A technician installs a NIC on a single CPU server. However, the NIC is not detected when they power on the server. What should the technician verify to make sure that the NIC is detected correctly?

Question

Options

• ANIC driver is up to date
• BSystem Setup is set to BIOS boot mode
• CNIC is installed in an expansion slot managed by the single CPU
• DNetwork cable is plugged into the newly installed NIC

• A
  6% (3)
• B
  11% (6)
• C
  81% (44)
• D
  2% (1)

Explanation

On multi-CPU server motherboards, PCIe expansion slots are physically wired to specific CPUs - if a slot is managed by CPU 2 and only CPU 1 is installed, that slot receives no PCIe signaling and any card in it will be invisible to the system. The technician must confirm the NIC is seated in a slot whose PCIe lanes are routed to the installed CPU.

Why the distractors are wrong:

• A (driver): Drivers are an OS-level concern; if the NIC isn't detected at POST/BIOS, a driver update can't help - there's nothing for the OS to load a driver for yet.
• B (BIOS boot mode): BIOS vs. UEFI boot mode controls how the OS boots, not whether PCIe devices are enumerated during hardware initialization.
• D (network cable): A cable is required for network traffic, not for the system to detect the NIC - physical detection happens over PCIe, not the Ethernet port.

Memory tip: Think of it as "no CPU, no lane" - slots on a multi-CPU board are like lanes on a highway that only open when the corresponding on-ramp (CPU) exists. Single CPU = only its own lanes are live.

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