CompTIA Updated N10-009 Exam Questions and Answers by alistair

The correct answer is Load balancer because it is specifically designed to distribute incoming network traffic across multiple backend servers that provide the same application or service. According to CompTIA Network+ (N10-009) objectives under network infrastructure, load balancing improves performance, scalability, and high availability by preventing any single server from becoming overwhelmed.

A load balancer can operate at Layer 4 (transport layer, based on IP address and port) or Layer 7 (application layer, based on content such as HTTP headers or URLs). It uses various algorithms such as round-robin, least connections, or weighted distribution to efficiently allocate client requests among servers. If one server fails, the load balancer can redirect traffic to healthy servers, ensuring service continuity.

A router (Option A) forwards packets between different networks but does not distribute traffic among servers running the same application. A switch (Option B) forwards frames within a local network based on MAC addresses. A firewall (Option C) filters traffic based on security rules but does not perform traffic distribution for load-sharing purposes.

Therefore, a load balancer is the correct solution for redistributing traffic among multiple servers.

Power over Ethernet (PoE) delivers power to devices such as VoIP phones over the same cables used for data. If the total power requirement of connected devices exceeds the PoE power budget of the switch or injector, some devices may not receive adequate power and could intermittently reboot. This issue would not affect the workstation, which is likely receiving power separately. References: CompTIA Network+ Exam Objectives and official study guides.

The correct answer is Active-active because a stock exchange broker requires extremely high availability, minimal downtime, and near-zero data loss. According to CompTIA Network+ (N10-009) objectives under high availability and disaster recovery concepts, an active-active configuration involves multiple systems or sites operating simultaneously and sharing the workload. If one system fails, the other continues processing traffic without service interruption.

This model provides the lowest Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO), which is critical in financial trading environments where even seconds of downtime can result in major financial loss. Active-active architectures also support load balancing, redundancy, and continuous synchronization between systems.

A warm site (Option A) contains preconfigured hardware but may require data restoration and configuration before becoming fully operational, resulting in some downtime. A full mesh (Option C) is a network topology design and does not specifically address disaster recovery at the service level. In-band (Option D) refers to management traffic sharing the production network and is unrelated to DR strategy.

Therefore, an active-active approach is the most suitable solution for mission-critical financial operations.

When the hosts file is altered, local name resolution is compromised, and domain queries are redirected to malicious IP addresses. This is a form of DNS spoofing/poisoning, where false mappings trick users into visiting fraudulent websites.

B. Phishing typically uses emails or messages to trick users, not local file modification.

C. VLAN hopping is a Layer 2 attack to gain unauthorized network access, unrelated to DNS.

D. ARP poisoning manipulates ARP tables on a LAN to reroute traffic, not name resolution.

References (CompTIA Network+ N10-009):

Domain: Network Security — DNS poisoning/spoofing, host file manipulation, endpoint attacks.