InterviewQuestionsforSystemEngineer/NetworkEngineer

GeneralQuestions
Q.Describethenetworkenvironmentsoftheorganizationsthatyouhavesupportedinthepast.
A.Thisgeneralquestionprovidesyouwithanopportunitytostarttheconversationregardingthetechnologiesthatyouhave
experiencewith.Bedescriptiveinyouranswer.Includethenumberofusers,numberofremotesites,typesofsystems,typeof
connectivitybetweensites,networkconfiguration,ISPused,routers/switchesused,andthesizeoftheoverallengineeringteam.
Alsoincludewhoyoureportedtoandthemanagementstyleofthatmanager.
Q.WhatsthedifferencebetweentheWWWandtheInternet?
A.Thisquestionwillthrowalotofpeopleoff,butitisabsolutelyvalid.TheInternetisacollectionofcomputersandnetworksthat
canalltalktoeachother,whileWWWisanapplicationthatrunsontheInternet.
Q.WhatisTCP/IP?
A.Thisisagreatquestioninthatitforcesthecandidatetodisplaytheirknowledgeoftheprotocol.
Q.WhatisTCP?UDP?Howdotheydiffer?
A.Thisisanotherquestiontodeterminethelevelofknowledgethatthecandidatepossesses.TCPisaslower/authenticated
protocol,whileUDPisfasterintheory,requiringlessoverheadbutwithouttheabilitytoverifythatthedatawasdelivered
correctlyoratall.
Q.DescribethesevenlayerOSIreferencemodel.
A.Asanengineer,youmustknowtheOSImodelinsideandout.TCP/IPisthestandardprotocolfortheInternetanditstrictly
followstherulessetforthinthisreferencemodel.Asaquickrefresher,hereistheOSImodel:
1.ApplicationLayerResponsibleforenduserfriendlyprotocolslikeHTTP,FTP,andtelnet.
2.PresentationLayerResponsibleforisolatingdifferentdataformatsfromeachother.
3.SessionLayerResponsibleformaintainingaregistryofallcurrentactiveconnections.
4.TransportLayerResponsiblefortransparentflowofdatabetweendevices,withoutconsiderationtohardwaredetails.Thislayer
isconcernedwiththereliabletransferofdatapacketsfrompointtopoint.
5.NetworkLayerResponsibleforprovidinglogicalpathsfordatapacketstopassthrough;providesswitchingandrouting
facilities.
6.LinkLayerResponsibleforencodingandsubsequentdecodingofdatapacketsatvariousnetworkpoints.
7.Electrical/PhysicalResponsiblefordefiningvariouselectricalstandardssuchascablesandbitstreamsizesforcommunicating
betweendevices.
Q.Howdoyouapproachatechnicalproblem?Giveanexample.
A.Thisquestionisanecessaryeviltoaskanetworkengineerandonethatyouareguaranteedtobeasked.Everyonehasa
differentsystem.Whatsimportantisthatyouhaveasystem.Describeyourmethodandalsoprovidearecentexamplethat
demonstratesitinactionfromstarttofinish.
Q.Whatroledoesnetworkplanningplayinsuccessfulprojectimplementation?
A.Thisquestionshowsthenecessityofhavingasolidfoundationforanyproject.Anyinfrastructureisonlyasgoodasthebasic
networkthatitsbuilton.
Q.Haveyoueverbeeninasituationwhereyoufoundyourselfwithoutthespecifictechnicalknowledgetoperformatask
essentialtoyourproject?Whatdidyoudo?
A.Thisquestionisonethateveryengineershouldhaveananswerfor.Itshouldberelativelyeasytoanswerbetruthfulwithout

