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Kara Goldin

chief hinter +Founder & CEO+Keynote speaker

Leadership is the art of persuasion. It means to influence others to be their best and to do more than they ever thought was possible in pursuit of a greater good. It has nothing to do with your title, nor anything to do with your authority or seniority.


You’re not a leader just because you have people reporting to you. And you don’t become a leader based on your annual salary. A true leader influences others around him or her to be their best possible self.


“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." - John Quincy Adams


Of course, the real question is—are you a leader or a follower?
Do you go above and beyond?


Followers do what their job description says. That’s it. No matter how good they may be at those jobs, it rarely occurs to them to go beyond their everyday tasks.


Leaders, on the other hand, see their job descriptions as the bare minimum. To them, it’s the cost of entry. The description becomes just the foundation upon which they build greatness. It’s never about the description, it’s about the impact they can have.
Are you confident?


Followers see the talents and accomplishments of other people as a threat. They’ll even put others down or make constant excuses for themselves.


Leaders see those same talents and accomplishments as an asset and a resource. They want to make things better, and they’ll take help anywhere they can find it to move the whole team forward. They’re team players and aren’t afraid to admit when they need other people to be strong if they’re weak.
Are you optimistic?


Followers live in a walled garden. There’s a box they’re put in, and they think and act solely within that box.


On the other hand, leaders see the possibilities of what all can be done. When things go wrong, leaders don’t dwell on the past or how bad things are. They’re too busy trying to make things better. They act swiftly to solve the problem and move forward. No grudges and no issues.
Are you open to change?


Followers are content to stick with the safety of the status quo. They see change as frightening and troublesome. Most even oppose any thought of change.


Leaders, however, are maximizers who see opportunity in change. Because leaders want constant improvement, they’re never afraid to ask, “What’s next?” or “How can this be better?”
Are you decisive?


Followers often hesitate to act, out of fear that they’ll do the wrong thing.


Leaders aren’t afraid to make a call, even when they’re not sure if it’s the right one. They’d rather make a decision and be wrong than suffer from the paralysis of indecision and being stagnant.


“Leaders would rather make a decision and be wrong than suffer from the paralysis of indecision.”
Are you accountable?


When mistakes are made, followers are quick to blame circumstances and other people or create excuses as to why it happened.


Leaders, on the other hand, are quick to accept accountability for their actions. They don’t worry that admitting fault might make them look bad, because they know that shifting the blame would just make them look worse. They also own up to their truths and move on with it.
Are you humble?


Followers are always chasing glory. Always wanting the credit. Always making sure their work gets noticed.


Leaders are humble. They don’t allow their wins to make them big-headed or think they are better than any of their colleagues. As such, they don’t hesitate to jump in and do the dirty work when needed, and they won’t ask anyone to do anything they wouldn’t be willing to do themselves.
Are you passionate?


Followers are trapped in the daily grind. They go to work and complete their tasks so that they can go home at the end of the day and resume their real lives.


Leaders love what they do and see their work as an important part of their life, not simply a way to pay the bills. Their job isn’t just what they do; it’s an important part of who they are.
Are you motivated from within?


Followers are only motivated by external factors: the next title, the next raise, the next gain in status.


Leaders are internally motivated. They don’t work for status or possessions. They are motivated to excel because it’s who they are. True leaders keep pushing forward even when there’s no carrot dangling in front of them.


“True leaders keep pushing forward even when there’s no carrot dangling in front of them."
Do you focus on titles?


Followers care a lot about titles, both their own and those of the people they work with. They’re very conscious of who outranks whom because they lack the skill and motivation to create leadership from within.


Leaders, on the other hand, focus on what each individual brings to the table, regardless of what’s printed on a business card. They understand the holistic value of the team.
Bringing It All Together


Leadership and followership are mindsets. They’re completely different ways of looking at the world. One is reactive, and the other is proactive. One is pessimistic; the other is optimistic. Where one sees a to-do list, the other sees possibilities.


So don’t wait for the title. Leadership isn’t something that anyone can give you—you have to earn it and claim it for yourself.


If you enjoyed this post, give it a like! If you REALLY liked it, then please share it with your followers, too!

Find me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to keep updated with my journey!

1. What was his/her position at the time he/she left the company? Can you describe the job duties and responsibilities?
_ His position is Integrated Technology Delivery at IBM company: work as a IT supporter of company, be responsible for the solution construction, implementation and system integration.
2. Could you confirm starting and ending dates of his/her employment in that company?
_ Starting date: 03/2008
_ Ending date: 20/08/2011
3. How is your comment/opinion on her personality & attitude (thai do, quan diem)
_ Very good
4. Did you evaluate his/her job performance? What would you say were his/her strong points and what were the areas that needed improvement?
_ His job performance is very good, his strong points such as: a lot of experiences of IT area. He need to improve about discussing skill, planning skill and English skill
5. Did he/she get along well with managers, supervisor, and co-workers at all levels of the organization?
_ Yes, he get along well with managers, supervisor, and co-workers at all levels of the organization
6. What was your understanding of the reason he/she left the company?
_ He does’t have a lot of opportunities at company.
7. What other titles did he/she have during the time he/she was employed by your company? Was he/she ever promoted, transferred, demoted? If yes, what were the other positions?
_ No

8. Did he/she supervise other employees? If yes, how effective was he/she in this supervisory role? How would the employees he/she supervised describe his/her management style?
_ No
9. What would you say was his/her biggest accomplishment (thanh tich) during the time he/she worked for your company?
_ He works good on his responsibilities
10. Was there any disciplinary action taken on him? If had, could you pls explain that?
_ No
12. How would you rate his/her attendance? Did he/she come to work late or miss work often? Did this affect his/her job performance?
_ About 50%
13. Could you confirm his/her starting and ending salary?
_ His starting salary: 800
_ His ending salary: 1200
14. Anything else for more information, the Interviewer can suggest to get : No

Welcome to the Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

http://csrc.nist.gov/index.html

As one of the major research components of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) has the broad mission to promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology through research and development in information technology, mathematics, and statistics.

