CompTIA A+ Practice Test (220-1101)
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CompTIA A+ 220-1101 Information
CompTIA A+ Certification Overview
Exam Versions
The current versions of the CompTIA A+ certification exams are:
- 220-1101 (Core 1)
- 220-1102 (Core 2)
These versions were launched in April 2022 and are expected to retire approximately three years from their release date.
The A+ Certification Test
To earn the CompTIA A+ certification, candidates must pass two separate exams: 220-1101 and 220-1102. Each exam has a separate fee and can be taken in any order. Both exams must be completed before the retirement date and must be from the same set of objectives. The certification is valid for three years from the date of passing the exams.
Exam Details:
- Format: Computer-based tests
- Number of Questions: 90 questions per exam
- Time Limit: 90 minutes per exam
- Result Availability: Immediately after completion, following a short mandatory survey
CompTIA A+ 220-1101
The CompTIA A+ 220-1101 (Core 1) exam is a key component of the A+ certification, designed to validate essential IT skills and knowledge. This exam, launched in April 2022, covers a broad range of topics critical for IT professionals, including mobile devices, networking technology, hardware, virtualization and cloud computing, and network troubleshooting. Comprising 90 questions, the test includes multiple-choice and performance-based questions, simulating real-world scenarios to assess the candidate's practical abilities. The 220-1101 exam emphasizes the foundational skills necessary for IT support roles, ensuring that certified individuals are equipped to handle a variety of technical issues. With a 90-minute time limit, the exam challenges candidates to demonstrate their proficiency efficiently, providing immediate results upon completion. The certification remains valid for three years, making it a crucial step for those aiming to establish or advance their careers in IT.
Exam Policies and Procedures
Candidates must agree to CompTIA's exam policies before starting the test. These policies include:
- No Mobile Phones/Devices: Must be left outside the exam room
- Question Review: Candidates can revisit and change answers before submitting the exam
- Submission: Unanswered questions are marked, and a final review is available before submission
Testing Centers
Since July 9, 2012, CompTIA exams are available exclusively through Pearson VUE testing centers. Candidates can book exams online, by phone, or at the testing center. Options include:
- In-Person Testing: At Pearson VUE testing centers
- Online Testing: Through Pearson VUE's online platform
Performance-Based Questions (PBQs)
The A+ exams include Performance-Based Questions (PBQs), which require candidates to perform specific tasks or solve problems in a simulated environment. These questions test real-world skills in areas like command prompts, Windows OS, and networking environments.
Continuing Education (CE) Program
Certifications with the +CE (Continuing Education) suffix, including A+, Network+, and Security+, must be renewed every three years. Renewal options include:
- Retaking the Exam: Passing the latest version of the exam
- Higher-Level Certification: Passing a higher-level CompTIA exam
- CE Program Requirements: Completing CE activities
Lifetime Certifications
Certifications earned on or before December 31, 2010, are valid for life. However, lifetime certifications are no longer available for new candidates.
More reading:
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Free CompTIA A+ 220-1101 Practice Test
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- Questions: 15
- Time: Unlimited
- Included Topics:Mobile DevicesNetworkingHardwareVirtualization and Cloud ComputingHardware and Network Troubleshooting
In a medium-sized enterprise, a technician has been tasked with segmenting the network to improve performance and increase security by isolating departments. The network should also allow for management of policies, protocols, and virtual interfaces from a central location. Which networking device would best fit the specific needs of this scenario?
Layer 3 switch
Hub
Standard switch
Firewall
Answer Description
A layer 3 switch is designed to perform both switching (at layer 2) and routing (at layer 3). This enables it to segment the network into different subnets or VLANs, reducing broadcast domains and improving security by isolating departmental traffic. It also allows for the management of internal routing through the switch, without the need for an external router. A standard switch or hub would not provide the routing capabilities or the ability to enforce policies and manage traffic across VLANs. While a firewall offers security features, it does not offer the intranet routing capabilities of a layer 3 switch.
Ask Bash
Bash is our AI bot, trained to help you pass your exam. AI Generated Content may display inaccurate information, always double-check anything important.
What is the difference between a Layer 2 switch and a Layer 3 switch?
What are VLANs and how do they work with a Layer 3 switch?
