mediumMultiple Choice
350-401 Practice Question: Examine this DHCP configuration: ``` ip dhcp pool…
Examine this DHCP configuration: ```
ip dhcp pool POOL1 network 10.10.10.0 255.255.255.0
default-router 10.10.10.1 dns-server 8.8.8.8 lease 0 12 !
ip dhcp excluded-address 10.10.10.1 10.10.10.10
``` Which statement is true?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the interaction between the `network` command and the `ip dhcp excluded-address` command, leading candidates to incorrectly assume the entire subnet is available for DHCP assignment without considering the exclusion range.
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
✓
DHCP clients will receive a lease for 12 hours.
The `lease 0 12` command explicitly sets the DHCP lease duration to 12 hours (0 days, 12 hours). The router will assign addresses from 10.10.10.11 to 10.10.10.254, as the excluded-address range (10.10.10.1–10.10.10.10) removes the first ten addresses from the pool, and the network statement defines the 10.10.10.0/24 subnet.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
DHCP clients will receive a lease for 12 hours.
Why this is correct
The DHCP pool configuration includes the command lease 0 12, which explicitly sets the lease duration to 0 days, 12 hours, and 0 minutes. Cisco IOS accepts this as a valid lease time, and clients will receive a lease expiration 12 hours after the address is assigned. Without a lease command, the default is 1 day, but here the explicit 12-hour value overrides that default.
- ✗
The router will assign IP addresses from 10.10.10.1 to 10.10.10.254.
Why it's wrong here
This is incorrect because the pool also contains excluded-address 10.10.10.1 10.10.10.10, which removes the first ten addresses from dynamic assignment. As a result, the routable pool is 10.10.10.11 through 10.10.10.254, not .1 through .254. The excluded range is often used to reserve addresses for static devices or the router interface, and those addresses will never be handed out by DHCP.
- ✗
The default lease is used because the lease command is incomplete.
Why it's wrong here
The lease command is not incomplete; its full syntax is lease {days [hours [minutes]]}, and specifying only days and hours is perfectly valid. Here, lease 0 12 is interpreted as 0 days and 12 hours, which is a legal configuration. The default lease of 1 day only applies when no lease command is present in the DHCP pool, so this option misidentifies the situation.
- ✗
The DNS server is set to 8.8.8.8, but clients will ignore it.
Why it's wrong here
The DNS server is incorrectly assumed to be ignored; in this pool, the dns-server 8.8.8.8 command sends option 6 (DNS server) to DHCP clients, and typical clients will use that address for name resolution. The statement that clients ignore it is false; clients accept the DNS server from DHCP unless they are manually configured with a different server or their OS policy overrides DHCP-provided DNS. Thus the configuration effectively sets the DNS server for all clients that accept DHCP options.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 350-401 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Cisco certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 350-401 exam.