Information technology is the acknowledged engine for national and regional economic growth. The push for its adoption in all sectors is overwhelming. The insertion of advanced technologies at national or global scales often disrupts established social processes and interacts with other complex societal systems in unpredictable ways. ITL researchers have developed detailed protocols and operational standards that mitigate anticipated discrepancies in their operation, and established assessment criteria and test data sets for validation of industrial products. Within NIST's traditional role as the overseer of the National Measurement System, ITL is addressing the hard problems in IT Measurement Research. ITL formulates metrics, tests, and tools for a wide range of subjects such as information complexity and comprehension, high confidence software, space-time coordinated mobile and wireless computing, as well as, issues of information quality, integrity, and usability.

ITL has been charged to lead the nation in utilizing existing and emerging IT to meet national priorities that reflect the country's broad based social, economic, and political values and goals. Its extended charge continues under the Federal Information Security Management Act to develop cybersecurity standards, guidelines, and associated methods and techniques. Charged under other legislation, such as the USA PATRIOT Act and the Help America Vote Act, ITL is addressing the major challenges faced by the nation in the areas of homeland security and electronic voting.

ITL seeks to scale new frontiers in Information Measurement Science to enable international social, economic, and political advancement by collaborating and partnering with industry, academia, and other NIST laboratories to advance science and engineering, setting standards and requirements for unique scientific instrumentation and experiments, data, and communications. In the past decade, advances in computing and communications technologies have unleashed the power of the Internet and forever changed the landscape for commerce and government. ITL has played an important role in facilitating this transformation and is engaged in preparing the nation for the next phase of the Information Revolution.

Please take a few minutes to visit our website at www.nist.gov/itl to learn more about how ITL is enabling the future by innovating the IT measurement and standards infrastructure.

http://csrc.nist.gov/index.html

We’ve all heard about the wonders of Load Balancing, and how it can improve the performance of a site(s) or service. In this post we’ll take a look a few things you should know about before going ahead and setting it up for your site.

http://bobcares.com/blog/

Mirroring your data

Since the site data is going to be served by multiple servers, it is important to make sure that the site data served by all is the same. Depending on the way the sites are designed, this could be an easy or a complicated process. If you are serving simple static sites in which the site code itself does not change much, then you can simply copy the data to all servers and leave them there. However, if your site involves constant updates to the code itself, then you’ll have to find a way to propagate these changes to other servers. You can implement some form of file sharing, or setup a program to sync data on all servers.

Please note, the changes I am referring to here are changes to the code of the website files itself. If the changes are made to a database, then it should just be enough to make that database accessible from all servers. However, in this case, the database becomes a single point of failure. If the database crashes, non of the servers will be able to serve the site. To avoid this, you’ll have to load balance the MySQL service, or setup Master-Slave or Master-Master replication. This will make sure that there are more than one instances of the database available.

Session Persistence

Another important issue that one must not forget to address is the issue of sessions. Each time a customer visits a load balanced site, various information pertaining to that session will usually be stored on the server handling that request. If as part of the load balancing, the customer is switched to another server half-way during a session, the session details will be lost. There are various means by which this can be overcome. Some hardware load balancers ensure that all requests from a particular customer are always sent to the same server. The disadvantage is that true load balancing does not occur as customers are sent to the server they were first connected to, and not the server with least load. This can be overcome by not storing session data on the server. That can be done by either storing session data in a central database, or storing it in the clients browser. If using a database, the problem mentioned above could still occur. Session data stored in a clients browser is usually in the form of cookies. Just make sure they are properly encrypted, in case sensitive information needs to be stored.

Hardware or Software Load Balancers

Depending on your budget you can choose between Hardware or Software Load Balancers. If you are availing of the Load Balancer service from your DC, inquire as to what they are using. Hardware Load Balancers are more robust and are more efficient at Load Balancing, but are more expensive. There are many Software Load Balancers available today that do a pretty good job, but they are still limited to the server hardware on which they are installed. If you plan to go for a Software Load Balancer, make sure you setup a fail-over. You could have two Load Balancing servers handling all requests and passing them to the back-end server. If one fails all requests should be sent to the other. Some Software load balancers come with this feature and will monitor the other load balancer. If one fails that other takes up all the incoming requests.

Keep these points in mind when you are thinking about setting up a Load Balancer for your servers. In most cases they fit right it and you shouldn’t have to worry. But instead of setting them up and then correcting the problems, it would be best to plan ahead. Most negative reviews for load balancer setups are because of people don’t analyze their current setup before going ahead.

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About the Author:

Hamish works as a Senior Software Engineer in Bobcares. He joined Bobcares in July 2004, and is an expert in Control panels and Operating systems used in the Web Hosting industry. He is highly passionate about Linux and is a great evangelist of open-source. When he is not on his xbox, he is an avid movie lover and critic.

1. Tell me about yourself.
Since this is often the opening question in an interview, be extra careful that you don’t run off at the mouth. Keep your answer to a minute or two at most. Cover four topics: early years, education, work history, and recent career experience. Emphasize (highlight) this last subject. Remember that this is likely to be a warm-up question. Don’t waste your best points on it.

