Entry-Level and Help Desk Positions

Transcription

1 Entry-Level and Help Desk Positions Have you ever been responsible for maintaining a network setting? What was the base size, and expectations? Describe your IT trouble shooting procedure? What programs have you used to log and date calls? Describe you experience in: firewalls, spy ware detection and virus ware implementation. Describe your knowledge in: PC hardware and operating systems. How would you handle the I can t log in call? First I would ask the caller to verify that he has the correct user name and domain. Then I would ask the caller to check if the caps lock key was enabled. If that doesn t resolve the issue I would continue by asking the caller to check the physical connections such as Ethernet. The importance of this question is to make sure the candidate covers the basics and doesn t jump to conclusions without first troubleshooting the basics. Describe how a (substitute any technology here such as WEP, LAN, etc.) works? WEP is a means of securing access to a wireless network and is usually established by a network administrator. WEP keys include a series of hexadecimal digits the keys must match between devices in order for them to communicate. Most applicants think this is a technical proficiency question; however, it s really a question aimed at evaluating communication skills. While candidates should be familiar with most popular acronyms they may ask you to explain first, which is fine, as long as they can articulate the answer. In your professional career, what was the most difficult thing you had to do? Working weekends. (Bad answer!!!) The answer could focus on a specific situation such as making a decision to leave a job. It may also describe a specific IT help desk incident such as challenging conventional wisdom to come up with what turned out to be the right solution based on thorough research of the problem. In any case you re looking for how the candidate adapted to change. What kinds of people do you currently work with on the IT help desk? I work on the incident management team, and we often collaborate with problem managers and operations teams. Here you re looking for answers that reveal how well a candidate works with others. Does the candidate s answer focus on specific roles or does it mention personality or behavioral characteristics. Does the

2 candidate speak in terms of teamwork such as our team includes... or I work with a team of... What do you do to stay current on IT help desk good practices? I subscribe to SupportWorld Magazine and am a member of HDI. The answer should go beyond attending whatever courses the company provides. You re looking for a self-starter who seeks information. The candidate should subscribe to industry journals or seek training and certification courses outside of the company s onthe-job training program. Tell me about a situation when the caller didn t understand what you were explaining. What did you do? I rephrased the question to see if the misunderstanding was my own miscommunication. When that didn t work, I asked the caller a series of questions, paraphrasing the caller s answers to make sure that I thoroughly understood. The key here is to ascertain the candidate s communications and customer service capability. Does the candidate really try to see the caller s perspective? Is the candidate flexible and/or creative in finding ways to articulate the action? Tell me about an issue that you couldn t initially resolve. What did you do? I was working with an irate customer who grew impatient with my questions. So although I knew I would eventually be able to help the caller, I asked the caller if he would prefer that another associate handle the incident. In this question, you re really looking for a candidate who shows ingenuity and customer focus. Did the candidate leverage available tools such as the knowledge base or Performance Management Database (PMDB)? In the answer above, the candidate put the customer first by giving the caller an option that perhaps would uncover an underlying issue of the caller simply wanted to talk to someone else. The next step would be for the interviewer to ask why the caller grew impatient. Tell me how you have dealt with a hostile caller. What was the outcome? This help desk interview question requires you to show how you can handle negative and stressful situations. Your answer should show a patient and positive attitude when challenging situations occur and that you do not allow your personal ego to get in the way of helping the caller. Describe the coping techniques you use to keep calm under stress. Technical proficiency is not enough to determine a good IT help desk candidate. A promising candidate must possess effective problem solving skills, the ability to prioritize and adapt to changing priorities, customer focus and above all, excellent communication skills

3 These questions are mostly for Help Desk positions but I wouldn t be surprised if an entry-level candidate was asked any one of these questions. If you don t know the answer, find it, memorize it and then practice explaining it in your own words. 3. What is Active Directory?. To create a new user account Using the Windows interface Using a command line Using a command line Open Command Prompt. Type: dsadd useruserdn [-samidsamname] -pwd {Password *} Preface: As you know, if you try to add AD users using lusrmgr.msc you will receive the following error: And since I cover creating a local user (lusr) I thought it would only be right to cover creating an Active Directory user. Method: Click Start, highlight "Administrative Tools" and select "Active Directory Users and Computers"

