System Administrator Interview Questions & Answers

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System Administrators are responsible for setting up and maintaining computer systems. They ensure that computers in the company's network, especially the server, run smoothly and securely.

Whether you're a job seeker preparing to be interviewed for the role of System Administrator or an employer preparing to interview candidates for System Administrator position, these System Administrator interview questions will help you prepare yourself for the job interview session.

System Administrator Interview Questions

Below are a list of some skill-based System Administrator interview questions.

1. How often should you perform security updates?
2. What are some attributes that make you a great systems administrator?
3. What do you think is the most important thing systems administrators can do to keep their systems secure?
4. What are you especially proud of in your experience with support for users and endpoint systems?
5. What's the most frustrating support issue you've been called to resolve?
6. Describe your experience with virtualization.
7. Suppose you try to fix a problem, such as passwords not working for a group of users, but your attempt fails. What would you do?
8. Why is it a bad idea to restore a DC that was last backed up seven months ago?
9. What is group policy?
10. What do you know about proxy servers?
11. What are your responsibilities during network infrastructure implementations?
12. How do you resolve an issue when a website is down but you're able to telnet to the port?
13. Describe the data backup and recovery process on a Mac. How is the process different with a PC?
14. Can you describe the characteristics of the different levels of RAID?
15. What's your experience with Linux?
16. After you log in to a unix server, what commands should you initially run?
17. What are the advantages of running a process run in the background, and how do you do this?
18. Do you think allowing someone to run commands as root is a good idea?
19. Can you tell me what is loopback address and in what sense is it useful?
20. How do you install and configure a printer in Windows 10?
21. Can you differentiate between firewall and antivirus? 
22. According to you, what is the difference between FAT and NTFS?
23. There is a new version of the operating system you currently use. You have to choose whether or not to upgrade. What would be your reasoning for your decision?
24. How do you determine a server capacity? Why and how often do you need to upgrade a server?
25. What are Forests, Trees, and Domains?
26. What do you know about FTP and SSH? What protocol do they use?
27. What is your technical background? Can you provide specific examples from your previous job titles?
28. What is Telnet?
29. We’re looking for a systems administrator who works well independently since the position involves fieldwork and telecommuting. Can you give an example of how you’re a self-starter?
30. What do you know about HTTPS, and what port does it use?
31. You encounter a system defect but still can’t figure out the cause. What do you do?
32. Can you tell us the main email servers and which are their ports?
33. An employee is working from home and has trouble joining a video call. How would you help them?
34. Some employees are complaining about their Internet speed. What steps would you take to identify the problem?
35. How would you deal with a virus on a system?
36. What can you tell us about port forwarding?
37. What is UDP?
38. Can you differentiate between a hub and a switch?
39. What types of computer hardware and software devices do you have the most experience installing?
40. What do you do during your personal time to enhance your knowledge of IT practices and technologies?
41. Describe the concept of DHCP?
42. Can you tell me what an active directory is? How does it differ from LDAPs?
43. What is the difference between a workgroup and a domain?
44. How can you reset a password for a customer who lost theirs?
45. Can you explain how to control processes on a Linux server?
46. How often did you look over system logs at your previous job? Why is it important to check system logs?
47. According to you, why is backing up an active directory important, and how can you back up an active directory?
48. What is the difference between a local area network (LAN) and a wide area network (WAN)? Can you provide a few examples of when to use them?
49. When and how should you perform backups?
50. How would you describe your interpersonal communication skills as a systems administrator? What examples can you offer from previous roles?
51. Do you have experience working with cloud-based solutions?
52. Do you have experience writing instructional documents that show employees how to use hardware or software and diagnose trivial problems?
53. What is the working of traceroute, and what protocol does it use?
54. Do you have experience training employees in the use of computer systems?
55. How well do you understand the differences between the various operating systems?
56. Some of your daily tasks can be repetitive. How do you stay motivated?
57. What is IP Spoofing, and what can we do to prevent it?
58. Describe a time when you used your knowledge of operating systems to optimize a network.
59. What is DNS?
60. What would you do if you noticed suspicious activity on one of the systems you manage?
61. What can you tell us about the lightweight directory access protocol?
62. When you have to juggle different tasks at the same time, how do you prioritize work?
63. According to you, what is the difference between FAT and NTFS?
64. Recall a time when you didn’t know how to solve a problem. What did you do?
65. Can you tell us about the windows registry?
66. If hired for this position, what is the first thing you would do on the job?
67. In general, when there’s a challenging project, do you like to work with a team or prefer to come up with a solution on your own?
68. How do you stay up-to-date with IT developments?
69. Provide an example of a time when you had to implement a change that impacted many people at once.

System Administrator Interview Questions and Answers

Every interview is different and the questions may vary. However, there are lots of general questions that get asked at every interview.

Below are some common questions you'd expect during System Administrator interviews. Click on each question to see how to answer them.

1. Why Do You Want To Leave Your Current Job?
2. What is Your Greatest Strength?
3. Tell Me About Yourself
4. Why Do You Want This Job?
5. Are You a Leader or a Follower?
6. What Is Your Greatest Accomplishment?
7. What is Your Salary Expectation?
8. Do You Have Any Questions for Us?
9. Why Should We Hire You?
10. What is Your Greatest Weakness?

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