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Configuring Remote Desktop PART 2

kirti — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 12:09:37 GMT

Establishing a Remote Desktop Session

After installing the appropriate client software on the client computer, you can connect to the remote computer. The following discussion includes tips for using Remote Desktop components, keyboard shortcuts you can use during a Remote Desktop session, information about security enhancement by using encryption levels, and configuring of Remote Desktop by using group policies.

You can establish a session with the Windows XP Professional–based computer that has Remote Desktop enabled by using one of the following clients:

Remote Desktop Connection
Remote Desktop Web Connection

To create a new connection by using Remote Desktop Connection

Click Start, point to Programs, Accessories, Communications, and then click Remote Desktop Connection.
In the Remote Desktop Connection dialog box, in the Computer box, type the name or IP address of a computer running Windows XP Professional for which you have Remote Desktop permissions.
Click Connect.
In the Log On to Windows dialog box, type your user name, password, and domain (if required), and then click OK.

In Remote Desktop Connection, you can preconfigure your Remote Desktop sessions:

If you want all your Remote Desktop sessions to respond exactly the same each time you establish a session, click the Options button, preconfigure the desired settings, and click Save As under Connection Settings, as seen in Figure 8-4. Enter filename and click Save. Each time you want to open that session, click Open, and then double-click filename.
If your video adapter does not support higher resolutions, you can set the display size of the Remote Desktop session to fit your display configuration. On the Displaytab, move the Remote desktop size slider. Select the resolution that best fits your needs, and then click Connect.
If you need to print information or check disk status from your Remote Desktop session, you can have the remote computer automatically connect to your computer’s disk drives or printers. On the Local Resources tab, in Local devices, click Disk drives or Printers, and then click Connect.

Figure 8-4 illustrates the client logon interface and Table 8-2 lists the features for the interface.

Figure 8-4 Remote Desktop Connection interface

Note Configurations on the client logon interface are local policy settings; they can be overridden by Group Policy settings.

Table 8-2 Features Available on the Remote Desktop Connection Logon Interface

Tab	Settings to Configure	Notes
General	Enter or change logon and connection settings.	Enter remote computer name, network user name, network password, and network domain. Selecting Save my password allows you to enter the password at connection time and store it for future Remote Desktop sessions. Saving connection settings allows you to use a configuration throughout an enterprise.
Display	Change remote desktop size (resolution) and colors.	Selectable session resolution and color depth allow you to adjust for specific needs.
Local Resources	Control sound, keyboard, and local devices.	Enabling sounds at the client computer enhances the session. Applying Windows key combinations within the Remote Desktop session enhances the session. Allowing the session to control local devices automatically boosts productivity.
Programs	Start a program and change an icon.	Setting the session to start a specific program upon connection can improve efficiency. (This tab is available only for terminal server sessions.)
Experience	Set bitmap caching and compression.	Allowing certain features in this tab will provide a richer visual experience at higher bandwidths.

Using Remote Desktop Web Connection

To use Remote Desktop Web Connection, you need to ensure that it is installed and running on the Web server. Your client computer must also have an active network connection and Internet Explorer version 4.0 or later installed.

To connect to a remote computer by using Remote Desktop Web Connection

On your client computer, open Internet Explorer.
In the Address box, type the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) for the home directory of the Web server hosting Remote Desktop Web Connection. The URL is "http://” followed by the Windows Networking name of your server, followed by the path of the directory containing the Remote Desktop Web Connection files (default = /Tsweb/. Note the forward slash marks). For example, if your Web site is registered with the DNS server as "admin1.northwind.com”, in the Address box you type:http://admin1.northwind.com
/tsweb/, and then press ENTER.
From the Remote Desktop Web Connection page, in the Server box, type the name of the remote computer to which you want to connect.
You can specify the screen size and logon information for your connection.
Click Connect.

Keyboard Shortcuts in a Remote Desktop Session

You can apply Windows key combinations to your Remote Desktop sessions, or you can use the following Remote Desktop keyboard shortcuts (shown in Table 8-3) to perform many of the same functions.

Table 8-3 Keyboard Shortcuts in a Remote Desktop Session

Windows Key Combinations for Client Computer	Equivalent Keys for Remote Desktop Session	Description
ALT+TAB	ALT+PAGE UP	Switches between programs from left to right.
ALT+SHIFT+TAB	ALT+PAGE DOWN	Switches between programs from right to left.
ALT+ESC	ALT+INSERT	Cycles through the programs in the order they were started.
	CTRL+ESC	Switches the client between a window and full screen.
CTRL+ESC	ALT+HOME	Displays the Start menu.
	ALT+DELETE	Displays the Windows menu.
PRINT SCREEN	CTRL+ALT+MINUS (–) symbol on the numeric keypad	Places a snapshot of the active window in the Remote Desktop session on the clipboard.
CTRL+ALT+DEL	CTRL+ALT+END	Displays the Task Manager or Windows Security dialog box. (Only use CTRL+ALT+END to issue this command. CTRL+ALT+DEL is always interpreted by the client computer.)
ALT+PRINT SCREEN	CTRL+ALT+PLUS (+) symbol on the numeric keypad	Places a snapshot of the entire Remote Desktop session window on the clipboard.

Security and Encryption in Remote Desktop

You can enhance the security of a Remote Desktop session by using any or all of these methods:

Setting encryption levels to secure data communications between client and remote computer host
Enabling password authentication of users at logon time
Disabling clipboard sharing for Web-based clients
Disabling printer redirection for Web-based clients
Disabling file redirection for Web-based clients

These five security-enhancing methods, discussed in the following sections, use Group Policy settings. For more information about using Group Policy with Remote Desktop, see "Using Group Policy with Remote Desktop” later in this chapter.

