220-1101 Practice Test 24 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A technician replaced a damaged Cat5e patch cable that connected a workstation to a wall jack. After replacement, the workstation reports a network connection speed of 100 Mbps instead of the expected 1 Gbps. Both the workstation's NIC and the switch port support 1 Gbps. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the reduced speed?

Accepted Answer

The new cable is a Cat5 cable instead of Cat5e. Cat5e cable is rated for 1 Gbps (1000BASE-T) up to 100 meters, while Cat5 cable is only certified for 100 Mbps (100BASE-TX) over the same distance. Using a Cat5 cable instead of Cat5e forces the auto-negotiation process to fall back to the highest common denominator supported by the cable, which is 100 Mbps. This explains why the workstation reports 100 Mbps despite both the NIC and switch port supporting 1 Gbps.

Answer

The new cable is a crossover cable

Answer

The new cable exceeds the maximum length for 1 Gbps

Answer

The switch port is configured for 100 Mbps only

Question 2

A technician is installing a CPU on a motherboard with an LGA socket. After placing the CPU in the socket, closing the lever, applying thermal paste, and mounting the heatsink, the technician powers on the system. The CPU temperature quickly rises to 100°C and the system shuts down after a few seconds. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The heatsink fan is not connected.. The CPU temperature rapidly reaching 100°C and triggering a thermal shutdown within seconds indicates that the heatsink is not actively dissipating heat. The most common cause is that the heatsink fan is not connected to the CPU_FAN header, preventing the fan from spinning. Without airflow, the heatsink quickly becomes saturated with heat, leading to immediate overheating even if thermal paste is applied correctly.

Answer

The thermal paste was not applied evenly.

Answer

The CPU was not oriented correctly in the socket.

Answer

The CPU is overclocked beyond safe limits.

Question 3

A company is migrating its large collection of user-uploaded photos and videos to a cloud service. The data is unstructured, accessed infrequently, and must be available via HTTP/HTTPS URLs. The IT administrator wants the most cost-effective storage solution that scales automatically without provisioning capacity in advance. Which cloud storage type should the administrator choose?

Accepted Answer

Object storage. Object storage is the correct choice because it is designed for unstructured data like photos and videos, accessed infrequently, and provides HTTP/HTTPS access via RESTful APIs. It scales automatically without requiring capacity provisioning, and its pay-as-you-go model makes it the most cost-effective for this use case.

Answer

Block storage

Answer

File storage

Answer

Hot storage tier

Question 4

A company runs a web application on a virtual machine in a public cloud IaaS environment. The application experiences unpredictable traffic spikes lasting 10–15 minutes. The company wants to automatically add more VM instances during spikes and remove them when traffic subsides, paying only for the resources used. Which cloud characteristic should the administrator configure to meet this requirement?

Accepted Answer

Elasticity. Elasticity is the cloud characteristic that automatically scales resources up or down based on demand, enabling the company to add VM instances during traffic spikes and remove them when traffic subsides, paying only for what is used. This matches the requirement for handling unpredictable, short-duration spikes (10–15 minutes) in an IaaS environment.

Answer

High availability

Answer

Fault tolerance

Answer

Load balancing

Question 5

A technician sets up a smartphone for a user who wants to connect a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. After pairing both devices, the user reports that typing on the keyboard produces random characters or repeated letters. The technician verifies that both devices are paired and show good battery levels. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of this issue?

Accepted Answer

The phone does not properly support both a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse simultaneously. The most likely cause is that the smartphone does not properly support simultaneous Bluetooth keyboard and mouse connections. Many mobile operating systems or Bluetooth stacks have limitations on the number or type of HID (Human Interface Device) profiles they can handle concurrently, especially when both are input devices. This can lead to input conflicts, such as repeated or random characters, even when both devices are paired and have sufficient battery.

Answer

Bluetooth interference from other wireless devices in the area

Answer

The keyboard has a low battery

Answer

The phone's screen is dirty

Question 6

A technician is replacing the central processing unit (CPU) on a motherboard that features an LGA1200 socket. Which of the following CPU families is MOST likely compatible with this socket?