2. What do you know about our organization?
You should be able to discuss products or services, revenues (thu nhap), reputation (danh tieng), image, goals, problems, management style, people, history and philosophy. But don’t act as if you know everything about the place. Let your answer show that you have taken the time to do some research, but don’t overwhelm (lan ap, ap dao) the interviewer, and make it clear that you wish to learn more.
You might start your answer in this manner: “In my job search, I’ve investigated a number of companies.
Yours is one of the few that interests me, for these reasons…”
Give your answer a positive tone (giọng). Don’t say, “Well, everyone tells me that you’re in all sorts of trouble, and that’s why I’m here”, even if that is why you’re there.

3. Why do you want to work for us?
The deadliest answer you can give is “Because I like people.” What else would you like-animals?
Here, and throughout the interview, a good answer comes from having done your homework so that you can speak in terms of the company’s needs. You might say that your research has shown that the company is doing things you would like to be involved with (tham gia cung), and that it’s doing them in ways that greatly interest you. For example, if the organization is known for strong management, your answer should mention that fact and show that you would like to be a part of that team. If the company places a great deal of emphasis on research and development, emphasize the fact that you want to create new things and that you know this is a place in which such activity is encouraged. If the organization stresses financial controls, your answer should mention a reverence (kính trọng) for numbers.
If you feel that you have to concoct (bịa ra) an answer to this question – if, for example, the company stresses research, and you feel that you should mention it even though it really doesn’t interest you- then you probably should not be taking that interview, because you probably shouldn’t be considering a job with that organization.
Your homework should include learning enough about the company to avoid approaching places where you wouldn’t be able -or wouldn’t want- to function. Since most of us are poor liars, it’s difficult to con anyone in an interview. But even if you should succeed at it, your prize is a job you don’t really want.

4. What can you do for us that someone else can’t?
Here you have every right, and perhaps an obligation (trach nhiem), to toot your own horn and be a bit egotistical. Talk about your record of getting things done, and mention specifics from your resume or list of career accomplishments (thanh qua). Say that your skills and interests, combined with this history of getting results, make you valuable. Mention your ability to set priorities, identify problems, and use your experience and energy to solve them.

5. What do you find most attractive about this position? What seems least attractive about it?
List three or four attractive factors of the job, and mention a single, minor, unattractive item.

6. Why should we hire you?
Create your answer by thinking in terms of your ability, your experience, and your energy. (See question 4.)

7. What do you look for in a job?
Keep your answer oriented to opportunities at this organization. Talk about your desire to perform and be recognized for your contributions. Make your answer oriented toward opportunity rather than personal security.

8. Please give me your definition of [the position for which you are being interviewed].
Keep your answer brief and task oriented. Think in terms of responsibilities and accountability. Make sure that you really do understand what the position involves before you attempt an answer. If you are not certain, ask the interviewer; he / she may answer the question for you.

9. How long would it take you to make a meaningful contribution to our firm?
Be realistic. Say that, while you would expect to meet pressing demands and pull your own weight from the first day, it might take six months to a year before you could expect to know the organization and its needs well enough to make a major contribution.

10. How long would you stay with us?
Say that you are interested in a career with the organization, but admit that you would have to continue to feel challenged to remain with any organization. Think in terms of, “As long as we both feel achievement-oriented.”

11. Your resume suggests that you may be over-qualified or too experienced for this position. What’s Your opinion?
Emphasize your interest in establishing a long-term association with the organization, and say that you assume that if you perform well in his job, new opportunities will open up for you. Mention that a strong company needs a strong staff. Observe that experienced executives are always at a premium. Suggest that since you are so well qualified, the employer will get a fast return on his investment. Say that a growing, energetic company can never have too much talent.

12. What is your management style?
You should know enough about the company’s style to know that your management style will complement it. Possible styles include: task oriented (I’ll enjoy problem-solving identifying what’s wrong, choosing a solution and implementing it”), results-oriented (“Every management decision I make is determined by how it will affect the bottom line”), or even paternalistic (“I’m committed to taking care of my subordinates and pointing them in the right direction”).
A participative style is currently quite popular: an open-door method of managing in which you get things done by motivating people and delegating responsibility.
As you consider this question, think about whether your style will let you work happily and effectively within the organization.

13. Are you a good manager? Can you give me some examples? Do you feel that you have top managerial potential?
Keep your answer achievement and ask-oriented. Rely on example to buttress your argument. Stress your experience and your energy.

14. What do you look for when You hire people?
Think in terms of skills, initiative, and the adaptability to be able to work comfortably and effectively with others. Mention that you like to hire people who appear capable of moving up in the organization.

15. Have you ever had to fire people? What were the reasons, and how did you handle the situation?
Admit that the situation was not easy, but say that it worked out well, both for the company and, you think, for the individ
ual. Show that, like anyone else, you don’t enjoy unpleasant tasks but that you can resolve them efficiently and -in the case of firing someone- humanely.

16. What do you think is the most difficult thing about being a manager or executive?
Mention planning, execution, and cost-control. The most difficult task is to motivate and manage employees to get something planned and completed on time and within the budget.

17. What important trends do you see in our industry?
Be prepared with two or three trends that illustrate how well you understand your industry. You might consider technological challenges or opportunities, economic conditions, or even regulatory demands as you collect your thoughts about the direction in which your business is heading.

18. Why are you leaving (did you leave) your present (last) job?
Be brief, to the point, and as honest as you can without hurting yourself. Refer back to the planning phase of your job search. where you considered this topic as you set your reference statements. If you were laid off in an across-the-board cutback, say so; otherwise, indicate that the move was your decision, the result of your action. Do not mention personality conflicts.
The interviewer may spend some time probing you on this issue, particularly if it is clear that you were terminated. The “We agreed to disagree” approach may be useful. Remember hat your references are likely to be checked, so don’t concoct a story for an interview.

19. How do you feel about leaving all your benefits to find a new job?
Mention that you are concerned, naturally, but not panicked. You are willing to accept some risk to find the right job for yourself. Don’t suggest that security might interest you more than getting the job done successfully.

