N10-009 Network Operations Practice Test 3 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A company has a change management policy that requires all network changes to be approved and documented. An administrator needs to replace a faulty switch in the core network. According to best practices, which step should be performed after the replacement is complete?

Accepted Answer

Update the network diagram.. Updating the network diagram is the correct step because it ensures that the documentation accurately reflects the new switch's location, model, firmware version, and connections. This aligns with change management best practices, which require that all network changes be documented to maintain an accurate source of truth for troubleshooting, capacity planning, and future changes. Without this update, the diagram becomes stale, leading to potential misconfigurations or delays during incident response.

Answer

Roll back to the previous switch.

Answer

Notify users of the change.

Answer

Submit a change request.

Question 2

A network administrator needs to identify which application protocols are consuming the most bandwidth on the company WAN link. Which of the following tools should the administrator use?

Accepted Answer

NetFlow analyzer. A NetFlow analyzer is the correct tool because it collects flow-level metadata (e.g., source/destination IPs, ports, protocol, and byte counts) from routers or switches, enabling the administrator to identify which application protocols (via port/protocol analysis) are consuming the most bandwidth over time. Unlike packet-level tools, NetFlow provides aggregated traffic statistics without storing full packet payloads, making it efficient for long-term WAN bandwidth monitoring.

Answer

Packet sniffer (e.g., tcpdump)

Answer

Port scanner (e.g., Nmap)

Answer

Bandwidth speed test

Question 3

A network administrator receives an automated alert from the network monitoring system indicating that the bandwidth utilization on a specific switch port has exceeded the threshold for the past 10 minutes. According to best practices for network operations, what should the administrator do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Check the monitoring system logs to identify the traffic source and destination.. Option B is correct because the first step in responding to a bandwidth utilization alert is to investigate the traffic causing the spike. Checking the monitoring system logs allows the administrator to identify the source and destination of the traffic, which is essential for determining whether the utilization is legitimate (e.g., a backup or large file transfer) or malicious (e.g., a DoS attack). This aligns with the network operations best practice of 'verify before acting' to avoid unnecessary disruptions.

Answer

Immediately block the port to prevent potential network congestion from affecting other users.

Answer

Reboot the switch to clear any temporary errors that might be causing the alert.

Answer

Increase the bandwidth on the port to accommodate the higher traffic load.

Question 4

A network technician needs to find which physical patch panel port in the server room connects to a specific office wall jack. Which type of network documentation should the technician consult?

Accepted Answer

Cabling diagram. A cabling diagram provides the physical layer (Layer 1) documentation that maps specific patch panel ports to wall jacks, including cable runs, termination points, and labeling. This is exactly what the technician needs to trace the physical connection from the server room patch panel to the office wall jack.

Answer

Logical topology diagram

Answer

Network baseline

Answer

Rack diagram

Question 5

A network administrator is about to implement a QoS policy on a core router. According to change management best practices, which step should the administrator perform FIRST to ensure the policy can be reverted if it causes unexpected issues?

Accepted Answer

Back up the current configuration to an external TFTP or SCP server.. Option B is correct because, under change management best practices, the first step before implementing any change is to create a reliable backup of the current configuration to an external server (e.g., TFTP, SCP, FTP). This ensures that if the QoS policy causes unexpected issues such as traffic drops or misclassification, the administrator can restore the original configuration exactly as it was, even if the router reboots or the running-config is lost. Saving to startup-config (Option A) would overwrite the known-good baseline, making reversion impossible without a separate backup.

Answer

Save the running configuration to the startup configuration.

Answer

Test the QoS policy in a lab environment.

Answer

Schedule a maintenance window and notify the help desk.

Question 6

A network administrator wants to automate the backup of configuration files from multiple routers and switches. Which protocol is commonly used for this purpose and is supported by most network devices?

Accepted Answer

TFTP. TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol) is the correct choice because it is a lightweight, connectionless UDP-based protocol (port 69) that is widely supported on network devices like routers and switches for automated configuration backups. Its simplicity and minimal overhead make it ideal for scripting backup operations, even though it lacks security features like authentication or encryption.

Answer

FTP

Answer

SFTP

Answer

HTTP

Question 7

A network monitoring system alerts that a specific router interface has been flapping (repeatedly going up and down) for the past hour. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of this behavior?

Accepted Answer

Faulty transceiver. A faulty transceiver is the most likely cause of interface flapping because physical-layer issues, such as a failing SFP or GBIC, can cause intermittent loss of signal or link synchronization. The router's interface detects the loss of carrier and brings the link down, then re-establishes it when the signal returns, creating a repeated up/down cycle. This is a common hardware failure mode distinct from software or configuration problems.