Accepted Answer

Intel Core i7-10700K. The LGA1200 socket is designed for Intel's 10th and 11th generation Comet Lake and Rocket Lake processors. The Intel Core i7-10700K is a 10th generation Comet Lake CPU that uses the LGA1200 socket, making it the correct choice.

Answer

AMD Ryzen 7 3700X

Answer

Intel Core i5-8400

Answer

Intel Core i7-4770K

Question 7

A technician is installing a new wireless router in a small office. The router is connected to a cable modem that has a solid online light. All wireless clients can connect to the router’s Wi-Fi network, but they cannot access the internet. Which of the following should the technician check NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Verify the router’s WAN port settings and ensure it is set to obtain an IP address automatically. The cable modem has a solid online light, indicating it is functioning correctly and has internet connectivity. Since wireless clients can connect to the router but cannot access the internet, the issue is likely that the router's WAN interface is not receiving a public IP address from the modem. The technician should verify the router's WAN port settings and ensure it is set to obtain an IP address automatically via DHCP, as cable modems typically assign IP addresses using DHCP. This is the most logical next step because the router must have a valid WAN IP to route traffic to the internet.

Answer

Replace the Ethernet cable between the router and modem

Answer

Disable the router’s DHCP server and assign static IPs to clients

Answer

Adjust the DNS server settings on the wireless clients

Question 8

A technician is building a high-performance workstation for video editing. After assembling all components (CPU, GPU, RAM, storage, PSU), the system powers on, but the monitor remains blank. The motherboard has diagnostic LEDs. The CPU LED lights up briefly and then turns off. The BOOT LED stays on. The technician has verified that the monitor and cable are functional. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The GPU is not fully seated in the PCIe slot.. The CPU LED lighting up briefly and then turning off indicates that the CPU has passed its power-on self-test (POST). The BOOT LED staying on means the system is stuck at the boot device initialization stage, which often occurs when the primary display adapter (GPU) is not detected. Since the monitor and cable are verified functional, the most likely cause is that the GPU is not fully seated in the PCIe slot, preventing the system from initializing the display output.

Answer

The RAM is not compatible with the motherboard.

Answer

The boot drive has not been formatted.

Answer

The CPU is overheating.

Question 9

A technician is installing two 8 GB DDR4-3200 memory modules into a desktop motherboard that has four DIMM slots: A1, A2, B1, B2. The technician installs the modules in slots A1 and A2. When the system boots, it only detects 8 GB of RAM. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The modules are installed in the wrong slots for dual-channel support. Installing two identical memory modules in slots A1 and A2 (both on the same memory channel) forces the system to run in single-channel mode. Most desktop motherboards require modules to be placed in alternating slots (e.g., A1 and B1) to enable dual-channel operation. When dual-channel is not activated, the system may only recognize one module's capacity due to a common BIOS behavior that prioritizes channel A and ignores channel B if the configuration is invalid.

Answer

One of the RAM modules is defective

Answer

The memory modules are not compatible with the motherboard

Answer

The memory speed is set too high in the BIOS

Question 10

A technician is replacing the battery in a smartphone. After reassembly, the phone powers on and the screen works, but the battery icon shows 0% charge and the phone does not recognize the battery. The technician verifies that the battery connector is fully seated. Which of the following should the technician check NEXT?

Accepted Answer

The flex cable connecting the battery to the motherboard is damaged. The correct answer is D because the battery connector being fully seated does not rule out damage to the flex cable itself. A damaged flex cable can cause an open circuit or intermittent connection between the battery and the motherboard, preventing the battery management system from reading the battery's charge level or identification data, even though the phone powers on via residual charge or a direct power path.

Answer

The battery is defective and needs to be replaced

Answer

The charging port is damaged

Answer

The battery management chip is faulty

Question 11

A small office uses a single router that provides DHCP services for the LAN. The router is connected to a switch, and all workstations are connected to the switch. Two workstations (Workstation A and Workstation B) are unable to obtain an IP address from DHCP. They both receive APIPA addresses. Other workstations on the same switch obtain IP addresses and can access the internet. The technician checks the router's DHCP server logs and sees that the pool is not exhausted. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the issue?

