comptia server+ practice test Advanced Practice Exam: Hard Questions 2025

You are deploying a new 2U server with 12 hot-swap bays. The workload is a database with heavy random reads/writes and strict uptime requirements. The controller supports write-back cache with a supercapacitor, RAID 10/5/6/50/60, and hot spares. Management requires that a single drive failure and an unrecoverable read error during rebuild must not cause data loss. Which storage configuration BEST meets the requirement while maintaining strong random I/O performance?

A server intermittently reboots under heavy load. The BMC logs show repeated CPU thermal threshold events, but data center ambient temperature is within specification. The server was recently upgraded with higher-TDP CPUs and additional DIMMs. Which action is the MOST likely to permanently resolve the issue?

A cluster host uses two dual-port 10GbE NICs. Each NIC is connected to a different top-of-rack switch. The network team enables LACP and asks you to configure an 802.3ad bond for redundancy and throughput. After enabling LACP, the host loses connectivity intermittently during switch maintenance and when a single link flaps. Which design change BEST prevents these outages while preserving redundancy?

A company must separate management traffic (iDRAC/iLO, hypervisor management), storage traffic (iSCSI), and VM guest traffic on a small virtualization cluster. The environment has a single pair of redundant switches and limited NIC ports per host. The security team requires that the management plane be isolated from guest networks and that storage traffic not be impacted by broadcast storms on the guest VLANs. Which approach BEST meets these requirements with minimal additional hardware?

A sysadmin restores a VM from backup after a storage outage. After recovery, two servers intermittently report authentication failures and duplicate IP address alerts. Investigation shows both the restored VM and an existing VM are answering for the same hostname and IP. Which step should have been performed to prevent this issue during recovery?

You inherit a file server with a single large volume that is 92% full. The server experiences periodic performance collapse during business hours. Monitoring shows long I/O queues and high disk latency coinciding with automated volume snapshots and anti-malware scans. Users complain that opening small files is slow during these events. Which change is MOST likely to reduce user impact without removing security controls or eliminating snapshots?

A security audit finds that administrators frequently use shared local accounts on out-of-band management interfaces (BMC) and that these interfaces are reachable from the general server VLAN. The business requires rapid break-glass access during outages but also wants to reduce the risk of lateral movement. Which combination of controls BEST addresses the audit findings?

A ransomware incident encrypts several application servers and also encrypts the most recent backups. You discover the backup repository was mounted read/write from the backup server and accessible using the same administrative credentials used on the application servers. Which architecture change MOST directly reduces the likelihood of backup encryption in a similar future incident?

After a maintenance window, a server boots but cannot access a SAN LUN. The HBA link is up, and switch ports show the WWPN logged in. However, the OS no longer sees the multipath device, and only one path appears intermittently. No zoning changes were made. Which is the MOST likely cause?

A two-node virtualization cluster uses shared storage and has experienced several brief outages during utility power events even though both nodes and the storage array are on UPS. Logs show the nodes shutting down cleanly, but the storage array remains running until its batteries are depleted and then powers off abruptly. When power returns, the array performs a lengthy consistency check and VMs take a long time to recover. What is the BEST corrective action?