CompTIA Cloud+ Practice Test

Which service should be reviewed if a server is not responding after a subnet reclamation?

1. DNS

2. DHCP

3. Firewall

4. Load balancer

The correct answer is: DNS

In the event that a server is not responding following a subnet reclamation, reviewing the DNS service is crucial. Subnet reclamation often involves changes in how IP addresses are allocated and might lead to the reassignment of IPs, which can affect how services resolve hostnames to IP addresses. If a server's IP address has changed due to this process and the DNS records have not been updated accordingly, clients attempting to connect to the server using its hostname may end up reaching the wrong address or facing resolution failures entirely. DNS plays a vital role in translating user-friendly domain names into IP addresses that machines use for communication on the network. If the DNS entries are outdated or incorrect due to the subnet changes, users and applications will be unable to find and connect to the server, leading to the perception that it is unresponsive. In contrast, DHCP is responsible for dynamically assigning IP addresses to devices on the network, but if the server itself has a static IP that has not changed, DHCP configuration would not directly impact its connectivity unless there were overlapping IP conflicts or misconfigurations. Firewalls manage traffic rules and might be impacted by subnet changes, but they typically wouldn't cause a server to be unresponsive unless the rules explicitly blocked access to the new IP.