Accepted Answer

Port security on the switch is limiting the number of MAC addresses per port. Port security on the switch can be configured to limit the number of MAC addresses allowed on a specific port. If the ports used by Workstation A and Workstation B have reached their MAC address limit, the switch will drop DHCP Discover broadcasts from those workstations, preventing them from obtaining an IP address. Since other workstations on different ports are working, and the DHCP pool is not exhausted, port security is the most likely cause.

Answer

The default gateway address is incorrect on the router

Answer

The switch ports used by the affected workstations are assigned to a different VLAN than the router

Answer

The DHCP relay agent on the switch is misconfigured

Question 12

A technician is troubleshooting a desktop computer that failed to boot after a lightning storm. The computer powers on (fans spin, LEDs light) but there is no POST and no beep codes. The technician has already tried a different monitor, reseated all RAM and expansion cards, and tested the power supply with a multimeter (all voltages within spec). Which of the following should the technician check NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Check the motherboard for bulging or leaking capacitors. The correct answer is A because after a lightning storm, a power surge can damage the motherboard's voltage regulator modules (VRMs) or other components, often indicated by bulging or leaking capacitors. The symptoms—power on but no POST and no beep codes—suggest the motherboard is not initializing the CPU or memory, which is consistent with capacitor failure. The technician has already verified the PSU output and reseated components, making motherboard damage the most likely next step to check.

Answer

Replace the CMOS battery

Answer

Test the surge protector

Answer

Reseat the CPU

Question 13

A technician is upgrading a desktop computer with a new high-end graphics card. The power supply unit (PSU) is rated at 500W. The new graphics card requires two 8-pin PCIe power connectors. The PSU has one 6+2 pin PCIe connector and one 6-pin PCIe connector. The technician uses a 6-pin to 8-pin power adapter to convert the 6-pin connector to an 8-pin. When the computer is powered on, the fans spin briefly, then the system shuts down immediately. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

B. The most likely cause is that the 6-pin PCIe connector, even with a 6-pin to 8-pin adapter, cannot deliver the required power for the high-end graphics card. A 6-pin connector is rated for 75W, while an 8-pin connector is rated for 150W. The adapter does not increase the power delivery capacity; it only changes the physical shape, so the PSU's 500W rating may be insufficient, but the immediate shutdown is due to overcurrent protection (OCP) tripping when the card attempts to draw more power than the 6-pin rail can supply.

Answer

A

Answer

C

Answer

D

Question 14

A technician is upgrading a desktop computer with a new graphics card that requires a 6-pin PCIe power connector. The existing power supply has sufficient wattage but does not have any PCIe power cables. Which of the following should the technician do to BEST resolve this issue?

Accepted Answer

Replace the power supply with one that has PCIe power cables. The correct answer is B because the existing power supply lacks PCIe power cables, and using adapters (Molex or SATA) can overload the power supply's 12V rail or cause instability due to inadequate current delivery. Replacing the power supply with one that has native PCIe connectors ensures proper power delivery and safety, as PCIe connectors are rated for up to 75W per 6-pin cable, while adapters may not handle sustained loads reliably.

Answer

Use a Molex-to-PCIe power adapter

Answer

Use a SATA-to-PCIe power adapter

Answer

Leave the PCIe power connector unplugged and install the card

Question 15

A server administrator needs to apply a critical security patch to a production virtual machine. The patch has the potential to cause the VM to become unstable. Which of the following should the administrator do FIRST to minimize the risk of a prolonged outage?

Accepted Answer

Take a snapshot of the VM. Taking a snapshot captures the VM's current state, including disk data and memory, allowing the administrator to revert instantly if the patch causes instability. This minimizes downtime compared to a full backup, which requires a restore process. Snapshots are designed for quick rollback in virtualized environments like VMware vSphere or Hyper-V.

Answer

Create a full backup of the VM to a separate storage location

Answer

Migrate the VM to another physical host

Answer

Power off the VM before applying the patch