Setting Encryption Levels

Data encryption can protect your data by encrypting it on the communications link between the client and the Windows XP Professional–based computer. Encryption protects against the risk of unauthorized interception of transmitted data. By default, Remote Desktop sessions are encrypted at the highest level of security available (128-bit). However, some older versions of Terminal Services client software do not support this high level of encryption. If your network contains such "legacy” clients, you can set the encryption level of the connection to send and receive data at the highest encryption level supported by the client.

There are two levels of encryption available:

High
This level encrypts data sent from the client to the remote computer and from the remote computer to the client by using strong 128-bit encryption. Use this level only if you are sure that your client computer supports 128-bit encryption (for example, if it is running Windows XP Professional). Clients that do not support this level of encryption will not be able to connect.
Client Compatible
This level encrypts data sent between the client and the remote computer at the maximum key strength supported by the client. Use this level if your client computer does not support 128-bit encryption.

You can set the encryption level of the connection between the client and the remote computer by enabling the Set client connection encryption level Terminal Services Group Policy setting.

Enabling Password Authentication at Logon Time

To enhance security of a Remote Desktop session over the Internet, you might want to prevent automatic password passing. To do this, you can enable the Always prompt client for password Terminal Services Group Policy setting. When this setting is enabled, you must supply your password in the Windows Logon dialog box whenever you start a Remote Desktop session.

Disabling Clipboard Redirection

For enhanced security, you might choose to disable Remote Desktop clipboard redirection for clients that connect via the Remote Desktop Web Connection client. You can disable clipboard redirection by using the Do not allow clipboard redirection Terminal Services Group Policy.

Disabling Printer Redirection

For enhanced security, you might choose to disable the printer redirection feature for clients that connect via the Remote Desktop Web Connection client. You can disable printer redirection by using the Do not allow printer redirection Terminal Services Group Policy.

Disabling File Redirection

For enhanced security, you might choose to disable the file redirection feature for clients that connect via the Remote Desktop Web Connection client. You can disable file redirection using the Do not allow drive redirection Terminal Services Group Policy.

Using Group Policy with Remote Desktop

In Windows XP Professional, you can use Group Policy to configure Remote Desktop Connection settings, set user policy, and manage Remote Desktop sessions. You can enable Group Policy for users of a computer, for individual computers, or for groups of computers belonging to an organizational unit of a domain. To set policy for users of a particular computer, you must be an Administrator for that computer or have equivalent rights. To set policies for an organizational unit in a domain, you must be an Administrator for that domain or have equivalent rights.

Enabling Group Policy on an Individual Computer

To set Terminal Services policies settings for a particular computer or for users of that computer, open the Group Policy snap-in to edit the Local Group Policy Object (LGPO).

The Terminal Services group policies are not configured by default. You can configure each Group Policy to be either disabled or enabled.

To access Terminal Services Group Policy

From the Start menu, click Run, type mmc, and then click OK.
On the File menu, click Add/Remove Snap-in.
In the Add/Remove Snap-in dialog box, click Add.
In the Add Standalone Snap-in dialog box, click Group Policy, click Add, and then click Finish.
In the Add Standalone Snap-in dialog box, click Close.
In the Add/Remove Snap-in dialog box, click OK.
In the console pane, double-click Computer Configuration, click Administrative Templates, click Windows Components, and then click Terminal Services.

Terminal Services Group Policies are organized individually and in folders. Table 8-4 lists some of the Terminal Services Group Policy folders, policies, and functions that affect Remote Desktop.

Table 8-4 Group Policy Settings That Affect Remote Desktop

Folder	Group Policy	Function
Terminal Services	Allow users to connect remotely using Terminal Services	Enables Remote Desktop on computers targeted by this policy.
	Automatic reconnection	Allows Remote Desktop Connection clients to automatically reconnect if the network link is temporarily lost.
	Limit maximum color depth	Sets a limit on the color depth of any connection to a terminal server or Remote Desktop.
Client/Server Data Redirection	Allow audio redirection	Allows users to play the remote computer audio at the local computer during a Remote Desktop session.
	Do not allow clipboard redirection	Disables sharing of clipboard contents.
	Do not allow drive redirection	Disables mapping of client drives in Remote Desktop sessions.
	Do not allow COM port redirection	Disables redirection of data from the remote computer to client COM ports during the Remote Desktop session.
	Do not allow client printer redirection	Disables mapping of client printers in Remote Desktop sessions.
	Do not allow LPT port redirection	Disables redirection of data from the remote computer to client LPT ports during the Remote Desktop session.
	Do not set default client printer to be default printer in a session	Directs Terminal Services to automatically not specify the client printer as the default printer in the Remote Desktop session.
Encryption and Security	Always prompt client for password upon connection	Directs Terminal Services to always prompt users for passwords at logon.
	Set client connection encryption level	Directs Terminal Services to enforce the specified encryption level for all data sent between the client and the remote computer during Terminal Services connections.
Client	Do not allow passwords to be saved	Controls whether passwords can be saved on this computer from Terminal Services clients. This setting is available only for Window XP Service Pack 2.

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Troubleshooting Remote Desktop

This section contains troubleshooting information for Windows XP Professional Remote Desktop.

Server Name Not Found Error Message

If the remote computer cannot be found, the following message appears:

"The specified remote computer could not be found. Verify that you have typed the correct computer name or IP address, and then try connecting again.”

The problem might be in the computer name or IP address that you are using to connect. To solve this problem, verify that you have the correct computer name for the remote computer and that you have typed it in correctly. The correct computer name can be obtained from your administrator. If you have the correct computer name and are still unable to connect, try to connect using the actual IP address of the computer. This information can be obtained from your administrator.

A Specified Program Will Not Open

If you are having problems opening a specified program on the host computer (on the Programs tab of the Remote Desktop Connection), you might be connecting to a computer running Windows XP Professional. Specified programs will open only when connecting to a terminal server, not when starting a Remote Desktop session. Remote Desktop provides access to the actual console session of the remote computer. You cannot specify programs that open in a Remote Desktop session.

