220-1101 Practice Test 25 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A user is unable to print to a network printer. Other users on the same network can print to it successfully. The technician checks the user's workstation and confirms it has a valid IP address on the correct subnet. The printer's network cable is plugged in, and the link lights are active. Which of the following should the technician check FIRST?

Accepted Answer

The user's printer driver configuration. Since other users can print to the network printer successfully, the printer itself, its network connectivity, and the switch port are all functioning correctly. The issue is isolated to the user's workstation, and a valid IP address on the correct subnet indicates basic network connectivity is present. Therefore, the most likely cause is a misconfigured or corrupted printer driver on the user's machine, making the printer driver configuration the first thing to check.

Answer

The printer's toner or ink levels

Answer

The switch port that the printer is connected to

Answer

The network cable connecting the printer

Question 2

A technician upgrades a workstation's memory. The motherboard has four DIMM slots and supports dual-channel DDR4 memory. Two 8 GB DDR4-3200 modules are installed in slots A1 and B1. The system boots, detects 16 GB of RAM, but reports the memory speed at 2133 MHz. Which step should the technician take to achieve the rated speed of 3200 MHz?

Accepted Answer

Enable XMP/DOCP in the BIOS. The correct answer is B because the memory is running at the JEDEC default speed of 2133 MHz, not the rated 3200 MHz. To achieve the higher speed, the technician must enable Intel XMP (Extreme Memory Profile) or AMD DOCP (Direct Overclock Profile) in the BIOS, which loads the manufacturer's overclocking profile for the rated frequency and timings.

Answer

Install the modules in slots A1 and A2 instead

Answer

Replace the modules with DDR4-2666

Answer

Update the motherboard chipset drivers

Question 3

A technician is setting up a small office network. The ISP provides a modem with a single Ethernet port. The office has 10 computers that all need to share the single public IP address to access the internet. Which of the following devices should the technician connect directly to the modem to allow all computers to access the internet?

Accepted Answer

B. The correct answer is B because a router is required to perform Network Address Translation (NAT), which allows multiple devices on a local network to share a single public IP address provided by the ISP's modem. The router connects directly to the modem's Ethernet port and then distributes private IP addresses (e.g., 192.168.x.x) to the 10 computers, translating their outbound traffic to the single public IP. A switch or hub alone cannot perform NAT and would not enable internet sharing without a router.

Answer

A

Answer

C

Answer

D

Question 4

A network administrator configures a new managed switch with 24 ports. All ports are in the same VLAN (VLAN 1) by default. The administrator then changes ports 1-12 to VLAN 10 and ports 13-24 to VLAN 20. Computers connected to ports in different VLANs are assigned IP addresses from the same DHCP server. Which of the following is a direct consequence of this configuration?

Accepted Answer

Computers in different VLANs cannot communicate unless a router is configured. VLANs segment a network at Layer 2, isolating broadcast domains. Without a router or Layer 3 switch configured for inter-VLAN routing, devices in different VLANs cannot communicate because they are on separate subnets and the switch will not forward frames between VLANs. The DHCP server can still assign IP addresses if it is connected to a port that is a member of both VLANs (e.g., a trunk port) or if a DHCP relay (ip helper-address) is configured on the router, but direct Layer 2 communication between VLANs is impossible without a routing device.

Answer

Computers in different VLANs can communicate directly at Layer 2

Answer

The switch will forward traffic between VLANs using internal routing

Answer

DHCP requests from VLAN 20 will be dropped by the switch

Question 5

A technician is installing a 2.5" SATA SSD in a desktop computer that already has an M.2 SATA SSD installed in the primary M.2 slot. After connecting the SATA SSD to a SATA port, the computer boots normally but the new SATA SSD is not detected in Windows. The technician verifies the SATA cable is secure and the drive has power. The motherboard manual shows that the M.2 slot shares bandwidth with SATA port 5. The technician has connected the new drive to SATA port 3. Which of the following should the technician do NEXT to resolve the issue?

Accepted Answer

Check Windows Disk Management to initialize and format the new drive.. The new SATA SSD is not detected in Windows, but the technician has already verified the cable is secure and the drive has power. Since the drive is connected to SATA port 3, which does not share bandwidth with the M.2 slot (only SATA port 5 does), the issue is likely that the drive is simply not initialized or formatted. The next logical step is to check Windows Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) to see if the drive appears there and needs to be brought online, initialized, or formatted.

Answer

Move the SATA SSD to SATA port 5 to avoid potential bandwidth conflicts.