4 Now, expand your domain name on the left side, and go to the bottom where it says "Users". Once you click on that, you will see all of the automatically created users, you will also see all of the users you made before you ran dcpromo - that's because they all stay through the promotion to DC. Anyway, to add a user, you can either right click the "Users" folder on the left side, or the blank area on the right side, and highlight "New" then click "User"

5 In the next dialog we can set the user's First name, Last name and various other pieces of information, including their log-on name, and domain to which we want to add them

6 After clicking "Next" you are presented with the password-settings screen. You can set the user's password and then have them change it on their first log-on by selecting "User must change password at next logon". But in this tutorial, I will set it as their password, and not allow them to ever change it without asking me (the administrator) to change it for them

7 In the next dialog, we get a summary of the user to be created. Click "Finish" and the user has been created --- How to install Window active directory. Active Directory is a directory. It is a directory in both the common use of the term like a white pages (you can add in a person s first name, last name, phone number, address, address, etc) and a directory of information for use by applications and services (such as Microsoft Exchange for ). AD is functionally a place to store information about people, things (computers, printers, etc), applications, domains, services, security access permissions, and more. Applications and services then use the directory to perform a function. For example, Microsoft Windows uses Active Directory information to allow a user to login to their computer and provide access to the security rights assigned in Active Directory. Windows is accessing the directory and then providing rights based on what it finds. If a user account is disabled in Active Directory, the directory itself is just setting a flag which Windows uses to disallow a user from logging in.. Active Directory is based loosely on LDAP Lightweight Directory Access Protocol At the top of the Active Directory structure is a forest. A forest holds all of the objects, organizational units, domains, and attributes in its hierarchy. Under a forest are one or more trees which hold domains, OUs, objects, and attributes.

8 Creating Organizational Units As we discussed earlier, Organizational Units provide a mechanism to design a hierarchical structure within your Active Directory

9 environment. Once you have designed your AD structure, you are ready to create the OUs in the environment. 1. Click Start > Administrative Tools > Active Directory Users and Computers. Management Utilities There are several management utilities you use to manage the Active Directory environment. As you saw after installation, you have these utilities (which are MMC snap-ins): Active Directory Domains and Trusts: Manage domains and trusts between domains using this tool. Active Directory Sites and Services: Setup and manage sites (physical networks). Active Directory Users and Computers: Create and manage users, computers, other objects, OUs. AFTER INSTALLATION : Click on Start and click Administrative Tools. You should have these tools installed: VM Ware experience : see Jeremy CCNA for REAL World switch video. 4. What is TCP/IP and what does it stand for? Transmission control protocol, is a process for sending information from one device to another 5. What is a default gateway? it is the device through which a packet leaves in order to connect to internet 6. What does DHCP stand for? - DHCP - the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol - allows network devices to automatically obtain a valid IP address from a server 12. A user is complaining of delays when using the network. What would you do? Network Administrator Positions 17. How do you distinguish a DNS problem from a network problem? Most public DNS servers today are run by larger ISPs and commercial companies but private DNS servers can also be useful for private home This step-by-step article describes how to install and configure DNS on your Windows Server 2003 computer. Before You Start Before you start to configure your DNS, you must gather some basic information. Internic must approve some of this information for use on the Internet, but if you are configuring this server for internal use only, you can decide what names and IP addresses to use.

10 You must have the following information: Your domain name (approved by Internic). The IP address and host name of each server that you want to provide name resolution for. Note: The servers may be your mail servers, public access servers, FTP servers, WWW servers, and others. Before you configure your computer as a DNS, verify that the following conditions are true: Your operating system is configured correctly. In the Windows Server 2003 family, the DNS service depends on the correct configuration of the operating system and its services, such as TCP/IP. If you have a new installation of a Windows Server 2003 operating system, then you can use the default service settings. You do not have to take additional action. You have allocated all the available disk space. All the existing disk volumes use the NTFS file system. FAT32 volumes are not secure, and they do not support file and folder compression, disk quotas, file encryption, or individual file permissions Install DNS Open Windows Components Wizard. To do so, use the following steps: Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Add or Remove Programs. Click Add/Remove Windows Components. In Components, select the Networking Services check box, and then click Details. InSubcomponents of Networking Services, select the Domain Name System (DNS) check box, click OK, and then click Next. If you are prompted, in Copy files from, type the full path of the distribution files, and then click OK. Configure DNS Start the Configure Your Server Wizard. To do so, click Start, point to All Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Configure Your Server Wizard. On the Server Role page, click DNS server, and then click Next. On the Summary of Selections page, view and confirm the options that you have selected. The following items should appear on this page: Install DNS Run the Configure a DNS Wizard to configure DNS If the Summary of Selections page lists these two items, click Next. If the Summary of Selections page does not list these two items, click Back to return to the Server Role page, click DNS, and then click Next. When the Configure Your Server Wizard installs the DNS service, it first determines whether the IP address for this server is static or is configured automatically. If your server is currently configured to

