350-601 Compute Practice Question
A financial services firm has deployed Cisco UCS C-Series rack servers running VMware vSphere 7.0. They use Cisco Intersight for management. Recently, a critical application server (Server-A) became unresponsive. The Intersight dashboard shows the server's health status as 'Warning' with a firmware compliance alert: the server's Cisco Integrated Management Controller (CIMC) firmware version is 4.0(1a), while the Intersight firmware baseline is 4.2(1c). The server is running ESXi 7.0u2 on a local datastore. The storage is provided by a Cisco MDS switch via Fibre Channel. The server has two 10GbE uplinks to the fabric interconnect. The engineer notices that the vCenter Server cannot communicate with Server-A, and all VMs on that host are isolated. The engineer suspects the issue is related to the firmware mismatch. What is the most appropriate first step to resolve this issue while minimizing downtime?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the misconception that a firmware mismatch only affects compliance reporting and not actual data-plane or management-plane functionality, leading candidates to choose a non-disruptive but ineffective option like changing the baseline (Option D) instead of performing the necessary firmware upgrade.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Upgrade the CIMC firmware on Server-A from 4.0(1a) to 4.2(1c) using Intersight's firmware update capability.
The CIMC firmware mismatch (4.0(1a) vs. baseline 4.2(1c)) is a known cause of management-plane instability in Cisco UCS C-Series servers managed by Intersight. Upgrading the CIMC firmware to match the Intersight baseline using Intersight's built-in firmware update capability directly addresses the root cause, restoring proper communication between the server, Intersight, and vCenter, while minimizing downtime by avoiding disruptive OS-level changes.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Check vCenter logs to determine why communication failed.
Why it's wrong here
Diagnostic step only; does not resolve the firmware mismatch.
- ✗
Reinstall ESXi on Server-A to ensure a clean operating system.
Why it's wrong here
Reinstalling ESXi does not address the firmware mismatch and may cause extended downtime.
- ✓
Upgrade the CIMC firmware on Server-A from 4.0(1a) to 4.2(1c) using Intersight's firmware update capability.
Why this is correct
Directly upgrades the firmware to the compliant version, resolving the underlying issue.
- ✗
Change the Intersight firmware baseline to match the current CIMC version (4.0(1a)).
Why it's wrong here
This resolves the alert but bypasses needed firmware updates and may lead to instability.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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