showingaweaknessinability.Thisiswhenagoodresearchingtalentcomesinhandy.Nooneexpectsanengineertohave
memorizedalloftheinformationnecessarytoperformhisjob,butyouneedtohavetheskillstofindthecorrectinformation
quickly.
Q.Describewhatapasswordpolicyisandthereasonsforhavingone.Giveanexampleofapolicyanditsruleset.
A.Thisisoneofthemostimportantandoverlookeddetailsinasecurenetwork.Youllgetpushbackfromtheusers,buttheywill
adjust.Anengineermustbewellversedinsecurityandthepoliciesrequiredtoimplementandmaintainit.
Q.Whatisoffsitestorageandwhyisitimportanttoadisasterrecoveryplan?
A.Thisisasubjectthatnooneeverpaysmuchattentiontountilitsneeded.Itisalsooneofthebiggestreasonsengineerslose
theirjobs.Offsitedatastorageguaranteesthatnomatterwhathappenstoyourdatacenterorservers,youwillalwayshaveacopy
ofyourdataelsewhere.Thisisjustasmallpartofanoverallplan,butoneofthemostcritical.
Q.How(andhowoften)shouldyoutestyourdisasterrecoveryplan?
A.Again,disasterrecoveryplansareacriticalpartofanetworkengineersjob.Adisasterrecoveryplanshouldbetestedbydoing
anactualrebuildandrestoreofcriticalsystemsatleastonceeverysixmonths(orwhenmajordataorinfrastructurechanges
occur).
Q.Howoftendoyouchangetheadministratorpasswordsandaccountsonlocalmachinesanddomains?
A.Hereisanotherareathatdoesntseemtogettheattentionitdeserves.Thesepasswordsshouldbechangedaspartofaglobal
passwordpolicy,andimmediatelyuponanychangeofpersonnelwhohaveknowledgeoforaccesstotheaccountsand/or
passwords.
Q.Howoftenshouldaserverbeaccessedtohavethelogsanddrivespacechecked?
A.Althoughthereisnosetruleforthis,itisagoodideatophysicallyaccesseachserveratleastonceaweektocheckitsoverall
health.Thereareavarietyofapplicationsthatwillalertyoutoerrorsanderrorconditions,butnothingreplacesactuallybeing
loggedintotheserveritselftogetagoodlookatitsperformance.
Q.Howmanyserverswereyouresponsibleformonitoring,maintaining,upgrading,andhandlingdisasterrecovery?
A.Foreffectivecoverage,anengineershouldbeabletomanage2025servers.Thereareoftentimeswhenthisnumberismuch
higher.Thisiswhenagoodknowledgeofthethirdpartytoolsavailableishandy.Certainsystems,suchasSQL,requiremore
attentionmorefrequently.
Q.Howdoyoubalancecustomerserviceskillsandtechnicalskills?
A.ITisaserviceorganization.Assuch,customerserviceskillsarejustasimportantastechnicalskills,particularlyinpanic
situationswhensystemsaredownortheuserhasjustdeletedtheirboardpresentationthatsduein30minutes.Atthesetimes,
stayingcalmandbeingempathetictotheuserarejustasimportantasbeingabletoquicklybringupthesystemorrecoverthefile.

Networking
Q.Whatisarouter?
A.Arouterisadevicethatconnectsmorethanonephysicalnetwork,orsegmentsofanetwork,usingIProutingsoftware
.Aspacketsreachtherouter,therouterreadsthemandforwardsthemtotheirdestination.
Q.Discusswirelessnetworking.
A.Thisisanetworkconfiguredtousecommunicationtechniquessuchasinfrared,cellular,ormicrowave,sothatcable
connectionsarenotrequired.

