Serial Console Quiz
Serial consoles are beneficial to address emergency situations, such as accessing locked-up devices and loss of IP band connectivity. But, did you know they can also make daily data center and IT operations run more efficiently? Take this quiz to find out how much you know about serial consoles.
1. What is NOT a typical serial console usage scenario?
A. Rebooting “hung” devices
B. Receiving alerts for environmental sensor alarms
C. Voice-over-IP (VOIP) communications
D. Logging events on the SYSLOG
2. When can serial consoles be used to troubleshoot problems?
A. Only through the production network
B. Only via an out-of-band (OOB) network
C. Only over a wireless connection
D. Through any of the above connectivity options
3. Many serial consoles can automatically detect and configure network devices via what feature?
A. Telnet sessions
B. IPv6 naming convention
C. Ethernet connectivity
D. Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP)
4. Which of the following is an advantage of a “digital twin” via serial console?
A. The avatar can be changed frequently
B. Enables specific expertise at a device regardless of geography or time of day
C. Allows access to device regardless of security permissions
D. All of the above
5. What is a key advantage of using serial consoles for user access rights/permissions?
A. Provides a centralized point to aggregate and manage user rights/permissions
B. Allows experts to access devices as they see fit
C. Negates the need for SYSLOG tracking of device events
D. Always allows exemptions for access by SYS admins
6. Serial consoles are NOT able to access control for which distributed/edge location devices?
A. Rack power distribution units (rPDUs)
B. Rack UPSs
C. Edge content distribution servers
D. None of the above (all can potentially be accessed via serial)
7. What major advantage does a serial console have that gives it the opportunity to be more than an emergency debug device?
A. Serial consoles typically have a high port count
B. Serial consoles already have a direct serial connection to a variety of devices
C. There are no other means to connect to servers and networking equipment
8. Which of the following is NOT a way in which serial consoles can utilize 4G/5G cellular connectivity?
A. As a means to implement a failover connection
B. As a primary OOB connection to my host devices
C. As a way to provision host devices during initial network installation
D. Autonomous vehicle control
9. The next generation of serial consoles can take advantage of cloud native concepts to:
A. Provide users with an easy means to add their own custom software
B. Standardize software across different hardware platforms
C. Rapidly move to new hardware architectures
D. All of the above
10. More actions being done at edge/remote/fog locations provide what benefit?
A. Faster response time
B. Lower centralized server loads
C. Better water resistance
D. Both A and B
E. All of the above
Want to learn more about the cost of downtime and earn CEUs for completing the quiz? Register here for the free webinar.