Answer

High CPU utilization on the router

Answer

Incorrect SNMP community string

Answer

Routing protocol misconfiguration

Question 8

A network administrator is setting up SNMPv3 on a router for secure monitoring. Which of the following is required for SNMPv3 authentication?

Accepted Answer

Username and password. SNMPv3 introduces a security model that requires a username and password (authentication passphrase) for authentication, moving away from the community-string-based model of SNMPv1/v2c. The password is used with an authentication protocol like MD5 or SHA to verify the identity of the manager before allowing access. Without a valid username and password combination, SNMPv3 will reject the request.

Answer

Community string

Answer

Encryption key

Answer

Public key

Question 9

A network administrator is documenting the network topology. Which of the following tools is best suited for creating a diagram that shows the logical connections between network devices?

Accepted Answer

Microsoft Visio. Microsoft Visio is the correct tool because it is specifically designed for creating professional network topology diagrams, including logical connections between devices. Unlike general-purpose tools, Visio provides network-specific shapes, templates, and layering capabilities that accurately represent logical relationships such as VLANs, subnets, and routing paths.

Answer

Microsoft Excel

Answer

SNMP

Answer

Notepad

Question 10

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?

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.

Answer

B: HTTP

Answer

C: SNMP

Answer

D: SSH

Question 11

A network administrator wants to ensure that SNMP traffic between the network monitoring server and managed devices is encrypted and provides authentication of the data origin. Which version of SNMP should be implemented?

Accepted Answer

C: SNMPv3. SNMPv3 is the correct choice because it provides both encryption (via the AuthPriv security level) and data origin authentication (via the AuthNoPriv or AuthPriv levels). Unlike earlier versions, SNMPv3 includes a security model that ensures confidentiality, integrity, and authentication, meeting the administrator's requirements.

Answer

A: SNMPv1

Answer

B: SNMPv2c

Answer

D: SNMPv2

Question 12

A network administrator needs to create a diagram that shows the IP addressing scheme, VLAN assignments, and routing protocols used in the network. This diagram will be used for troubleshooting and future planning. Which type of documentation should the administrator create?

Accepted Answer

Logical topology diagram. A logical topology diagram is correct because it documents the IP addressing scheme, VLAN assignments, and routing protocols—abstract elements that define how data flows through the network, independent of physical device locations. This type of diagram is essential for troubleshooting Layer 3 issues and planning changes to the network's logical design.

Answer

Physical topology diagram

Answer

Rack elevation diagram

Answer

Cable management plan

Question 13

A network technician needs to retrieve the operating system and uptime information from a router for inventory purposes. Which protocol is specifically designed for network management and monitoring?

Accepted Answer

SNMP. SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) is the standard protocol specifically designed for network management and monitoring. It allows a network management station to query managed devices (like routers) for system information, including operating system version and uptime, via OIDs (Object Identifiers) in the MIB (Management Information Base).

Answer

SMTP

Answer

HTTP

Answer

FTP

Question 14

A network monitoring system uses SNMP to poll interface statistics from switches every 5 minutes. This polling is causing high CPU utilization on the switches. Which of the following actions would BEST reduce the CPU load on the switches while still providing monitoring data?

Accepted Answer

Use SNMP traps instead of polling. SNMP traps are push-based notifications sent by the switch only when a significant event occurs (e.g., link up/down, threshold crossing), eliminating the need for the NMS to poll every 5 minutes. This reduces CPU load because the switch no longer processes periodic GET requests, which require CPU cycles to gather interface statistics from the MIB. Traps still provide monitoring data by alerting the NMS to changes, though they may not offer the same granularity as polling for all counters.

Answer

Increase the SNMP community string

Answer

Disable SNMP on unused interfaces

Answer

Change the SNMP version to v1

Question 15

A network administrator needs to analyze bandwidth usage by application and identify top talkers on the network. Which protocol or technology should be used to export detailed traffic flow information from routers and switches to a central collector?

Accepted Answer

NetFlow. NetFlow is the correct choice because it is a Cisco-developed protocol designed specifically to export detailed IP traffic flow information—including source/destination IPs, ports, protocols, and byte counts—from routers and switches to a central collector for bandwidth usage analysis and top talker identification. Unlike simpler monitoring tools, NetFlow provides per-flow granularity, enabling administrators to pinpoint which applications and hosts are consuming the most bandwidth.

Answer

SNMP

Answer

ICMP

Answer

SMTP