SK0-005 Practice Test 2 — 10 Questions

Question 1

A server administrator is troubleshooting a server that is unable to connect to the network. The administrator checks the NIC and sees that the link light is off. Which of the following is the FIRST thing the administrator should check?

Accepted Answer

The network cable connection at both the server and the switch.. When a NIC link light is off, the problem is at the physical layer. The first step is to verify the cable is properly connected to both the server and the switch, and that the switch port is enabled. This simple check resolves many connectivity issues. Only after confirming physical connectivity should the administrator investigate IP, DNS, or firewall configurations.

Answer

The firewall rules on the server.

Answer

The IP address configuration on the server.

Answer

The DNS server settings on the server.

Question 2

A small business has purchased a new server to function as a file server for 25 employees. The server is equipped with four 1TB SATA hard disk drives and no hardware RAID controller; the operating system supports software RAID. The business owner's primary requirements are data redundancy to protect against a single drive failure and maximum usable storage capacity, while keeping costs low. The IT technician is tasked with configuring the storage. The technician evaluates the following options: RAID 0 striping across all four drives; RAID 1 mirroring using two pairs (drives 1+2 mirrored, drives 3+4 mirrored), providing two separate volumes; RAID 5 with parity across all four drives; and RAID 10 combining mirroring and striping. The technician needs to recommend the configuration that best meets the requirements. Which of the following should the technician implement?

Accepted Answer

Configure RAID 5 to stripe data and parity across all four drives, providing 3TB of usable storage with single-drive fault tolerance.. RAID 5 stripes data and parity across all four drives, providing 3TB of usable storage (4TB raw minus 1TB for parity) and can tolerate a single drive failure. This meets the requirements for data redundancy against a single drive failure and maximum usable storage capacity while keeping costs low, as it uses all four drives efficiently without additional hardware.

Answer

Configure RAID 10 by mirroring two pairs and striping across them, providing 2TB of storage with high performance and redundancy.

Answer

Configure RAID 0 to stripe across all four drives for maximum 4TB storage and performance.

Answer

Configure RAID 1 with two mirrored pairs, providing 2TB of total storage across two volumes, ensuring redundancy.

Question 3

A database server running on a Linux VM has started experiencing periodic crashes. The VM is hosted on an ESXi hypervisor. The system logs show entries: 'kernel: Out of memory: Kill process 12345 (mysqld) score 700 or sacrifice child'. The VM has 16GB RAM allocated and no memory overcommitment on the host. The DBA reports that the database workload hasn't increased. Which of the following actions should be taken FIRST to diagnose the issue?

Accepted Answer

Check the host's memory utilization for ballooning or swapping.. The OOM killer being invoked in a VM with stable workload suggests possible host-level memory constraints (e.g., ballooning, swapping) affecting the VM. Checking the host's memory utilization helps confirm whether the hypervisor is under memory pressure and causing the VM to think it's out of memory. Options A and D are configuration changes that might alleviate symptoms but don't diagnose root cause. B addresses database tuning, which is not indicated when the system reports OOM.

Answer

Add a memory reservation for the VM in ESXi.

Answer

Analyze the database query cache hit ratio and slow query logs.

Answer

Increase the VM's RAM allocation to 32GB.

Question 4

A server configured with RAID 5 has two failed drives. The array is offline and critical data is inaccessible. The administrator has replacement drives available. What should the administrator do to restore the data and array with minimal data loss?

Accepted Answer

Replace both failed drives and restore from backup.. RAID 5 can survive a single drive failure, but with two failed drives, the array is completely broken and cannot be rebuilt. Restoring from backup is the only reliable method to recover the data. Options B and C incorrectly assume the array can still rebuild, and option D would worsen data integrity.

Answer

Reconfigure the RAID to RAID 0 using the remaining good drives.

Answer

Replace both failed drives and initiate a full array rebuild.

Answer

Replace one failed drive, allow rebuild, then replace the second.

Question 5

A technician is installing a used 2U rack server that was pulled from another rack. The server's rail kit is rated for a maximum load of 35 kg, and the chassis weighs 32 kg with no drives installed. Before sliding the chassis onto the rails, which of the following should the technician do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Verify the rail kit's load rating against the fully populated chassis weight, and use a mechanical lift or a second technician if needed.. Rail kits are rated for a maximum supported weight, and the chassis must be evaluated at its fully populated weight, not just its shipping weight. When the empty chassis already approaches the rail rating, adding drives and adapters can exceed it, so the technician should confirm the rating and arrange a lift or helper before mounting.

Answer

Mount the chassis on the rails alone first, then add the drives afterward to keep the initial lift weight low.

