A technician sets up a new printer on the network, allowing it to obtain an IP address.
The technician records the IP address and sets up users to print using the information.
The following Monday after powering on the printer, users report they can no longer print.
After verifying users can access other network shares, the technician prints a configuration page and sees the IP address has changed.
Which of the following is the BEST method for the technician to ensure this will not happen again?
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A. B. C. D.C.
The issue described in the question occurs because the printer's IP address was dynamically assigned by the DHCP server, which may change over time. This means that the printer may have been assigned a different IP address when it was powered on again on Monday, causing the print jobs to fail.
To prevent this issue from happening again, the technician needs to ensure that the printer always has a consistent IP address. There are several ways to achieve this, but the best method is to create an IP reservation for the printer on the DHCP server. This option is available in answer C.
An IP reservation is a DHCP configuration option that assigns a specific IP address to a device based on its MAC address. This ensures that the printer will always receive the same IP address when it connects to the network, even if it is powered off and on again. The MAC address is unique to the printer, so this method provides a reliable way to ensure that the correct IP address is assigned.
Answer A, setting up MAC filtering on the switch, would not be an effective solution to this problem. MAC filtering is a security feature that restricts access to a network based on the MAC addresses of devices. While it could be used to ensure that only the printer with a specific MAC address can connect to the network, it does not guarantee that the printer will always be assigned the same IP address.
Answer B, setting up the users to print using the newly assigned IP address, is not a practical solution because the IP address could change again in the future, requiring the users to update their print settings.
Answer D, statically assigning the current IP address to the printer, is also not the best option because it does not provide any flexibility. If the network configuration changes in the future, such as a change in subnet or gateway, the printer may no longer be able to connect to the network. Additionally, if another device is later assigned the same IP address, it could cause conflicts and network issues.
Therefore, the BEST method for the technician to ensure that the printer always has a consistent IP address is to create an IP reservation for the printer on the DHCP server, as described in answer C.