Answer

Disable the M.2 SSD in the BIOS to free up bandwidth for the SATA port.

Answer

Replace the SATA cable with a known-good cable.

Question 6

A technician is troubleshooting a workstation that cannot connect to the network. The link light on the network interface card (NIC) is solid, and the technician can successfully ping the loopback address (127.0.0.1). Running ipconfig shows an IP address of 169.254.15.200 with a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0. Which of the following is the most likely cause of the connectivity issue?

Accepted Answer

The DHCP server is unavailable or not responding. The IP address 169.254.15.200 with a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0 is an Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) address, which Windows assigns when a DHCP discovery broadcast fails to receive a response. Since the link light is solid and loopback ping succeeds, the NIC and TCP/IP stack are functional, pointing to a DHCP server that is unavailable or not responding as the root cause.

Answer

The default gateway is misconfigured

Answer

The DNS server is not resolving domain names

Answer

The NIC driver is faulty

Question 7

A company runs a web application on a virtual machine (VM) in a public cloud. The application experiences a sudden spike in traffic lasting about 45 minutes every day at lunchtime. The VM currently has 4 vCPUs and 8 GB of RAM, which is sufficient for normal traffic but causes slow response times during the spike. The company wants to ensure the application performs well during spikes without permanently upgrading the VM to larger resources. Which cloud characteristic should the administrator use to meet this requirement?

Accepted Answer

Elasticity. Elasticity in cloud computing refers to the ability to automatically scale resources up or down based on demand, and then scale back down to reduce costs when the demand subsides. This is ideal for predictable but temporary spikes like the one described. Scalability is a broader term that refers to the ability to increase resources, but it does not inherently include automatic scaling down. Metered service means you pay for what you use, but it does not provide automatic scaling. High availability ensures uptime but does not adjust resource sizing based on load. Therefore, elasticity is the correct characteristic for this scenario.

Answer

Scalability

Answer

Metered service

Answer

High availability

Question 8

A company wants to migrate its customer relationship management (CRM) application to the cloud. The CRM requires a specific version of Windows Server and custom software that the IT team needs to install and manage. The company wants to minimize hardware costs but retain full control over the operating system and applications. Which cloud service model is most appropriate?

Accepted Answer

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) provides virtualized computing resources over the internet, including virtual machines with full control over the operating system and installed software. This model allows the company to run a specific version of Windows Server and custom CRM software while minimizing hardware costs through shared infrastructure.

Answer

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Answer

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

Answer

Desktop as a Service (DaaS)

Question 9

A small office uses a single router with DHCP enabled for 50 devices. Recently, some devices cannot obtain an IP address, while others work fine. The technician checks the DHCP lease table and sees that it is nearly full with 49 active leases. The network uses a default Class C subnet (255.255.255.0). Which of the following is the MOST appropriate solution to ensure all devices can obtain an IP address in the future?

Accepted Answer

Increase the DHCP scope size by changing the subnet mask to /23 (255.255.254.0).. Option C is correct because the default Class C subnet mask /24 (255.255.255.0) provides only 254 usable IP addresses, but the DHCP scope is limited to a smaller range (often 192.168.1.1–192.168.1.254). With 49 active leases out of a typical default pool of 50–100 addresses, the scope is nearly exhausted. Changing the subnet mask to /23 (255.255.254.0) expands the network to 510 usable addresses, doubling the DHCP scope and ensuring all 50 devices can obtain IP addresses without exhausting the pool.

Answer

Change the router's LAN IP address to a different private subnet, such as 10.0.0.1/8.

Answer

Reduce the DHCP lease time so that addresses are recycled more frequently.

Answer

Disable DHCP on the router and assign static IP addresses to all devices.

Question 10

A technician is building a new desktop computer. The motherboard has two M.2 slots. The technician installs an M.2 NVMe SSD in the first slot, but the system does not recognize it during POST. The BIOS shows the SATA ports are in use. The technician checks the motherboard manual and finds that one of the SATA ports is disabled when the M.2 slot is used. Which of the following is the most likely reason the M.2 SSD is not detected?

Accepted Answer

The M.2 slot shares bandwidth with a SATA port that has a drive connected. The motherboard manual indicates that one SATA port is disabled when the M.2 slot is used, which is a classic sign of shared bandwidth. Since the BIOS shows SATA ports are in use, the M.2 slot is likely sharing its PCIe lanes with that specific SATA port, and the connected SATA drive is consuming the shared resources, preventing the M.2 NVMe SSD from being detected. This is a common design choice on consumer motherboards to reduce cost and complexity.

