003?

36. What must be done to an AD forest before Exchange can be deployed?

37. What Exchange process is responsible for communication with AD?

38. What connector type would you use to connect to the Internet, and what are the two methods of sending mail over that connector?

39. How would you optimize Exchange 2003 memory usage on Windows Server 2003 with more than 1Gb of memory?

40. What are the standard port numbers for SMTP, POP3, IMAP4, RPC, LDAP and Global Catalog?

41. Name the process names for the following: System Attendant, Information Store, SMTP/POP/IMAP/OWA.

42. What is the maximum amount of databases that can be hosted on Exchange 2003 Enterprise?

43. What are the disadvantages of circular logging?

44. What is Active Directory schema?

45. What are the domain functional levels in Windows Server 2003?

46. What is the default domain functional level in Windows Server 2003?

47. What are the forest functional levels in Windows Server 2003?

48. What is a global catalog server?

49. How can we raise domain functional and forest functional levels in Windows Server 2003?

50. What is the default protocol used in directory services?

51. What is IPv6?

52. What are the physical & logical components of ADS?

53. In which domain functional level, we can rename a domain name?

54. What is multimaster replication?

55. What is a site?

56. Which is the command used to remove active directory from a domain controller?

57. What is the file that’s responsible for keeping all Active Directory databases?

General HR Questions

These general questions can be the toughest ones to get through. They might sound easy, but they require a lot of thought and preparation. I would suggest writing down your answers first, then reading them over a few times so that you’re comfortable in answering them.

Some of these questions are very tricky and can get you in trouble. So if you run into problems finding a good answer, check out these 64 Interview Questions for some help.

58. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

59. What are your greatest strengths?

60. What are your greatest weaknesses?

61. What do you like about your current job or what did you like about your last job?

62. Give us an example of when you handled a stressful situation.

62. Give us an example of one of the toughest problems you had to face, and how did you deal with it?

63. Why do you think you should get this position?

64. Do you think you are the best person for this job? If so, why?

65. Why did you apply for this position?

66. Why did you apply for a position with our company and what do you know about us?

67. Why should we hire you?

68. Tell us about your short and long term goals?

69. Where do you see yourself five years from now?

70. Please explain, what does customer service mean to you?

71. What does being a team player mean to you?

72. Give us an example of how you handled a conflict with another employee?

73. What are your salary expectations?

74. What would you consider your most important accomplishment?

75. How would you define success?

76. At your last review, what improvements did your manager suggest you make?

77. What would your co workers say about you?

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Difference Between LAN, WAN, MAN, CAN, VPN, BAN, NAN, SAN.

Difference Between LAN, WAN, MAN, CAN, VPN, BAN, NAN, SAN

A computer network is an interconnection of various devices like laptops, routers, switches, servers, etc. with the help of wired or wireless means. We can differentiate these networks by their reach, i.e., geographical area. For example, we have local area network, wide area network, personal area network, metropolitan area network, near-me network, etc. Whatever connection you use, whether your home WiFi or the office Ethernet, you’re a part of some computer network. A computer network can include devices like routers, hubs, switches, end-user devices, repeaters, network cards, etc. These devices can be arranged in various network topologies as per the requirement.

Local Area Network (LAN)

LAN is a form of a computer network most known to the general public. It has a limited reach, roughly a bunch of closely situated houses or building. And that’s because we typically use the Ethernet technology (IEEE 802.3) to power our local area networks. The ethernet cables we lay across our houses and offices have their practical limitations. Beyond a certain length, the speed gets degraded. The reach of a LAN can be enhanced using repeaters, bridges, etc.

Home Area Network (HAN)

A kind of local area network is the HAN (Home Area Network). All the devices like smartphones, computers, IoT devices, televisions, gaming consoles, etc. connect to a central router (wired or wireless) placed in a home constitute a home area network.

Wireless LAN (WLAN)

This type of computer network is a wireless counterpart of the local area network. It uses the WiFi technology defined as per the IEEE 802.11 standards. If you’re the one who thinks WiFi and WLAN are the same things, then you need to rectify your confusion. They are completely different. WiFi is used to create a wireless local area network.

WiFi networks can reach up to a few hundred meters in a clear line of sight. However, just like wired LAN, its range can be increased using wireless repeaters and bridges.

Personal Area Network (PAN)

As the name suggests, a personal area network is intended for personal use within a range of a few ten meters. Mainly, the technologies used for creating personal area networks are wireless. A notable example of WPAN is the Bluetooth technology, mostly found on portable devices like smartphones, laptops, tablets, wearable, etc. Other PAN technologies are Zigbee, Wireless USB, etc.

Campus Area Network (CAN)

A network infrastructure covering the school, university, or a corporate premises can be dubbed as campus area network. It can comprise of several LANs, a central firewall, and connected to the internet using a leased line or any other means.

Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)

The area covered by a MAN is quite larger in comparison to a LAN and CAN. In fact, a MAN can be used to link several LANs spread across a city or a metro area. A wired backhaul spread across a city is used to powers a metropolitan area network in that place. You might have known about various city-wide WiFi networks in different parts of the world.

Wide Area Network (WAN)

We can think of a WAN as the superset of all the small networks we find in our homes, offices, cities, states, and countries. The router or modem placed at your home is a device used to connect to the WAN. The internet is also a type WAN that spans across the entire earth.

Various technologies like ADSL, 4G LTE, Fiber optic, cable, etc. are used to connect to the internet. However, these technologies mostly confine to a country at max. Cables are laid across countries and continents to establish global connectivity.

Storage Area Network (SAN)

Generally, it is used to connect external storage devices to servers but make them believe that the storage is attached directly. The technology used to accomplish this is known as Fiber Channel.

Body Area Network (BAN)

You can create a body area network by using wearable devices like smartwatches, fitness bands, biometric RFID implants, and medical devices placed inside the body like pacemakers. Wireless BAN is the primary form used to created such networks. It is defined as per the IEEE 802.15.6 standard which describes a short-range, extremely low power wireless communication within or in a vicinity of the human body.

Wireless BAN can work together with PAN technologies. For instance, a Bluetooth-connected smartphone can be used to sync data from wearables and various sensors present in the body.

Near-me Network (NAN)

Although it sounds totally unfamiliar, you use Near-me network almost every day. Remember chatting with your friends on Facebook while all of you were sitting in the same room. You were part of a NAN, even though you might be on the networks of different carriers.

A message from your device would traverse all the way to Facebook servers over the internet come to your friend’s device sitting right next to you. In a logical way, both the device are on some sort of network. Basically, the criteria for the devices is to lie in proximity. They don’t need to be connected to the same network. For instance, they can be connected via WiFi, cellular, etc.

Virtual Private Network (VPN)

VPN is a type of computer network which doesn’t have physical existence. The devices that are part of a VPN could be present anywhere on the earth, connected to each other over the internet. VPNs are used by corporate to interconnect their offices located in different places and give their remote employees access to company’s resources. It has phased out another type of network known as Enterprise Private Network, a physical network created by organizations to link their office locations.

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