How does a Layer 3 switch improve network security?
During a deployment of a new workstation, the desktop monitor displays an image with a green tint. Switching to a known good monitor does not resolve the issue. Which of the following should be investigated NEXT to troubleshoot this color display problem?
Update the graphics driver software
Perform a factory reset of the monitor settings
Replace the graphics card with a new one
Inspect and if necessary, replace the video cable
Adjust the color calibration settings in the display options
Change the screen refresh rate settings in the operating system
Answer Description
If replacing the monitor does not fix the issue, the next step is to check the cable being used to connect the monitor to the PC. A damaged cable or incorrect connection can cause color distortion or a tint. A loose or damaged pin in the cable often results in color issues. Replacing or properly connecting the video cable may resolve the problem.
Ask Bash
Bash is our AI bot, trained to help you pass your exam. AI Generated Content may display inaccurate information, always double-check anything important.
What types of video cables are there?
How can I tell if my video cable is damaged?
What are color calibration settings and why might they be adjusted?
Which of the following is NOT a benefit of using Cloud Infrastructure?
The Cloud Provider will handle security on your behalf
Cloud Infrastructure provides elasticity and rapid scalability based on demand
Cloud Providers offer simple to use versions of complex technology that usually requires specialized technicians
Pay-as-you-go model requires a lower upfront investment for large amounts of infrastructure
Answer Description
Cloud Infrastructure, like all infrastructure, still requires special care to ensure it's security. Some of the benefits of Cloud Infrastructure are the pay-as-you-go model (usually per second or per minute billing), flexibility to create and delete servers on demand or automatically and the ease of provisioning complex services like database clusters without highly specialized experts.
Ask Bash
Bash is our AI bot, trained to help you pass your exam. AI Generated Content may display inaccurate information, always double-check anything important.
What does elasticity and rapid scalability mean in Cloud Infrastructure?
What is a pay-as-you-go model and how does it benefit companies?
Why is security still a concern in Cloud Infrastructure despite the provider handling it?
Which connector type is commonly used to transmit both video and audio signals from a computer to a display, and can carry 4K and higher resolutions?
HDMI
VGA
Cat-6v
DVI
Answer Description
HDMI connectors are designed to transmit both high-definition video and audio from a source device to a display. They are widely used for this purpose because of their ability to handle high resolutions, such as 4K, as well as their convenience in integrating audio and video signals in a single cable.
Ask Bash
Bash is our AI bot, trained to help you pass your exam. AI Generated Content may display inaccurate information, always double-check anything important.
What does HDMI stand for, and what are its main features?
What are the differences between HDMI and other video connectors like VGA and DVI?
What are the typical applications or devices that use HDMI connectors?
A network administrator is setting up a new switched network and wants to create separate broadcast domains for the accounting and marketing departments to improve network performance and enhance security. Which of the following would be the BEST solution to achieve this goal?
Keep the network as is without making any changes to segmentation.
Divide the network into smaller subnets without re-configuring switches or routers.
Implement Virtual LANs (VLANs) and assign one for the accounting department and another for the marketing department.
Configure Access Control Lists (ACLs) on the switches to restrict inter-department traffic.
Answer Description
Creating separate VLANs for the accounting and marketing departments is the correct solution to establish distinct broadcast domains. This allows for segmenting the network based on different departments, which not only limits broadcasts to specific areas within the network but also improves overall security by controlling inter-department communication flows. Using ACLs on switches or subnets would not inherently create separate broadcast domains as they do not segment the network at Layer 2, and doing nothing would not improve separation or network performance.
Ask Bash
Bash is our AI bot, trained to help you pass your exam. AI Generated Content may display inaccurate information, always double-check anything important.
What are VLANs and how do they work?
What is the difference between Layer 2 and Layer 3 in networking?
What are Access Control Lists (ACLs) and how are they used?
Failure of a single disk in a RAID 1 array will not result in permanent data loss.
True
False
Answer Description
True - failure of a single disk in RAID 1 will not result in permanent data loss. Redundant Array of Independent Disks 1 (RAID) uses disk mirroring to ensure every piece of data can also be found on another hard drive. This means if a single disk fails, another disk will still have the necessary data. Be careful reading this question, CompTIA questions will try to trick you. It says will NOT result in data loss
Ask Bash
Bash is our AI bot, trained to help you pass your exam. AI Generated Content may display inaccurate information, always double-check anything important.
