220-1201 Practice Exam 53 — 20 Questions

Question 1

A security audit reveals that an internal file server is listening on multiple ports, including 137, 138, 139, and 445. The auditor recommends disabling older protocols. Which port is associated with SMB over TCP/IP directly (without NetBIOS)?

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

Accepted Answer

445. Port 445 is the correct answer because it is used by Microsoft SMB (Server Message Block) for direct TCP/IP communication without the need for NetBIOS. This is known as SMB over TCP (or SMB Direct), which operates as a transport protocol directly over TCP, bypassing the NetBIOS layer. Ports 137, 138, and 139 are associated with NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NBT), which is the older protocol stack that the auditor recommends disabling.

Answer

137

Answer

139

Answer

443

Question 2

A company deploys a new VoIP system. Users report that calls drop frequently. The network uses a single flat subnet with no QoS configured. The technician monitors traffic and sees high bandwidth utilization during peak hours. What is the most effective solution to improve call quality?

Accepted Answer

Replace all switches with managed switches and enable QoS. This question tests knowledge of Quality of Service (QoS) and network segmentation. VoIP traffic is sensitive to latency and jitter. Implementing QoS prioritizes voice traffic over other data, ensuring call quality even during high utilization. VLANs can also help by separating voice and data traffic.

Answer

Increase the bandwidth of the internet connection

Answer

Change all VoIP phones to use static IP addresses

Answer

Disable DHCP on the network to reduce broadcast traffic

Question 3

A customer reports that their internet connection drops frequently during rainstorms. They have a DSL line and a standard modem. Which factor most likely causes this issue?

Accepted Answer

Moisture in the copper line causes signal degradation.. DSL operates over copper telephone lines, which are susceptible to moisture ingress during rainstorms. Water in the line increases signal attenuation and introduces impedance mismatches, causing the modem to lose synchronization with the DSLAM. This results in frequent disconnections, as the DSL signal degrades below the threshold required for a stable link.

Answer

The modem's power supply is failing.

Answer

The customer's router is overheating.

Answer

The ISP is throttling the connection during storms.

Question 4

A small office is setting up a new VoIP phone system. The IT staff must run new cabling to each desk. Which cable type is most appropriate for connecting VoIP phones to the network?

Accepted Answer

Cat5e UTP. Cat5e UTP cable supports 1000BASE-T Ethernet at up to 100 meters, which is sufficient for VoIP phones that typically require 100 Mbps or 1 Gbps connectivity and can also receive Power over Ethernet (PoE) from a switch. This makes it the standard choice for new office cabling for VoIP deployments.

Answer

Coaxial cable

Answer

Fiber optic cable

Answer

Serial cable

Question 5

A customer complains that their external USB hard drive is not recognized when plugged into any port on their laptop. The drive spins up and its LED lights up. The drive works fine on another computer. What is the most likely issue?

Accepted Answer

The laptop is missing or has corrupted USB mass storage drivers.. Because the drive spins up, lights up, and works on another computer, the hardware (drive, enclosure, cable, and the other machine's ports) is functional. The failure is isolated to the laptop's ability to enumerate the USB mass storage device, which points to missing or corrupted USB mass storage drivers on that laptop. Reinstalling or updating the USB storage driver typically resolves it.

Answer

The USB port is physically damaged.

Answer

The external drive's enclosure has a faulty controller board.

Answer

The USB cable is defective.

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. Since the server must be accessible from the internet via HTTPS, the firewall must forward TCP port 443 to the server's internal IP address. Internal users can reach the server because they are on the same local network and bypass the firewall's port forwarding rule, but external traffic on port 443 is blocked unless the rule is correctly configured.

Answer

TCP 80

Answer

UDP 443

Answer

TCP 3389

Question 7

A technician is configuring a server that requires maximum memory bandwidth for virtual machines. The motherboard has four memory slots and supports dual-channel architecture. The technician installs two 16 GB DIMMs. Which configuration will provide the best performance?

Accepted Answer

Install both DIMMs in slots 1 and 3 (different channels). Dual-channel memory architecture requires matched pairs of DIMMs installed in specific slots (usually slots 1 and 3 or 2 and 4) to operate in dual-channel mode. Installing them in the same channel (e.g., slots 1 and 2) forces single-channel mode, halving memory bandwidth.

Answer

Install both DIMMs in slots 1 and 2 (same channel)

Answer

Install one DIMM in slot 1 and leave the other empty

Answer

Install both DIMMs in slots 2 and 3 (adjacent slots)

Question 8

A technician is configuring a small office network with 15 computers and a single router. The router's WAN port is connected to a cable modem, and the LAN port is connected to a switch. All computers are connected to the switch. The technician assigns the router's LAN interface the IP 192.168.0.1/24. What should be the default gateway setting on each computer?

