Switches and Routers

Correct Answer: Compatibility of configuration file formats

When replacing old routers with new ones and transferring existing configurations, the first thing to check is the 'Compatibility of configuration file formats'. This is because if the file formats of the old and new routers are incompatible, the configurations from the old routers cannot be properly transferred to the new routers, regardless of all other factors. Hence, this should be the first thing to verify before proceedingThe 'Network cable connections', while important, are not what should be checked first in this scenario. It is assumed in the question that the installation of the new equipment or routers has already been done successfully, so network cables are likely to have been properly connected'Power supply to the routers' is usually checked during the installation process. As the installation was successful, it can be concluded that power supply to the routers is less likely to be the cause of the configuration transfer issueThe 'Access credentials for the routers' are important for logging in and making changes to the configuration of the routers. But the access credentials themselves are not part of the configuration settings that needs to be transferred. So, it wouldn't be the first thing to check when having difficulties with transferring configurations.

Correct Answer: Trunk port

The engineer should use a Trunk port to connect the new switch to the company's backbone network. Trunk ports are used to pass VLAN traffic between switches and routers. They carry traffic for multiple VLANs over the same physical link using special tagging to differentiate between the VLANs. On the other hand, an Access port is a switch port that is a member of one specific VLAN and does not provide the necessary functionality for the new switch to join the backbone network. MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching) is a type of data-carrying technique for high-performance networks that directs data from one node to the next based on short path labels rather than long network addresses, making it unsuitable for this instance where VLAN traffic needs to be passed. VPN (Virtual Private Network) is used to create a secure connection to another network over the Internet and does not pertain to the configuration of a new switch and its connection to an existing backbone network.

Correct Answer: Separate the IP address ranges in the DHCP scopes

The most effective solution for the IT administrator's problem would be to 'Separate the IP address ranges in the DHCP scopes'. DHCP, or Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, is used to assign IP addresses to devices on a network. It's supposed to prevent IP conflicts by only assigning unique addresses. However, if two DHCP servers are running on the same network without properly configured scopes, they might assign the same IP address to different devices, causing the reported connectivity issues. By separating the IP address ranges for each server, each address will only be assigned by one server, avoiding any conflicts. The alternative suggestions are less effective: 'Turn off one of the DHCP servers' could solve the issue but will also reduce the network's ability to handle a large amount of requests. 'Configure a new VLAN for one of the DHCP servers' can help in separating traffic, but wouldn't prevent IP conflicts within the same subnet. 'Reboot both DHCP servers' wouldn't help at all, the problem is not likely due to any form of a crash or temporary mistake, but rather a misconfiguration of the scopes of the DHCP servers.