What is the difference between dropping a database and taking a database offline?

Drop database deletes the database along with the physical files, it is not possible to bring back the database unless you have a backup of the database. When you take a database offline, you the database is not available for users, it is not deleted physically, it can be brought back online.

When setting Replication, is it possible to have a Publisher as 64 Bit SQL Server and Distributor or Subscribers as a 32 Bit SQL Server.

Yes it is possible to have various configurations in a Replication environment.

When setting Replication, can you have Distributor on SQL Server 2005, Publisher on SQL Server 2008?

No you cannot have a Distributor on a previous version than the Publisher.

What are the different ways you can create Databases in SQL Server?

T-SQL; Create Database command.
 Using Management Studio
 Restoring a database backup
 Copy Database wizard

Due to some maintenance being done, the SQL Server on a failover cluster needs to be brought down. How do you bring the SQL Server down?

In the Cluster Administrator, rick click on the SQL Server Group and from the popup menu item choose Take Offline.

How do you open a Cluster Administrator?

From Start -> Run and type CluAdmin (case insensitive) and the Cluster Administrator console is displayed OR you can also go to Start -> All programs -> Administrative Tools -> Cluster Administrator.

On a Windows Server 2003 Active – Passive failover cluster, how do you find the node which is active?

Using Cluster Administrator, connect to the cluster and select the SQL Server cluster. Once you have selected the SQL Server group, in the right hand side of the console, the column “Owner” gives us the information of the node on which the SQL Server group is currently active.