Active Directory Interview Questions and Answers

Active Directory Interview Questions and Answers

Active Directory (AD) is a directory service that Microsoft developed for Windows domain networks. It is included in most Windows Server operating systems as a set of processes and services. Initially, Active Directory was only in charge of centralized domain management. Starting with Windows Server 2008, however, Active Directory became an umbrella title for a broad range of directory-based identity-related services.

A server running Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) is called a domain controller. It authenticates and authorizes all users and computers in a Windows domain type network—assigning and enforcing security policies for all computers and installing or updating software. For example, when a user logs into a computer that is part of a Windows domain, Active Directory checks the submitted password and determines whether the user is a system administrator or normal user. Also, it allows management and storage of information, provides authentication and authorization mechanisms, and establishes a framework to deploy other related services: Certificate Services, Federated Services, Lightweight Directory Services and Rights Management Services.

Microsoft previewed Active Directory in 1999, released it first with Windows 2000 Server edition, and revised it to extend functionality and improve administration in Windows Server 2003. Additional improvements came with subsequent versions of Windows Server. In Windows Server 2008, additional services were added to Active Directory, such as Active Directory Federation Services.

Active Directory uses Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) versions 2 and 3, Microsoft’s version of Kerberos, and DNS.

What is Active Directory?

Why Active Directory?

What are the features of Active Directory?

What are advantages of Active directory?

Can you explain LDAP?

Can you explain PAM?

How is PAM different from Identity Management?

Can you explain Active Directory Domain Services?

Can you explain Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services?

Can you explain Active Directory Certificate Services?

Can you explain Active Directory Federation Services?

Can you explain Active Directory Monitoring?

Can you explain Rights Management Services?

Can you explain AD management?

What are all the Active Directory Partitions?

What are the physical components of Active Directory?

Can you define a domain?

Can you define Infrastructure Master?

Can you explain domain controller?

Can you define a forest?

Can you define FSMO?

Can you define KCC?

Can you define ADSI Edit?

Can you define Schema?

Can you define Kerberos?

Can you explain Member Server?

Can you explain use of SYSVOL?

Which tool would you use to edit Active Directory?

What are Lingering Objects?

What is the difference between domain admin groups and enterprise admins group in AD?

Where is the AD database held and how would you create a backup of the database?

What are the physical components of Active Directory?

Can you define role seizure?

What is Mixed Mode?

Can you define OU?

Can you explain group policy?