Cannot Log On to the Remote Computer

If you do not have the correct permissions to access a remote computer running Windows XP Professional, the following message appears:

"The local policy of this system does not permit you to log on interactively.”

You must add yourself to the Remote Desktop Users group (or to a group with administrative rights) so that you can use Remote Desktop.

Session Ends with a Data-Encryption Error Message

If a data encryption error prevents your client computer from communicating properly with the remote computer, the following message appears:

"Because of error in data encryption, this session will end. Please try connecting to the remote computer again.”

Try again to connect to the remote computer.

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Additional Resources

These resources contain additional information and tools related to this chapter

Configuring Remote Desktop PART 1

kirti — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 12:07:18 GMT

Overview

Remote Desktop provides access to the desktop of a computer running Windows XP Professional from a computer at another location. For example, connect to your office computer from home and use all your applications, files, and network resources just as if you were actually in your office, using your office computer.

Using Remote Desktop, you can run applications on a remote computer running Windows XP Professional from any other client running a Windows operating system. The applications run on the Windows XP Professional–based remote computer and only the keyboard input, mouse input, and display output data are transmitted over the network from the local computer, as shown in Figure 8-1.

Figure 8-1 How Remote Desktop works

Remote Desktop is based on Terminal Services technology, which is also used for Remote Assistance. For more information on Remote Assistance, see Appendix C, "Tools for Troubleshooting.”

Remote Desktop Components

Remote Desktop consists of the following components, which are discussed in detail in this section:

Remote Desktop Protocol
Client software
- Remote Desktop Connection
- Remote Desktop Web Connection

Remote Desktop Protocol

The Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) is a presentation-layer protocol that allows a Windows-based terminal (WBT) or other Windows-based client to communicate with a Windows XP Professional–based computer. RDP works across any TCP/IP connection, including local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), dial-up, Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), digital subscriber line (DSL), or virtual private network (VPN) connections. RDP delivers to the client computer the display and input capabilities for applications running on a Windows XP Professional–based computer.

When using Remote Desktop Protocol from a Windows XP Professional–based client or other RDP 5.1–enabled client, many of the client resources are available within the session, including the client drives, audio sources, serial and parallel ports, and printers. See "Resource Redirection” later in this chapter for details.

In addition, the local and the remote computer share a clipboard, allowing data to be interchanged between applications running on the remote computer and applications running on the client computer. You can find additional information about the commands for using the shared clipboard in the "Using Remote Desktop Web Connection” section later in this chapter.

Client Software

The Windows XP Professional CD includes Remote Desktop Connection client software, which you can install on computers that are not running Windows XP Professional. You can connect using various types of client software based on the client computer’s operating system and your organizational needs. Client software is available for a wide variety of hardware devices, including personal computers and Windows-based terminals.

Remote Desktop Connection

The Remote Desktop Connection tool connects your computer (the client computer) to another computer running Windows XP Professional that has Remote Desktop enabled (the remote computer). These computers can be located anywhere—across the hall, across town, or across an ocean from each other—provided you have network access from the client to the remote computer, and the appropriate permissions at the remote computer. The Remote Desktop Connection tool is installed by default when you install Windows XP Professional or Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition. You can also install this tool manually on a computer running Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me), Microsoft Windows NT, or Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional operating system.

Tip Always download the latest version of Remote Desktop Connection software when installing on any version of Windows earlier than Windows XP. Go to the Microsoft Download Center (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads) and search for "Windows XP Remote Desktop Connection software” to find the latest version. To use Remote Desktop to connect to a remote Windows XP computer from an Apple Macintosh computer, search the Microsoft Download Center for "Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac.”

Remote Desktop Web Connection

Remote Desktop Web Connection works like Remote Desktop Connection except that the features are delivered over the Web using Microsoft ActiveX technologies. When embedded in a Web page, the Remote Desktop Web Connection ActiveX control can establish a Remote Desktop session with a remote computer running Windows XP Professional even if Remote Desktop Connection is not installed on the client computer. As described later in this chapter, the Remote Desktop Web Connection ActiveX control must be installed from a Web server with Internet Information Services (IIS) that has Active Server Pages (ASP) enabled.

Remote Desktop Web Connection includes the following features:

Efficient deployment of Remote Desktop
Deploying a connection can be as easy as sending a URL.
Support for roaming users
Users who are away from their computers can use Remote Desktop Web Connection to gain secure access to their primary workstation from any computer running Windows and Internet Explorer, provided you can reach the target computer on a network.
A lowest-common-denominator, cross-platform system
Remote Desktop Web Connection can meet the needs of organizations that have multiple Windows operating systems and want identical client software on all their Windows-based computers.
Delivery of extranet applications
Corporations that want to deploy Remote Desktop functionality to vendors, suppliers, or customers can use Remote Desktop Web Connection to distribute this functionality easily, inexpensively, and efficiently over the Internet.
Note For the latest version of Remote Desktop Web Connection, go to the Microsoft Download Center (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads) and search for "Remote Desktop Web Connection.”

Remote Desktop Features

Remote Desktop features include console security, enhanced color support, and resource redirection.

Console Security

Remote Desktop allows the user to connect to a remote console from a client location. Console is defined as the keyboard, mouse, and video monitor of the computer running Windows XP Professional with Remote Desktop enabled. When you enable a Remote Desktop session, the remote console "locks down” (disables display of the session on the remote computer’s monitor, and disables input via the remote computer’s keyboard and mouse).

Enhanced, Flexible Color Support

Remote Desktop supports as many colors as the client computer will support, up to 24-bit color. It automatically detects the color depth of the remote and local computer and adapts as required. Users can modify color settings in the Display Properties sheet.

Resource Redirection

You can use resource redirection features to enhance your Remote Desktop session.

File system redirection

Remote Desktop provides client drive redirection, making the local file system available to the Remote Desktop session. These local drives appear in the remote computer’s Windows Explorer as driveletter on clientmachinename.

