Practice Test Geeks(SAC) System Administration Certification Practice Test
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System Maintenance and Troubleshooting Flashcards

7 cards from real SAC practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.

Read the first 7 System Maintenance and Troubleshooting flashcards as text

  1. A server's RAID 5 array shows a degraded status after one disk failed. What is the correct immediate action?

    Answer: Replace the failed disk and allow the array to rebuild

    In a degraded RAID 5 array, you should replace the failed disk as soon as possible and allow the controller to rebuild the array to restore redundancy.

  2. Which log file on a Linux system should you check first when diagnosing kernel-level hardware errors?

    Answer: /var/log/dmesg

    The /var/log/dmesg file contains kernel ring buffer messages including hardware detection and driver errors.

  3. A Windows system experiences a BSOD with error 'IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL'. What does this typically indicate?

    Answer: A driver accessing memory at an incorrect interrupt request level

    IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL typically indicates a kernel-mode driver tried to access pageable memory at an interrupt request level that was too high.

  4. What is the purpose of running 'fsck' on a Linux filesystem?

    Answer: To check and repair filesystem inconsistencies

    fsck (filesystem check) scans a Linux filesystem for errors and inconsistencies, optionally repairing them.

  5. A server's CPU utilization is consistently at 100%. Which command on Linux best helps identify the top consuming processes?

    Answer: top or htop

    The 'top' or 'htop' commands display real-time CPU and memory usage per process, making them ideal for identifying runaway processes.

  6. During a scheduled maintenance window, you need to apply OS patches without losing unsaved work in running applications. What is the best approach?

    Answer: Notify users, allow them to save work, then patch and reboot during low-usage hours

    Best practice is to notify users in advance, allow time for saving work, and schedule the reboot during a low-impact maintenance window.

  7. What does a high number of 'swap used' indicate on a Linux server?

    Answer: The system is running out of physical RAM and paging to disk

    High swap usage means the system has exhausted physical RAM and is using slower disk-based swap space, which degrades performance.