SCCM Interview Questions/FAQs : Part 2

1)      Can Configuration Manager 2007 hierarchy support Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 legacy clients?

Ans:  No.

Explanation: If you are upgrading an SMS 2003 Site to SCCM 2007, you must remove all legacy clients in the site hierarchy or they will be unmanaged.

References:  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb632589.aspx

2)      Do Configuration manager remote tools work with clients running Microsoft Windows 2000?

Ans:  Yes.

Explanation: Configuration Manager 2007 contains two remote tools agent, the windows 2000 remote tools agent and the new remote tools agent for client computers running Windows XP and later versions.  The Windows 2000 remote tools agent is similar to the remote tools agent found in SMS 2003

References:  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb681039.aspx & http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb693635.aspx

3)      Is the side-wide policy polling interval automatically used by all client computers to download policy?

Ans: No

Explanation:  In SCCM 2007 R2, you can configure collection specific policy polling intervals.

References: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb932205.aspx & http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb932185.aspx

4)  Can you configure Configuration Manager 2007 discovery to discover attributes from ADDS that are not discovered by default?

Ans: Yes

Explanation: In Configuration manager 2007, a new capability has been added to Active Directory System Discovery that allows you to discover further attributes from Active Directory Domain Services (ADDS) that are not discovered by default.

Reference: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb693618.aspx

5) Is there a viewer for state messages in Configuration manager 2007?

Ans: NO

Explanation: There are no viewers available. State messages are read from log files and from reports.

Reference: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb632678.aspx

6) Are there two security modes in Configuration Manager 2007?

Ans: No

Explanation: SMS 2003 had two security modes: Standard and advanced. But SCCM 2007, there is only one which is equivalent of advanced security mode of SMS 2003. Please do not confuse SCCM site modes (native and mixed mode)

References: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb680807.aspx

7) After you have installed a Configuration Manager site, are there any other steps you need to take before you can begin deploy software updates?

Ans: Yes

Explanation: SCCM 2007 Software updates feature requires many pre-requisites to be in place before you can begin to use it. One of them is WSUS infrastructure.

References: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb680712.aspx

8) If you have extended the schema for an SMS 2003 site, do you need to apply the configuration Manager 2007 schema extensions to get full functionality?

Ans: Yes

Explanation: Although Configuration Manager 2007 will work with SMS 2003 schema extensions, some functionality will be unavailable.

Reference: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb694066.aspx

9) Can you upgrade an SMS 2003 SP1 site to Configuration Manager 2007?

Ans: No

Explanation: Any SMS 2003 sites must be running SP2 or later. You have to update the SP1 site to with Service Pack 2 before you can upgrade to Configuration Manager 2007.

Reference: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb693927.aspx

10) Can out of band management be used to configure BIOS setting on Supported Computers?

Ans: Yes

Explanation: If the Computer is Intel Active Management Technology (AMT) provisioned, you can remotely view and change BIOS setting in Configuration Manager 2007 SP1.

Reference(s): http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc161963.aspx & http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc161856.aspx, & http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc161871.aspx & http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc161944.aspx