220-1101 Practice Exam 3 — 20 Questions

Question 1

A technician is installing a new CPU on a compatible motherboard. After placing the CPU in the socket, the technician installs the heatsink and fan, connects the fan header to the motherboard, and powers on the system. The system powers on (fans spin, LEDs light) but immediately shuts down after about 3 seconds. Which of the following should the technician check FIRST?

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

Accepted Answer

Check if the CPU power connector (4/8-pin) is connected to the motherboard. The immediate shutdown after power-on indicates a power delivery issue, most commonly the CPU power connector (4/8-pin EPS12V) not being connected. Without this connector, the CPU receives no power, causing the system to start and then shut down as the motherboard detects the fault. This is the first thing to check because it is a simple, common oversight during CPU installation.

Answer

Check the PSU voltage output with a multimeter

Answer

Check if thermal paste was applied to the CPU

Answer

Check if the RAM is properly seated

Question 2

A technician is troubleshooting a laser printer that produces pages with a faint, blurry image on one side of the page (right edge). The problem occurs on every print job and the print quality is otherwise normal. The technician has already replaced the toner cartridge and the imaging drum, but the issue persists. Which of the following printer components is the MOST likely cause of this problem?

Accepted Answer

Transfer roller. The transfer roller applies a positive charge to the paper to attract the negatively charged toner from the imaging drum. If the transfer roller is damaged, worn, or has uneven pressure on one side, it will fail to transfer toner uniformly across the page, causing a faint, blurry image on the affected edge. Since the toner cartridge and imaging drum have already been replaced, the transfer roller is the next most likely cause of this localized print defect.

Answer

Fuser assembly

Answer

Laser scanner

Answer

Pickup rollers

Question 3

A network technician is installing a new fiber optic link between two switches located in different buildings. The technician uses identical SFP modules on both ends and connects them with a single fiber patch cable. After powering on, the link lights on both switches remain off. The technician verifies the SFP modules are compatible with the switches and that the cable is not damaged. Which of the following should the technician check NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Swap the transmit and receive connections at one end of the fiber cable. Fiber optic communication requires two separate strands: one for transmitting (TX) and one for receiving (RX). If a single fiber patch cable is used, it typically contains two fibers, but the connectors must be crossed at one end so that the TX of one switch connects to the RX of the other. Since the link lights are off despite compatible SFPs and an undamaged cable, the most likely issue is a polarity mismatch, where both ends are wired straight through (TX to TX, RX to RX), preventing the optical signal from being received.

Answer

Change the duplex settings on both switches to half-duplex

Answer

Update the firmware on both switches

Answer

Verify that the VLAN configuration matches on both ends

Question 4

A company subscribes to a cloud service that allows them to select a set amount of virtual CPU cores, RAM, and storage for their instances. They are billed monthly based on the total resources used, regardless of how many times they change the configuration. This billing model BEST represents which cloud computing characteristic?

Accepted Answer

Measured service. The billing model described charges based on the total resources (vCPU, RAM, storage) consumed over the month, regardless of configuration changes. This is the definition of measured service, where cloud resource usage is metered, monitored, and billed according to actual consumption. The key is that the cost is directly tied to the measured quantity of resources used, not to the frequency or method of provisioning.

Answer

On-demand self-service

Answer

Rapid elasticity

Answer

Resource pooling

Question 5

A technician is upgrading a workstation's CPU from an Intel Core i5-6500 (Skylake) to an Intel Core i7-7700 (Kaby Lake) on an LGA 1151 motherboard. The motherboard manufacturer's website lists the i7-7700 as compatible with BIOS version P2.10 or later. After installing the new CPU, the system powers on (fans spin, LEDs light) but displays a black screen with no POST beeps. The technician has already cleared the CMOS. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the issue?

Accepted Answer

The motherboard's BIOS version is too old to support the new CPU.. The Intel Core i7-7700 (Kaby Lake) requires a BIOS version P2.10 or later on this LGA 1151 motherboard. Since the system powers on but fails to POST with a black screen and no beeps, the most likely cause is that the current BIOS version predates P2.10, lacking the microcode needed to initialize the Kaby Lake CPU. Clearing CMOS does not update the BIOS, so the motherboard remains unable to communicate with the new processor.

