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FC0-U71 Practice Question: A small office needs a centralized storage…
A small office needs a centralized storage solution that all employees can access over the network to share files. Which type of storage should they implement?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse NAS with SAN, thinking both are network storage, but SAN requires a dedicated network and provides block-level access (like a virtual hard drive), whereas NAS provides file-level access over the existing LAN, making NAS the simpler and more cost-effective choice for file sharing.
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
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NAS
A NAS (Network Attached Storage) is a dedicated file-level storage device connected to a network, allowing multiple users to access and share files over standard protocols like SMB/CIFS (Windows) or NFS (Linux/Unix). This makes it the ideal centralized solution for a small office needing shared network file access without requiring a dedicated server.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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NAS
Why this is correct
NAS provides file-level shared storage over the network, letting all employees access the same files through standard protocols such as SMB or NFS. This satisfies the stem's requirement for centralised, network-accessible file sharing in a small office.
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JBOD
Why it's wrong here
JBOD concatenates disks without redundancy or a shared file system, so it presents raw block devices rather than a network-accessible share. It suits capacity expansion on a single host, whereas centralised multi-user file sharing needs NAS or a file server.
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SAN
Why it's wrong here
A SAN presents block-level LUNs over Fibre Channel or iSCSI, which a file-sharing office cannot mount directly as shared folders without a server arbitrating access. It is tempting because SANs excel at high-throughput block storage for databases and virtualisation clusters, where raw disk performance matters more than simple departmental file access.
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DAS
Why it's wrong here
DAS attaches disks directly to one machine via SATA, SAS or USB, so no other employee can reach the files across the network. It is tempting because DAS is the cheapest, lowest-latency option for single-server storage, and would be correct for a standalone workstation or backup target rather than shared office files.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This FC0-U71 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 FC0-U71 exam.