11 obtain its IP address automatically, the Configuring Components page of the Windows Components Wizard prompts you to configure this server with a static IP address. To do so: In the Local Area Connection Properties dialog box, click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and then click Properties. In the Internet Protocols (TCP/IP) Properties dialog box, click Use the following IP address, and then type the static IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway for this server. In Preferred DNS, type the IP address of this server. In Alternate DNS, type the IP address of another internal DNS server, or leave this box blank. When you finish setting up the static addresses for your DNS, click OK, and then click Close. After you click Close, the Configure a DNS Server Wizard starts. In the wizard, follow these steps: On the Select Configuration Action page, select the Create a forward lookup zone check box, and then click Next. To specify that this DNS hosts a DNS zone that contains DNS resource records for your network resources, on the Primary Server Location page, click This server maintains the zone, and then click Next. On the Zone Name page, in Zone name, specify the name of the DNS zone for your network, and then click Next. The name of the zone is the same as the name of the DNS domain for your small organization or branch office. On the Dynamic Update page, click Allow both nonsecure and secure dynamic updates, and then click Next. This makes sure that the DNS resource records for the resources in your network update automatically. On the Forwarders page, click Yes, it should forward queries to DNS servers with the following IP addresses, and then click Next. When you select this configuration, you forward all DNS queries for DNS names outside your network to a DNS at either your ISP or central office. Type one or more IP addresses that either your ISP or central office DNS servers use. On the Completing the Configure a DNS Wizard page of the Configure a DNS Wizard, you can click Back to change any of the settings. To apply your selections, click Finish. After you finish the Configure a DNS Wizard, the Configure Your Server Wizard displays the This Server is Now a DNS Server page if you are able to ping to a router or switch connected to DNS server but not able to ping DNS server..this is surely a problem with DNS...else its problem in the network. There is no central DNS that is used by everyone. That would be physically impossible. Most ISPs run their own DNS servers for their customers. That is why it can take a few days to register a domain

12 name... you register it with one company, and their DNS server then passes the information on to the millions of other DNS servers all over the world.1) Your computer asks your ISP's DNS server for the address corresponding to ' 2) Your ISP's DNS server checks its cache to see if it knows that address. (It's boring if we assume it already knows it, so let's assume it doesn't.) 3) The ISP's DNS server asks a root nameserver the address for 4) The root nameserver has no idea (it's not its job to hold yahoo's internal details). But it does know the nameservers for com. So it says "I don't know, but I do know the nameservers for com'. 5) Your ISP's nameserver contacts one of the nameservers for com and asks it for 6) The nameservers for com, of course, don't know. It's not their job to hold yahoo's internal details either. But they do know the nameservers for yahoo.com, so they report these to your ISP's name server. 7) Your ISP's nameserver contacts one of the nameservers for yahoo.com and asks it for address. 8) Since it *is* their job to hold this detail, they report it to your ISP's nameserver. 9) Your ISP's nameserver stores these results to save work on subsequent queries and returns the result to your browser. 10) Your browser now knows what address to use to reach What is the purpose of VRRP? Virtual backup router to increase efficiency and backup if something goes wrong. 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. 31. What is the subnet for a class C network? / 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?