20. In your current (last) position, what features do (did) you like the most? The least?
Be careful and be positive. Describe more features that you liked than disliked. Don’t cite personality problems. If you make your last job sound terrible, an interviewer may wonder why you remained there until now.

21. What do you think of your boss?
Be as positive as you can. A potential boss is likely to wonder if you might talk about him in similar terms at some point in the future.

22. Why aren’t you earning more at your age?
Say that this is one reason that you are conducting this job search. Don’t be defensive.

23. What do you feel this position should pay?
Salary is a delicate topic. We suggest that you defer tying yourself to a precise figure for as long as you can do so politely. You might say, “I understand that the range for this job is between Rs.______ and Rs.______. That seems appropriate for the job as I understand it.” You might answer the question with a question: “Perhaps you can help me on this one. Can you tell me if there is a range for similar jobs in the organization?”
If you are asked the question during an initial screening interview, you might say that you feel you need to know more about the position’s responsibilities before you could give a meaningful answer to that question. Here, too, either by asking the interviewer or search executive (if one is involved), or in research done as part of your homework, you can try to find out whether there is a salary grade attached to the job. If there is, and if you can live with it, say that the range seems right to you.
If the interviewer continues to probe, you might say, “You know that I’m making Rs.______ now. Like everyone else, I’d like to improve on that figure, but my major interest is with the job itself.” Remember that the act of taking a new job does not, in and of itself, make you worth more money.
If a search firm is involved, your contact there may be able to help with the salary question. He or she may even be able to run interference for you. If, for instance, he tells you what the position pays, and you tell him that you are earning that amount now and would like to do a bit better, he might go back to the employer and propose that you be offered an additional 10%.
If no price range is attached to the job, and the interviewer continues to press the subject, then you will have to respond with a number. You cannot leave the impression that it does not really matter, that you’ll accept whatever is offered. If you’ve been making Rs. 3,00,000a year, you can’t say that a Rs. 2,00,000 figure would be fine without sounding as if you’ve given up on yourself. (If you are making a radical career change, however, this kind of disparity may be more reasonable and understandable.)
Don’t sell yourself short, but continue to stress the fact that the job itself is the most important thing in your mind. The interviewer may be trying to determine just how much you want the job. Don’t leave the impression that money is the only thing that is important to you. Link questions of salary to the work itself.
But whenever possible, say as little as you can about salary until you reach the “final” stage of the interview process. At that point, you know that the company is genuinely interested in you and that it is likely to be flexible in salary negotiations.

24. What are your long-range goals?
Refer back to the planning phase of your job search. Don’t answer, “I want the job you’ve advertised.” Relate your goals to the company you are interviewing: ‘in a firm like yours, I would like to…”

25. How successful do you you’ve been so far?
Say that, all-in-all; you’re happy with the way your career has progressed so far. Given the normal ups and downs of life, you feel that you’ve done quite well and have no complaints.
Present a positive and confident picture of yourself, but don’t overstate your case. An answer like, “Everything’s wonderful! I can’t think of a time when things were going better! I’m overjoyed!” is likely to make an interviewer wonder whether you’re trying to fool him / her or yourself. The most convincing confidence is usually quiet confidence.

Interview Questions for System Administrator / Network Administrator

General Questions

Q. Please describe the technical environment of your current (or most recent) position.

A. When describing the technical environment that you currently support, be sure to include the number of users you support, the number of IT staff, the technical infrastructure including servers, types of connections, desktop operating systems, your job duties, and your work schedule.
You should be prepared to talk about each of the positions you have listed on your résumé in this way. Also be prepared with a follow-up statement of your most significant accomplishment.

Q. How do you keep your technical knowledge and skills current?
A. Keeping your skills current demonstrates initiative and a desire to perform at high standards. Be prepared with a list of resources including professional groups.

Q. Please describe your greatest technical challenge and how you overcame it.
A. Ah, an opportunity for a story. Great examples to draw on: how you taught yourself a new operating system, the installation of a complex system, integration of multiple systems, building of an e-commerce web site.

Q. What are some of the tools you use to make your job easier?
A. All network administrators have a bag of tricks. You should share some of your trade secrets as a way of demonstrating that you can be efficient in your job as a network administrator. These can include ghosting tools, troubleshooting tools, and documentation tools.

Q. How do you document your network?
A. One of the toughest parts of network administration is keeping track of an always changing environment. You must have basic documentation for user administration, file system planning, and address planning. Share your documentation with your interviewer.

Planning Questions

The interviewer will be interested in your network planning methodologies. The following questions provide insight into these skills.

Q. What are some of the things you need to take into consideration when planning an upgrade from one network operating system to another?
A. This is the mother of all planning activities because it will affect so many resources. The key here is testing and backups and that’s what the interviewer wants to hear. Other considerations include:

• Network documentation
• Ensuring that your hardware meets the minimum hardware requirements for the new operating system
• Creating a test network for testing the compatibility of applications, hardware, and drivers with the new operating system
• Gathering all updated drivers and patches/service packs required for upgrade compatibility
• Identifying workflow issues before converting
• Separating workstation conversions from server conversions
• Ensuring you have backups of data and the servers so that you can revert back
• Network addressing scheme

Q. Describe the backup/restore policy you use most.
A. First of all, the interviewer wants to ensure that you do backups! There are different methods, but the most common backup strategy used is to perform incremental backups Monday through Thursday and a normal backup on Friday. An alternative backup strategy is to perform differential backups Monday through Thursday and a normal backup on Friday.

Q. How would you ensure that your servers are secure?
A. Security always begins at the physical level—it makes little difference that you’ve provided all the security the operating system and software can provide if someone can walk away with the box or the portable hard drive. The next step is to ensure you have the latest service packs for the operating system and applications running on the server.