Answer

The M.2 SSD is SATA-based but the slot only supports NVMe

Answer

The M.2 SSD is not properly seated

Answer

The BIOS settings need to be changed to enable the M.2 slot

Question 11

A technician is building a gaming PC. The motherboard has a PCIe 4.0 x16 slot occupied by a PCIe 3.0 graphics card, and an M.2 slot that supports PCIe 4.0 x4. The user wants to install a high-performance NVMe SSD. Which of the following is the BEST practice for installing the NVMe SSD to maximize performance?

Accepted Answer

Install the SSD in the dedicated M.2 PCIe 4.0 slot. The M.2 slot supports PCIe 4.0 x4, which provides up to 8 GB/s bandwidth, perfectly matching a high-performance NVMe SSD. Installing the SSD in this dedicated slot avoids any bottleneck from the PCIe 3.0 graphics card or slower interfaces, ensuring maximum sequential read/write speeds.

Answer

Use a PCIe 3.0 x1 expansion card for the SSD

Answer

Connect the SSD via a SATA III cable to a SATA port

Answer

Use a PCIe 2.0 x16 slot with an adapter

Question 12

A company hosts a web application on a virtual machine in a public cloud. The application requires a storage solution that can be accessed from multiple VMs simultaneously and will persist even if the VM hosting the application is terminated. Which of the following storage types BEST meets these requirements?

Accepted Answer

Network-attached storage (NAS). Network-attached storage (NAS) provides file-level access over a network (typically using NFS or SMB/CIFS protocols), allowing multiple VMs to read and write to the same storage concurrently. Because the storage is independent of any single VM, it persists even after the VM hosting the application is terminated, making it the ideal choice for shared, persistent storage in a cloud environment.

Answer

Object storage

Answer

Block storage

Answer

Direct-attached storage (DAS)

Question 13

A network administrator is setting up a wired network for a small office that has 25 workstations, 2 file servers, and a router with 4 LAN ports. The office uses IP-based printers and VoIP phones. The administrator wants to minimize broadcast traffic and improve network performance by separating the workstations from the servers and printers. Which of the following is the BEST solution?

Accepted Answer

Use a single managed switch and configure port-based VLANs. A managed switch with port-based VLANs allows the network administrator to logically segment the workstations from the servers and printers on the same physical switch, reducing broadcast domain size and improving performance. VLANs isolate broadcast traffic to only the ports within the same VLAN, so workstations do not see broadcasts from servers or printers, and vice versa. This solution uses a single switch, which is cost-effective and simple to manage, while meeting the requirement to minimize broadcast traffic without needing multiple routers.

Answer

Connect all devices to a single unmanaged switch

Answer

Connect all devices to a hub instead of a switch

Answer

Use multiple routers to separate networks

Question 14

A company runs multiple virtual machines (VMs) on a single hypervisor host. The administrator wants to ensure that if one VM is compromised by malware, it cannot read the memory contents of other VMs running on the same host. Which hypervisor feature primarily provides this protection?

Accepted Answer

Virtual machine isolation. Virtual machine isolation is the hypervisor feature that prevents one VM from accessing the memory or processes of another VM on the same host. Each VM runs in its own isolated execution environment, enforced by the hypervisor's memory management unit (MMU) and hardware-assisted virtualization technologies like Intel VT-x or AMD-V. This ensures that even if a VM is compromised by malware, it cannot read the memory contents of co-resident VMs.

Answer

Resource pooling

Answer

Memory ballooning

Answer

Virtual machine snapshots

Question 15

A technician installs a new M.2 NVMe SSD into a desktop computer. The drive is detected in the system BIOS, but it does not appear in Windows Disk Management. The technician has verified that the correct driver is installed and the SATA controller mode is set to AHCI. Which of the following should the technician do NEXT to make the drive available in Windows?

Accepted Answer

Initialize the disk in Disk Management.. The M.2 NVMe SSD is detected in BIOS but not in Windows Disk Management, which indicates the drive is recognized at the hardware level but lacks a partition structure or volume. The correct next step is to initialize the disk in Disk Management, which writes a master boot record (MBR) or GUID partition table (GPT) to the drive, making it visible and ready for partitioning and formatting.

Answer

Update the motherboard chipset drivers.

Answer

Enable the M.2 slot in the Device Manager.

Answer

Change the SATA mode to RAID in the BIOS.