13 35. What are the required components of Windows Server 2003 for installing Exchange 2003? Exchange Server s primary role is to store but it can also store calendars, contacts, schedules, etc To properly set up DNS, you need to define an MX (Mail exchange) record in DNS with the external IP address of the Exchange server on which you will be running the SMTP service. The DNS server with the MX record must be accessible to anyone who wishes to send you a message. For smaller organizations, DNS services are generally housed externally, so you will need to contact your ISP or other provider who hosts your DNS in order to make this change. Put cd, do next next Figure C This screen is used to select the type of installation desired. At the top level of every Exchange server environment is an organization that must be named. The default name of First Organization will work, but what makes more sense is the name of the company or part of the domain name. My Windows domain is

14 "slowe.com," so I will name my Exchange organization "slowe" (see Figure D). Figure D You should rename the organization to reflect your company or domain name. The next step asks whether or not you agree to be bound by Exchange s per seat licensing model. I recommend that you choose to agree if you wish to continue with the installation. You will then see a screen that provides an overview of the selections that were made in the wizard (see Figure E). Click Next to continue. Figure E

15 This screen provides an overview of the selections made in the wizard. At this point, the installer does its duty and installs Exchange, and shows you the progress (see Figure F). The installation takes quite some time as the Active Directory schema is updated before the Exchange components are installed. Figure F

16 This screen tracks the progress of the installation as schemas are updated and components are installed. Exchange Server 2003 is now installed and running. However, this is only the beginning of the setup process. Managing Exchange 2003 After Exchange is installed, you will notice that user accounts now have mailboxes associated with them in Active Directory Users and Computers, as shown in Figure G. Figure G

17 Mailboxes are now associated with user accounts. The new features In addition, a number of new features are available upon initial installation, including Outlook Web Access, which formerly required a separate installation. Wireless access capability is also available. Each of these new features can be enabled or disabled on a user-by-user basis (Figure H). Figure H

18 Use this screen to set up new features. In Figure H, you may notice that there are three new services available on the user profile Wireless Browse, User Initiated Synchronization, and Always Up-to-date Notifications. These are part of the new mobility features, which have undergone extensive improvements in this version of Exchange, and all of the various mobility services are installed by default when you install Exchange The Exchange System Manager Of course, there s a lot more to maintaining an Exchange server than just user administration. Exchange's management tool utility the Exchange System Manager (see Figure I) is located at Start All Programs Microsoft Exchange System Manager. Figure I

19 The Exchange System Manager is key to maintaining your Exchange server. Queue maintenance One area of consternation for Exchange administrators has been in the area of message queue maintenance. In previous versions of Exchange, the administration of the queues was buried within other settings and not convenient to access. In Exchange 2003, Microsoft recognized this as an area needing attention and created a Queues option (see Figure J) on the server branch in the System Manager. This option lists all of the message queues. Figure J

20 The Queues option helps admins with queue maintenance. Using Exchange: The client perspective There are a lot of ways in which you can handle the client side of Exchange, but the full Outlook client is still definitely the most robust and flexible option available. If your employees are based on the network with the Exchange server or are connected by a VPN or some other kind of high-speed connection, then I recommend using the full Outlook client, especially if the employees need to use the additional groupware features (e.g., tasks, contacts, and calendars) provided by Exchange. With Exchange 2003, Outlook clients can make a secure connection to the Exchange server from outside the firewall without the need for a VPN. If you want to make use of this functionality, the clients must be running Windows XP SP1 with Outlook 11 and the Exchange server must be running Windows 2003 and not Windows 2000 SP3. Perhaps one of the most noticeable improvements to Exchange 2003 is with the Outlook Web Access component, which has undergone a major overhaul. Both from an interface and a performance perspective, this is a whole new OWA. From the beginning, it is definitely more responsive than prior versions of OWA, and it now sports an interface (see Figure K) very much like that of Outlook 11. Figure K

21 Outlook Web Access has undergone a major overhaul. 36. What must be done to an AD forest before Exchange can be deployed? Setup.exe /forestprep 37. What Exchange process is responsible for communication with AD? DSACCESS 38. What connector type would you use to connect to the Internet, and what are the two methods of sending mail over that connector? 55. What is a site? 56. Which is the command used to remove active directory from a domain controller? Explain - Strong hands on experience in Windows 2003/2008 server administration with Active directory, Failover Clustering implementation and administration, MS Exchange 2003/2007 and ISA server 2000/2006 administration, Exchange migration, MacAfee Secur administration, Bluecoat Proxy Server, SharePoint portal server installation & administration.