Hardware
Free CompTIA A+ (Core 1) practice — 6 questions on Hardware, with explanations. No sign-up. Full 12-question mixed test →
A file server hosts a database that requires maximum read/write performance while also tolerating a single drive failure without downtime. The company has budgeted for exactly 4 identical drives. Which RAID level BEST meets these requirements?
RAID 10 stripes data across two mirrored pairs, delivering the highest read/write performance of any redundant array while tolerating the loss of one drive per mirrored pair. With exactly 4 drives, it fully uses the budget for both speed and fault tolerance.
A technician is installing a new NVMe SSD that uses the PCIe x4 interface into a laptop's M.2 slot. Which M.2 key type must the drive's edge connector use for it to run at full PCIe x4 speed?
An M-key-only M.2 edge connector exposes all four PCIe lanes, allowing NVMe SSDs to run at full PCIe x4 speed. This is the standard keying for high-performance NVMe storage.
During the laser printing imaging process, a corona wire or roller applies a uniform negative charge across the surface of the photosensitive drum before the laser writes the image. Which step of the process does this describe?
The charging step applies a uniform negative charge to the drum's surface using a primary corona wire or charging roller, preparing it for the laser to selectively discharge areas during exposing.
Which statement BEST describes the primary benefit of ECC (Error Correcting Code) RAM compared to standard non-ECC RAM?
ECC RAM uses extra bits to detect and correct single-bit errors in memory, improving data integrity and stability. This makes it essential for servers and workstations running critical applications where silent data corruption is unacceptable.
A technician is building a workstation with two high-end GPUs, each requiring two 8-pin PCIe power connectors, plus a CPU requiring an 8-pin EPS connector. The available 650W PSU has one 8-pin EPS connector, two 6-pin PCIe connectors, and two 6+2 pin PCIe connectors. What is the BEST course of action?
Dual high-end GPUs plus a CPU typically exceed 650W of combined draw, and relying on adapters for high-current PCIe connections is unreliable and unsafe. The correct fix is a PSU upgrade with sufficient wattage headroom and enough native 8-pin PCIe connectors to match each GPU's requirements exactly.
A designer needs to connect three monitors to a laptop that has only one video output port, without adding external graphics hardware, and wants to daisy-chain the displays together using a single cable run between them. Which connector technology is required for this daisy-chain configuration?
DisplayPort's Multi-Stream Transport (MST) feature allows a single DisplayPort output to drive multiple monitors daisy-chained together, splitting the video stream between displays that support MST pass-through.
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