220-1201 Network Protocols Practice Test 2 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A company's web server is accessible from the internet, but users report that they cannot upload files to it using a web browser. The server is configured to allow file uploads via HTTP. Which protocol is most likely being blocked by the firewall?

Accepted Answer

HTTP. This scenario tests understanding of HTTP vs HTTPS and common firewall rules. HTTP uses port 80 for web traffic, and if uploads are failing while the server is reachable, the issue may be that the firewall is blocking HTTP traffic while allowing HTTPS (port 443) or vice versa.

Answer

HTTPS

Answer

FTP

Answer

SMTP

Question 2

A customer reports that their new VoIP phone cannot register with the company's call server, but their computer on the same switch port works fine. The network uses VLANs for voice and data traffic. Which protocol must be configured on the switch port to separate the voice traffic from the data traffic?

Accepted Answer

802.1Q. This question tests knowledge of VLAN tagging protocols used to separate voice and data traffic on a single switch port. IEEE 802.1Q is the standard VLAN tagging protocol that allows multiple VLANs to share the same physical link, which is essential for VoIP deployments where a phone and PC share a port.

Answer

DHCP

Answer

DNS

Answer

ARP

Question 3

A technician is setting up a new file server that needs to be accessible to employees both from the local network and remotely over the internet. The server will host shared folders. Which protocol should the technician ensure is properly configured and secured on the server for file access?

Accepted Answer

SMB. This question tests knowledge of file sharing protocols. SMB (Server Message Block) is the standard protocol for Windows file sharing, used both locally and over VPN/internet (with proper security). NFS is for Unix/Linux, FTP is less secure, and HTTP is for web files.

Answer

FTP

Answer

NFS

Answer

HTTP

Question 4

A user reports that they can send emails but cannot receive any. The email client is configured with SMTP for outgoing and POP3 for incoming. The server is reachable. Which port is most likely blocked on the firewall for the incoming mail protocol?

Accepted Answer

Port 110. This question tests knowledge of default ports: POP3 uses port 110 (or 995 for SSL). If sending works (SMTP on port 25/587) but receiving fails, the firewall likely blocks port 110 (POP3) or 995.

Answer

Port 25

Answer

Port 443

Answer

Port 53

Question 5

A technician is configuring a new email server for a small business. Employees need to send and receive email from their desktop clients (Outlook) and also access email via a web browser. Which combination of protocols should the technician configure on the server to support both client types?

Accepted Answer

SMTP, POP3, and HTTP. This question tests knowledge of email protocols: SMTP for sending, POP3/IMAP for receiving, and HTTP/HTTPS for webmail. The correct combination is SMTP (for sending from clients) and either POP3 or IMAP (for receiving), plus HTTP/HTTPS for web access.

Answer

FTP, SMTP, and DNS

Answer

IMAP, SNMP, and HTTPS

Answer

DHCP, SMTP, and POP3

Question 6

A technician is setting up a new web server that must be accessible from the internet using HTTPS. The server is behind a firewall that performs port forwarding. After configuration, external users cannot reach the server, but internal users can. Which protocol and port combination must be forwarded to the server?

Accepted Answer

TCP 443. HTTPS uses TCP port 443 by default. For external users to access the web server, the firewall must forward incoming traffic on port 443 to the server's internal IP address. Internal access works because it doesn't go through the firewall's external interface, so the issue is likely a missing or incorrect port forward for port 443.

Answer

TCP 80

Answer

UDP 443

Answer

TCP 3389

Question 7

A technician is troubleshooting a user's laptop that cannot obtain an IP address via DHCP. The laptop shows an Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) address of 169.254.x.x. Other devices on the same network obtain IPs correctly. Which protocol should the technician verify is functioning on the laptop?

Accepted Answer

DHCP. APIPA addresses indicate that the DHCP client failed to get a response from a DHCP server. The DHCP protocol is used to automatically assign IP addresses. Since other devices work, the issue is likely on the laptop's DHCP client or its network stack, not the server. Verifying that the DHCP client service is running and that the network adapter is configured to obtain an IP automatically is key.

Answer

DNS

Answer

ARP

Answer

ICMP

Question 8

A company deploys a new file server that uses SMB protocol for file sharing. Users on Windows 10 can connect to the server, but users on older Windows 7 machines cannot. The server is configured to require SMB 3.0 encryption. Which protocol version mismatch is causing the issue?

Accepted Answer

The server requires SMB 3.0, which Windows 7 does not support.. SMB 3.0 introduced encryption and other features not supported by older SMB versions. Windows 7 typically uses SMB 2.1 by default, which cannot negotiate SMB 3.0 encryption. The server's requirement for SMB 3.0 encryption prevents Windows 7 clients from connecting, as they lack support for that version.

Answer

The server requires SMB 1.0, which Windows 7 does not support by default.

