N10-009 Practice Test 32 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A network technician needs to back up the configuration file of a managed switch to a central server on a regular basis. The switch supports a simple and widely used protocol for this purpose. Which of the following protocols should the technician use?

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

Accepted Answer

A: TFTP. TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol) is the correct choice because it is a simple, lightweight protocol designed specifically for transferring configuration files to and from network devices like managed switches. It uses UDP port 69 and requires no authentication or complex session setup, making it ideal for automated backup scripts that run on a regular basis. While it lacks security features, its simplicity and widespread support in network equipment firmware make it the standard for this purpose.

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B: HTTP

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C: SNMP

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D: SSH

Question 2

A network administrator wants to ensure that a critical file server is always reachable via a single IP address, even if the server's NIC fails. The server has a single NIC. Which technique should be used to provide high availability for this IP address?

Accepted Answer

Implement NIC teaming. NIC teaming allows multiple NICs to be combined into a single logical interface with one IP address, providing redundancy in case a NIC fails. Although the server currently has only one NIC, this is the correct technique to achieve the goal, as it can be implemented by adding a second NIC. VRRP provides router redundancy, not server NIC redundancy, so it does not solve the problem of a server NIC failure. Load balancers distribute traffic across multiple servers, and DNS round robin does not provide automatic failover.

Answer

Configure a load balancer in front of multiple servers

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Use VRRP to create a virtual IP address

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Use DNS round robin

Question 3

Which of the following IPv6 addresses is a link-local address?

Accepted Answer

fe80::1. (fe80::1) is correct because IPv6 link-local addresses always begin with the prefix fe80::/10, as defined in RFC 4291. These addresses are automatically assigned to every IPv6-enabled interface and are only valid on a single link (subnet), never routed. The address fe80::1 is a common example of a link-local address.

Answer

2001:db8::1

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ff02::1

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2000::/3

Question 4

A network administrator is configuring a new switch in a production environment. The switch must be managed remotely. Which of the following should be configured on the switch's management interface?

Accepted Answer

Default gateway. The default gateway is required for remote management because the management interface (often a virtual interface like VLAN 1 or a dedicated management VLAN) needs a route to reach devices on different subnets. Without a default gateway, the switch can only be accessed from hosts within the same subnet, making remote management impossible across routed networks.

Answer

Spanning tree priority

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VLAN 1 membership

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Port security

Question 5

A network engineer is designing a subnet for a department that requires exactly 50 usable host addresses. Which subnet mask provides the minimum number of usable host addresses while still accommodating the requirement?

Accepted Answer

/26. A /26 subnet mask (255.255.255.192) provides 2^(32-26) = 64 total addresses, of which 62 are usable (subtracting network and broadcast addresses). This is the smallest subnet that meets the requirement of exactly 50 usable hosts, as /27 yields only 30 usable addresses and /28 yields only 14, while /25 provides 126 usable addresses, which is more than necessary.

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/27

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/28

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/25

Question 6

A network administrator wants to ensure that only authorized devices can access the network on a switch port. The administrator has a list of allowed MAC addresses. Which security feature should be enabled on the switch port?

Accepted Answer

Port security. Port security is the correct feature because it allows the administrator to specify a list of allowed MAC addresses per switch port. When a device with an unauthorized MAC address attempts to connect, the switch can either block the traffic, generate an alert, or disable the port (errdisable state). This directly enforces access control based on the MAC address list provided.

Answer

802.1X

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MAC address filtering

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VLAN hopping prevention

Question 7

A network administrator is configuring a new WAN link between two offices using MPLS. Which of the following is a characteristic of MPLS?

Accepted Answer

It uses label switching to forward packets. MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching) operates by attaching short, fixed-length labels to packets at the ingress router. These labels are used by intermediate routers (LSRs) to make forwarding decisions based on the label rather than the IP header, which enables faster switching and traffic engineering. This label-swapping mechanism is the defining characteristic of MPLS, distinguishing it from traditional IP routing.

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It requires a dedicated point-to-point circuit

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It operates at Layer 7 of the OSI model

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It encrypts all data in transit

Question 8

A network administrator needs to connect 10 workstations in a way that each workstation's traffic does not collide with others. Which device should be used to connect these workstations?

Accepted Answer

Switch. A switch is the correct device because it operates at Layer 2 of the OSI model, using MAC addresses to forward frames only to the specific destination port. This creates separate collision domains for each connected workstation, ensuring that traffic from one workstation does not collide with traffic from another.

