CompTIA 220-1201 Practice Test

Explanation:

A Personal Area Network (PAN) connects devices within close range, typically under 10 meters. Bluetooth headsets paired with smartphones, laptops, or tablets form a PAN, allowing seamless audio communication during calls. PANs are designed for personal devices, offering convenience, wireless freedom, and low power consumption for individual users’ connectivity needs.

❌ Why the Others Are Wrong

A. MAN
A Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) covers areas the size of cities and interconnects buildings and networks over a wide region. It’s used by large organizations or ISPs to provide high-speed connectivity across urban areas. MANs are far larger in scale than a simple Bluetooth connection between a headset and a phone.

C. SAN
A Storage Area Network (SAN) is a specialized network connecting servers to high-speed storage devices. It’s designed for enterprise data storage solutions, supporting large volumes of data and high throughput. It has no relationship to Bluetooth headsets or personal wireless connections, making it the wrong choice here.

D. WAN
A Wide Area Network (WAN) spans large geographic areas, such as cities, countries, or even continents. The internet itself is a massive WAN. Unlike a PAN, which is personal and short-range, WANs connect networks over great distances, making this option completely unrelated to Bluetooth headsets used for conference calls.

Explanation:

Syslog is a standard protocol used for logging system events from various devices and applications into a centralized log server. It helps track activities, diagnose problems, and maintain security by recording critical information. It’s ideal for environments where logs need to be collected, analyzed, and stored systematically for troubleshooting or compliance purposes.

❌ Why the Others Are Wrong

A. Fileshare
A fileshare provides a place to store files accessible over the network. Although logs could theoretically be stored on a shared drive, it lacks the structured approach, logging standards, and real-time event collection capabilities that Syslog provides. Fileshares are better for documents, media, and general data storage, not event logging.

C. Database
A database can certainly store logs but requires significant planning, schema design, and potentially additional software to gather logs from diverse sources. Syslog exists specifically for logging and is easier to deploy for capturing logs from network devices, applications, and systems without requiring custom database solutions.

D. SAN
A Storage Area Network is used to connect servers to large volumes of block-level storage. While SANs store large datasets, they are not inherently designed for log collection or management. Implementing a SAN for simple application logging would be overly complex and expensive for such a purpose.

Explanation:

Following the CompTIA troubleshooting methodology, after identifying the problem, the next step is to determine what has changed. New software installations, updates, or configuration changes can easily cause applications to stop working. Asking the user about recent changes narrows the investigation and avoids unnecessary troubleshooting of unrelated issues.

❌ Why the Others Are Wrong

A. Research the symptoms
Researching symptoms is helpful but should come after determining what changed. A recent user change could directly explain the issue, saving time. If you skip this step, you risk researching the wrong problem or overlooking a simple solution that a user action has caused.

C. Determine which steps need to be performed.
Planning repair steps is important but premature if you don’t know the cause. You must gather information and identify the change first. Deciding on steps without knowing what happened could waste time or cause unintended consequences, especially if the issue is user-induced.

D. Check the vendor’s website for guidance.
While vendor documentation can be helpful, it’s better to first check for local causes, like user changes, before assuming a software defect or vendor-specific issue. Vendor sites might not address your exact environment or user actions that triggered the problem.

Explanation:

IaaS provides virtualized computing resources such as virtual machines, storage, and networking over the internet. In IaaS, the company is responsible for managing operating systems and applications while the cloud provider maintains the underlying hardware. Deploying servers in a public cloud is the classic example of using IaaS to scale resources without physical infrastructure costs.

❌ Why the Others Are Wrong

A. Platform as a Service (PaaS)
PaaS provides a platform for developers to build applications without managing the underlying infrastructure. It offers services like databases, development tools, and runtime environments. However, it does not give users full control over virtual machines, making it distinct from deploying individual server instances in IaaS.

B. Anything as a Service (XaaS)
XaaS is a broad, catch-all term for delivering anything as a service. It’s not a specific cloud model. While it encompasses IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS, it’s too vague to describe the scenario of deploying individual server instances in a public cloud environment.

