Palo Alto Networks (PANW) Certified Cybersecurity Entry-level Technician (PCCET) Practice Exam

What requirement must be fulfilled for a client device to use a DHCP server, assuming there are no DHCP relay agents?

1. Be on the same collision domain

2. Be on the same broadcast domain

3. Have latency below 20msec

4. Have the same subnet mask

The correct answer is: Be on the same broadcast domain

For a client device to successfully utilize a DHCP server in a network environment where no DHCP relay agents are present, it must be on the same broadcast domain as the DHCP server. This requirement is critical because DHCP operates through broadcast messages. When a client device needs to obtain an IP address, it sends out a DHCP Discover message as a broadcast to all devices within its network segment. If the DHCP server is not in the same broadcast domain, it will not receive this broadcast message, and consequently, the client will not be able to receive a DHCP Offer from the server. Being in the same broadcast domain ensures that the broadcast packets sent by the client can reach the DHCP server and that the server's responses will be delivered back to the client, facilitating the address assignment process. The other options, while related to networking, do not directly impact the ability of a client to communicate with a DHCP server in this context. For instance, being in the same collision domain pertains to the physical network layer and affects data transmission efficiency, while latency and subnet masks are not direct factors in DHCP communication without relay agents.