Trouble with question on the Practice Test

I attempted to take the practice test and I am certain the first question I encounter is incorrect. I am hoping someone would explain how the answers provided are correct as I am afraid to take the test again and get any false information.

This is the question:

1. You are the domain administrator of a large Windows 2003 domain. Two new servers just arrived that will function as members servers in the domain. You have a total of 5 new hard disks available and must implement fault tolerance to protect against disk failures on both servers.

What type of configuration would be most efficient in terms of disk space while meeting the fault tolerance requirement?
a. Create a mirrored volume on both servers
b. Create a RAID-5 volume on both servers
c. Create a spanned volume on both servers
d. Create a stripped volume on one server and a spanned volume on the other
e. Create a mirrored volume on one server and a RAID-5 volume on the other

The answer says E. But one cannot include the OS within the RAID 5. Unless there are other hard drives that is unsaid, the answer to the question should be A.

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Comments

dynamik

It sounds like you're adding storage to the servers, so you wouldn't be installing an OS on any of them. Vague wording perhaps?

spike_tomahawk

2 for the mirrored and 3 for the raid = TOTAL of 5, thats my take.

sprkymrk

The question never stated that you will use Windows built in Disk Management. The question is actually testing your knowledge of RAID configurations, in which you need to know that:

1. Answers C and D do not provide fault tolerance.
2. You do not have enough drives to create a RAID 5 array on both servers.
3. You DO have enough drives to implement either A or E, and the better choice is E as it will give you slightly better performance on one server.

You CAN use RAID 5 for the OS, if it is done with hardware RAID instead of software RAID. If the question had specified using Disk Manager, then you would be correct in choosing A.

dynamik

sprkymrk wrote:

You CAN use RAID 5 for the OS, if it is done with hardware RAID instead of software RAID. If the question had specified using Disk Manager, then you would be correct in choosing A.

I agree that that is technically accurate, but I do not remember ever encountering a single question on either practice tests or the actual exam that did not specifically ask about Server 2003's implementation of RAID. That seems like more of an A+ question instead of a 290 question. It's been awhile though, so I might be mistaken.

sprkymrk

dynamik wrote:

sprkymrk wrote:

You CAN use RAID 5 for the OS, if it is done with hardware RAID instead of software RAID. If the question had specified using Disk Manager, then you would be correct in choosing A.

I agree that that is technically accurate, but I do not remember ever encountering a single question on either practice tests or the actual exam that did not specifically ask about Server 2003's implementation of RAID. That seems like more of an A+ question instead of a 290 question. It's been awhile though, so I might be mistaken.

MS does indeed try to trip you up in this way. I have encountered similar questions on Transcenders. I can't tell you about the real exams, but I will say this:

On one hand people complain about getting questions wrong because they answered it "the way it's done in the real world, but MS wanted to have you do it the MS way". This is not always true. You have to read the question carefully, do not read to much into it, and be careful to read what they are really asking you. Not fair, I guess, but that's life.

Oh, and BTW, I did not create the practice exams here, so I was in no way suggesting my explanation is the official one. Only Johan can do that, I was just trying to offer what "I think" is the reasoning behind the answer. Maybe if Johan sees this thread he can offer his input.

W31RD0

sprkymrk wrote:

The question never stated that you will use Windows built in Disk Management.

But in the question it states that "You are the domain administrator of a large Windows 2003 domain", so I assume that you are using MS tech to create the solution.

sprkymrk wrote:

You CAN use RAID 5 for the OS, if it is done with hardware RAID instead of software RAID. If the question had specified using Disk Manager, then you would be correct in choosing A.

I don't know, the question makes you think that you are using a MS solution, and thus wouldent be using a hardware RAID. It just seems like the kind of question you would get wrong no matter how much MS material you read.

jayIT

I hate to dig up a really old post, but I had this exact same question. On almost all the practice tests I've seen, a MS 2003 software RAID is implied. In fact, I have gotten a couple questions on those tests wrong with the explanation "The OS cannot reside on a RAID 5 volume." Even though the answer I chose was the "best" real world hardware RAID solution. The question had no mention of using either a software or hardware RAID.

This practice question from TechExams suggests a hardware RAID is the best solution, but that's not the solution for some of the other practice tests out there. It makes for a very confusing situation. Hardware or Software? Which do you want! Exam questions can be so vague sometimes, especially since this particular question doesn't say "all drives must be used."