Q.DiscussWAN(wideareanetwork).
A.AWANisextendedoverlongerdistancesthataLAN(localareanetwork).Itcanrangefromafewmilestoacrosstheworld.
TCP/IPistheprimaryWANprotocolandwasdevelopedtoprovidereliable,securedatatransmissionsoverlongdistances.
Q.WhatisOSPF?
A.OpenShortestPathFirstisaroutingprotocolthatsupportstheconceptofacoreareatowhicheverythingattaches.
Q.WhatisBGP?
A.BorderGatewayProtocolisusedforroutingbetweennetworksontheInternetcore,anditsupportsmanyadvancedrouting
features.
Q.Whatisanautonomoussystem?
A.Anautonomoussystemisacommunityofinterest.Usedinconjunctionwithroutingprotocols,itbreaksuppartsofthenetwork
intomanageablechunks.
Q.Whatisdialondemand?
A.Dialondemandisatechnologythatonlyactivatesnetworkconnectionwheninterestingpacketsaretobesentacrossthe
infrastructure.
Q.WhatmaskwouldyouusetosupernettwoclassCaddresses?
A.Thesubnetwouldbe255.255.254.0.
Q.WhatisVLANing?
A.VirtualLANisusedonlargeLANstobreakupthenetworkintosmallerbroadcastdomains.Thiscreatescommunitiesof
interest.Thesecommunitiescanbebasedaroundorganizationalstructures.
Q.WhatisCIDR?
A.ClasslessInternetdomainroutingisusedinconjunctionwithclasslessroutingprotocolstosummarizetheInternetintosmaller
routingtables.
Q.WhatisVLSM?
A.VariableLengthSubnetMaskisusedtoallocatetheamountofaddressspacerequiredbytheendnetwork.
Q.WhatisaclassDIPaddress?
A.ClassDaddressesaremulticastaddresses.
Q.Whataddressesdomulticastsstartwith?
A.Multicastsstartwiththeaddress224.0.0.0.
Q.WhichnameresolutionsystemisimplementedwithTCP/IPbydefault?
A.AlthoughWINSisanameresolutionthatisimplementedbyTCP/IPbydefault,itonlyworksonWindowsbasednetworks.
TheonlytruenameresolutionsystemthatalmosteveryTCP/IPnetworksusesisDNS.
Q.Youaretheadministratorofa100stationEthernetnetwork.Yourusersarecomplainingofslownetworkspeeds.What
couldyoureplaceyourhubwithtoincreaseyournetworkthroughput?
A.Aswitchwouldincreaseperformancebymakingvirtual,directconnectionsbetweensenderandreceiver.Abridgeandrouter
wouldactuallydecreaseperformancebecausethesedevicesintroducelatencyintothecommunication.
Q.WhichTCP/IPutilityismostoftenusedtotestwhetheranIPhostisupandfunctional?
A.ThePingutilityisthemostoftenusedTCP/IPutilitybecauseitallowsyoutotestindividualhosts.

Q.WhichutilitycanyouusetofindtheMACandTCP/IPaddressofyourWindowsNTor2000workstation?
A.Theipconfigutilityisavailableforboththeseoperatingsystems.ItdisplaysinformationliketheMACandTCP/IPaddressof
yourworkstationaswellasotherTCP/IPconfigurationinformation.
Q.Whichutilitycanyouusetoverifyapacketspath?
A.ThetracertutilitytracestheroutefromthesourceIPhosttothedestinationhost.
Q.WhichWANtechnologyusesdigitalsignalingfromsendertoreceiver?
A.TheTseriesofWANconnection(suchasT1,T3,andsoon)usesdigitalsignalingfromsendinghardwaretoreceiving
hardware.
Q.Youaresettingupaworkstationforremoteaccesstotheoffice.Theofficehasamodempoolconfigured,anditis
workingcorrectly.Therequiredresultsarethattheworkstationandmodembankmustestablishaconnectionandthatthe
serverattheofficemustauthenticatetheworkstation.Optionally,theworkstationandofficemustbeabletocommunicate
byusingasingleprotocol,andtheworkstationmustbeabletoaccessallnetworkdevicesattheoffice.Theproposed
solutionistoinstallaPOTStelephoneline,modemcable,andmodemconnectedtotheworkstation.Howwouldyou
configuretheprotocolstoachievethedesiredresults?
A.Thisquestiontestsyourabilitytoconfigureprotocolsandselectthebestonetomeettheconnectivityrequirements.The
recommendedprotocolherewouldbeTCP/IPsinceitcanbeusedacrossthedifferentaccessmethods.
Q.Whichremoteaccessprotocolcanrunoverbothserialandparallelconnections?
A.BecausePPPdoesntcontainaphysicallayerspecificationaspartoftheprotocol,itcanrunoveranykindofmedium.
Q.WhatMicrosoftTCP/IPprotocolcanbeusedovertheInternettocreateasecure,virtualnetwork?
A.ThePointtoPointTunnelingProtocol(PPTP)allowsyoutocreateasecure,virtualconnectionbetweentwopointsby
tunnelingoneprotocolinsideanother.Usually,aPPPconnectionisopenedoveraTCP/IPlink.
Q.Whichtypeoffirewallchecksforacurrentcommunicationandthenextpacketneeded?
A.Aproxyprovidesfirewallservicesbykeepingtrackofallcommunicationssessionsandprefetchingthenextpackets.
Q.WhichtypeofsecurityusesafilethatidentifiespredefinedIPaddressesthatareallowedtosenddatathrougharouter?
A.AccessControlListsecurityusesafile(theACL)thatidentifieswhichaddressescansenddatathroughaparticularfirewallor
router.