220-1201 Network Protocols Practice Test 1 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A technician is configuring a network for a branch office that will use a router to connect to the main office over the internet. The connection must be encrypted and authenticated to ensure data privacy. Which protocol should the technician configure on the router?

Accepted Answer

IPsec. This scenario tests knowledge of IPsec, a suite of protocols used for secure VPN connections. IPsec provides encryption and authentication for IP packets, making it suitable for site-to-site VPNs over the internet.

Answer

SSL/TLS

Answer

PPTP

Answer

L2TP

Question 2

During a network security audit, a technician finds that an employee is using a protocol that allows remote control of a computer with full graphical interface but without encryption. Which protocol should be replaced with a more secure alternative?

Accepted Answer

RDP. This question tests knowledge of RDP, which provides remote desktop access. Unencrypted RDP is a security risk; it should be replaced with RDP over TLS or a VPN.

Answer

SSH

Answer

Telnet

Answer

FTP

Question 3

During a network upgrade, a technician installs a new wireless access point. Users on the new AP can access local resources but cannot browse the internet. The technician verifies that the AP has a valid IP address and can ping an external website by IP address. Which protocol is most likely misconfigured?

Accepted Answer

DNS. This scenario tests DNS configuration. Being able to ping by IP address confirms IP connectivity, so the failure to browse is likely due to DNS not resolving domain names correctly.

Answer

DHCP

Answer

ICMP

Answer

ARP

Question 4

A technician is setting up a new file server and needs to ensure that users can access shared folders using a friendly name like \fileserver\share instead of an IP address. Which protocol must be configured correctly on the network?

Accepted Answer

DNS. This question tests knowledge of DNS, which resolves hostnames to IP addresses. Without DNS, users would have to use IP addresses to access network resources.

Answer

DHCP

Answer

SMB

Answer

HTTP

Question 5

A company deploys a new web server and wants to ensure that data transmitted between clients and the server is encrypted. The technician configures the server to use a certificate. Which protocol should be enabled on the server?

Accepted Answer

HTTPS. This scenario tests knowledge of HTTPS, which is HTTP over TLS/SSL for encrypted communication. Using a certificate is a key part of setting up HTTPS.

Answer

HTTP

Answer

FTP

Answer

SSH

Question 6

A technician is troubleshooting a network where users intermittently lose connectivity to a critical database server. The technician notices that the server's IP address is being duplicated on the network. Which protocol is responsible for detecting and reporting this conflict?

Accepted Answer

ARP. This question tests knowledge of ARP, which is used to map IP addresses to MAC addresses. When an IP address conflict occurs, ARP may show multiple MAC addresses for the same IP, and some operating systems or network devices can detect and report this via ARP.

Answer

DHCP

Answer

ICMP

Answer

DNS

Question 7

A small office uses a network printer that is shared via a print server. Users report that print jobs are not reaching the printer. The technician pings the print server successfully but cannot connect to the printer's web interface using its IP address. Which protocol is most likely blocked or malfunctioning?

Accepted Answer

HTTP. This question tests understanding of the HTTP/HTTPS protocol used for accessing device management interfaces. Successful ping indicates IP connectivity, so the issue is likely with the application layer protocol (HTTP) used for the web interface.

Answer

TCP

Answer

UDP

Answer

SNMP

Question 8

A technician is troubleshooting a VoIP phone that cannot register with the call server. The phone has a valid IP address and can ping the call server by IP. Which protocol is most likely not functioning correctly?

Accepted Answer

SIP. This question tests knowledge of SIP, the protocol used for VoIP call setup and registration. Successful ping shows IP connectivity, so the issue is at the application layer with SIP registration.

Answer

RTP

Answer

DHCP

Answer

DNS

Question 9

A customer reports that their new laptop cannot connect to the internet at a coffee shop, but their smartphone works fine. The technician checks the laptop's network settings and sees the Wi-Fi adapter is enabled and connected to the correct SSID. Which protocol is most likely not configured correctly on the laptop?

Accepted Answer

DHCP. This scenario tests knowledge of the DHCP protocol, which automatically assigns IP addresses, subnet masks, gateways, and DNS servers. Without a properly configured DHCP client, the laptop may connect to the Wi-Fi but fail to obtain a valid IP address, preventing internet access.

Answer

DNS

Answer

HTTP

Answer

ARP

Question 10

A user reports that their email client cannot send messages but can receive them. The technician verifies that the email server is reachable and that the user's credentials are correct. Which protocol is most likely misconfigured in the email client?

Accepted Answer

SMTP. This scenario tests knowledge of SMTP, the protocol used for sending email. Receiving email typically uses POP3 or IMAP, so a sending issue points to SMTP configuration.

Answer

POP3

Answer

IMAP

Answer

HTTP

Question 11

A user complains that they cannot access any websites, but they can ping other devices on the local network by IP address. The network uses DHCP and DNS servers. Which protocol is most likely failing?

Accepted Answer

DNS. This scenario isolates a DNS failure: local IP communication works, but name resolution fails. DNS translates domain names to IP addresses, so if it fails, web browsing by name will not work while local IP pings succeed.

Answer

DHCP

Answer

HTTP

Answer

ICMP

Question 12

A network administrator notices that a managed switch is not reporting its status to the central monitoring system. The monitoring system uses a protocol that collects device information such as CPU load and interface errors. Which protocol is most likely not configured on the switch?

Accepted Answer

SNMP. This scenario tests knowledge of SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol), which is used to monitor and manage network devices. SNMP agents on devices send data to a management system; if not configured, the device won't report.

Answer

SSH

Answer

HTTP

Answer

ICMP

Question 13

During a network upgrade, a technician needs to ensure that all devices on a small office LAN receive IP addresses automatically from a central server. Which protocol must be running on that server?

Accepted Answer

DHCP. This question tests the fundamental role of DHCP in automatic IP address assignment. DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) is the standard protocol for dynamically assigning IP addresses, subnet masks, default gateways, and other network parameters to clients.

Answer

DNS

Answer

HTTP

Answer

FTP

Question 14

A company's remote employees use VPN to connect to the office network. Recently, some users report that they can connect to the VPN but cannot browse the internet or access internal servers by name, though they can ping internal IP addresses. The VPN is configured to push DNS settings. Which protocol is likely misconfigured on the VPN server?

Accepted Answer

DNS. This scenario isolates a DNS issue within a VPN connection. If users can ping internal IPs but not resolve names, the VPN server's DNS configuration (likely using DHCP over VPN or DNS forwarding) is failing. The protocol involved is DNS, which the VPN should push to clients.

Answer

DHCP

Answer

IPsec

Answer

SSL/TLS

Question 15

A technician is troubleshooting a network where users can access internal resources but cannot reach any external websites. The internal network uses a proxy server. The technician finds that the proxy server is configured to use a specific protocol to forward requests to the internet. Which protocol is the proxy server most likely using to communicate with external web servers?

Accepted Answer

HTTP. This question tests understanding of proxy servers and HTTP/HTTPS forwarding. A proxy server typically uses HTTP or HTTPS to forward client requests to external web servers, acting as an intermediary. The scenario implies the proxy is working internally but failing externally, pointing to the protocol used for external communication.

Answer

FTP

Answer

DNS

Answer

SNMP