Accepted Answer

192.168.0.1. The default gateway is the router's LAN interface IP address because it is the next-hop device that forwards traffic from the local subnet to external networks. Since the router's LAN interface is configured as 192.168.0.1/24, all computers on the 192.168.0.0/24 subnet must use that address as their default gateway to reach the internet via the cable modem.

Answer

The IP address of the cable modem.

Answer

The IP address of the switch.

Answer

192.168.0.255

Question 9

During a system boot, a user sees an error message: 'CMOS checksum error - Defaults loaded.' The system then boots normally but loses the date and time settings after power-off. What is the most likely hardware failure?

Accepted Answer

The motherboard's CMOS battery is depleted or failing.. The CMOS checksum error indicates that the BIOS settings are corrupted or not being retained. The date/time resetting after power-off points to a failing or dead CMOS battery, which powers the volatile memory that stores these settings when the system is off.

Answer

The UEFI firmware has become corrupted and needs reflashing.

Answer

The power supply unit is not providing enough standby power.

Answer

The hard drive is failing and corrupting the boot sector.

Question 10

A technician is troubleshooting a customer's smart home setup where the thermostat, lights, and door lock are controlled via a smartphone app. The devices communicate directly with each other without a central hub, but the range is limited to about 30 meters. Which network type is being used?

Accepted Answer

Personal Area Network (PAN). This scenario describes a Personal Area Network (PAN) because the devices (thermostat, lights, door lock) communicate directly with each other over a short range of approximately 30 meters without a central hub. This is characteristic of PAN technologies like Zigbee or Z-Wave, which use mesh networking to extend range and allow direct device-to-device communication within a limited area.

Answer

Local Area Network (LAN)

Answer

Wide Area Network (WAN)

Answer

Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)

Question 11

A technician is deploying a new Android app across several company tablets. The app requires access to the device's camera to scan barcodes. During testing, the app fails to open the camera on one tablet but works on others. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The camera permission for the app has been denied.. The most likely cause is that the camera permission for the app has been denied. On Android, apps must request runtime permissions for sensitive hardware like the camera. If the user or a policy denied this permission, the app cannot access the camera, even if the hardware is functional. This explains why the app works on other tablets where the permission was granted.

Answer

The tablet's camera hardware is defective.

Answer

The app is not compatible with the tablet's Android version.

Answer

The tablet's storage is full, preventing the app from saving photos.

Question 12

A user reports that their iPhone 12 will not turn on after being left in a hot car for several hours. The device feels warm, and pressing the power button does nothing. What is the most likely cause of the device not powering on?

Accepted Answer

The device entered a thermal shutdown state to protect internal components. Smartphones like the iPhone 12 have thermal protection mechanisms that automatically shut down or prevent power-on when internal temperatures exceed safe limits. Leaving the device in a hot car can trigger this thermal shutdown state, which explains why the device feels warm and does not respond to the power button. Once the device cools to a safe temperature, it should power on normally.

Answer

The battery has expanded due to heat and disconnected from the logic board

Answer

The device's logic board has been permanently damaged by heat

Answer

The power button is stuck due to heat expansion

Question 13

A company uses virtual machines for its production environment. A technician needs to perform maintenance on the host server without disrupting the VMs. The technician wants to move the VMs to another host in the cluster while they are running. Which feature must be configured to allow this?

Accepted Answer

Live migration (vMotion). Live migration (vMotion in VMware) moves a running VM from one host to another within a cluster with no downtime and no disruption to the guest OS or its workloads. This is precisely the feature required to perform host maintenance while keeping production VMs running.

Answer

Virtual machine snapshots

Answer

Virtual switch trunking

Answer

Resource pooling

Question 14

A small business owner wants to set up a network that covers three separate buildings within a 200-meter radius, with no internet access required between them. They need a simple, low-cost solution that can be installed quickly without running cables between buildings. Which network type should be recommended?

Accepted Answer

Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN). A Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) is the best choice because it can connect multiple buildings using wireless bridges or mesh networking, covering a 200-meter radius without cables. It is simple, low-cost, and does not require internet access. WPAN (Bluetooth/ZigBee) has too short a range (typically <100m) for inter-building connections. MAN and WAN are designed for larger geographic areas and often involve higher costs and internet connectivity.

Answer

Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN)

Answer

Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)

Answer

Wide Area Network (WAN)

Question 15

A technician is configuring a new all-in-one PC for a graphic designer. The designer needs to calibrate the display for accurate color reproduction. Which technology should the technician ensure the monitor supports?

