Examkin

Question

Difficulty: HardTroubleshooting Methodology

A network administrator is investigating an incident where accounting personnel are unable to connect to a dedicated network-attached storage (NAS) device following an unexpected power outage. The administrator interviews affected users, verifies physical cabling, and observes that the NAS drive and network status LEDs indicate normal physical operation. However, pings to the device's default IP address consistently time out. The administrator formulates a theory that the DHCP server assigned a new IP address to the NAS upon reboot rather than reserving its previous static address. According to the CompTIA troubleshooting methodology, what is the NEXT step the administrator should take?

  1. Test the theory by checking the DHCP server active lease table to determine if the NAS MAC address was assigned a different IP address.Answer
  2. B
    Establish a plan of action to reconfigure the NAS network interface with a static IP address and update DNS records.
  3. C
    Document the incident findings, root cause, and corrective configuration steps in the ticketing system.
  4. D
    Replace the local Layer 2 network switch with a Layer 3 router to handle IP address assignments for the storage network.

Answer

The administrator should test the theory by checking the DHCP server active lease table to determine if the NAS MAC address was assigned a different IP address.
The technician has completed Step 1 (Identify the problem) by gathering symptoms and checking LEDs, and Step 2 (Establish a theory of probable cause) by hypothesizing that an unexpected DHCP assignment occurred. According to the CompTIA methodology, the immediate NEXT step is Step 3: Test the theory to determine the cause. Checking the active DHCP lease table tests this specific hypothesis without making premature configuration changes.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the stage of the troubleshooting methodology already completed in the scenario.
The administrator has gathered symptoms and reproduced the issue (Step 1: Identify the problem) and formulated a hypothesis regarding DHCP dynamic IP assignment (Step 2: Establish a theory of probable cause).
Determining the current phase is required to select the correct next step in the standard 6-step troubleshooting process.
2
Determine the mandatory next step in the CompTIA 6-step troubleshooting framework.
After establishing a theory of probable cause (Step 2), the technician must test the theory to determine the cause (Step 3).
Testing the hypothesis prevents taking unnecessary or disruptive corrective actions based on unverified assumptions.
3
Select the option that represents testing the established hypothesis without implementing changes prematurely.
Checking the DHCP server lease table to verify if the NAS received a new IP address directly tests the hypothesis.
This non-disruptive diagnostic check confirms whether the IP address change occurred before establishing a plan of action.

Key Concept

CompTIA 6-Step Troubleshooting Methodology: Step 3 (Test the theory to determine cause)
Rate this question

Topics

Troubleshooting Methodology

More questions from this topic