200-901 Question 179
Single answerA network engineer is troubleshooting connectivity issues within a corporate network. The engineer discovers that devices in one subnet cannot communicate with devices in another subnet. Upon investigation, the engineer identifies that the issue might be related to the lack of proper routing. Which element is most likely missing or misconfigured in this scenario?
- A
A default gateway configuration on the devices
- B
The subnet mask on the devices
- C
The IP addresses of the devices
- D
A static or dynamic route on the router
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: D
Explanation
In order for devices on different subnets to communicate, the router must have routing information that allows it to forward packets between the subnets. This can be accomplished using static routes or a dynamic routing protocol. Without proper routing, traffic cannot traverse the network, leading to the connectivity issue described in the scenario.
- A. Incorrect.
A default gateway configuration is essential for devices to send traffic outside their local subnet, but in this case, the issue lies in routing between subnets, which is handled by the router.
- B. Incorrect.
The subnet mask defines the network and host portions of an IP address. While an incorrect subnet mask could cause communication issues, this scenario points to a routing problem, not a device-level configuration issue.
- C. Incorrect.
IP addresses are necessary for communication, but the issue described involves network routing, which is managed by the router, not the individual device IP addresses.
- D. Correct.
A static or dynamic route on the router is necessary to enable communication between different subnets. If no route exists, the router cannot forward traffic between subnets, causing the described issue.