Accepted Answer

IPS panel with high color gamut. An IPS (In-Plane Switching) panel with a high color gamut (e.g., sRGB, Adobe RGB, or DCI-P3 coverage) is essential for accurate color reproduction. IPS technology provides consistent color and brightness across wide viewing angles, which is critical for graphic design work where color fidelity is paramount. High color gamut ensures the display can reproduce a broader range of colors, meeting professional calibration standards.

Answer

TN panel with 144Hz refresh rate

Answer

VA panel with high contrast ratio

Answer

OLED panel with burn-in protection

Question 16

A technician is setting up a virtual lab on a laptop with 8 GB RAM and a dual-core CPU. The technician creates two VMs: one with 4 GB RAM and one with 2 GB RAM. The host OS is Windows 10. When both VMs are running, the laptop becomes unresponsive and the VMs are extremely slow. The technician checks resource monitor and sees that the host is using 95% of RAM. What should the technician do to improve performance without purchasing new hardware?

Accepted Answer

Reduce the RAM allocation of the 4 GB VM to 2 GB.. The host has 8 GB RAM, and the two VMs are configured for 4 GB + 2 GB = 6 GB, leaving only ~2 GB for Windows 10 itself, which is why the host is at 95% RAM and thrashing. Reducing the 4 GB VM to 2 GB brings total VM allocation to 4 GB, leaving ~4 GB for the host and relieving the memory pressure without new hardware.

Answer

Enable hardware virtualization in the BIOS.

Answer

Convert the VMs to use dynamic memory allocation.

Answer

Move the VMs to a Type 1 hypervisor.

Question 17

A user wants to connect their laptop to a 4K external monitor for a presentation. The laptop has USB-C ports, and the monitor supports HDMI and DisplayPort. Which adapter or cable should the technician recommend for the best video quality?

Accepted Answer

USB-C to DisplayPort cable. A USB-C to DisplayPort cable supports native DisplayPort Alt Mode over USB-C, which can deliver uncompressed 4K video at 60Hz or higher without conversion. This provides the best video quality for a 4K external monitor, as DisplayPort is designed for high-bandwidth video and supports higher refresh rates and color depths than HDMI in many implementations.

Answer

USB-C to VGA adapter

Answer

USB-C to HDMI adapter

Answer

USB-C to DVI adapter

Question 18

A user says their monitor suddenly turned off and will not power on. The power LED on the monitor is off. They have checked the power cable and it is securely connected. What should the technician do next?

Accepted Answer

Test the power outlet with a known-working device. With the power LED off and the power cable securely connected, the next logical step is to verify the power source. Testing the outlet with a known-working device (e.g., a lamp or another monitor) quickly determines if the outlet is dead, which is a common cause. This is a standard troubleshooting step before replacing hardware.

Answer

Replace the monitor's internal power supply

Answer

Reseat the video cable connecting the monitor to the PC

Answer

Replace the monitor with a new one

Question 19

A company uses a public cloud provider for compute resources. To reduce costs, they want to use unused capacity at a lower price but accept that the instance may be terminated with short notice. Which pricing model should they choose?

Accepted Answer

Spot instance. Spot instances (also called Spot VMs or preemptible instances) let you bid on a cloud provider's unused compute capacity at steep discounts — often 70-90% below on-demand pricing. The trade-off is that the provider can reclaim (terminate) the instance with only a short warning (typically 2 minutes on AWS), which matches the company's stated willingness to accept short-notice termination in exchange for lower cost.

Answer

On-demand instance

Answer

Reserved instance

Answer

Dedicated host

Question 20

A technician is tasked with upgrading a desktop computer that has a 500GB SATA SSD and a 2TB SATA HDD. The motherboard has one M.2 slot (PCIe 3.0 x4) and four SATA III ports. The user wants faster boot times and application loading. Which upgrade will provide the most noticeable performance improvement?

Accepted Answer

Install an M.2 NVMe SSD and migrate the OS and applications to it.. The M.2 slot supports PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe, which delivers dramatically higher sequential and random IOPS than SATA III (roughly 3,500 MB/s vs 550 MB/s). Migrating the OS and applications to an NVMe SSD directly addresses the stated goals of faster boot times and application loading, since those workloads are dominated by random read latency. This is the single upgrade that most directly improves the metrics the user cares about.

Answer

Replace the 2TB HDD with a 2TB SATA SSD.

Answer

Add more RAM to the system.

Answer

Replace the 500GB SATA SSD with a larger SATA SSD.