hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
220-1201 Practice Question: A technician is troubleshooting a hybrid cloud…
A technician is troubleshooting a hybrid cloud environment where an on-premises application needs to access a cloud-based database. The connection is intermittent and slow. The technician checks the local network and finds no issues. Which of the following is the most likely cause?
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
✓
The internet connection between the sites has high latency or packet loss
In a hybrid cloud, latency and bandwidth issues often stem from the internet connection between the on-premises site and the cloud. Even if the local network is fine, the WAN link may be congested or have high latency. DNS or firewall issues would typically cause complete failures, not intermittent slowness.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The cloud database is configured with the wrong DNS records
Why it's wrong here
If the cloud database were configured with incorrect DNS records, clients would consistently fail to resolve the database server's hostname to an IP address. This would result in persistent 'host not found' or 'connection refused' errors, preventing any connection attempts from succeeding at all, rather than causing intermittent slowness or occasional timeouts. DNS resolution is typically a binary process, either succeeding or failing consistently.
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The on-premises firewall is blocking the database port
Why it's wrong here
A firewall rule blocking a specific database port (e.g., TCP 3306 for MySQL or 1433 for SQL Server) would consistently deny all connection attempts from the on-premises network to the cloud database on that port. This would manifest as a persistent connection failure or a consistent timeout, indicating that the port is unreachable. Intermittent connectivity issues suggest a problem that is not a static, 'all or nothing' block by a firewall.
- ✓
The internet connection between the sites has high latency or packet loss
Why this is correct
High latency directly increases the time required for data packets to travel between the on-premises network and the cloud database, leading to noticeable slowdowns in application response. Packet loss further exacerbates this by forcing retransmissions, consuming additional bandwidth and time, which manifests as intermittent connection failures, timeouts, and overall degraded performance. These network issues are classic causes of intermittent connectivity problems in hybrid cloud environments.
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The cloud provider is performing maintenance on the database server
Why it's wrong here
Cloud provider maintenance activities are generally scheduled and communicated, often resulting in a complete, albeit temporary, outage or a specific performance impact during a defined window. While maintenance can cause service disruption, it typically presents as a consistent unavailability or a clearly defined period of degraded performance, rather than random, intermittent slowness or connection issues that persist unpredictably over an extended period.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Network Configuration: IP, DNS, DHCP
Key term
Latency
Latency is the time delay between a request being sent over a network and the response being received, often measured in milliseconds.
Key term
Bandwidth
Bandwidth is the maximum amount of data that can travel over a network connection in a given amount of time, usually measured in bits per second.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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