Answer

The power supply unit is not providing enough wattage for the new CPU.

Answer

The new CPU is defective or was installed incorrectly.

Answer

The RAM modules are incompatible with the new CPU's memory controller.

Question 6

A user reports that their desktop computer intermittently loses network connectivity when the overhead fluorescent lights in the office are turned on. The link light on the network interface card (NIC) turns off during these events. The technician replaced the existing unshielded twisted pair (UTP) Cat5e cable with a shielded Cat6 cable, but the problem continues. Which of the following should the technician do NEXT to resolve the issue?

Accepted Answer

Move the Ethernet cable away from the fluorescent light fixtures. The problem is electromagnetic interference (EMI) from the fluorescent lights, which generates a strong magnetic field that induces noise in the Ethernet cable. Even with shielded Cat6 cable, the interference can still couple into the signal if the cable is routed too close to the light fixtures, especially if the shielding is not properly grounded. Moving the cable away from the fixtures physically separates the cable from the EMI source, which is the most direct and effective next step.

Answer

Replace the network switch

Answer

Replace the network interface card (NIC)

Answer

Check the grounding of the electrical system in the building

Question 7

A cloud provider hosts virtual servers for multiple clients on the same physical hardware. Each client's data and applications are logically isolated from others, and the clients have no knowledge of where their resources are physically located. This is an example of which essential characteristic of cloud computing?

Accepted Answer

Resource pooling. Resource pooling is the correct answer because the scenario describes a cloud provider using virtualization to aggregate physical hardware resources (compute, storage, network) and dynamically assign them to multiple clients. Each client's data and applications are logically isolated, and the clients have no awareness or control over the exact physical location of their resources, which is the defining characteristic of resource pooling as per NIST SP 800-145.

Answer

Rapid elasticity

Answer

Measured service

Answer

On-demand self-service

Question 8

A technician is troubleshooting a laser printer that produces pages with a vertical black streak that repeats every 2 inches down the page. The technician has already replaced the toner cartridge and the imaging drum with brand-new OEM components. The streak appears in the same location on every page. Which of the following printer components should the technician inspect or replace NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Fuser assembly. The fuser assembly uses heat and pressure to permanently bond toner to the paper. A damaged fuser roller (e.g., a nick, scratch, or melted toner buildup) will cause a repeating defect at a distance equal to the circumference of that roller. Since the streak repeats every 2 inches, this matches the typical circumference of a fuser roller, and replacing the toner cartridge and drum did not resolve the issue, making the fuser the next logical component to inspect or replace.

Answer

Transfer roller

Answer

Pickup rollers

Answer

Laser scanner assembly

Question 9

A network technician is troubleshooting intermittent connectivity issues on a small office network. The issue only occurs for a few minutes at a time, and users lose access to both internal servers and the internet. During the issue, the technician can ping the default gateway from the core switch but not from the router. The router logs show multiple 'Duplicate IP address' errors for the router's LAN interface. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?

Accepted Answer

A rogue DHCP server on the network. The 'Duplicate IP address' error on the router's LAN interface indicates that another device on the network is using the same IP address as the router. A rogue DHCP server can assign the router's IP address to another client, causing intermittent connectivity loss. During the conflict, the router cannot respond to traffic, which explains why pinging the default gateway fails from the router but succeeds from the core switch (which may have a cached ARP entry or be on a different VLAN).

Answer

A misconfigured DHCP server on the network

Answer

A spanning tree protocol convergence loop

Answer

A faulty network cable causing CRC errors

Question 10

A company wants to move its email system to the cloud. The IT team wants to avoid managing physical servers and applying software updates, but they need full control over email policies, user accounts, and security settings. Which cloud service model BEST meets these requirements?

Accepted Answer

Software as a Service (SaaS). SaaS is the correct choice because it delivers the email application as a fully managed service, eliminating the need for the IT team to manage physical servers or apply software updates. At the same time, SaaS solutions like Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace provide granular administrative controls for email policies, user accounts, and security settings through web-based portals, meeting the requirement for full control without infrastructure management.

