Question 1mediummultiple choice
Full question →mediummultiple choiceObjective-mapped
A user reports that they cannot access the company's external website at www.company.com from their workstation. Other users on the same network can access the website without issues. The technician runs nslookup www.company.com and receives the correct public IP address. The technician then pings that IP address and gets a successful reply. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the issue?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
A
Distractor review
The website's SSL certificate has expired
An expired SSL certificate would generate a browser warning but would not typically block access entirely. More importantly, it would affect all users, not just one.
B
Distractor review
The user's web browser needs to be updated
While updating a browser can fix many issues, it is unlikely to be the cause when only one site is inaccessible and DNS/connectivity are fine. This is a general troubleshooting step, not the most likely cause.
C
Distractor review
The company's firewall is blocking the user's IP address
If the firewall were blocking the user, the ping to the website's IP would fail. The successful ping rules out firewall blocking at the network level.
D
Best answer
The user's hosts file has an incorrect mapping for www.company.com
Correct. The hosts file overrides DNS. If it points the domain to a wrong or unreachable IP, the browser will fail to load the site even though DNS and network are otherwise correct. Checking the hosts file (located in %SystemRoot%\System32\drivers\etc\hosts) is a standard troubleshooting step in this scenario.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
- Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
- Underline the problem statement mentally.
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Related practice questions
Related 220-1101 practice-question pages
Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.
CompTIA A+ hardware practice questions
Practise 220-1101 questions linked to CompTIA A+ hardware.
CompTIA A+ mobile devices practice questions
Practise 220-1101 questions linked to CompTIA A+ mobile devices.
CompTIA A+ networking practice questions
Practise 220-1101 questions linked to CompTIA A+ networking.
CompTIA A+ operating systems practice questions
Practise 220-1101 questions linked to CompTIA A+ operating systems.
CompTIA A+ security practice questions
Practise 220-1101 questions linked to CompTIA A+ security.
CompTIA A+ software troubleshooting questions
Practise 220-1101 questions linked to CompTIA A+ software troubleshooting questions.
CompTIA A+ operational procedures questions
Practise 220-1101 questions linked to CompTIA A+ operational procedures questions.
More questions from this exam
Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
Question 1
A user reports intermittent network connectivity on a desktop computer. The technician observes that the Ethernet link light on the NIC turns off for a few seconds and then turns back on. The cable passes a wiremap test, the switch port is verified good with another device, and the NIC driver is updated. The issue occurs more frequently when the computer's case fan runs at high speed. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?
Question 2
A workstation is unable to connect to the internet. The technician runs the 'ipconfig' command and sees the IPv4 address is 169.254.15.200 with a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0. The workstation can ping other devices on the local subnet but cannot ping the default gateway or any external addresses. Which TWO actions should the technician take to resolve this issue? (Select two.)
Question 3
A workstation is connected to a managed switch. It obtains a valid IP address (192.168.10.50) from the DHCP server, but it cannot ping the default gateway (192.168.10.1). The link light on both the workstation NIC and the switch port are solid green. Other workstations on the same switch CAN ping the default gateway successfully. The technician accesses the switch management interface and finds that the workstation's port is configured as an access port on VLAN 10. The default gateway is located on VLAN 20. An inter-VLAN router is configured but not explicitly allowing VLAN 10 access to VLAN 20. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the problem?
Question 4
A company develops a web application that relies on a custom library available only for a specific Linux distribution. They want to deploy the application in the cloud with minimal administrative overhead, but they need full control over the software stack, including the ability to install the custom library and configure the web server. Which cloud service model BEST meets these requirements?
Question 5
A company has a legacy virtual machine running on a deprecated hypervisor (Hyper-V). They want to migrate this VM to a new hypervisor (VMware vSphere) hosted in a private cloud while preserving the VM's configuration, installed applications, and data. The migration must be performed with minimal downtime. Which of the following methods is MOST appropriate?
Question 6
A company hosts a critical database on a virtual machine in a public cloud. The database requires persistent storage that must be retained even if the VM is terminated. The storage must also be accessible from multiple VMs simultaneously for a future high-availability configuration. Which type of cloud storage BEST meets these requirements?
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this 220-1101 question test?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: The user's hosts file has an incorrect mapping for www.company.com — The nslookup returns the correct IP, and ping to that IP succeeds, so DNS resolution and network connectivity are working. However, if the local hosts file contains an incorrect mapping for the domain, the browser will use that IP instead of the DNS-resolved IP. Other users are not affected because hosts files are local to each workstation. Option A (SSL certificate expired) would affect all users, not just one. Option B (browser update) is unlikely to cause inability to access a single site. Option C (firewall blocking IP) would affect all pings and connections, but ping works.
What should I do if I get this 220-1101 question wrong?
Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.
Discussion
Loading comments…
Sign in to join the discussion.