D. Software as a Service (SaaS)
SaaS offers ready-to-use software applications hosted and managed by a provider, like email services or CRM tools. Users interact with the software via web browsers without managing the underlying infrastructure. Deploying your own servers is IaaS, not SaaS, because SaaS doesn’t involve managing servers yourself.

Explanation:

Improperly seated RAM modules are one of the most common causes of a system failing to complete POST (Power-On Self-Test). During motherboard replacement, RAM can easily become misaligned or partially inserted. Reseating ensures good electrical contact, which is critical for the system to detect memory and proceed with booting.

❌ Why the Others Are Wrong

A. Flash the BIOS
Flashing the BIOS updates the motherboard firmware but is risky and generally not performed on a system that won’t POST at all. Without a successful POST, you cannot even run a BIOS update utility, making this step impossible until hardware issues are resolved.

B. Check the CMOS battery
While a dead CMOS battery can reset BIOS settings, it usually won’t prevent a system from POSTing entirely. You might lose date/time settings or custom configurations, but basic hardware detection should still work. Checking the battery is a later step after addressing fundamental hardware issues.

D. Reinstall the old motherboard
Reverting to the old motherboard should be a last resort, only if the new one is confirmed defective. Before swapping hardware again, basic troubleshooting like reseating RAM should always be attempted. It’s faster, cheaper, and often resolves issues without unnecessary part changes.

Explanation:

A Wi-Fi analyzer scans for all wireless signals in the area—including networks that hide their SSID. Even if a network isn’t broadcasting its name, it still transmits identifiable radio signals, which a Wi-Fi analyzer can detect and display with details like signal strength, channel usage, and MAC addresses. This makes it the ideal tool for discovering hidden or rogue networks and troubleshooting wireless connectivity issues.

Why the Others Are Wrong:

A. Cable tester
A cable tester is strictly used for wired connections, checking if Ethernet cables are correctly wired, have continuity, and aren’t broken. It cannot detect or analyze any wireless signals. Using it to look for Wi-Fi networks would be pointless, as it physically connects to cables and has no radio frequency capabilities.

B. Toner probe
A toner probe is used for tracing copper wiring through walls or ceilings by sending a tone down the wire that the probe picks up. It’s entirely a tool for identifying and labeling physical cables. It does nothing with wireless signals and can’t detect Wi-Fi networks, hidden or visible.

D. Loopback plug
A loopback plug tests network ports or serial ports by sending signals back into the same port, verifying that the hardware is transmitting and receiving correctly. While it’s useful for diagnosing problems with network cards or ports, it has no function in wireless networking. It cannot scan radio frequencies or find hidden SSIDs.

Explanation:

Port 25 is used for SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol), which handles sending outbound emails from clients and between servers across the internet. Port 110 is used for POP3 (Post Office Protocol v3), which allows retrieval of emails from a mail server to a client system for local access. These two ports are directly involved in email sending and receiving operations, making them the correct options for ports associated with email traffic.

❌ Why answer is wrong:

Option A (Port 23):
Port 23 is used by Telnet, a protocol for creating remote terminal sessions over a network for command-line management of devices. It allows users to remotely log in and control systems using a text-based interface but does not handle or manage email traffic in any form. Since Telnet is unrelated to the functions of sending or retrieving emails and does not interact with mail servers for email traffic, it is not an appropriate option for ports associated with email.

Option C (Port 67):
Port 67 is used by DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol), specifically for DHCP servers to listen for requests from clients that need IP address assignments and network configurations. It is essential for automating IP address distribution on a network but has no involvement in email transmission, delivery, or retrieval. DHCP is purely a network configuration service protocol and does not handle or affect email protocols or their corresponding port communications, making it unrelated to email traffic.

Option E (Port 137):
Port 137 is used by NetBIOS Name Service to enable devices on a local network to discover each other by name, primarily used in legacy Windows networking environments. This port facilitates name resolution within local area networks for file sharing and printer sharing but has no association with mail servers or email protocols. Since it plays no role in the sending or receiving of email messages, it is not relevant for identifying ports used in email traffic.

Option F (Port 443):
Port 443 is used for HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure), which encrypts web traffic for secure browsing and data exchange between browsers and web servers. While webmail services use HTTPS to secure access to email interfaces, the underlying email sending and retrieval protocols (SMTP, POP3, IMAP) do not use port 443. Thus, port 443 is tied to secure web browsing and not directly to the email protocol stack, making it incorrect for ports associated with email traffic.