Answer

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

Answer

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

Answer

Desktop as a Service (DaaS)

Question 11

A technician is troubleshooting a desktop computer that shuts down unexpectedly when the user runs a 3D rendering application. The technician has already replaced the power supply unit (PSU) with a known-good unit of the same wattage, verified that all cooling fans are working, and checked that CPU and GPU temperatures remain within normal limits during the rendering process. The RAM passes a memory test. Which of the following should the technician check NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Check the voltage output from the wall outlet. The technician has already replaced the PSU with a known-good unit of the same wattage, but the issue persists. This suggests that the problem may not be the PSU itself, but rather insufficient or unstable input power from the wall outlet. A voltage drop or brownout condition under load can cause the system to shut down unexpectedly, even if all components are functioning correctly. Checking the voltage output from the wall outlet with a multimeter is the logical next step to rule out an external power quality issue.

Answer

Replace the motherboard

Answer

Update the BIOS firmware

Answer

Replace the graphics card

Question 12

A technician is troubleshooting a desktop computer in a machine shop. The computer experiences intermittent network connectivity loss, specifically when a large electric motor on a nearby lathe is started. The link light on the network interface card (NIC) turns off during these events. The technician has already replaced the Ethernet cable with a shielded Cat6a cable and moved the computer to a different electrical circuit on a different breaker panel. The problem persists. Which of the following should the technician do NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Use a fiber optic Ethernet cable and media converters. The large electric motor generates strong electromagnetic interference (EMI) when started. Shielded Cat6a cable reduces but does not eliminate EMI, and moving to a different circuit does not address radiated interference. Fiber optic cable is completely immune to EMI because it uses light pulses instead of electrical signals, making it the definitive solution for this environment.

Answer

Replace the network interface card with one that supports a higher level of error correction

Answer

Install a ferrite core on the Ethernet cable near the computer

Answer

Replace the power supply unit (PSU) of the computer with a model that has better electrical noise filtering

Question 13

A technician is troubleshooting a workstation that cannot connect to the network. The link light on the network interface card is blinking amber, and the switch port shows no link light. The Ethernet cable run from the workstation to the patch panel is approximately 125 meters. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the connectivity issue?

Accepted Answer

The cable exceeds the maximum segment length for Ethernet.. The Ethernet cable run is 125 meters, which exceeds the IEEE 802.3 maximum segment length of 100 meters for twisted-pair copper cabling (e.g., Cat5e, Cat6). This distance causes signal attenuation and timing issues, preventing the switch port from establishing a link, as indicated by the absence of a link light on the switch and the amber blinking link light on the NIC (which often signals a physical-layer problem).

Answer

The cable is damaged near the connector.

Answer

The network switch is not providing PoE.

Answer

The workstation's NIC is set to a static IP address.

Question 14

A technician is installing network cabling for a new office. The office has a server room in the basement, and the technician needs to connect workstations on the 2nd floor, which is approximately 120 meters (394 feet) away. The required bandwidth is 1 Gbps. Which cabling type should the technician use?

Accepted Answer

Multi-mode fiber. Multi-mode fiber, because the distance requirement of 120 meters exceeds the maximum segment length for twisted-pair copper cabling (Cat5e and Cat6), which is 100 meters for 1 Gbps. Multi-mode fiber supports distances up to 550 meters at 1 Gbps using 1000BASE-SX, making it the only viable option among the choices.

Answer

Cat5e

Answer

Cat6

Answer

Coaxial

Question 15

A technician is upgrading a desktop PC by adding two additional 8GB DDR4-3200 RAM sticks to an existing pair of 8GB DDR4-3200 sticks. After installation, the system powers on but does not POST; the fans spin and the power LED is on, but no display appears. The technician has reseated all four sticks and verified they are fully clicked into place. The original two sticks alone allow the system to boot normally. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the issue?

Accepted Answer

The memory controller cannot handle the combined load of four dual-rank modules, causing memory training failure during POST.. The most likely cause is that the memory controller cannot handle the combined load of four dual-rank modules, leading to memory training failure during POST. With four dual-rank sticks, the electrical load on the memory bus increases significantly, which can prevent the system from completing the initial memory training sequence. This is a common issue on consumer platforms where the memory controller is optimized for two modules or single-rank configurations, and the original two sticks alone boot normally because they present a lighter load.

Answer

The new RAM sticks are of a different DDR generation (e.g., DDR3) and are not compatible with the motherboard.

