Networking & TLS interview questions

54 real Networking & TLS questions from the DevOps & SRE bank, as asked in Indian campus drives and tech interviews. Every question has a verified answer and an AI-tutor explanation on placd — free to start.

1. What is DNS?

Junior
  1. A.a periodic probe a load balancer uses to route only to healthy backends
  2. B.letting in-flight requests finish before removing a backend from a load balancer
  3. C.the system that resolves human-readable domain names to IP addresses
  4. D.mutual TLS where both client and server present and verify certificates
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3. Which statement is correct?

Junior
  1. A.DNS — letting in-flight requests finish before removing a backend from a load balancer
  2. B.DNS — automatically renewing and replacing TLS certificates before they expire
  3. C.DNS — a trusted entity that issues and signs TLS certificates
  4. D.DNS — the system that resolves human-readable domain names to IP addresses
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4. What is Load balancer?

Junior
  1. A.a notation like 10.0.0.0/16 expressing an IP address range
  2. B.a component distributing incoming traffic across multiple backend instances
  3. C.automatically renewing and replacing TLS certificates before they expire
  4. D.a server that forwards client requests to backend servers and returns their responses
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6. Which statement is correct?

Junior
  1. A.Load balancer — a component distributing incoming traffic across multiple backend instances
  2. B.Load balancer — a trusted entity that issues and signs TLS certificates
  3. C.Load balancer — routing traffic to the nearest of many servers sharing one IP address
  4. D.Load balancer — a control that filters network traffic based on rules
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7. What is Reverse proxy?

Junior
  1. A.a server that forwards client requests to backend servers and returns their responses
  2. B.a periodic probe a load balancer uses to route only to healthy backends
  3. C.mutual TLS where both client and server present and verify certificates
  4. D.the system that resolves human-readable domain names to IP addresses
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9. Which statement is correct?

Junior
  1. A.Reverse proxy — a periodic probe a load balancer uses to route only to healthy backends
  2. B.Reverse proxy — a server that forwards client requests to backend servers and returns their responses
  3. C.Reverse proxy — the system that resolves human-readable domain names to IP addresses
  4. D.Reverse proxy — a notation like 10.0.0.0/16 expressing an IP address range
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10. What is TLS certificate?

Junior
  1. A.a trusted entity that issues and signs TLS certificates
  2. B.a server that forwards client requests to backend servers and returns their responses
  3. C.a credential binding a public key to a domain to enable encrypted HTTPS
  4. D.a notation like 10.0.0.0/16 expressing an IP address range
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12. Which statement is correct?

Junior
  1. A.TLS certificate — a credential binding a public key to a domain to enable encrypted HTTPS
  2. B.TLS certificate — a notation like 10.0.0.0/16 expressing an IP address range
  3. C.TLS certificate — mutual TLS where both client and server present and verify certificates
  4. D.TLS certificate — a trusted entity that issues and signs TLS certificates
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13. What is Firewall?

Junior
  1. A.mutual TLS where both client and server present and verify certificates
  2. B.a control that filters network traffic based on rules
  3. C.a credential binding a public key to a domain to enable encrypted HTTPS
  4. D.the system that resolves human-readable domain names to IP addresses
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15. Which statement is correct?

Junior
  1. A.Firewall — a server that forwards client requests to backend servers and returns their responses
  2. B.Firewall — a credential binding a public key to a domain to enable encrypted HTTPS
  3. C.Firewall — a control that filters network traffic based on rules
  4. D.Firewall — a trusted entity that issues and signs TLS certificates
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16. What is mTLS?

Mid
  1. A.letting in-flight requests finish before removing a backend from a load balancer
  2. B.mutual TLS where both client and server present and verify certificates
  3. C.automatically renewing and replacing TLS certificates before they expire
  4. D.a trusted entity that issues and signs TLS certificates
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18. Which statement is correct?

Mid
  1. A.mTLS — a server that forwards client requests to backend servers and returns their responses
  2. B.mTLS — mutual TLS where both client and server present and verify certificates
  3. C.mTLS — a notation like 10.0.0.0/16 expressing an IP address range
  4. D.mTLS — the system that resolves human-readable domain names to IP addresses
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19. What is CIDR block?

Mid
  1. A.a control that filters network traffic based on rules
  2. B.a notation like 10.0.0.0/16 expressing an IP address range
  3. C.a periodic probe a load balancer uses to route only to healthy backends
  4. D.routing traffic to the nearest of many servers sharing one IP address
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21. Which statement is correct?

Mid
  1. A.CIDR block — a credential binding a public key to a domain to enable encrypted HTTPS
  2. B.CIDR block — routing traffic to the nearest of many servers sharing one IP address
  3. C.CIDR block — a notation like 10.0.0.0/16 expressing an IP address range
  4. D.CIDR block — letting in-flight requests finish before removing a backend from a load balancer
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22. What is Health check?

Mid
  1. A.letting in-flight requests finish before removing a backend from a load balancer
  2. B.a component distributing incoming traffic across multiple backend instances
  3. C.automatically renewing and replacing TLS certificates before they expire
  4. D.a periodic probe a load balancer uses to route only to healthy backends
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24. Which statement is correct?

Mid
  1. A.Health check — a credential binding a public key to a domain to enable encrypted HTTPS
  2. B.Health check — a server that forwards client requests to backend servers and returns their responses
  3. C.Health check — a periodic probe a load balancer uses to route only to healthy backends
  4. D.Health check — a component distributing incoming traffic across multiple backend instances
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25. What is Certificate authority?

Mid
  1. A.a trusted entity that issues and signs TLS certificates
  2. B.automatically renewing and replacing TLS certificates before they expire
  3. C.a notation like 10.0.0.0/16 expressing an IP address range
  4. D.a control that filters network traffic based on rules
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27. Which statement is correct?

Mid
  1. A.Certificate authority — a credential binding a public key to a domain to enable encrypted HTTPS
  2. B.Certificate authority — a component distributing incoming traffic across multiple backend instances
  3. C.Certificate authority — a trusted entity that issues and signs TLS certificates
  4. D.Certificate authority — automatically renewing and replacing TLS certificates before they expire
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28. What is Certificate rotation?

Senior
  1. A.a periodic probe a load balancer uses to route only to healthy backends
  2. B.routing traffic to the nearest of many servers sharing one IP address
  3. C.automatically renewing and replacing TLS certificates before they expire
  4. D.letting in-flight requests finish before removing a backend from a load balancer
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30. Which statement is correct?

Senior
  1. A.Certificate rotation — a server that forwards client requests to backend servers and returns their responses
  2. B.Certificate rotation — automatically renewing and replacing TLS certificates before they expire
  3. C.Certificate rotation — mutual TLS where both client and server present and verify certificates
  4. D.Certificate rotation — a component distributing incoming traffic across multiple backend instances
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