Examkin

Question

Difficulty: HardCompTIA Troubleshooting Methodology

A network technician is investigating severe performance degradation across an enterprise network following an after-hours maintenance window. After reviewing syslog messages and analyzing traffic patterns, the technician suspects that an incorrectly configured Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) bundle on a core switch stack is creating a Layer 2 switching loop. To test this theory, the technician temporarily disables one of the aggregated member interfaces, which instantly drops CPU utilization back to baseline levels and restores network throughput. According to the CompTIA troubleshooting methodology, which of the following actions should the technician perform next?

  1. Develop a plan of action to resolve the misconfiguration while identifying potential impacts to the production environment.Answer
  2. B
    Perform a full system verification test across all affected VLANs and enable Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) Guard features as a preventive measure.
  3. C
    Record the root cause, the temporary interface shutdown procedure, and the permanent resolution details in the central ticketing system.
  4. D
    Gather additional symptoms by interviewing affected department heads and conducting packet captures on edge switchports.

Answer

Develop a plan of action to resolve the misconfiguration while identifying potential impacts to the production environment.
The scenario describes a technician who has successfully tested a theory (Step 3) by temporarily disabling an aggregated link, which confirmed that an LACP misconfiguration was causing a Layer 2 loop. According to the CompTIA troubleshooting methodology, after confirming the theory, the technician must next establish a plan of action to resolve the problem and identify potential effects (Step 4).

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze current progress within the CompTIA 6-step troubleshooting methodology.
The technician has already identified the problem (Step 1), established a theory of cause (Step 2), and tested the theory by disabling the link to confirm the switching loop (Step 3).
Determining the completed phase establishes the entry point for the next required phase.
2
Identify the official CompTIA step immediately following 'Test the theory to determine cause' (Step 3).
Step 4 is 'Establish a plan of action to resolve the problem and identify potential effects'.
Before executing permanent configuration changes in a production enterprise environment, the technician must plan the remediation and evaluate potential risks or downtime.
3
Match Step 4 requirements to the correct option.
Developing a plan of action while identifying potential impacts accurately reflects Step 4 of the methodology.
This maintains strict adherence to standard operational procedures and prevents unexpected side effects during resolution.

Key Concept

CompTIA 6-Step Troubleshooting Methodology Sequence
Estimated Time:2m 0s
Rate this question

Topics

CompTIA Troubleshooting Methodology

More questions from this topic