When you enable Remote Desktop, client-drive mapping is enabled by default. To disable it, you can use Terminal Services Group Policies, found at Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Terminal Services and User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Terminal Services. To disable it on an individual client computer, click the Start menu, point to All Programs, Accessories, Communications, and then select Remote Desktop Connection. On the Local Resources tab, clear the Disk drives check box.

Audio redirection

Audio redirection enables a client computer to play sounds from any application that plays .wav files on the Remote Desktop. With this feature, a user running an audio-enabled application at the remote desktop can hear the audio output from the local speakers as if the application were running on the client computer.

Audio redirection includes the following features:

Audio mixing
When two or more applications play sounds, the resulting stream is an audio mix.
Minimized impact of the audio stream input/output (I/O) on the RDP session
If there is a change in the network bandwidth between the client and remote computers, Remote Desktop renegotiates the sound-stream quality and uses the best sound quality for the existing bandwidth. No user action is required.

Printer redirection

Remote Desktop provides printer redirection, which routes print jobs from the Remote Desktop session to a printer attached to the client computer. When the user logs on to the remote computer, the remote computer detects the client’s local printer and automatically installs the appropriate printer driver. If the local printer requires a driver that does not ship with Windows XP Professional, you will need to manually install the driver on the remote computer. Remote Desktop also redirects network printers on the client computer.

If multiple printers are connected to the client computer, Remote Desktop will send print jobs to the client printer’s default printer.

The printer redirection feature is enabled by default in Windows XP Professional when you enable Remote Desktop. To disable it, use Terminal Services Group Policies. Use Remote Desktop Connection to disable printer redirection on an individual computer. On the Local Resources tab, clear the Printers check box.

Port redirection

Port redirection lets applications running in the session have access to the serial and parallel ports on the client, allowing them to access and manipulate devices such as bar-code readers or scanners.

Port redirection is enabled when you enable Remote Desktop. To disable it, use Terminal Services Group Policies. To disable port redirection on an individual computer, use Remote Desktop Connection. On the Local Resources tab, clear the Serial ports check box.

Deploying Remote Desktop

To deploy Remote Desktop, you must perform the following tasks:

Enable Remote Desktop on a remote computer running Windows XP Professional.
Enable users to connect to the remote computer running Windows XP Professional.
Set up your client computer.
Install Remote Desktop Connection software on your client computer.
Install Remote Desktop Web Connection (if your Windows-based client is not running Windows XP Professional).

Enabling Remote Desktop on a Computer Running Windows XP Professional

When you install Windows XP Professional, Remote Desktop is disabled by default. To enable Remote Desktop, follow these steps:

Log on to your Windows XP Professional–based computer using an Administrator account.
Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
In the System Properties sheet, click the Remote tab.
Select the Allow users to connect remotely to this computer check box.
Note You must be logged on as an Administrator (or be a member of an Administrators group) to enable Remote Desktop.

Adding Users to the Remote Desktop Users Group

It’s not enough to enable remote access on the computer; you also have to specify the users or groups that can remotely connect to the computer. To add or delete users or groups to the Remote Desktop Users group, follow these steps:

Log on to your Windows XP Professional–based computer as an Administrator.
Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
Click the Remote tab.
Click Select Remote Users.
In the Remote Desktop Users dialog box, click Add.
In the Select Users dialog box (shown in Figure 8-2), type the name of the user or group to add or click Advanced to search for objects.
Figure 8-2 Adding users to the Remote Desktop Users group
Click OK.

The names of the selected users appear in the Remote Desktop Users dialog box.

Installing Client Software

To set up your computer as a Remote Desktop client, you need to install Remote Desktop Connection (or Terminal Services Client). A Web-based version of the client software, Remote Desktop Web Connection, can also be installed on the client computer. Also, your computer must be able to connect to the remote computer by means of a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), dial-up, or Internet connection.

Note Terminal Services clients use TCP port 3389 to communicate with the remote computer.

Table 8-1 lists Windows operating systems and the corresponding client software that is required for deploying Remote Desktop.

Table 8-1 Client Software Versions for Various Operating Systems

Operating System	Client Software	How to Access
Windows XP (all versions)	Remote Desktop Connection (installed by default)	Start/Programs/Accessories/ Communications/Remote Desktop Connection.
Windows 2000 Professional	Remote Desktop Connection (installed by the user)	Install from the Windows XP Professional operating system CD, or obtain the latest version from the Microsoft Download Center.
Microsoft Windows 2000 Server	Terminal Services Client (installed by default if Terminal Services is installed)	Start/Programs/Terminal Services Client Recommended: Install from the Windows XP Professional operating system CD, or obtain the latest version from the Microsoft Download Center.
Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Me	Remote Desktop Connection (installed by the user)	Install from the Windows XP Professional operating system CD, or obtain the latest version from the Microsoft Download Center.
Windows NT 4.0	Remote Desktop Connection (installed by the user)	Install from the Windows XP Professional operating system CD, or obtain the latest version from the Microsoft Download Center.

Installing Remote Desktop Connection

For a client computer that is running Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT 4.0, or Windows 2000 Professional, you need to install Remote Desktop Connection from your Windows XP Professional operating system CD or obtain the latest version of Remote Desktop Connection client software from the Microsoft Download Center (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads).

To install Remote Desktop Connection on computers running earlier versions of Windows

Insert the Windows XP Professional operating system CD into your CD-ROM drive.
From the Start page, click Perform Additional Tasks, and then click Set up Remote Desktop Connection.
In the Remote Desktop Connection-InstallShield Wizard, follow instructions until installation is complete.

Even though you can install Remote Desktop Connection on earlier Windows platforms by using the procedure just described, the preferred approach is to download the latest version of Remote Desktop Connection software from the Microsoft Download Center (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads). Simply go to the site and search for "Windows XP Remote Desktop Connection software.”