Installation

Q. What steps do you go through as part of your server installation process?
A. The interviewer wants to know whether your typical work habits are to just jump in or whether you do some planning. You obviously want to ensure that your hardware meets the minimum requirements, that you have all the right drivers for the new operating system, and whether you need a ROM upgrade for your hardware. Depending on how many installations you’ve done, you may have a process that you like to follow. If you do, describe it to the interviewer.

Q. How do you determine which file system is best for your environment?
A. This question tests how well you plan for a variety of different environments. The key here is to take into consideration the file format support required for backward compatibility with other operating systems like NetWare or older versions of Windows NT. You’ll also want to make sure there’s enough disk space for drivers and files that must reside in the system partition, as well as space for a dump file if anything goes wrong.

Q. What’s the first thing you should do after installing the network operating system?
A. This is a test of your security skills. The first thing you should do is either change the password on the administrator account or change the name of the account itself.

Q. You just installed a service pack on the e-mail, SQL, print, and file servers. You rebooted all the servers, and now the service pack installation is complete. What’s the final step for the evening?
A. The interviewer wants to make sure that testing is an integral part of your routine whenever you install software or make updates to systems. You may also want to review the Event Viewer logs and look for any errors that have been registered. It’s a good idea to also examine the administrative interfaces for SQL and the e-mail server to satisfy yourself that no anomalies have appeared there.

Configuration

Ninety percent of your day is spent configuring network services, whether it’s installing applications, creating users, or adding printers.

Q. What methods are available for configuring a WINS server for use by various Microsoft computers?
A. This question demonstrates to the interviewer that you are familiar with the various methods for configuring routing using WINS. You can either configure the WINS server manually or by way of a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol Server.

Q. A user has left the company and you need to create a new user with the same rights and permissions. What are some of the ways to create the new user?
A. By asking you to describe multiple ways of getting the job done, the interviewer can assess your experience level with the operating system. Some of the correct answers to this question include the following:

• You could copy an existing user’s account to create a new account. However, the rights and permissions for the new, copied account will be based purely on its group memberships, not permissions g
  ranted strictly to the original account itself.
• Using Active Directory, you could use the CSVDE.exe program to create a new account with specific group memberships; however, this program is usually intended for bulk creation of accounts in your domain.
• You could create the new account from scratch, assigning group permissions or individual rights manually.

Q. What are some of the alternative ways for mapping a drive letter to a file server if you wish to connect to one of the server’s shared folders?
A. This question tests your experience by asking for alternate methods of getting the job done. In addition to mapped drives you can use a Universal Naming Convention path: \\servername\ sharename. You can also browse the Network Neighborhood.

Q. You shared a printer from your NT server. What could you do to ensure that the printer is easily accessible to your Windows 98 clients?
A. You may have to support older clients on your network. This question tests your experience with older technology. In this case, you should load the Windows 98 printer drivers on the share point.

Q. How large can I make a file allocation table partition using the NT operating system?
A. This question tests your familiarity with system capabilities and limitations. The maximum FAT partition size is 4 gigabytes.

Q. Is it necessary for an NT client computer to use the server’s name in that UNC path?
A. There are typically multiple ways of accomplishing the same task. Thank goodness, because you sometimes need them while troubleshooting. Using very basic questions, the interviewer can assess your real knowledge and experience with various operating systems. In this case, you can also use the server’s TCP/IP address.

Q. We are creating a web site on our NT server using Internet Information Server 4.0. We expect users to log on anonymously. How many client access licenses must we purchase to allow up to 100 simultaneous connections to our web site?
A. This is a trick question to see if you understand the concept of user licensed connections. Anonymous logons on IIS 4.0 do not require client access licenses.

Troubleshooting

Q. A user contacts you and reports that their Windows 2000 workstation is having trouble connecting to the Web. You run the ipconfig command on the computer and you find that the computer is not referencing the correct primary DNS server. What must you do to remedy this?

A. Using this question, the interviewer can assess your routing troubleshooting skills, an essential part of network administration. In this case, you would want to check the primary DNS setting in the IP configuration of the computer. If ipconfig shows a setting for the default DNS server other than what you want, this means the computer’s IP configuration is incorrect. Therefore, the Windows 2000 client computer needs to be reconfigured.

Q. Users are complaining of slow performance when they run server-based applications.
The server has the following specifications:
> Compaq 1600
> 800 MHz Pentium 3
> 256MB of RAM
> 18GB EIDE hard drive
> 10/100 NIC
> Connected to a Cisco switch
The performance monitor shows the following:
Memory Pages/Sec: 5
Physical Disk % Disk Time: 20 percent
Processor % Processor Time: 90 percent
What is the best way to improve the system’s performance?

A. This question tests your knowledge of server optimization. In this case, the recommendation should be to upgrade the processor. Microsoft recommends you do so if the CPU utilization averages over 70 to 75 percent.

Q. A user is having trouble sharing a folder from their NT Workstation. What is a likely cause?
A. The interviewer is testing your basic knowledge of rights. In order to share a folder you must be logged on as an administrator, server operator (in a domain), or power user (in a workgroup).

Q. You’ve shared a folder and set the share permissions to “Everyone = Full Control.” However, none of the users can save information in the folder. What’s the likely cause?
A. This is another question that tests your knowledge of permissions. The likely cause is that someone has set the NTFS permissions in a more restrictive manner than the share permissions. Between those two categories of permissions, the more restrictive of the two always applies to users accessing the folder over the network.

Q. What is the most likely cause for the failure of a user to connect to an NT remote access server?
A. Supporting remote users may be a big part of your job. It’s important to understand the proper configuration and troubleshooting of the NT RAS. In this case, the user must be granted the RAS dial-in permission.

