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220-1201 Practice Question: A network administrator notices that a managed…
A network administrator notices that a managed switch is not reporting its status to the central monitoring system. The monitoring system uses a protocol that collects device information such as CPU load and interface errors. Which protocol is most likely not configured on the switch?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common pitfall is confusing ICMP (used for ping) with SNMP (used for management data collection).
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
✓
SNMP
SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) is the standard protocol used by network monitoring systems to collect device information such as CPU load, interface errors, and uptime. If the managed switch is not reporting to the central monitoring system, SNMP is most likely not configured or its community strings are misconfigured, preventing the monitoring server from polling the switch.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
SNMP
Why this is correct
SNMP is the protocol that polls managed devices for statistics such as CPU load and interface errors. If it is not configured on the switch, no status or performance data reaches the central monitoring system.
- ✗
SSH
Why it's wrong here
SSH provides encrypted remote command-line access to the switch, not status polling; SNMP is the protocol carrying CPU load and interface error metrics to monitoring systems. SSH is tempting because administrators use it to manage switches, and it would be correct if the task required secure remote configuration.
- ✗
HTTP
Why it's wrong here
HTTP serves web content and management interfaces, not periodic device metric collection; SNMP agents report CPU load and interface errors to the monitoring server. HTTP is tempting because switches expose browser-based admin pages, and it would be correct for accessing a web console rather than centralised monitoring.
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ICMP
Why it's wrong here
ICMP reports reachability and error conditions such as destination-unreachable messages; it carries no CPU load or interface-error counters. It is tempting because ping and traceroute use ICMP for fault isolation, and it would be the right answer if the question asked how to test basic connectivity to the switch.
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Key term
CPU
The Central Processing Unit (CPU) is the main electronic brain of a computer that carries out instructions from software by performing basic arithmetic, logic, control, and input/output operations.
Key term
Switch
A switch is a networking device that connects devices on a local area network and uses MAC addresses to forward data only to the intended recipient.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 220-1201 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA 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 220-1201 exam.