Answer

Hub

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Router

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Modem

Question 9

A network administrator is implementing a change management process. Which of the following is the PRIMARY benefit of following this process?

Accepted Answer

It minimizes the impact of changes on network operations and reduces errors. The primary benefit of a change management process is to minimize the impact of changes on network operations and reduce errors. By requiring documented planning, approval, and rollback procedures, change management ensures that modifications are reviewed and tested before implementation, which directly reduces the risk of misconfigurations and unplanned outages.

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It reduces the cost of implementing new hardware

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It ensures that all network changes are automated

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It documents the network topology for future reference

Question 10

A network technician notices a high volume of broadcast traffic on a flat network. Which device will best reduce the size of the broadcast domain?

Accepted Answer

Router. A router is the correct choice because it operates at Layer 3 and uses IP subnetting to segment a network into separate broadcast domains. By default, routers do not forward broadcast traffic (e.g., ARP requests sent to 255.255.255.255 or subnet-directed broadcasts) between interfaces, thus reducing the scope of broadcast propagation.

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Hub

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Switch

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Bridge

Question 11

A network administrator wants to centrally collect and analyze event logs from routers, switches, and firewalls. Which protocol is most commonly used for sending log messages from network devices to a central log server?

Accepted Answer

Syslog. Syslog (RFC 5424) is the standard protocol for sending event messages from network devices like routers, switches, and firewalls to a central log server. It uses UDP port 514 by default and provides a structured format with facility codes and severity levels, enabling centralized collection and analysis of logs. This makes it the most commonly used protocol for this purpose.

Answer

SNMP

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NetFlow

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ICMP

Question 12

A network engineer has successfully established an IPsec site-to-site VPN tunnel between a branch office (10.0.1.0/24) and the main office (192.168.1.0/24). The tunnel status shows as active, and both sides can ping each other's tunnel interface IP addresses. However, users at the branch office cannot ping the main office server at 192.168.1.10, and the main office cannot ping the branch office server at 10.0.1.10. The firewall rules on both sides permit IPsec traffic and all internal traffic. What should the engineer check NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Verify routing entries on both routers to ensure the remote internal subnets are reachable via the tunnel.. The tunnel is active and both sides can ping each other's tunnel interface IPs, confirming that IPsec phase 1 and phase 2 are established and the tunnel itself is functional. However, users cannot reach the remote internal subnets (10.0.1.0/24 and 192.168.1.0/24), which indicates a routing problem: the routers likely lack routes for those remote subnets pointing to the tunnel interface. Without proper routing entries, traffic destined for the remote LAN is sent out the wrong interface or dropped, even though the tunnel is up.

Answer

Check the IPsec security associations for encryption algorithm mismatch.

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Disable the firewall on the internal interfaces temporarily.

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Regenerate the pre-shared key on both sides.

Question 13

A user reports that they cannot access any company resources. The technician runs 'ipconfig' and sees that the workstation has an IP address of 169.254.100.25 with a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0. The technician also notices that the 'Default Gateway' is blank. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The DHCP server is unavailable or unreachable.. The IP address 169.254.100.25 with a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0 is an Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) address, which Windows assigns when a DHCP client fails to obtain a lease. The blank Default Gateway confirms that no DHCP server responded, so the workstation cannot reach any company resources beyond its local subnet.

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The DNS server is not responding.

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The workstation has a static IP address configured.

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The network cable is unplugged.

Question 14

A network administrator wants to implement a protocol to automatically assign IP addresses to devices on the network. Which of the following protocols is used for this purpose?

Accepted Answer

DHCP. DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) is the correct answer because it is specifically designed to automatically assign IP addresses and other network configuration parameters (such as subnet mask, default gateway, and DNS servers) to devices on a network. This eliminates the need for manual IP configuration, reducing administrative overhead and preventing address conflicts.

Answer

DNS

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ARP

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ICMP

Question 15

Which of the following best describes the function of a default gateway?

Accepted Answer

It routes packets from a local subnet to destinations on other networks.. The default gateway is a router or Layer 3 device on a local subnet that serves as the next-hop IP address for packets destined to networks outside the local subnet. When a host determines that the destination IP is not on the same subnet (using its subnet mask), it forwards the packet to the default gateway's MAC address via ARP, which then routes the packet toward the remote network. Without a correctly configured default gateway, a host can only communicate within its own subnet.

Answer

It translates private IP addresses to public IP addresses.

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It provides DHCP services to clients.

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It performs DNS resolution for network clients.