Installing Remote Desktop Web Connection

Remote Desktop Web Connection is a Web application that consists of an ActiveX control, sample ASP pages, and HTML pages. When Remote Desktop Web Connection is deployed on a Web server, it allows users to connect to a Windows XP Professional–based computer by using Internet Explorer, even if Remote Desktop Connection or Terminal Services Client software is not installed on the computer from which the user is connecting.

Remote Desktop Web Connection is an optional World Wide Web service component of Internet Information Services (IIS), which is included in Windows XP Professional. Remote Desktop Web Connection must be installed by using Add or Remove Programs. For more information about installing Remote Desktop Web Connection on a Web server, see "Remote Desktop” in Windows XP Professional Help and Support Center.

When you install Remote Desktop Web Connection, the files are copied by default to the %systemroot%\Web\Tsweb directory of your Web server. You can use the included sample (Default.htm and Connect.asp) pages or modify them to meet the needs of your application.

Remote Desktop Web Connection requires that the client computer have a TCP/IP connection to the Internet or a network, and that it run Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.0 or later.

When a user accesses a Web page on the IIS server that contains the embedded Remote Desktop Web Connection ActiveX Client control, this control is downloaded to the client computer and is stored in the default location for downloaded controls in Internet Explorer. The default connection page appears on the client computer, asking the user for server (specifically, the name or IP address of the remote computer) and user information. The Remote Desktop session opens in the Web page. Depending on the parameters passed and the settings of the remote computer, the Windows logon screen might appear.

Figure 8-3 illustrates the processes for downloading and using the Remote Desktop Web Connection client.

Figure 8-3 Downloading and using Remote Desktop Web Connection client

Note Although the IIS server must download the ActiveX control to the client computer, the IIS server does not connect to the Windows XP Professional–based remote computer at any time when you use Remote Desktop Web Connection. The client computer must connect to the remote computer over a TCP/IP connection.

Configuring Remote Desktop

kirti — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 12:07:00 GMT

Overview

Remote Desktop provides access to the desktop of a computer running Windows XP Professional from a computer at another location. For example, connect to your office computer from home and use all your applications, files, and network resources just as if you were actually in your office, using your office computer.

Figure 8-1 How Remote Desktop works

Remote Desktop is based on Terminal Services technology, which is also used for Remote Assistance. For more information on Remote Assistance, see Appendix C, "Tools for Troubleshooting.”

Remote Desktop Components

Remote Desktop consists of the following components, which are discussed in detail in this section:

Remote Desktop Protocol
Client software
- Remote Desktop Connection
- Remote Desktop Web Connection

Remote Desktop Protocol

Client Software

Remote Desktop Connection

Remote Desktop Web Connection

Remote Desktop Web Connection includes the following features:

Efficient deployment of Remote Desktop
Deploying a connection can be as easy as sending a URL.
Support for roaming users
Users who are away from their computers can use Remote Desktop Web Connection to gain secure access to their primary workstation from any computer running Windows and Internet Explorer, provided you can reach the target computer on a network.
A lowest-common-denominator, cross-platform system
Remote Desktop Web Connection can meet the needs of organizations that have multiple Windows operating systems and want identical client software on all their Windows-based computers.
Delivery of extranet applications
Corporations that want to deploy Remote Desktop functionality to vendors, suppliers, or customers can use Remote Desktop Web Connection to distribute this functionality easily, inexpensively, and efficiently over the Internet.
Note For the latest version of Remote Desktop Web Connection, go to the Microsoft Download Center (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads) and search for "Remote Desktop Web Connection.”

Remote Desktop Features

Remote Desktop features include console security, enhanced color support, and resource redirection.

Console Security

Enhanced, Flexible Color Support

Resource Redirection

You can use resource redirection features to enhance your Remote Desktop session.

File system redirection

Audio redirection

Audio redirection includes the following features:

Audio mixing
When two or more applications play sounds, the resulting stream is an audio mix.
Minimized impact of the audio stream input/output (I/O) on the RDP session
If there is a change in the network bandwidth between the client and remote computers, Remote Desktop renegotiates the sound-stream quality and uses the best sound quality for the existing bandwidth. No user action is required.

Printer redirection

If multiple printers are connected to the client computer, Remote Desktop will send print jobs to the client printer’s default printer.

Port redirection

Interview Questions for System Administrator / Network Administrator

kirti — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 11:50:40 GMT

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 Microsoftcomputers?
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 troubleconnecting 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 accessserver?
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 domaincontroller 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 correctlymapped 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 particularorder?
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 errormessage 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 Directorydomain?
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 Windows2000 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 thedomain 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.

