Comptia Practice Questions Flashcards
Which of the following technologies enables the IP addresses assigned to clients by a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server to be automatically added to the DNS namespace?
A. Reverse name resolution
B. Dynamic DNS
C. Automatic allocation
D. HOSTS
Dynamic DNS (DDNS) is an addition to the DNS standards that eliminates the need for administrators to manually create certain DNS resource records. For example, when a DHCP server allocates an address to a client, DDNS creates a host (A) record containing the hostname of the client and the newly allocated IP address. Reverse name resolution is the process of looking up hostnames based on IP addresses. Automatic allocation is a DHCP process by which IP addresses are permanently assigned to clients. HOSTS is a text-based name resolution method that predates DNS.
Which of the following types of switches performs a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) on an entire frame’s contents prior to forwarding it out a port leading to the destination system?
Store-and-forward switches take in the entire frame and verify its contents by performing a CRC calculation before forwarding it. Cut-through switches are faster because they look at only the first 6 bytes (the destination Media Access Control, or MAC, address) when forwarding a frame; they do not perform a CRC on the entire frame. Source route is a bridging technique in which the source host, not the switch, determines the path a frame will take through a network to reach a destination. Packet filtering is a technique used by firewalls. Neither of these is a type of switch.
Which of the following wireless security protocols uses TKIP for encryption?
A. WEP
B. WPA
C. WPA2
D. AES
WiFi Protected Access (WPA) is a wireless security protocol that was designed to replace the increasingly vulnerable Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP). WPA added an encryption protocol called Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP). This too became vulnerable, and WPA2 was introduced, which replaced TKIP with an Advanced Encryption Standard protocol (CCMP-AES).
A Wireless Access Point (WAP) enables computers equipped with wireless network interface adapters to function in which of the following topologies?
A WAP is a device with a wireless transceiver that also connects to a standard cabled network. Wireless computers communicate with the WAP , which forwards their transmissions over the network cable. This is called an infrastructure topology. A star or bus network requires the computers to be physically connected to the network cable, and an ad hoc topology is one in which wireless computers communicate directly with one another.
In the standard troubleshooting methodology, you begin by taking steps to identify the problem. After you have done this, which of the following steps should you perform next?
A. Verify full system functionality
B. Establish a theory of probable cause
C. Establish a plan of action
D. Implement the solution
After identifying the problem, the next step is to establish a theory for the probable cause of the problem. After that, you can test your theory, establish a plan of action, implement a solution, verify the functionality of the system, and document the entire process.
Which of the following is a PPP authentication protocol that enables users to authenticate using smartcards, badge readers, and fingerprint scanners, as well as usernames and passwords?
A. PPTP
B. PAP
C. CHAP
D. EAP
Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) is a shell protocol used with Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP), which enables systems to support various types of authentication mechanisms. The primary advantage of EAP is that it enables a computer to use mechanisms other than passwords for authentication, including public key certificates, smartcards, badge readers, and biometric devices, such as fingerprint scanners. Password Authentication Protocol (PAP) and Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) support only password authentication. Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) is a Virtual Private Network (VPN) protocol, not an authentication protocol.
Which of the following protocols is used to synchronize computer clocks to a time signal provided by a server?
A. TFTP
B. HTTP
C. SMTP
D. NTP
The Network Time Protocol (NTP) is used to synchronize computer clocks. Time signals can be provided by internal servers or time servers on the Internet. The Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) is used to transfer files between systems without authentication. The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is used to exchange web traffic between clients and servers. The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is used to transmit email traffic between clients and servers.
When you contract with a provider to obtain email services for your company using their servers in the public cloud, which of the following service models are you using?
A. IaaS
B. PaaS
C. SaaS
D. DaaS
E. None of the above
The Software as a Service (SaaS) model provides consumers with access to a specific application running on the provider’s servers. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) provides the consumers with processing, storage, and networking resources that they can use to install and run operating systems and other software of their choice. Platform as a Service (PaaS) provides consumers with the ability to install applications of their choice on a server installed by the provider. Desktop as a Service (DaaS) provides remote virtualization of the entire workstation desktop, instead of a single application.
Which of the following protocols provides wireless networks with the strongest encryption?
A. AES
B. TKIP
C. EAP
D. 802.1X
WiFi Protected Access (WPA) is a wireless security protocol that was designed to replace the increasingly vulnerable Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP). WPA added an encryption protocol called Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP). This too became vulnerable, and WPA2 was introduced, which replaced TKIP with the stronger CCMP-Advanced Encryption Standard (CCMP-AES). Extensible Authentication Protocol and 802.1X do not provide encryption.
Which of the following Virtual Private Network (VPN) protocols is generally considered to be obsolete?
A. IPSec
B. L2TP
C. PPTP
D. SSL/TLS
Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) is considered to be obsolete for VPN use because of several serious security vulnerabilities that have been found in it. IPSec, Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP), and Secure Sockets Layer/Transport Layer Security (SSL/TLS) are all still in use.
Which of the following command-line utilities enables you to view the Internet Protocol (IP) configuration on a Unix or Linux host?
A. ifconfig
B. nslookup
C. ipconfig
D. netstat
E. iperf
On a Unix or Linux host, the ifconfig command displays the system’s current IP configuration settings and parameters. ipconfig is a Windows command-line utility that performs the same basic function. The other options are command-line utilities that do not display IP configuration information.
In a client-to-site Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection, which of the following combinations of endpoint devices would most likely be involved?
A. Two workstations
B. A workstation and a server
C. A workstation and a VPN concentrator
D. Two VPN concentrators
A client-to-site VPN connection connects a single workstation to a remote Local Area Network (LAN), enabling the workstation user to access the remote network’s resources. The typical configuration would consist of a standalone workstation and a VPN concentrator at the network site functioning as the endpoints of the connection.
Password policies frequently require users to specify complex passwords. Which of the following are characteristic of a complex password?
A. Passwords that contain mixed upper- and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols
B. Passwords that exceed a specific length
C. Passwords that do not duplicate a specific number of the user’s previous passwords
D. Passwords that do not duplicate the user’s account name, birth date, or other personal information
Although all of the options are characteristics of a strong password, the definition of a complex password is one that expands the available character set by using a mixture of upper- and lowercase letters, numerals, and symbols. The larger the character set used to create passwords, the more difficult they are to guess.
Which of the following is a feature included in some routers that collects and analyzes network traffic data sent or received through a network interface?
A. Netmon
B. Netflow
C. Netstat
D. Nbtstat
Netflow is a network traffic monitoring feature first introduced in Cisco routers in 1996. Netmon, Netstat, and Nbtstat are all operating system utilities, not router features.
Which of the following best describes the function of the network medium?
A. The network medium provides the physical connection between networked computers.
B. The network medium provides the protocol used to transmit data between end systems.
C. The network medium passes data packets between two routers.
D. The network medium processes electrical or light signals and converts them to data.
The network medium provides the physical connection between networked computers. This connection can be made through a copper-based, fiber-optic, or wireless medium. The network medium is not a protocol, and it does not pass data packets; it only carries signals. The network medium does not process electrical or light pulses and convert them to data; it carries only the signals generated by transceivers.
