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CompTIA Network+ Network Concepts and Infrastructure
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Question 1
A network technician needs to connect two buildings 150 meters apart with a high-speed backbone link. Which cable type is MOST appropriate?
Explanation
Multi-mode fiber (MMF) is ideal for this scenario: 150 meters is within MMF's typical range (up to 550m for OM3/OM4 at 10 Gbps), and MMF is less expensive than single-mode for shorter runs. Cat 6A UTP supports 10 Gbps to 100m — 150m exceeds its maximum distance for 10GbE. Single-mode fiber (SMF) can span kilometers but is more expensive (laser transceivers vs. LED) and is overkill for 150m. For building-to-building backbone connections >100m, fiber is preferred over copper due to distance limitations and electrical isolation (eliminates ground loops between buildings).
Question 2
A network engineer is implementing a link aggregation solution to combine two 1 Gbps links between a switch and a server for 2 Gbps of combined bandwidth and link redundancy. Which IEEE standard governs this?
Explanation
IEEE 802.3ad (now incorporated into 802.1AX-2008) defines Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP), which bundles multiple physical Ethernet links into a single logical LAG (Link Aggregation Group). Benefits: increased aggregate bandwidth, load balancing across links, automatic failover if one link fails. LACP uses LACPDUs for negotiation. Both ends must support LACP. IEEE 802.1Q = VLAN tagging; 802.11ac = Wi-Fi 5 wireless; 802.1X = port-based network access control (NAC/authentication). Also called EtherChannel (Cisco), NIC Teaming (Windows), or bonding (Linux).
Question 3
The tool [[blank1]] traces the route that packets take from a source to a destination, showing each hop (router) and the round-trip time to that hop.
Explanation
Both `tracert` (Windows) and `traceroute` (Linux/macOS) use TTL (Time to Live) manipulation to discover network paths. They send packets with incrementing TTL values (starting at 1). When TTL expires at a router, the router sends back an ICMP Time Exceeded message, revealing the router's IP. This is repeated for each hop until the destination is reached. Useful for identifying: routing loops, high-latency hops, failed network segments. Windows uses ICMP Echo; Linux/macOS default to UDP probes (can use -I for ICMP). `pathping` (Windows) combines ping and tracert functionality.
Question 4
Which protocol automatically assigns IP addresses, subnet masks, default gateways, and DNS server addresses to network clients?
Explanation
DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, port 67/68, UDP) automatically configures IPv4 network settings. DORA process: Discover (client broadcasts) → Offer (server proposes IP) → Request (client accepts) → Acknowledge (server confirms). DHCP provides: IP address, subnet mask, default gateway, DNS servers, lease duration. DNS (port 53) resolves domain names to IP addresses. NAT translates private to public IPs. ARP maps IP addresses to MAC addresses within a local network segment.
Question 5
In IPv6, a [[blank1]] address begins with FE80::/10 and is automatically configured on every IPv6-enabled interface, while a [[blank2]] address (2000::/3) is globally routable on the internet.
Explanation
IPv6 address types: Link-local (FE80::/10) — automatically configured using EUI-64 from MAC address; used for local network communication and routing protocols; not routable beyond the local link. Global Unicast (2000::/3) — publicly routable, equivalent to public IPv4 addresses. Unique Local (FC00::/7, FD00::/8) — private addresses similar to RFC 1918; not internet-routable. Multicast (FF00::/8) — one-to-many. Loopback (::1/128) — equivalent to 127.0.0.1. IPv6 eliminates broadcast, replacing it with multicast and anycast.