hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
220-1201 Practice Question: A technician is troubleshooting a network where…
A technician is troubleshooting a network where users can access the internet but cannot reach a specific internal web server by its hostname. The server's IP is 10.0.0.5, and pinging 10.0.0.5 works. The technician checks the DNS server and finds an A record for the server's name pointing to 10.0.0.10. What is the most likely issue?
⚠ Common exam trap
CompTIA A+ often tests the distinction between connectivity issues (where pinging the IP fails) and name resolution issues (where pinging the IP works but hostname fails), and the trap here is that candidates may incorrectly suspect a firewall or DHCP problem instead of recognizing the DNS record mismatch.
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 DNS A record is incorrect
The DNS A record maps the server's hostname to 10.0.0.10, but the server's actual IP is 10.0.0.5. Since pinging the IP works, the network path to the server is functional; the failure to reach it by hostname is due to DNS resolving to the wrong address. This is a classic DNS misconfiguration where the A record does not match the server's assigned IP.
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 DHCP server assigned the wrong IP to the server
Why it's wrong here
The server's IP address (10.0.0.5) is confirmed to be reachable, indicating that it successfully obtained an IP from DHCP and is active on the network. If the server itself is functioning and accessible via its numerical address, then the DHCP server has correctly performed its primary function of assigning a valid IP. The issue therefore lies not with the server's network configuration or its IP assignment, but rather with how clients are attempting to locate it by name.
- ✓
The DNS A record is incorrect
Why this is correct
An incorrect DNS A record is the most direct cause when a server is reachable by its IP address (10.0.0.5) but not by its hostname. The A record maps a human-readable hostname to its corresponding IPv4 address. If the DNS server's A record for the server's hostname points to an incorrect IP, such as 10.0.0.10 instead of the actual 10.0.0.5, client machines will attempt to connect to the wrong destination. This prevents successful access to the server by its name, even though the server itself is operational and accessible via its correct IP.
- ✗
The router's port forwarding is misconfigured
Why it's wrong here
Port forwarding is a Network Address Translation (NAT) function primarily used on a router to direct incoming traffic from an external network (like the internet) to a specific internal device and port. Since the problem describes users within the internal network unable to access a server, port forwarding configurations are irrelevant. Internal network communication does not traverse the router's external interface or rely on these rules, especially when the server is already reachable by its internal IP address.
- ✗
The server's firewall is blocking DNS queries
Why it's wrong here
DNS queries are initiated by client machines and directed to a designated DNS server to resolve hostnames into IP addresses. The server in question, which is the target of the access attempt (e.g., a web server), does not directly process these resolution queries from clients. Therefore, its local firewall rules would not impact whether clients can successfully resolve its hostname to an IP address; that responsibility lies solely with the configured DNS server.
Visual reference
Quick reference
Common DNS Record Types
| Record | Purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|
| A | IPv4 address mapping | example.com → 93.184.216.34 |
| AAAA | IPv6 address mapping | example.com → 2606:2800::1 |
| CNAME | Alias to another hostname | www → example.com |
| MX | Mail server for domain | example.com → mail.example.com (priority 10) |
| TXT | Text data (SPF, DKIM, verification) | v=spf1 include:_spf.example.com ~all |
| NS | Authoritative name servers | example.com NS ns1.example.com |
| PTR | Reverse DNS (IP → hostname) | 34.216.184.93.in-addr.arpa → example.com |
| SOA | Zone authority record | Primary NS, admin email, serial, TTL defaults |
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Network Configuration: IP, DNS, DHCP
Key term
Name Server
A name server is a specialized server that translates human-readable domain names into machine-readable IP addresses so that computers can find each other on a network.
Key term
Fully Qualified Domain Name
A Fully Qualified Domain Name is the complete and unambiguous website or server name that includes the host, domain, and top-level domain, leaving no room for guesswork.
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JA
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.