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Difficulty: HardTroubleshooting Methodology

A network administrator is investigating intermittent packet drops on a critical enterprise storage server. The administrator interviewed the server owner, reviewed operating system logs, and successfully reproduced the network failure during heavy data transfers. Based on these observations, the administrator hypothesized that an outdated network interface card (NIC) driver was experiencing buffer overruns. The administrator then placed the server into a staging environment and performed a series of stress tests, confirming that the network drops occurred exclusively when using the current driver build. According to the standard CompTIA troubleshooting methodology, which of the following is the NEXT step the administrator should take?

  1. A
    Document the root cause, updated driver build, and test outcomes in the ticketing system.
  2. Establish a plan of action to resolve the issue and implement the solution.Answer
  3. C
    Configure redundant network ports on the switch to implement preventive measures.
  4. D
    Reconfigure the local DHCP server options to assign a new default gateway IP address.

Answer

The correct action is to establish a plan of action to resolve the issue and implement the solution.
The scenario describes a technician who has already identified the problem, established a theory of probable cause, and tested the theory to confirm that an outdated NIC driver is the root cause. According to the CompTIA troubleshooting framework, after testing and confirming the theory (Step 3), the technician must establish a plan of action to resolve the issue and implement the solution (Step 4).

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the completed troubleshooting steps described in the scenario.
The administrator identified the problem (Step 1), established a hypothesis (Step 2), and tested the hypothesis in a staging environment to confirm the driver issue (Step 3).
Determining which stage of the 6-step CompTIA methodology has been completed identifies what must be done next.
2
Identify the next sequential phase in the standard CompTIA 6-step methodology.
Following Step 3 (Test the theory to determine cause), the standard framework dictates Step 4: Establish a plan of action to resolve the problem and implement the solution.
Systematic troubleshooting requires moving sequentially from testing a confirmed theory to planning and executing the remedy.

Key Concept

CompTIA 6-Step Troubleshooting Methodology Sequence
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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Topics

Troubleshooting Methodology

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