"Troubleshooting Network Connectivity Issues: CompTIA Server+ Exam SK0-004"

"Steps to Resolve Connectivity Problem for Newly Installed File Server"

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Question

Users on a network segment report that they are unable to connect to a newly installed file server.

The file server IP address settings are as follows: IP address: 10.0.10.254 - Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0 - Default Gateway: 10.10.10.1 - Which of the following changes should the server administrator make?

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Explanations

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A. B. C. D.

B.

The issue here is that the users are unable to connect to the file server, which suggests a connectivity problem between the users and the server. The IP address settings provided for the file server are as follows:

  • IP address: 10.0.10.254
  • Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
  • Default gateway: 10.10.10.1

The subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 means that the server is on the 10.0.10.0/24 subnet, which includes IP addresses from 10.0.10.1 to 10.0.10.254. However, the default gateway is set to 10.10.10.1, which is on a different subnet. This suggests that the server administrator has misconfigured the default gateway.

The default gateway is the IP address of the router that connects the local network to the internet or another network. When a device on a local network wants to communicate with a device on a different network, it sends the traffic to the default gateway, which then routes the traffic to the appropriate network. In this case, the file server is on the 10.0.10.0/24 subnet, but the default gateway is set to 10.10.10.1, which is on a different subnet. This means that traffic from the users on the 10.0.10.0/24 subnet cannot reach the file server.

To fix this issue, the server administrator should change the default gateway on the server to an IP address that is on the same subnet as the server. Option C, "Change the default gateway on the server to 10.10.10.254," is the correct answer.

Option A, "Change the IP address on the server to 10.10.0.254," would move the server to a different subnet entirely and would not solve the connectivity issue.

Option B, "Change the IP address on the server to 10.10.10.254," would place the server on the same subnet as the default gateway, but not on the same subnet as the users who are trying to connect to it.

Option D, "Change the subnet mask on the server to 255.255.0.0," would change the subnet mask to a /16 network, which would put the server on the same subnet as the default gateway, but it would also include a much larger range of IP addresses than is necessary, potentially creating security risks and performance issues.