Explanation:

The IP address 66.157.195.20 is a valid public IP address that is routable over the internet and can be used by a router to access internet resources. Public IP addresses are necessary for communication outside the local network, enabling internet connectivity. In troubleshooting internet issues, verifying that the router receives a public IP like this confirms that the ISP is providing proper connectivity beyond the local network.

❌ Why answer is wrong:

Option A (10.254.128.11):
This IP address falls within the 10.0.0.0 to 10.255.255.255 range, which is a private IP range designated for internal network use. It is not routable over the public internet and cannot be used for direct internet access without NAT (Network Address Translation). This makes it useful for local networking within an organization but unsuitable for identifying whether a router has received a valid public IP address for internet connectivity checks.

Option C (172.16.0.30):
The IP address 172.16.0.30 belongs to the 172.16.0.0 to 172.31.255.255 private IP address range. This range is used for internal networking and is not routable on the public internet. Routers with this address require NAT to communicate externally. It is not a public IP address and therefore cannot confirm if a router is receiving a valid public IP address for internet access.

Option D (192.168.1.50):
This IP address is within the 192.168.0.0 to 192.168.255.255 private IP range, used for local network configurations in homes and small offices. It cannot be used for direct internet communication without NAT, as it is not globally routable. While useful internally, it does not validate that the router has received a public IP from the ISP for internet connectivity troubleshooting.

Explanation:

Defragmenting the user's external hard drive reorganizes fragmented files so they occupy contiguous space on the disk, reducing the time the drive spends seeking and accessing file pieces during backup operations. Since the issue persists across different drives, the problem is likely due to file fragmentation on the user's system, and defragmentation can significantly improve backup speed without requiring hardware replacement or file compression.

❌ Why answer is wrong:

Option A (Replace the hard drive's USB cable):
Replacing the USB cable would address connectivity or physical transmission issues, but since the user experienced the same slowness on different external drives, the cable is unlikely to be the source of the slow backup speeds. Backup slowness tied to file fragmentation would persist regardless of cable replacement, making this step unnecessary in this scenario.

Option C (Update the storage drivers on the user's system):
Updating storage drivers can resolve compatibility and performance issues, but in this scenario, the consistent slowness across different drives points to an issue with how files are stored on the user's system rather than driver problems. Unless the user also has widespread issues accessing or recognizing drives, updating storage drivers will not specifically address slow backup speeds due to fragmentation.

Option D (Instruct the user to compress the files):
Compressing files can reduce their size, potentially speeding up backups, but this adds an extra step for the user and may not be efficient for large media files that do not compress well. Since the core problem appears to be slow data read speeds during backup, defragmentation is a more direct and effective solution before resorting to manual file compression strategies.

Explanation:

ECC (Error-Correcting Code) RAM is commonly used in servers because it can detect and correct single-bit memory errors automatically. This enhances system reliability and stability, which is critical in server environments where uptime and data integrity are essential. ECC RAM reduces the chances of data corruption and system crashes due to memory errors, making it the standard choice for most server-grade systems.

❌ Why answer is wrong:

Option A (SODIMM):
SODIMM (Small Outline Dual In-line Memory Module) is a compact RAM form factor typically used in laptops and small-form-factor devices due to its smaller size. While it is practical for portable devices, it is not a type of RAM typically used in servers, which generally require full-sized DIMMs with ECC support for stability in demanding workloads.

Option B (Rambus):
Rambus RAM (RDRAM) was an older memory technology that offered high data transfer rates but was expensive and eventually phased out due to competition from DDR SDRAM. It is not commonly used in modern servers, which rely on DDR and ECC memory for performance and error correction, making Rambus an obsolete choice in this context.

Option C (DDR3):
DDR3 is a type of RAM technology used in desktops, laptops, and some servers, but it is not specific to servers. Servers typically use DDR3 ECC RAM rather than non-ECC DDR3, as ECC provides error correction crucial for server stability. While DDR3 may exist in servers, the question specifically asks for what is typically used in servers, making ECC the more accurate choice.