What does RAID 1 mean, and how does it work?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of using RAID 1?
What should I do if a disk in a RAID 1 array fails?
A graphic designer is using a high-end tablet for detailed digital artwork and requires a touch pen with the highest level of precision. What type of touch pen should they use?
Resistive touchscreen stylus
Digital eraser
Active touch pen with pressure sensitivity
Standard capacitive stylus without pressure sensitivity
Answer Description
The correct answer is 'Active touch pen with pressure sensitivity' because these touch pens are designed with specific technology that allows for fine control and are capable of detecting varying levels of pressure, which is crucial for detailed graphic work. Active touch pens often include additional features such as palm rejection, which ensures that only the pen input is detected, even when the hand is resting on the screen. On the other hand, Stylus pens without pressure sensitivity do not provide the nuanced control needed for detailed digital artwork, and a Digital eraser is not a type of touch pen but a feature on some active pens for deleting digital content.
Ask Bash
Bash is our AI bot, trained to help you pass your exam. AI Generated Content may display inaccurate information, always double-check anything important.
What is pressure sensitivity in a touch pen?
What is palm rejection and why is it useful?
What is the difference between an active touch pen and a standard capacitive stylus?
You keep getting in arguments with your roommates about slow network performance when playing video games at home. You notice whenever they are all streaming TV or movies using their smart TVs your latency goes up and bandwidth goes down. What feature of your router could you use to prioritize your traffic over theirs and get back to "pwning noobs"?
ACL
You need to upgrade to a level 3 switch
POE
QoS
Answer Description
Quality of Service (QoS) is a common feature on routers that allows you to set minimums and maximums to certain types of traffic and give priority to some traffic over others. For example you could set a max bandwidth for some devices or simply give your devices network priority over other device's traffic.
Ask Bash
Bash is our AI bot, trained to help you pass your exam. AI Generated Content may display inaccurate information, always double-check anything important.
What is QoS and how does it work?
What types of traffic can QoS prioritize?
How do I configure QoS on my router?
An IT technician suspects there is an issue with the physical Ethernet cabling within the network. Which networking tool is BEST suited to test the integrity of the cable pairs and confirm the correct pinout configuration?
WiFi analyzer
Loopback plug
Cable tester
Punchdown tool
Answer Description
A cable tester is specifically designed to test the integrity of cable pairs and ensure the correct pinout configuration. This tool will check for problems such as open wires, shorts, crossed pairs, and other issues that might affect data transmission. While the other tools listed are useful in different contexts, such as setting up or diagnosing network issues, the cable tester is the best choice for directly testing the physical cables themselves.
Ask Bash
Bash is our AI bot, trained to help you pass your exam. AI Generated Content may display inaccurate information, always double-check anything important.
What types of issues can a cable tester identify?
How does a cable tester verify the pinout configuration?
What are some other networking tools and what are they used for?
A technician is tasked with connecting an external hard drive to a computer system that requires data transfer and also frequent unplugging. The hard drive contains a microUSB 3.0 port. Which of the following reasons best explains the manufacturer's choice of including this specific port on the hard drive?
To provide multiple concurrent video outputs via the external hard drive.
To use a less common standard to enhance the security of the data on the external hard drive.
Because it is the most modern connector, mandated by the latest computing device standards.
To enable faster data transfers and power the drive through the same connection, while allowing compatibility with older systems.
Answer Description
The microUSB 3.0 port is designed to provide fast data transfer rates while also being capable of supplying power to the external hard drive. This is an appropriate choice since the user needs to frequently unplug the device, indicating portability, and would benefit from fast data transfer speeds when the device is connected. Moreover, because the microUSB 3.0 connector is backward compatible, it can still be used with older ports at their respective speeds.
Ask Bash
Bash is our AI bot, trained to help you pass your exam. AI Generated Content may display inaccurate information, always double-check anything important.
What are the advantages of using microUSB 3.0 compared to other ports?
What is backward compatibility and why is it important for microUSB 3.0?
How does the speed of data transfer affect the performance of an external hard drive?
