SK0-004 · Question #289
A new server was installed. Most clients are located in the same subnet as the server and can successfully access the server. Clients located on different subnets have been unable to access the…
The correct answer is B. Incorrect default gateway on the server. A server with an incorrect default gateway can receive inbound packets forwarded by routers, but cannot route reply packets back to clients on remote subnets. Local subnet clients succeed because they communicate directly at Layer 2.
Question
A new server was installed. Most clients are located in the same subnet as the server and can successfully access the server. Clients located on different subnets have been unable to access the server, but have no trouble accessing other servers on their subnet. Which of the following is the reason that these clients are unable to access the server?
Options
- ADHCP has assigned the wrong addresses.
- BIncorrect default gateway on the server.
- CDNS entries were not created.
- DWINS server is not responding.
How the community answered
(18 responses)- A11% (2)
- B83% (15)
- D6% (1)
Why each option
A server with an incorrect default gateway can receive inbound packets forwarded by routers, but cannot route reply packets back to clients on remote subnets. Local subnet clients succeed because they communicate directly at Layer 2.
If DHCP assigned wrong addresses to remote clients, those clients would also fail to reach other servers on their own subnet, which the question states they can do successfully.
When a client on a different subnet sends traffic to the server, a router forwards the packet to the server successfully. However, when the server attempts to respond to a non-local IP address, it consults its routing table and uses the default gateway to forward the reply. An incorrect or missing default gateway means the server sends replies to the wrong router or drops them entirely, causing remote clients to time out while local clients continue to work normally.
A missing DNS entry would prevent name resolution for all clients equally and would not selectively block access based on subnet location.
A WINS server handles NetBIOS name resolution and its failure would not cause IP-level connectivity problems between subnets.
Concept tested: Default gateway misconfiguration affecting inter-subnet routing
Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/networking/default-gateway-required-configuration
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