Practice for the CompTIA A+ Core 1 (220-1201) exam with 21 exam-style practice questions, instant answer reveals, and concise explanations of every correct answer. Topics include: Your company has decided to begin moving some of its data into the cloud. Currently, your company's network consists of . Follow @CertPunch and visit certpunch.com for more certification practice exams and study content.
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What you will practice
- Your company has decided to begin moving some of its data into the cloud. Currently, your company's network c…
- Which of the following network standards allows a networking device to provide up to 25W of power to a connec…
- Which of the following protocols operates over port 3389 by default?
- Which cloud computing concept is BEST described as focusing on replacing the hardware and software required w…
- What is the name of the networking protocol used by macOS to find available printers on the network to use?
- What is the primary advantage of an eSIM compared to a traditional physical SIM card?
Answers and explanations
Tap a question to expand the answer and the exam reasoning. Try to commit to your own pick first.
Q1. Your company has decided to begin moving some of its data into the cloud. Currently, your company's network consists of both on-premise storage and some cloud-based storage. Which of the following types of clouds is your company currently…
Answer: C. Hybrid
A hybrid cloud combines on-premises private infrastructure with public cloud resources, creating an integrated environment. The other options describe fully private, fully public, or shared community deployments, which lack this specific mixture.
Q2. Which of the following network standards allows a networking device to provide up to 25W of power to a connected device?
Answer: C. 802.3at
The 802.3at standard, also known as PoE Plus, provides up to twenty-five watts of power to connected devices. Use the wattage requirement to eliminate the distractors, since 802.3af only supplies about fifteen watts, while the 802.11 options are wireless networking standards.
Q3. Which of the following protocols operates over port 3389 by default?
Answer: C. RDP
Remote Desktop Protocol, or RDP, operates over port 3389 to provide graphical remote administration of a host. Memorize common ports to eliminate the distractors, since SSH uses port 22, Telnet uses 23, and POP3 uses 110.
Q4. Which cloud computing concept is BEST described as focusing on replacing the hardware and software required when creating and testing new applications and programs from a customer's environment with cloud-based resources?
Answer: C. PaaS
Platform as a Service, or PaaS, replaces local hardware and software by providing a cloud-based development environment for creating applications. Use the context of testing and programming to eliminate IaaS, which focuses on virtualized infrastructure.
Q5. What is the name of the networking protocol used by macOS to find available printers on the network to use?
Answer: C. Bonjour
Bonjour is the zero-configuration networking protocol used in macOS to automatically discover available printers on a network. Eliminate the other options because they are printing protocols rather than hardware discovery services.
Q6. What is the primary advantage of an eSIM compared to a traditional physical SIM card?
Answer: A. An eSIM can be remotely downloaded and activated without physical installation
An embedded SIM can be remotely downloaded and activated without physical installation. Avoid the distractors claiming lower costs or zero configuration, since the service plans and manual network settings remain virtually identical to physical cards.
Q7. Which of the following types of USB connections can support data rates of up to 480 Mbps?
Answer: C. USB 2.0
USB 2.0 supports data transfer rates up to 480 megabits per second. Use this specific speed to eliminate the older 1.1 standard, which caps at 12 megabits per second, and the faster USB 3.0 standard.
Q8. A workstation in a closed wooden cabinet reboots intermittently with no pattern. The memory and cables are properly connected. What is MOST likely the cause?
Answer: B. The workstation is overheating
A workstation inside a closed wooden cabinet will overheat, causing the system to reboot intermittently to protect itself. Eliminate the distractors because mixed memory is physically incompatible and boot order issues prevent startup.
Q9. A color laser printer prints small vector graphics successfully but fails after printing 60-70% of large bitmap photos. What is MOST likely the reason?
Answer: B. The printer is running out of memory
A laser printer must load the entire image into memory before it can process and print the image. If the printer runs out of memory, it prints the processed portion and then fails. Low toner or print server timeouts would cause different symptoms.
Q10. An office is outside of the service area for traditional business internet connectivity. Jason wants to ensure the office has a 1 Gbps connection with under 10 ms of latency. To achieve this, he ordered a business class microwave service…
Answer: B. WISP
A wireless internet service provider, or WISP, delivers microwave and line of sight connections to businesses. Line of sight antennas transmit signals unobstructed, offering lower latency than satellite. Fiber, cable, and DSL require physical wired infrastructure.