Answer

Remove the server's top cover to reduce weight and improve grip while sliding the chassis onto the rails.

Answer

Install all drives and PCIe cards into the chassis to reach final operating weight before mounting.

Question 6

A company has a small virtualized environment with two ESXi 7.0 hosts (HostA and HostB) managed by vCenter Server. They use a shared iSCSI storage array for all VMs. The network consists of a single physical switch that connects the hosts, storage, and management traffic using VLANs. Yesterday, the switch failed and was replaced with an identical model. After restoring the configuration from a backup, all VMs on HostA are working normally, but all VMs on HostB show 'network disconnected' in the vSphere console. The VMs on HostB are still running, but they cannot communicate with any other device on the network. HostB itself is reachable via its management IP and can access the storage array. The administrator has verified that the physical cables are correct and the NICs are up on HostB. The VLAN configuration on the new switch was restored for the ports connecting HostB, but the issue persists. Which of the following actions should the administrator perform FIRST to restore connectivity?

Accepted Answer

Check the VLAN configuration on the switch ports connected to HostB for the VM network uplinks.. Option B is correct. Since all other functions (management, storage) work and only VM traffic is affected, the most likely cause is incorrect VLAN tagging on the switch port carrying the VM traffic uplink. Restoring a switch config may have missed the exact VLAN trunk settings. Checking and correcting the VLAN configuration on the switch ports for HostB's VM network is the first targeted step. Options A and C are nondisruptive but don't address the immediate config issue. Option D involves rebooting the host without diagnosing, which is risky and may not fix the issue.

Answer

Reboot HostB to renegotiate the network configuration.

Answer

Restart the vCenter Server service on the vCenter appliance.

Answer

vMotion all affected VMs from HostB to HostA to confirm they work on HostA.

Question 7

A server administrator is troubleshooting a Windows Server 2019 that randomly reboots. The administrator suspects a hardware issue. Which two actions should the administrator take to gather evidence of the cause? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Configure a memory dump and analyze it with WinDbg.. To diagnose random reboots, the administrator should first check the System event log for Event ID 41, which indicates an unclean shutdown and may include a bugcheck code. Additionally, configuring a memory dump and analyzing it with WinDbg provides detailed crash information, including the faulting driver or hardware component. These actions gather concrete evidence, unlike preventive measures or general system checks.

Answer

Update the BIOS and all device drivers to the latest versions.

Answer

Enable and review the Windows Memory Diagnostic results.

Answer

Run the sfc /scannow command to check for system file corruption.

Question 8

A technician is preparing to install a new rack-mount server that will host a database requiring high random read performance. The server's chassis supports up to eight 2.5-inch drive bays, and the technician must choose a drive technology that provides the lowest latency and highest IOPS. Which of the following drive types should the technician select?

Accepted Answer

NVMe solid-state drives. NVMe drives attach directly to PCIe lanes, bypassing the SATA and SAS controller layers and supporting deep parallel command queues. That architecture delivers the lowest latency and highest random IOPS of the listed media, which directly matches the database's high random read requirement, while mechanical and SATA-based options are limited by either moving parts or interface overhead.

Answer

SATA 7200 RPM mechanical hard disk drives

Answer

SAS 15,000 RPM mechanical hard disk drives

Answer

SATA solid-state drives

Question 9

A server administrator receives alerts that a production Linux server is unresponsive. After connecting via out-of-band management, the administrator sees a message indicating a kernel panic. The system was recently updated with a new storage driver. Which of the following should the administrator do FIRST to troubleshoot this issue?

Accepted Answer

Reboot the server and select the previous kernel version from the boot loader menu.. The kernel panic appeared right after a storage driver update, making that change the prime suspect. Booting the previous kernel version is a quick, reversible test that confirms whether the new driver is at fault. If the system boots, the administrator can then roll back the driver or obtain a fixed version. Other options involve unnecessary hardware replacement, lengthy tests, or destructive reinstallation.

Answer

Run a full memory diagnostic test to check for faulty RAM.

Answer

Replace the storage controller card with a known-good spare.

Answer

Reinstall the operating system from scratch to ensure a clean state.

Question 10

A system administrator is setting up a new server and needs to ensure that the server's time is synchronized with an external time source. Which protocol should be used?

Accepted Answer

NTP. NTP is the correct protocol for synchronizing server time with external sources. It is specifically designed for this purpose and is widely supported. Other protocols listed serve different functions and cannot synchronize time. Accurate time is essential for security protocols, logging, and scheduled tasks.

Answer

SNMP

Answer

LDAP

Answer

SMTP