An IT administrator at a large corporation needs to deploy virtual desktops for different departments within the company's internal network. The company wants to ensure the highest level of data control and security since sensitive information is involved. Which is the most suitable deployment option for this scenario?
On-premises VDI
Community cloud VDI
Hybrid cloud VDI
Public cloud VDI
Answer Description
Deploying VDI on premises involves setting up and managing virtualized desktops within the company's data center. This method allows tight control over data security, compliance, and access control measures because all resources are managed internally, making it suitable for environments with sensitive information. Public cloud VDI might offer scalability, but it poses risks related to data sovereignty and privacy. Hybrid cloud allows partial data control but still involves external factors. Community cloud is less common and not ideal for a single organization's sensitive data needs.
Ask Bash
Bash is our AI bot, trained to help you pass your exam. AI Generated Content may display inaccurate information, always double-check anything important.
What does VDI stand for and how does it work?
Why is on-premises VDI preferred for sensitive information?
What are the potential downsides of using public cloud VDI?
Out of the following devices, which one is an internet appliance specifically designed to manage incoming internet traffic and distribute it across multiple servers to prevent any single server from being overwhelmed?
Switch
UTM
Gateway
L7 Router
Load balancer
Answer Description
A load balancer is an Internet appliance designed to distribute workload across multiple servers or network links to optimize resource use, maximize throughput, minimize response time, and avoid overload on any one of the servers. This is fundamental for students to understand because managing server traffic and maintaining service availability are key aspects of network administration. Internet appliances like Unified Threat Management (UTM) devices focus on security functions, spam gateways specialize in filtering unwanted emails, and proxy servers are responsible for forwarding client requests to other servers while possibly hiding the client's true identity.
Ask Bash
Bash is our AI bot, trained to help you pass your exam. AI Generated Content may display inaccurate information, always double-check anything important.
What are the main functions of a load balancer?
How does a load balancer differ from a Gateway?
What are the differences between a load balancer and a UTM device?
Users are having a hard time remembering the IP address for a commonly used network resource.
The IP address is statically set and the connection is established over port 443.
You know that you have a tool that can solve this issue on your Domain Controller. You log on and configure:
A Global Group and Local Group for the users of this network resource.
DHCP
DNS
A new entry in Active Directory Sites and Services
Answer Description
A DNS record should be established for this network resource. DNS records allow users to access a resource via a name, rather than having to remember a complex IP address.
Ask Bash
Bash is our AI bot, trained to help you pass your exam. AI Generated Content may display inaccurate information, always double-check anything important.
What is DNS and how does it work?
What types of DNS records are there?
Why is it important to have static IP addresses and DNS records?
Pairing a device using Bluetooth requires both devices to be discoverable to establish a connection.
True
False
Answer Description
When pairing two devices over Bluetooth, typically only one of the devices needs to be set to discoverable mode. The other device, which initiates the connection, scans for available devices and does not need to be discoverable itself. This question might trip up individuals who associate 'discoverability' as a requirement on both sides, which is not the case in most Bluetooth pairing scenarios.
Ask Bash
Bash is our AI bot, trained to help you pass your exam. AI Generated Content may display inaccurate information, always double-check anything important.
What does it mean for a device to be discoverable in Bluetooth?
How does the Bluetooth pairing process work?
What are the potential security risks when pairing Bluetooth devices?
A company has an essential internally developed application that was created for an operating system that is no longer supported. The IT department needs to ensure continued use of the application without compromising system security with an outdated OS. What is the MOST effective solution?
Run the application in compatibility mode on the new operating system.
Deploy the legacy application within a virtual machine that emulates the older operating system environment.
Continue running the application on physical machines dedicated to the old operating system.
Update the application code to make it compatible with the new operating system, eliminating the need for virtualization.
Answer Description
Using application virtualization to run the legacy software allows the company to continue using the outdated application on modern operating systems without the risk of running an unsupported OS on their hardware. This ensures the application is isolated from the host OS, thus mitigating any potential security risks associated with the old software.
Ask Bash
Bash is our AI bot, trained to help you pass your exam. AI Generated Content may display inaccurate information, always double-check anything important.
What is application virtualization?
What are the security risks of running an outdated operating system?
How does emulating an old OS in a virtual machine work?
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