Q11. You are setting up a hotel ballroom for a training workshop. Which of the following devices would BEST allow the conference attendees to connect their laptops to the hotel's network when inside the conference areas?
Answer: B. Access Point
A wireless access point provides Wi-Fi connectivity to a wired local area network. In open conference areas, providing wireless access is far more practical than running multiple physical ethernet cables to each attendee.
Q12. You are troubleshooting a laptop keyboard that has several non-responsive keys. What is the most appropriate first step?
Answer: A. Use compressed air to clean debris from the keyboard
Using compressed air to clear physical debris is the best first step for non-responsive keys. Always attempt the least invasive physical solution before moving to time-consuming driver updates or hardware replacement.
Q13. A video editor's workstation makes loud clicking noises when loading applications or editing videos. Fans have been replaced but the noise persists. What should you do NEXT?
Answer: D. Perform a full backup of the hard disk
Clicking noises from a hard drive indicate imminent mechanical failure. Before replacing the failing drive, you must perform a full backup to secure the user's data and prevent catastrophic loss.
Q14. A company's network has 33 computers directly connected to two switches using CAT 5e cables. The two switches are interconnected using a fiber cable with MTRJ connectors. All 33 computers and the two switches are located within the same of…
Answer: A. LAN
A local area network connects nodes within a single building or campus using switches and cables. A MAN or WAN spans larger geographic areas, while a PAN supports close-range personal devices.
Q15. A user sees some fading across their papers when printing using a laser printer. The black color appears to be more faded than the other colors on the documents. Which of the following is the BEST solution to this problem?
Answer: C. Replace the toner cartridge in the printer
Faded print on a laser printer typically indicates a low toner cartridge. Fuser and transfer roller issues usually cause smearing or blank pages, while feed rate does not affect toner density.
Q16. Which of the following is a primary benefit of using Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)?
Answer: D. Enhances desktop security and control
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure centralizes desktop management to enhance security and administrative control. This eliminates the need for local processing power and requires a stable network connection.
Q17. An Android user recently cracked their screen and had it replaced. If they are in a dark room, the phone works fine. If the user enters a room with normal lights on, the phone's display is dim and hard to read. Which of the following is MO…
Answer: D. Faulty ambient light sensor
A faulty ambient light sensor incorrectly detects brightness levels and dims the screen in well lit rooms. Standard auto brightness would increase screen visibility in bright light, not decrease it.
Q18. A network technician is troubleshooting an Ethernet port on a desktop computer that is not connecting to the network. They decide to use a loopback adapter. What is the primary purpose of using this tool in this scenario?
Answer: C. To verify that the Ethernet port on the desktop can send and receive data
A loopback adapter tests a port by sending its transmitted signals directly back into the receive pins to verify basic send and receive functionality. It isolates the local network interface from external cables and switches, which eliminates the other options.
Q19. A technician is upgrading the RAM in a desktop computer. The system originally had DDR3 RAM installed, but the technician wants to use DDR4 RAM. What must the technician verify before proceeding?
Answer: D. That the motherboard supports DDR4 RAM
DDR3 and DDR4 memory modules use different physical notch placements and electrical voltages, making them completely incompatible. You must always verify the motherboard specifically supports the new generation of RAM before attempting an upgrade.
Q20. Susan is troubleshooting a workstation that has multiple S.M.A.R.T. errors. When the system is booted up, she hears a loud clicking noise, and the operating system fails to load. Which of the following is MOST likely the problem with this…
Answer: B. The read/write heads of the hard disk drive have failed
A clicking noise combined with S.M.A.R.T. errors points directly to mechanical failure of the hard disk drive read and write heads. Fan or memory issues would not trigger hard drive hardware monitoring errors, making the other distractors incorrect.
Q21. A student wants to use their workstation to run several virtual machines. The workstation currently has an i7 quad-core processor, 4 GB of DDR3 memory, a 512 GB SSD, and a gigabit network interface card. Which of the following components s…
Answer: B. RAM
Running multiple virtual machines simultaneously consumes a massive amount of system memory, making RAM the most critical upgrade. The existing quad core CPU, SSD, and gigabit network card are already sufficient for basic virtualization tasks.
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