Technical Interview Questions – Networking

kirti — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 11:48:20 GMT

Technical Interview Questions – Networking

What is an IP address?
What is a subnet mask?
What is ARP?
What is ARP Cache Poisoning?
What is the ANDing process?
What is a default gateway? What happens if I don't have one?
Can a workstation computer be configured to browse the Internet and yet NOT have a default gateway?
What is a subnet?
What is APIPA?
What is an RFC? Name a few if possible (not necessarily the numbers, just the ideas behind them)
What is RFC 1918?
What is CIDR?
You have the following Network ID: 192.115.103.64/27. What is the IP range for your network?
You have the following Network ID: 131.112.0.0. You need at least 500 hosts per network. How many networks can you create? What subnet mask will you use?
You need to view at network traffic. What will you use? Name a few tools
How do I know the path that a packet takes to the destination?
What does the ping 192.168.0.1 -l 1000 -n 100 command do?
What is DHCP? What are the benefits and drawbacks of using it?
Describe the steps taken by the client and DHCP server in order to obtain an IP address.
What is the DHCPNACK and when do I get one? Name 2 scenarios.
What ports are used by DHCP and the DHCP clients?
Describe the process of installing a DHCP server in an AD infrastructure.
What is DHCPINFORM?
Describe the integration between DHCP and DNS.
What options in DHCP do you regularly use for an MS network?
What are User Classes and Vendor Classes in DHCP?
How do I configure a client machine to use a specific User Class?
What is the BOOTP protocol used for, where might you find it in Windows network infrastructure?
DNS zones – describe the differences between the 4 types.
DNS record types – describe the most important ones.
Describe the process of working with an external domain name
Describe the importance of DNS to AD.
Describe a few methods of finding an MX record for a remote domain on the Internet.
What does "Disable Recursion" in DNS mean?
What could cause the Forwarders and Root Hints to be grayed out?
What is a "Single Label domain name" and what sort of issues can it cause?
What is the "in-addr.arpa" zone used for?
What are the requirements from DNS to support AD?
How do you manually create SRV records in DNS?
Name 3 benefits of using AD-integrated zones.
What are the benefits of using Windows 2003 DNS when using AD-integrated zones?
You installed a new AD domain and the new (and first) DC has not registered its SRV records in DNS. Name a few possible causes.
What are the benefits and scenarios of using Stub zones?
What are the benefits and scenarios of using Conditional Forwarding?
What are the differences between Windows Clustering, Network Load Balancing and Round Robin, and scenarios for each use?
How do I work with the Host name cache on a client computer?
How do I clear the DNS cache on the DNS server?
What is the 224.0.1.24 address used for?
What is WINS and when do we use it?
Can you have a Microsoft-based network without any WINS server on it? What are the "considerations" regarding not using WINS?
Describe the differences between WINS push and pull replications.
What is the difference between tombstoning a WINS record and simply deleting it?
Name the NetBIOS names you might expect from a Windows 2003 DC that is registered in WINS.
Describe the role of the routing table on a host and on a router.
What are routing protocols? Why do we need them? Name a few.
What are router interfaces? What types can they be?
In Windows 2003 routing, what are the interface filters?
What is NAT?
What is the real difference between NAT and PAT?
How do you configure NAT on Windows 2003?
How do you allow inbound traffic for specific hosts on Windows 2003 NAT?
What is VPN? What types of VPN does Windows 2000 and beyond work with natively?
What is IAS? In what scenarios do we use it?
What's the difference between Mixed mode and Native mode in AD when dealing with RRAS?
What is the "RAS and IAS" group in AD?
What are Conditions and Profile in RRAS Policies?
What types or authentication can a Windows 2003 based RRAS work with?
How does SSL work?
How does IPSec work?
How do I deploy IPSec for a large number of computers?
What types of authentication can IPSec use?
What is PFS (Perfect Forward Secrecy) in IPSec?
How do I monitor IPSec?
Looking at IPSec-encrypted traffic with a sniffer. What packet types do I see?
What can you do with NETSH?
How do I look at the open ports on my machine?

Skill Gap in Engineers

kirti — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 11:27:27 GMT

Skill Gap in Engineers

According to a recent research published in 2011 April, conducted by the World Bank in India, Skill shortage remains one of the major constraints to continued growth of the Indian economy. For instance, the exporting IT sector reported lack of skills as the most serious obstacle for growth, and salaries rose 15% annually from 2003 to 2006 mainly due to the shortages of qualified workforce. Similarly we can see similar problems in other industries as well.

In order to understand the problem, an Employer Satisfaction Survey was carried out as part of preparation of the Second Phase of Technical Education Quality Improvement Program (TEQIP) initiated by the Government of India and financially supported by the World Bank. This employer survey seeks to address this knowledge-gap by answering three questions:

In which important skills are the engineers falling short?
How satisfied are employers with the skills of engineering graduates?
Skills that employers consider important when hiring new engineering graduates?

Survey details:

157 Companies Survey as part of TEQIP – II
World Bank MHRD & FICCI conducted it.
Sectors covered included IT, Infrastructure, Power & 20 others.
Companies were from all over India.

After classifying all skills by factor analysis, the authors find that employers perceive (professional Skills, Core employability Skills and Communication Skills) to be very important.

Table 1: Skills grouped into three factors

Factor 1 (Core Employability Skills)	Factor 2 (Professional Skills)	Factor 3 (Communication Skills)
Integrity Self-discipline Reliability Self-motivated Entrepreneurship Skills Team work Understands and takes directions or work assignments Willingness to learn	Identify, formulate, and solve Technical/engineering problems Design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs Use appropriate/modern tools, Equipment, technologies Apply knowledge of mathematics, science, engineering Customer Service Skills	Written communication Design & conduct experiments, and analyze and interpret data Reading Communication in English Technical Skills

The skills set of engineers were broadly categorized into three overall skills Factors:

Core Employability Skills (which cover generic attitudinal and affective skills, such as reliability and team-work)
Communication Skills ( such as English skills, Written and verbal communication)
Professional Skills (which generally covers cognitive skills related to the engineering professions, such as ability to apply engineering knowledge; as well as design and conduct experiments and related data analyze and interpretation

Employers were asked to rate the importance of each of these skill factors. The response is as follows:-

Table 2: Skill set of engineers and its importance

Core Employability Skills	Mean	Professional Skills	Mean	Communication Skills	Mean
Integrity Reliability Teamwork Willingness to learn Entrepreneurship Self-discipline Self-motivated	4.48 4.42 4.41 4.40 4.35 4.26 4.22	Use of modern tools Apply Math/Science / Engineering Knowledge Creativity Problem Solving System design to needs Contemporary issues Customer Service	4.08 4.07 4.07 3.93 3.84 3.83 3.51	Communication in English Written Communication Reading Technical Skills Experiments/data analysis Verbal Communication Basic computer	4.26 4.07 4.04 4.02 4.01 4.00 3.95

From the above table we can conclude that:

Employers give a lot of importance to integrity and reliability.
Communication in English is also given equal importance.
Use of modern tools, problem solving ability and good knowledge about engineering carries equal importance.