Q. A remote user in Montana, who is not technical and is scared to death of computers, calls for help. The user logged in to your network via the terminal server. You determine that the solution to the user’s problem requires an edit of a hidden read-only file, deleting a system file in the winnt\system32 folder, and creating a simple batch file on the user’s computer. What tools would you use to resolve this problem?
A. This question tests your ability for remote troubleshooting. An administrator can edit these files on the user’s computer by connecting to it over the network via the Computer Management console in Windows 2000. Using this console, you can access the administrative shares (C$, D$, and so on) that represent the partitions on the user’s computer. From there, you can edit or create any files necessary to repair the problem.

Windows NT Networking Questions

Windows NT is still the most popular operating system around. You should be comfortable with this environment to be able to respond to the following questions that an interviewer may ask you.

Q. Why is Windows Internet Name Server needed in a Windows NT domain?
A. An important part of network administration is setting up the server and clients so they can find one another. WINS is necessary to achieve NetBIOS name resolution. Your desktop clients can then log on to the domain, and the domain controllers can authenticate to one another.

Q. What is the normal replication interval between the primary domain controll
er and the backup domain controller?
A. The PDC waits five minutes after a change in the domain database before “pulsing,” or notifying, the BDCs.

Q. How can you synchronize a BDC immediately?
A. Within the server manager, select the BDC’s account, choose the Computer menu, and select Synchronize With Primary Domain Controller.

Q. Users change their passwords in the NT domain every 30 days. Our primary domain controller is in New York, but we have users in our California office. When a California user changes their password, will they be able to use the new password immediately, or must they wait for replication to occur to a backup domain controller in California?
A. You must have a firm grasp of replication. In this case, waiting for a replication will not be necessary. If a BDC doesn’t recognize a user’s password, it will automatically appeal to the PDC to establish its validity.

Q. I’ve created logon scripts for my users on the primary domain controller. I’ve correctly mapped them in the properties of my users’ accounts. Some run, some do not. What should I check next?
A. The scripts should be replicated to all of your backup domain controllers. The domain controller that validates the logon is the one that runs the script.

Q. Is it possible to create a domain account from an NT member server?
A. Yes. By using User Manager for Domains, you can create the account from the member server. The account will actually be created on the primary domain controller, however.

Q. Someone just dropped a safe on our primary domain controller. What should we do next?
A. You should promote one of your backup domain controllers to become the primary domain controller.

Q. After the promotion, what happens if we bring the old PDC back online?
A. When the old PDC gets back online, its Netlogon service will fail. You can resolve this through Server Manager by first demoting it to a backup domain controller and then promoting it to a primary domain controller.

Q. One of your users logs on to the domain from his NT Workstation. Due to a network failure the following day, he is unable to contact a domain controller when he tries to log on. Can the user log on with his domain account?
A. Yes. He will be able to log on with locally cached credentials.

Q. Someone deleted the account of one of my backup domain controllers in Server Manager. When the BDC boots up, it is unable to authenticate to the primary domain controller, and its Netlogon service fails. What can I do?
A. Either restore the account from a backup or reinstall the backup domain controller from scratch.

Q. How can I promote one of my member servers to become a backup domain controller?
A. You can’t. You must reinstall the entire operating system as a domain controller (either a backup or primary domain controller).

Q. Does it matter which of my domain controllers I upgrade to Windows 2000 first?
A. Yes. You must upgrade the primary domain controller to Windows 2000 before any of the backup domain controllers.

Q. What about the member servers and workstations? Must I upgrade them in any particular order?
A. No. member servers and workstations can be upgraded in any order.

Active Directory

In order to manage an Active Directory Services environment, you must be comfortable with planning, security and permissions, authentication, and synchronization. The following questions may be asked by the interviewer to assess your experience with performing these functions.

Q. What rights must your logged-in account have when creating a Windows 2000 forest?
A. You must understand rights and permissions thoroughly. In this instance, the account must have administrative rights on the Windows 2000 server used to create the new forest.

Q. What rights must your account have when adding a domain to an existing forest?
A. In this case, you must be a member of the Enterprise Administrators group.

Q. My account has the proper rights, but when I try to create a new domain I get an error message stating that the Domain Naming Master cannot be contacted. What does this mean?
A. An experienced network administrator will be able to readily troubleshoot for problems such as this one. This scenario can mean network connectivity issues or a failed Domain Naming Master, which is the domain controller for the forest root domain.

Q. Why is Domain Name System (DNS) so important to an Active Directory forest?
A. As a network administrator you must understand name resolution. DNS is critical to your forest because it possesses all of the service (SRV) records. These records indicate the TCP/IP address and port necessary to locate a specific service offered by a server.

Q. Does the DNS server have to be a Windows 2000 server?
A. This is a trick question. DNS is independent of Windows 2000 and so the answer is no. To support Active Directory, the DNS server must support two BIND (Berkeley Internet Name Domain) version standards: 4.9.6 (SRV records) and 8.1.2 (dynamic updates).

Q. What rights does a user need in order to create computer accounts in an Active Directory domain?
A. By default, a user only needs to be recognized as a member of the Authenticated Users group to add workstations to a domain. This permission is established in the Default Domain Controllers policy, and permits users to create up to ten accounts.

Q. Is it possible to have entirely separate domain name spaces within the same forest?
A. When it comes to Active Directory, you must have a thorough understanding of forest limitations. In this case, you can have multiple domain name spaces within the same forest.

Q. Do clocks synchronize automatically between Windows 2000 computers?
A. This question tests your understanding of Active Directory synchronization. Clocks do synchronize only within a domain. The Primary Domain Controller Emulator handles this task for you. But there is no server that automatically synchronizes clocks between your separate domains.

