N10-009 Network Implementation Practice Question
A network administrator is connecting two switches to increase bandwidth and provide redundancy. Which technology should be used to combine multiple physical links into a single logical link?
⚠ Common exam trap
The N10-009 exam often tests the misconception that STP or RSTP can be used to increase bandwidth, but the trap here is that STP and RSTP only provide redundancy by blocking ports to prevent loops, not by actively combining links for higher throughput.
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
✓
Link Aggregation Control Protocol
Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) is the correct technology because it allows multiple physical Ethernet links to be combined into a single logical link, increasing aggregate bandwidth and providing redundancy. LACP (IEEE 802.3ad) automatically negotiates and manages the bundling of ports between switches, ensuring that traffic is load-balanced across the member links and that the bundle remains operational even if one physical link fails.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Spanning Tree Protocol
Why it's wrong here
Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) is a Layer 2 network protocol designed to prevent bridging loops in Ethernet networks. It achieves this by intelligently identifying and blocking redundant paths, ensuring a single, loop-free logical topology. While essential for network stability, STP's mechanism of blocking redundant links means it does not aggregate bandwidth; instead, it actively prevents multiple paths from simultaneously carrying data traffic.
When this WOULD be correct
A question asking which protocol prevents switching loops in a network with redundant paths, or which protocol ensures a loop-free topology in a bridged network, would have STP as the correct answer.
- ✓
Link Aggregation Control Protocol
Why this is correct
Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) is a standardized protocol that dynamically bundles multiple physical Ethernet links between two network devices, typically switches, into a single logical channel. This process, known as link aggregation or EtherChannel, significantly increases the available bandwidth and provides crucial fault tolerance. If one of the physical links within the aggregated group fails, traffic automatically redistributes across the remaining active links, ensuring high availability and improved throughput.
- ✗
VLAN Trunking Protocol
Why it's wrong here
VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP) is a Cisco proprietary messaging protocol used to manage VLAN configurations across multiple switches within a single VTP domain. Its primary function is to synchronize VLAN creation, deletion, and renaming information, simplifying network administration by propagating changes from a VTP server to client switches. VTP is solely concerned with VLAN management and has no functionality related to bundling physical links or increasing bandwidth between network devices.
When this WOULD be correct
A network administrator needs to synchronize VLAN information across multiple switches in a domain, ensuring consistent VLAN databases without manual configuration on each switch.
- ✗
Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol
Why it's wrong here
Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP) is an evolution of STP, primarily focused on achieving much faster convergence times following network topology changes. Like its predecessor, RSTP's core function is to prevent Layer 2 loops by placing redundant links into a blocking state. Although it improves the speed at which a network recovers from failures, RSTP does not combine or aggregate bandwidth across multiple links; its purpose remains loop prevention, not capacity enhancement.
When this WOULD be correct
RSTP would be correct in a question asking: 'Which protocol provides faster convergence than STP in a switched network with redundant links?' or 'Which technology prevents bridging loops while offering rapid failover?'
Option-by-option analysis
Why each answer is right or wrong
Understanding why wrong answers are wrong — and when they would be correct — is what separates a 750 score from a 900. The N10-009 exam frequently reuses these exact scenarios with slightly different constraints.
✓Link Aggregation Control ProtocolCorrect answer▾
Why this is correct
Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) is a standardized protocol that dynamically bundles multiple physical Ethernet links between two network devices, typically switches, into a single logical channel. This process, known as link aggregation or EtherChannel, significantly increases the available bandwidth and provides crucial fault tolerance. If one of the physical links within the aggregated group fails, traffic automatically redistributes across the remaining active links, ensuring high availability and improved throughput.
✗Spanning Tree ProtocolWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) prevents loops in redundant networks but does not combine multiple physical links into a single logical link; it blocks redundant paths rather than aggregating bandwidth.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A question asking which protocol prevents switching loops in a network with redundant paths, or which protocol ensures a loop-free topology in a bridged network, would have STP as the correct answer.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates confuse STP's role in redundancy with link aggregation, mistakenly thinking STP itself increases bandwidth or combines links, when it actually manages redundancy by disabling duplicate paths.
✗VLAN Trunking ProtocolWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP) is used to manage VLAN configurations across switches, not to combine physical links into a single logical link for bandwidth and redundancy.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A network administrator needs to synchronize VLAN information across multiple switches in a domain, ensuring consistent VLAN databases without manual configuration on each switch.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse 'trunking' (VTP) with link aggregation, as both involve multiple links, but VTP manages VLANs, not link bonding.
✗Rapid Spanning Tree ProtocolWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP) is used to prevent loops in a network topology, not to combine multiple physical links into a single logical link. The question specifically asks for a technology to aggregate links, which is not RSTP's function.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
RSTP would be correct in a question asking: 'Which protocol provides faster convergence than STP in a switched network with redundant links?' or 'Which technology prevents bridging loops while offering rapid failover?'
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse RSTP with link aggregation because both involve multiple links, but RSTP's purpose is loop prevention, not bandwidth aggregation. The word 'rapid' might also mislead candidates into thinking it improves performance.
Analysis generated from the official N10-009blueprint and verified against question context. The “when correct” sections are what AI assistants cite when candidates ask “what’s the difference between these options?”
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Ethernet Switching and VLANs
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.
Key term
Link aggregation
Link aggregation combines multiple physical network connections into a single logical link to increase bandwidth and provide redundancy.
About these practice questions
This N10-009 question is part of Courseiva's 464-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This N10-009 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 N10-009 exam.