Skill gaps:-Graduate engineers

Core Employability Skills	Mean gap	Professional Skills	Mean gap	Communication Skills	Mean gap
Reliability Self-motivated Willingness to learn Understand/take directions Integrity Teamwork	1.22 1.10 1.03 1.03 0.98 0.95	Problem solving Creativity Use of modern tools System design to needs Contemporary issues Customer Service	1.06 0.99 0.93 0.89 0.88 0.85	Experiments/ data analysis Reading Technical Skills Written Communication Verbal Communication Advanced Computer	0.99 0.96 0.89 0.85 0.83 0.68

Higher-order thinking skills are lagging:

A closer assessment of the skill gaps tentatively suggests that for cognitive skills the skill gaps are largest within higher-order thinking skills, and smallest among the lower-order thinking skills. To arrive at this finding, we map the Professional (cognitive) skills into the Bloom‘s revised taxonomy of cognitive skills. This taxonomy orders the level of cognitive skills.

Blooms revised taxonomy

We classify the Professional Skills into either higher order thinking skills (the top three cognitive skills in the revised Bloom‘s taxonomy: analyzing, evaluation, and creating) or the lower-order thinking skills (the bottom-three cognitive skills in the revised Bloom‘s taxonomy)

Table 3: Importance and skill gap for higher and lower order thinking skills

Higher Order Skills	Importance	Skill Gap
Identify, formulate and solve technical or engineering problems	3.93	1.08
Design a system, component or process to meet desired needs	3.84	0.89
Use appropriate/ modern tools, equipment, technologies to the specific job	4.08	0.93
Creativity	4.07	0.99
Design and conduct experiments, analyze and interpret data	4.01	0.99
Average higher order skills	3.98	0.97
Lower Order Skills	Importance	Skill Gap
Apply knowledge of mathematics, science and engineering	4.07	0.85
Knowledge of contemporary issue	3.38	0.88
Technical skills (E.g. Programming)	4.02	0.89
Basic computers (E.g. Spreadsheet and Databases)	3.95	0.68
Advanced computer (E.g. Spreadsheet and Databases)	3.71	0.69
Average lower order skills	3.90	0.77

From the above table we can conclude that:

This simple analysis shows that Indian employers demand higher-order thinking skills.
It also indicates that the graduates are better at meeting the demand for lower-order thinking skills, but they fall short in meeting the demand for higher-order thinking skills.

Summary of findings:

64% of employers are only somewhat satisfied with quality of new hires.
Employers perceive Core Employability skills & Communication skills as most important.
Skill gaps are severe in the higher order thinking skills.
Communication in English is the most demanded skill.

Suggestions for engineering institutions:

Seek to improve the skill set of graduates.
Recognize the importance of Soft Skills.
Refocus the assessments, teaching-learning process, and move away from lower-order thinking skills, such as remembering and understanding, toward higher-order skills, such as analyzing and solving engineering problems, as well as creativity.
Interact more with employers to understand the particular demand for skills in that region and sector.

Scope of IT-ITES industry in India

kirti — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 11:14:11 GMT

Scope of IT-ITES industry in India

Recently NASSCOM reported that IT and ITES sector in India, annually grows at the rate of about 25% and sustains nearly 2 million jobs. Indian IT - ITES sector is its flagship economy builder and every single rupee spent by IT-ITES sector accounts for two rupees in Indian economy.

The Information Technology - Information Technology Enabled Services sector is fast changing overall Indian business standards. In addition, every job created in IT-ITES sector accounts for creation of four jobs in rest of the economy. That is very giant leap by Indian economy, thanks to the IT-ITES sector. IT-ITES sectors include companies from software development, consultancies, BPO (business process outsource), software management and online services. These are fastest growing industries and are favorites among the new graduates and students. Career in IT-ITES Sector is very lucrative and one can attain high success in this versatile and vast field.

Scope of IT-ITES industry in India

There is very bright scope for IT-ITES industry as it is strongest industry sector in India. Today the exports for the IT-ITES sectors are growing with increasing rate and the overall global market is very healthy. If one needs to know what the scope of IT-ITES sector is, just have a look at the quarter end financial results of the IT-ITES sector. The reports are outstanding and it seems that the rise of the IT industry is not going to stop so easily.

Recently, economic survey revealed that IT-ITES sector created almost 3 million additional jobs this year and number will go on in the immediate future. The main reason behind this is that, the requirement is far more than the current supply of the technical manpower. Thus, the scope for the sector is enormous in India. As the requirement is huge, more and more colleges and courses are offered to meet the manpower needs of the industry. Because of this, more and more students in India are opting for a career in IT-ITES Sector. However, according to some of the top industry experts, the attrition rate is high making jobs in the IT-ITES sector vacant. Moreover, the gap between demand and supply of skilled employees is cause of concern.

Companies providing jobs in IT-ITES Sector in India

Because of dedicated hard work and effective strategies of the IT companies, India has made a global mark in world trade. Some of the flagship companies that are providing good career in IT-ITES sector are - Infosys technologies, TCS, Wipro Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Persistent, Cognizant, Amdocs, Cybage, Castech, HCL technologies, Satyam Computers, Patni, Mphasis, Convergys, Firstsource solution, L&T Infotech, Genpact, Intelnet Global services etc.

Information Technology (IT) Companies India - the challenges, Future Scope

The Indian information technology sector has been instrumental in driving the nation’s economy onto the rapid growth curve. According to the Nasscom-Deloitte study, the IT/ITES industry’s contribution to the country’s GDP has increased to a share of 5.2 per cent in 2007, as against 1.2 per cent in 1998.

Further, the IT and BPO industries are poised to clock revenues worth US$ 64 billion by the end of fiscal year 2008, registering a growth of 33 per cent with exports expected to cross US$ 40 billion and the domestic market estimated to clock over US$ 23 billion, according to a study. Simultaneously, the Indian IT services market is estimated to remain the fastest growing in the Asia Pacific region with a CAGR of 18.6 per cent.