Q. To create Group Policy objects in a domain, what group must you be a member of?
A. You must be a member of the Group Policy Creator Owners group in your domain to create these objects.

Q. Is it possible to prevent the application of a Group Policy to a user account within one of our organizational units?
A. To prevent the application of a
Group Policy to a user, you would deny the Read and Apply Group Policy permissions to the user in that organizational unit.

Q. Is it possible to schedule replication between two domain controllers in Active Directory?
A. This question assesses your knowledge of configuration options for domain controllers within Active Directory. In this case, place the domain controllers in different sites. Then set the schedule on the Site Link object that connects the sites.

Q. My Windows 98 users cannot search for published objects in our Active Directory domain. How do I add this capability to their computers?
A. Add the DSClient utility to their computers from the Windows 2000 Server CD.

Q. What are some of the ways of propagating permissions set on an Active Directory object to lower-level child objects?
A. Administering security is a big part of an administrator’s job. One way to accomplish this task is the following: On the Security tab of the parent object, click the Advanced button. Using the special permissions list, be sure to select “Apply onto…This object and all child objects.” Another method is to use the Delegation of Control Wizard.

Q. An organization is running a web site using Internet Information Server 5.0 on a Windows 2000 Server. The site allows both Anonymous and Integrated Windows authentication. When our domain users connect to the site, which authentication method is used?
A. Understanding authentication modes is a critical part to troubleshooting and effectively securing resources. In this case, they will authenticate as the Anonymous account. An exception to this would be seen if the Anonymous account lacked permissions to a particular resource on the web site, in which case Integrated Windows authentication would be attempted.

Q. How can I move the Active Directory database and log files to a different drive on the domain controller?
A. This can be accomplished by rebooting the domain controller using Directory Services Restore Mode and running the ntdsutil tool.

Q. An administrator accidentally deleted an entire organizational unit containing 200 users from our domain. How can you recover the organizational unit?
A. Everyone has these types of situations. You must know how to recover from these mistakes. In this case, rebooting a domain controller using Directory Services Restore Mode and conducting an authoritative restore of the OU from a backup will solve the problem.

Q. We demoted our Primary Domain Controller Emulator to become a member server in our domain. What do we need to do to transfer the PDC Emulator role to another domain controller?
A. This question tests how well you understand how the PDC Emulator works. In this situation, the role was automatically transferred when the former PDC Emulator was demoted.

Interview Questions for System Engineer / Network Engineer

General Questions

Q. Describe the network environments of the organizations that you have supported in the past.
A. This general question provides you with an opportunity to start the conversation regarding the technologies that you have experience with. Be descriptive in your answer. Include the number of users, number of remote sites, types of systems, type of connectivity between sites, network configuration, ISP used, routers/switches used, and the size of the overall engineering team. Also include who you reported to and the management style of that manager.

Q. What’s the difference between the WWW and the Internet?
A. This question will throw a lot of people off, but it is absolutely valid. The Internet is a collection of computers and networks that can all talk to each other, while WWW is an application that runs on the Internet.

Q. What is TCP/IP?
A. This is a great question in that it forces the candidate to display their knowledge of the protocol.

Q. What is TCP? UDP? How do they differ?
A. This is another question to determine the level of knowledge that the candidate possesses. TCP is a slower/authenticated protocol, while UDP is faster in theory, requiring less overhead but without the ability to verify that the data was delivered correctly or at all.

Q. Describe the seven-layer OSI reference model.
A. As an engineer, you must know the OSI model inside and out. TCP/IP is the standard protocol for the Internet and it strictly follows the rules set forth in this reference model. As a quick refresher, here is the OSI model:
1. Application Layer Responsible for end-user–friendly protocols like HTTP, FTP, and telnet.
2. Presentation Layer Responsible for isolating different data formats from each other.
3. Session Layer Responsible for maintaining a registry of all current active connections.
4. Transport Layer Responsible for transparent flow of data between devices, without consideration to hardware details. This layer is concerned with the reliable transfer of data packets from point to point.
5. Network Layer Responsible for providing logical paths for data packets to pass through; provides switching and routing facilities.
6. Link Layer Responsible for encoding and subsequent decoding of data packets at various network points.
7. Electrical/Physical Responsible for defining various electrical standards such as cables and bitstream sizes for communicating between devices.

Q. How do you approach a technical problem? Give an example.
A. This question is a necessary evil to ask a network engineer and one that you are guaranteed to be asked. Everyone has a different system. What’s important is that you have a system. Describe your method and also provide a recent example that demonstrates it in action from start to finish.

Q. What role does network planning play in successful project implementation?
A. This question shows the necessity of having a solid foundation for any project. Any infrastructure is only as good as the basic network that it’s built on.

Q. Have you ever been in a situation where you found yourself without the specific technical knowledge to perform a task essential to your project? What did you do?
A. This question is one that every engineer should have an answer for. It should be relatively easy to answer—be truthful without showing a weakness in ability. This is when a good researching talent comes in handy. No one expects an engineer to have memorized all of the information necessary to perform his job, but you need to have the skills to find the correct information quickly.

Q. Describe what a password policy is and the reasons for having one. Give an example of a policy and its rule set.
A. This is one of the most important and overlooked details in a secure network. You’ll get pushback from the users, but they will adjust. An engineer must be well versed in security and the policies required to implement and maintain it.

Q. What is offsite storage and why is it important to a disaster recovery plan?
A. This is a subject that no one ever pays much attention to until it’s needed. It is also one of the biggest reasons engineers lose their jobs. Offsite data storage guarantees that no matter what happens to your data center or servers, you will always have a copy of your data elsewhere. This is just a small part of an overall plan, but one of the most critical.

