100-140 Question 219
Single answerA user reports that they cannot connect to a remote server. As part of troubleshooting, you decide to use the ping command from your workstation. After running the command, you receive a 'Request timed out' response. What does this likely indicate?
- A
The server is down and not responding to any network requests.
- B
A firewall or security policy is blocking ICMP packets.
- C
The DNS server is unable to resolve the server's hostname to an IP address.
- D
The workstation has an invalid IP configuration.
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
A 'Request timed out' response from the ping command indicates that the ICMP Echo Request packet was sent successfully but no Echo Reply was received. This is commonly caused by firewalls or security policies configured to block ICMP traffic, even if the server itself is operational. Identifying the cause of this issue is an important troubleshooting step in network diagnostics.
- A. Incorrect.
While the server might indeed be down, the 'Request timed out' response specifically indicates that the ICMP packets were not acknowledged. A server being down would typically result in no response at all.
- B. Correct.
A 'Request timed out' response often occurs when ICMP packets (used by the ping command) are blocked by a firewall or security policy, preventing the ping from being completed.
- C. Incorrect.
If the DNS server was unable to resolve the hostname to an IP address, the ping command would not run successfully in the first place, and you would see a different error (e.g., 'Ping request could not find host').
- D. Incorrect.
An invalid IP configuration on the workstation would likely result in a failure to send the ping request altogether, not a 'Request timed out' response.