A technician receives reports that a file server is performing slower than usual after a power failure. While investigating the issue, the technician discovers the write cache was disabled. The technician checks a server configuration document and confirms the cache was previously enabled. Which of the following events most likely caused this change?
Answer : C
Comprehensive and Detailed
Write caching improves disk performance by temporarily storing write operations in faster cache memory before writing to disk. However, to prevent data loss during power failures, write caching relies on a battery-backed cache. If the RAID controller's battery fails, the system may automatically disable write caching to protect data integrity, leading to reduced performance.
A technician is installing a large number of servers in a data center with limited rack space. Which of the following would accomplish this goal while using the least amount of space?
Answer : A
Comprehensive and Detailed
Blade enclosures are designed to maximize server density by housing multiple blade servers within a single chassis. This design minimizes the physical footprint compared to traditional rack-mounted servers. Key benefits include:
Space Efficiency: Multiple servers share power, cooling, and networking within a compact enclosure.
Simplified Management: Centralized management of power, cooling, and networking simplifies administration.
Scalability: Easily add or replace blade servers without significant reconfiguration.
Three new servers that use similar types of resources need to be set up, installed with the same OS, and ready within a short time frame. Which of the following installation types would most likely be used?
Answer : C
Comprehensive and Detailed
When deploying multiple servers that require similar resources and need to be operational quickly, virtualization is often the most efficient approach. Virtualization allows for the creation of multiple virtual machines (VMs) on a single physical server, each running its own instance of an operating system. This method offers several advantages:
Rapid Deployment: VM templates can be used to quickly deploy standardized server environments, reducing setup time.
Resource Efficiency: Virtualization enables better utilization of hardware resources by allocating them dynamically among VMs.
A technician is configuring a server that will need to accommodate a planned network upgrade. All hosts will be changed from 10Gb copper to 25Gb fiber. Which of the following would best suit the requirements?
Answer : C
The upgrade involves transitioning from 10Gb copper to 25Gb fiber, which requires appropriate network interface hardware:
FCoE (A) - Fibre Channel over Ethernet: This protocol allows Fibre Channel to run over Ethernet networks, but it does not address the physical change from copper to fiber.
VLAN ID (B): VLANs segment networks but do not impact the physical connectivity (copper vs. fiber).
SFP (C) - Small Form-factor Pluggable: SFP transceivers are hot-swappable modules used in network interfaces to support fiber connections. A 25Gb SFP28 transceiver would be required for the transition from 10Gb copper to 25Gb fiber. This is the correct answer.
HBA (D) - Host Bus Adapter: HBAs are typically used for storage connectivity (such as Fibre Channel SANs), not general network upgrades.
Since SFP modules allow servers to support fiber connections, this is the best choice for upgrading from 10Gb copper to 25Gb fiber.
A storage administrator is configuring a new array to provide storage to a virtual cluster. The array has a built-in backup agent to allow data that is stored on the array to be backed up. The storage administrator wants the virtual cluster to use a file-based storage protocol so the backup agent can just back up the files that change and not the whole data store. Which of the following storage protocols should the administrator use?
Answer : D
Different storage protocols operate at different levels (file-based vs. block-based):
iSCSI (Internet Small Computer Systems Interface) is a block-level protocol, meaning that the storage appears as raw disk space to the operating system. Backups would require copying entire blocks, rather than specific files.
FC (Fibre Channel) is another block-level protocol used in high-performance SANs. It does not support file-based storage natively.
FCoE (Fibre Channel over Ethernet) extends FC over Ethernet but still functions as a block-based storage solution.
NFS (Network File System) is a file-based storage protocol, making it the best option. It allows direct access to files, which enables backup software to back up only modified files instead of the entire block device.
Since the administrator requires a file-based storage protocol to ensure efficient incremental backups, NFS is the correct choice.
A technician is configuring a server with eight available drive bays. The technician wants a combination of the most redundancy and the maximum available storage. Which of the following RAID levels should the technician use?
Answer : D
When selecting a RAID level, both redundancy and storage efficiency must be considered:
RAID 1 mirrors data, providing high redundancy but reducing available storage to 50%. With eight drives, only four drives' worth of space would be available.
RAID 5 uses striping with distributed parity. It provides good storage efficiency (n-1) but can only tolerate one drive failure.
RAID 6 is similar to RAID 5 but uses dual parity, allowing two drives to fail while still maintaining data integrity. However, it reduces available storage to (n-2).
RAID 10 (also known as RAID 1+0) combines mirroring and striping. It provides excellent redundancy and performance, allowing multiple drive failures as long as they aren't in the same mirrored pair. Storage efficiency is 50%, but the redundancy and performance benefits outweigh this trade-off in high-availability environments.
Since the technician requires both maximum redundancy and high available storage, RAID 10 is the best choice.
A systems administrator noticed a new network card is not being recognized by the operating system. Which of the following is most likely the cause?
Answer : B
When a newly installed network card is not being recognized by the operating system, the most likely cause is that the necessary driver is not installed or loaded. Device drivers act as intermediaries between the hardware and the operating system. Without the correct driver, the OS cannot communicate with or properly use the network card.
Other Options:
A . The network cable is unplugged: This would prevent network connectivity, but the OS would still recognize the network card itself.
C . The IP settings are incorrect: Incorrect IP settings can cause network issues but do not prevent the OS from recognizing the NIC.
D . PXE boot is enabled: PXE (Preboot Execution Environment) allows a system to boot from a network rather than a local disk. While PXE may affect booting, it does not directly cause a NIC to be unrecognized by the OS.
Thus, the most likely cause is that the driver for the network card is not installed or properly loaded.
CompTIA Server+ Certification Exam Objectives (SK0-005): Server Hardware -- Explain server components and their functions