Answer

The motherboard does not support running four memory modules simultaneously; it only supports two modules in dual-channel mode.

Answer

The new RAM sticks are defective, as they do not match the speed of the original sticks.

Question 16

A company runs a critical application on a virtual machine (VM) in a public cloud. The application requires a static private IP address and persistent block storage that must be retained if the VM is replaced. Due to performance issues, the IT team needs to migrate the application to a new VM with more vCPUs and RAM. Which of the following actions will achieve this with minimal downtime while preserving the static IP and data?

Accepted Answer

C) Detach the persistent storage volume from the old VM, create a new VM with the desired resources, attach the volume, and assign the static IP to the new VM. It directly addresses the requirements: detaching the persistent block storage (e.g., a cloud volume like an EBS or persistent disk) preserves the data independently of the VM lifecycle, and assigning the static private IP to the new VM maintains network identity. This approach minimizes downtime by avoiding data transfer over the network and allows the new VM to be provisioned with the desired vCPUs and RAM while the old VM remains running until the cutover.

Answer

A) Create a new VM with the desired resources, then manually copy the application data over the network

Answer

B) Migrate the existing VM to a different physical host within the same cloud region

Answer

D) Take a snapshot of the current VM and deploy a new VM instance from that snapshot, then reconfigure the IP

Question 17

A user reports that their workstation cannot access the internet. The technician runs ipconfig and sees that the workstation has an IP address of 169.254.23.45 with a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0. The technician checks the network cable and link lights; they are normal. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The DHCP server is not responding. The IP address 169.254.23.45 with a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0 is an Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) address, which Windows assigns when a DHCP server cannot be reached. Since the link lights are normal and the cable is not faulty, the most likely cause is that the DHCP server is not responding, preventing the workstation from obtaining a valid IP address.

Answer

The Ethernet cable is faulty

Answer

The DNS server is misconfigured

Answer

The default gateway is incorrect

Question 18

A technician is troubleshooting a desktop computer that powers on, but the system emits three long beeps and does not display anything on the monitor. The technician has already reseated the RAM modules in their original slots. Which of the following should the technician do NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Test each RAM module individually, or swap with known good modules. Three long beeps during POST typically indicate a memory (RAM) failure. Since reseating the RAM in the original slots did not resolve the issue, the next logical step is to isolate the fault by testing each module individually or swapping with known good modules. This follows the standard troubleshooting methodology of component isolation before moving to more invasive steps.

Answer

Replace the power supply with a known good unit

Answer

Reseat the CPU and reapply thermal paste

Answer

Clear the CMOS by removing the battery

Question 19

A systems administrator manages a virtualized environment with a hypervisor hosting multiple virtual machines (VMs). A critical database VM experiences performance degradation during peak hours because other VMs consume a large amount of CPU resources. The administrator wants to ensure that the database VM always receives at least 2 vCPUs worth of processing power, regardless of the demand from other VMs. Which virtualization feature should the administrator configure?

Accepted Answer

Resource reservation. Resource reservation guarantees a minimum amount of CPU capacity (in MHz or vCPUs) to a specific VM, ensuring the database VM always has at least 2 vCPUs worth of processing power even when other VMs are highly active. This feature is configured on the hypervisor (e.g., VMware vSphere or Microsoft Hyper-V) and prevents resource starvation by reserving physical CPU cycles for that VM.

Answer

Load balancing

Answer

CPU affinity

Answer

Dynamic memory allocation

Question 20

A user reports that their smartphone emits no sound from the bottom speaker (used for speakerphone and media playback). The earpiece works during phone calls, and audio through wired headphones is normal. The volume is turned up and the phone is not in silent mode. The technician has verified that the software audio settings are correct. Which of the following components is MOST likely faulty?

Accepted Answer

Bottom speaker. The bottom speaker is the dedicated transducer for speakerphone and media playback audio. Since the earpiece (top speaker) and wired headphone output both work correctly, the audio codec and signal path are intact up to the bottom speaker's amplifier or voice coil. A failure of the bottom speaker itself—such as an open voice coil, torn diaphragm, or corroded contacts—would selectively silence only that output while leaving all other audio paths functional.

Answer

Audio codec chip

Answer

Battery

Answer

Proximity sensor