Challenges and Positives:

Can we stay Competitive? In the recent past we have seen that the Globalization 3.0 has resulted in Outsourcing and Off-shoring spreading to various other countries likeChina, Vietnam, Philippines and the Eastern European countries. In the wake of such competition can we still remain competitive? The answer is pretty much yes. We know that our assets are the talented pool of people who are not only competent technically but also linguistically better at English compared to the other competitors. Also the government support, labor pool, infrastructure, educational system, cost, political and economic environment, cultural compatibility, global and legal maturity, and data andintellectual property security and privacy give Indian IT companies and edge. But contradicting this is the Nasscom survey, which states that majority of the graduates coming out of the colleges today are unemployable. We need to introduce training programs in colleges to train the talent pool of students not only technically but also on soft skills. The training should also be imparted to the faculty to generate a better equipped talent force. These measures have already being taken by the IT companies, which also helps in reducing the training costs incurred by the IT companies after recruitment.

Yahoo! Inc and Tata Sons subsidiary firm Computational Research Laboratories (CRL) have entered into a joint agreement to make available-EKA, a supercomputer (the fourth fastest) in the world for cloud computing research in India.

Dell India witnessed 80 per cent sales over last year with revenues to the tune of US$ 700 million.
World’s leading chip designer firm ARM is expanding its India design centre to make it the largest outside Britain.
IT biggies like Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Oracle and a host of other IT entities are working overtime to tap the smaller and medium businesses.

Conclusion: Thus we observe that the Indian IT industry has been facing some challenges but if effective steps are taken then it will surely help it to remain competitive in the future as well.

Top 10 General Security Tips for Facebook

kirti — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 11:04:20 GMT

Top 10 General Security Tips for Facebook

Facebook is growing at a rapid rate, and now with Facebook open graph, they are looking to "socialize” all the world’s large webpages to be custom to your profile and social network.

So how do we protect our privacy?

[1] The #1 Facebook security tip is to set your Facebook privacy settings.

If you don’t know how just visit this step by step Facebook privacy settings post.

Once you have your privacy settings set – consider the following tips:

[2] Think carefully about who you allow to become your friend

Once you have accepted someone as your friend they will be able to access any information about you (including photographs) that you have marked as viewable by your friends. You can remove friends at any time should you change your mind about someone. Remember by making someone your friend, you are now giving them full access to majority of the information you post on Facebook.

[3] Use Your Friend Lists

You can organize your friends into different lists (church, co-workers, friends, family, monsters etc). Then you can create different accessibility and privacy options for each one meaning specify what they can and cannot see.

[4] Careful What You Share On Your Profile!

Avoid putting in any info you don’t need to share! No Address, no Phone Number, no Email. If you choose to do so make sure in your privacy settings ONLY friends can see it. (then be selective about who you friend).

[5] Careful What You Share – Photos & Videos!

Careful what photos or videos you post. Once it’s on the web, it’s on the web. Also be sensitive to the pictures and videos you share of your friends. It is embarrassing? Incriminating? Immature? Or just a really bad picture of them? Save your friend the drama and don’t post it. Imagine if someone posted such a picture and tagged you for all the world to see.. (or just friends if you diligently went through the privacy settings!).

[6] Careful What You Share – On your Facebook Wall

Depending on your privacy settings, lot of people may have access to your wall, so becareful what you post. Examples:

Don’t declare your entire household will be off to vacation for a specified time. Burglars would love that info.
Don’t say anything potentially embarrassing

[7] Want to Avoid Old or Bad Connections?

Remove yourself from facebook and public search results (in privacy settings).
Use an unidetifiable picture. So they can’t tell whether you are the right "John Kim”.. easier to ignore as well, then they assume it’s the wrong one.
Don’t put identifiable info on your profile (address, IM, email, work..)
If all fails, just get off Facebook and regain hours of your life

[8] Avoid Useless & Random Apps

Facebook application sometimes requests information, others automatically posts things to your wall. You may get invitations to try out apps from others – but unless you know what it is just avoid it altogether. By nature, Facebook apps are made to utilize your profile information and social connections.

[9] Leave out Full Birth date

Do not leave your full birthdate (your birthdate is valuable information) leave out the year.

[10] Monitor Your Children

If your children use it, you need to monitor what they say. They are not educated in what kind of info is bad to share. (ex. "i am home alone”, "we are leaving tonight to go for a 2 weeks vacations”). You should also be weary about who is talking to them and vice versa. You should setup their privacy settings and then "friend” your children. Even better – just make it a rule you have their password so they can login whenever they want.

Do you like this article? Please "Like” our Facebook Page!

[Bonus #11] Conclusion: Better Safe than Sorry

It’s simple. Don’t say, write, post up anything that is even slightly embarrassing. When you put info up on the web, there is always the possibility someone will find it. Your friends, your co-workers, your boss, future recruiters, your mom, your arch enemy, your political opponent, the guy 10 years from now try to sue you, some stalker, some guy planning to rob your home, guy looking for more identification for identify theft and so on. Yes some of these are ridiculous – but again, better safe than sorry. Save yourself potential future headache by playing it safe and thinking carefully about what you post.

Hope this was helpful.
Facebook is looking to simplify their Privacy Settings again so we’ll see what happens next.

Embedded c programming in keil

kirti — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 10:28:57 GMT

Keil C / Embedded C Programming Tutorial

►Keil C / Embedded C Programming Tutorial : Index

Introduction to Keil C
Introduction to Keil C programming. List of
various keywords and data types specific to Keil Microvision.

Pointers In Keil
Different types of pointers in keil. With examples
on how to define them and use them.

Functions in Keil C
Learn to define function in Keil C. Various
types of function definitions available.

Writing First C program
Learn basics of C program as per embedded rules
and learn Basics of hardware specific code.

Writing C and Assembly together
Learn to interface your C programs with assembly
codes and different segment naming conventions used in Keil C.

Advanced C programming
Advanced techniques of writing assembly code
to interface them to C programs. Includes example code.

Please Bookmark my website for more tutorials.

Link to this tutorial!

Keil C / Embedded C Programming Tutorial