Answer

The server requires SMB 2.0, which Windows 7 does not support.

Answer

The server requires SMB 3.1.1, which Windows 10 also does not support.

Question 9

During a network upgrade, a technician configures a new VoIP phone to use a dedicated VLAN for voice traffic. After connecting the phone to a switch port configured for voice VLAN, the phone powers on but cannot register with the call manager. The switch port is set to trunk mode. Which protocol is essential for the phone to obtain its VLAN assignment?

Accepted Answer

CDP. VoIP phones often use CDP (Cisco Discovery Protocol) or LLDP (Link Layer Discovery Protocol) to receive voice VLAN information from a switch. In this scenario, the switch port is in trunk mode, but without CDP/LLDP, the phone won't know which VLAN to use for voice traffic. CDP is Cisco-proprietary and commonly used in such environments to dynamically assign the voice VLAN.

Answer

STP

Answer

RSTP

Answer

VTP

Question 10

A user reports that their email client can receive messages but cannot send any. The email server settings are correct, and the user can connect to the internet. The firewall is blocking outbound traffic on certain ports. Which protocol and port combination is likely blocked?

Accepted Answer

SMTP on port 25. Email sending typically uses SMTP on port 25 (or port 587 for submission). If the firewall blocks outbound traffic on port 25, the email client cannot send messages, but receiving (using POP3 or IMAP) remains unaffected. This is a common security measure to prevent spam, but it can interfere with legitimate email sending.

Answer

POP3 on port 110

Answer

IMAP on port 143

Answer

HTTPS on port 443

Question 11

A network administrator configures a router to use OSPF for dynamic routing between two branch offices. After configuration, routes from one office are not appearing in the other's routing table. Both offices can ping each other's directly connected interfaces. Which protocol issue is most likely preventing route exchange?

Accepted Answer

Multicast is not being forwarded between the routers.. OSPF uses multicast addresses (224.0.0.5 and 224.0.0.6) to exchange routing information. If the network does not support multicast or if multicast is blocked by access lists or switch configurations, OSPF neighbors cannot form and routes are not exchanged. Since direct pings work, unicast connectivity is fine, but multicast is required for OSPF.

Answer

The routers are using different OSPF area IDs.

Answer

The routers are using different OSPF process IDs.

Answer

The routers have mismatched subnet masks on their interfaces.

Question 12

A user complains that they can browse the internet but cannot access network shares on a file server by hostname, though they can access them by IP address. The DNS server is responding to queries for other domains. Which protocol is most likely malfunctioning?

Accepted Answer

NetBIOS. The ability to access shares by IP address but not by hostname indicates a name resolution problem. Since DNS works for other domains, the issue is likely with NetBIOS name resolution, which is used in Windows networks to resolve computer names to IP addresses. NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NBT) or LLMNR could be failing, but NetBIOS is the traditional protocol for this in local networks.

Answer

HTTP

Answer

DHCP

Answer

ARP

Question 13

A customer reports that their new all-in-one printer can scan and copy locally, but they cannot send scanned documents to their email address. The printer is connected to the office network and can ping other devices. Which protocol is most likely misconfigured on the printer?

Accepted Answer

SMTP. The scenario describes a printer that can perform local functions but fails to send scanned documents via email, which typically uses SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) for outgoing mail. Since the printer can ping other devices, basic network connectivity is working, pointing to a higher-layer protocol issue. SMTP is the standard protocol for sending email, so its misconfiguration would prevent email delivery.

Answer

FTP

Answer

IMAP

Answer

SNMP

Question 14

A small office has a single public IP address and uses a router to provide internet access to 20 devices. Users report that some websites load slowly or time out, while others work fine. The router's NAT table shows many entries. Which protocol is most likely being exhausted, causing these intermittent issues?

Accepted Answer

NAT. NAT (Network Address Translation) uses a translation table to map private IPs to a public IP. If the table fills up due to many simultaneous connections, new connections may fail or time out. This is a common issue in small offices with limited NAT resources, leading to intermittent access problems.

Answer

DNS

Answer

DHCP

Answer

ICMP

Question 15

A technician is configuring a network printer for secure printing using IPsec. After enabling IPsec on the printer and the print server, print jobs fail to reach the printer. The technician can ping the printer from the server. Which protocol negotiation step is most likely failing?

Accepted Answer

The IPsec security association (SA) is not being established due to IKE failure.. IPsec requires both endpoints to agree on security associations (SAs) using Internet Key Exchange (IKE). If IKE negotiation fails—due to mismatched authentication methods, encryption algorithms, or certificates—IPsec will not establish, and traffic will be dropped. Pings work because ICMP may be allowed by default, but IPsec-secured traffic is blocked without proper SAs.

Answer

The printer is not responding to ARP requests.

Answer

The printer's TCP/IP stack is misconfigured.

Answer

The print server is using the wrong port number.