Q. How (and how often) should you test your disaster recovery plan?
A. Again, disaster recovery plans are a critical part of a network engineer’s job. A disaster recovery plan should be tested by doing an actual rebuild and restore of critical systems at least once every six months (or when major data or infrastructure changes occur).

Q. How often do you change the administrator passwords and accounts on local machines and domains?
A. Here is another area that doesn’t seem to get the attention it deserves. These passwords should be changed as part of a global password policy, and immediately upon any change of personnel who have knowledge of or access to the accounts and/or passwords.

Q. How often should a server be accessed to have the logs and drive space checked?
A. Although there is no set rule for this, it is a good idea to physically access each server at least once a week to check its overall health. There are a variety of applications that will alert you to errors and error conditions, but nothing replaces actually being logged into the server itself to get a good look at its performance.

Q. How many servers were you responsible for monitoring, maintaining, upgrading, and handling disaster recovery?
A. For effective coverage, an engineer should be able to manage 20–25 servers. There are often times when this number is much higher. This is when a good knowledge of the third-party tools available is handy. Certain systems, such as SQL, require more attention more frequently.

Q. How do you balance customer service skills and technical skills?
A. IT is a service organization. As such, customer service skills are just as important as technical skills, particularly in panic situations when systems are down or the user has just deleted their board presentation that’s due in 30 minutes. At these times, staying calm and being empathetic to the user are just as important as being able to quickly bring up the system or recover the file.

Networking

Q. What is a router?
A. A router is a device that connects more than one physical network, or segments of a network, using IP routing software
. As packets reach the router, the router reads them and forwards them to their destination.

Q. Discuss wireless networking.
A. This is a network configured to use communication techniques such as infrared, cellular, or microwave, so that cable connections are not required.

Q. Discuss WAN (wide area network).
A. A WAN is extended over longer distances that a LAN (local area network). It can range from a few miles to across the world. TCP/IP is the primary WAN protocol and was developed to provide reliable, secure data transmissions over long distances.

Q. What is OSPF?
A. Open Shortest Path First is a routing protocol that supports the concept of a core area to which everything attaches.

Q. What is BGP?
A. Border Gateway Protocol is used for routing between networks on the Internet core, and it supports many advanced routing features.

Q. What is an autonomous system?
A. An autonomous system is a community of interest. Used in conjunction with routing protocols, it breaks up parts of the network into manageable chunks.

Q. What is dial on demand?
A. Dial on demand is a technology that only activates network connection when “interesting” packets are to be sent across the infrastructure.

Q. What mask would you use to supernet two class C addresses?
A. The subnet would be 255.255.254.0.

Q. What is VLANing?
A. Virtual LAN is used on large LANs to break up the network into smaller broadcast domains. This creates communities of interest. These communities can be based around organizational structures.

Q. What is CIDR?
A. Classless Internet domain routing is used in conjunction with classless routing protocols to summarize the Internet into smaller routing tables.

Q. What is VLSM?
A. Variable Length Subnet Mask is used to allocate the amount of address space required by the end network.

Q. What is a class D IP address?
A. Class D addresses are multicast addresses.

Q. What addresses do multicasts start with?
A. Multicasts start with the address 224.0.0.0.

Q. Which name resolution system is implemented with TCP/IP by default?
A. Although WINS is a name resolution that is implemented by TCP/IP by default, it only works on Windows-based networks. The only true name resolution system that almost every TCP/IP networks uses is DNS.

Q. You are the administrator of a 100-station Ethernet network. Your users are complaining of slow network speeds. What could you replace your hub with to increase your network throughput?
A. A switch would increase performance by making virtual, direct connections between sender and receiver. A bridge and router would actually decrease performance because these devices introduce latency into the communication.

Q. Which TCP/IP utility is most often used to test whether an IP host is up and functional?
A. The Ping utility is the most often used TCP/IP utility because it allows you to test individual hosts.

Q. Which utility can you use to find the MAC and TCP/IP address of your Windows NT or 2000 workstation?
A. The ipconfig utility is available for both these operating systems. It displays information like the MAC and TCP/IP address of your workstation as well as other TCP/IP configuration information.

Q. Which utility can you use to verify a packet’s path?
A. The tracert utility traces the route from the source IP host to the destination host.

Q. Which WAN technology uses digital signaling from sender to receiver?
A. The T-series of WAN connection (such as T1, T3, and so on) uses digital signaling from sending hardware to receiving hardware.

Q. You are setting up a workstation for remote access to the office. The office has a modem pool configured, and it is working correctly. The required results are that the workstation and modem bank must establish a connection and that the server at the office must authenticate the workstation. Optionally, the workstation and office must be able to communicate by using a single protocol, and the workstation must be able to access all network devices at the office. The proposed solution is to install a POTS telephone line, modem cable, and modem connected to the workstation. How would you configure the protocols to achieve the desired results?
A. This question tests your ability to configure protocols and select the best one to meet the connectivity requirements. The recommended protocol here would be TCP/IP since it can be used across the different access methods.

Q. Which remote access protocol can run over both serial and parallel connections?
A. Because PPP doesn’t contain a physical layer specification as part of the protocol, it can run over any kind of medium.

Q. What Microsoft TCP/IP protocol can be used over the Internet to create a secure, virtual network?
A. The Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) allows you to create a secure, virtual connection between two points by tunneling one protocol inside another. Usually, a PPP connection is opened over a TCP/IP link.

Q. Which type of firewall checks for a current communication and the next packet needed?
A. A proxy provides firewall services by keeping track of all communications sessions and “prefetching” the next packets.

Q. Which type of security uses a file that identifies predefined IP addresses that are allowed to send data through a router?
A. Access Control List security uses a file (the ACL) that identifies which addresses can send data through a particular firewall or router.