220-1102 Operational Procedures Practice Question
A company's IT department follows a strict change management process. A technician is implementing a planned change to update the firmware on a network switch. The change has been approved and the maintenance window has started. During the firmware update, the switch loses power due to a circuit breaker tripping. The technician has a backup configuration file. According to best practices, what should the technician do FIRST?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse the need to document the incident with the immediate priority of restoring service, or they incorrectly assume that power can be restored and the update safely resumed without risk of corruption.
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
✓
Immediately initiate the backout plan and restore the previous firmware
The firmware update was interrupted by an uncontrolled power loss, leaving the switch in an indeterminate state. Best practice dictates that the technician should immediately execute the backout plan to restore the previous known-good firmware, preventing potential corruption or a non-bootable state. The backup configuration file is irrelevant until the switch is running stable firmware again.
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 the circuit breaker and restore power, then resume the firmware update
Why it's wrong here
Restoring power only resolves the electrical interruption; it does not repair the incomplete or corrupted firmware image in the switch's flash memory. Resuming a firmware update from a failed state is dangerous because the device's boot loader may be unable to locate a valid image, and continuing could further corrupt the filesystem. The safe, controlled action is to revert to the previous known-good firmware via the backout plan, not to retry the update.
- ✓
Immediately initiate the backout plan and restore the previous firmware
Why this is correct
The backout plan is a pre-approved, tested procedure specifically designed to reverse a change when an unexpected problem occurs. Immediately executing it restores the previous firmware version, which returns the switch to its last known-good state and minimizes service downtime. This is the correct first response because it contains the incident and prevents further damage, while documentation and notification can follow once the device is stable.
- ✗
Document the incident and notify the change advisory board
Why it's wrong here
Documentation and notification are mandated by change management, but they are secondary actions that do not address the switch's broken state. Performing them before executing the backout plan leaves the network segment down and unnecessarily extends the outage. The proper sequence is to first restore service by rolling back the firmware, then log the incident and alert the change advisory board so the root cause can be analyzed.
- ✗
Attempt to reboot the switch to see if it recovers
Why it's wrong here
Rebooting a switch that has only a partially written firmware image can force the boot loader to attempt loading corrupt code, often resulting in a boot loop or permanent brick. This uncontrolled action may make the device unrecoverable, whereas the backout plan offers a deterministic, tested method to reinstall the previous firmware. A reboot does not address the underlying corruption and is therefore a high-risk gamble, not a legitimate recovery step.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Windows Networking and File Sharing
Key term
Firmware update
A firmware update is a process that replaces or patches the permanent software programmed into a hardware device to fix bugs, patch security vulnerabilities, or add new features.
Key term
Backup
A backup is a copy of computer data taken and stored separately so that the original data can be restored if it is lost, damaged, or corrupted.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 220-1102 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 220-1102 exam.