Comptia A+ 220-1201 Core 1 | Essential Hardware,
Networking: Complete Terms & Definitions
(2026/2027)
This CompTIA A+ 220-1201 Core 1 exam focuses on essential hardware, networking, mobile devices, and
virtualization technologies, validating skills for entry-level IT roles. Released in 2025, this exam covers five
core domains, with a focus on troubleshooting and configuring modern devices
Exam Description & Key Domains
• Mobile Devices (14%): Configuring laptops, tablets, phones, and wearable technology.
• Networking (20%): Understanding ports, protocols, wireless standards
(\(802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax\)), and network devices.
• Hardware (23%): Installing and supporting RAM, storage, CPUs, and peripheral devices.
• Virtualization & Cloud Computing (12%): Understanding cloud models (SaaS, IaaS) and
client-side virtualization.
• Hardware & Network Troubleshooting (31%): Diagnosing issues with storage, video, and
networks. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Key Terminology & Concepts (425+ Terminology Coverage)
• Networking Protocols: TCP/UDP, DNS, DHCP, SSH, RDP, FTP.
• Hardware Components: RAID levels, NVMe, USB standards, NICs, motherboard
connectors.
• Wireless Standards: \(802.11\) WiFi standards (2.4 GHz vs 5 GHz).
• Troubleshooting Methodology: Identification, testing theory, plan of action,
documentation.
• Cloud Concepts: IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), PaaS (Platform), SaaS (Software).
Actual Exam Details & Tips
• Max Questions: 90 (Multiple choice and performance-based).
, • Time Limit: 90 minutes.
• Passing Score: Approximately 75%
Terms in this set (425)
2.1 A series of moving vans • Efficiently move large amounts of data
- Use a shipping truck
• The network topology is the road
- Ethernet, DSL, cable system
• The truck is the Internet Protocol (IP)
- We've designed the roads for this truck
• The boxes hold your data
- Boxes of TCP and UDP
• Inside the boxes are more things
- Application information
2.1 TCP and UDP• Transported inside of IP
- Encapsulated by the IP protocol
• Two ways to move data from place to place
- Different features for different applications
• OSI Layer 4
- The transport layer
• Multiplexing
- Use many different applications at the same time
- TCP and UDP
,2.1 TCP - Transmission Control
Protocol Communication
2.1 TCP - Transmission Control• Connection- oriented
Protocol- A formal connection setup and close
• "Reliable" delivery
- Recovery from errors
- Manages out-of-order messages orretransmissions
• Flow control
- The receiver can manage how much data is sent
2.1 UDP - User Datagram Protocol
Communication
2.1 UDP - User Datagram Protocol• Connectionless - No formal open/close to the
connection
• "Unreliable" delivery
- No error recovery, no reordering of data
orretransmissions • No flow control
- Sender determines the amount of
datatransmitted
, 2.1 Why would you ever use UDP?• Real- time communication
- There's no way to stop and resend the data
- Time doesn't stop for your network
• Connectionless protocols
- DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol)
- TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol)
• The data might not get through
- The application keeps track and decides what todo
- It might not do anything
2.1 Communication using TCP• Connection- oriented protocols prefer a "return receipt"
- HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure)
- SSH (Secure Shell)
• The application doesn't worry about out
of order frames or missing data
- TCP handles all of the communication overhead
- The application has one job
2.1 Speedy delivery• The IP delivery truck delivers from one (IP)
address to another
(IP) address
- Every house has an address, every computer has an
IP address
• Boxes arrive at the house / IP address
- Where do the boxes go? - Each box has a room name
• Port is written on the outside of the box
- Drop the box into the right room
Networking: Complete Terms & Definitions
(2026/2027)
This CompTIA A+ 220-1201 Core 1 exam focuses on essential hardware, networking, mobile devices, and
virtualization technologies, validating skills for entry-level IT roles. Released in 2025, this exam covers five
core domains, with a focus on troubleshooting and configuring modern devices
Exam Description & Key Domains
• Mobile Devices (14%): Configuring laptops, tablets, phones, and wearable technology.
• Networking (20%): Understanding ports, protocols, wireless standards
(\(802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax\)), and network devices.
• Hardware (23%): Installing and supporting RAM, storage, CPUs, and peripheral devices.
• Virtualization & Cloud Computing (12%): Understanding cloud models (SaaS, IaaS) and
client-side virtualization.
• Hardware & Network Troubleshooting (31%): Diagnosing issues with storage, video, and
networks. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Key Terminology & Concepts (425+ Terminology Coverage)
• Networking Protocols: TCP/UDP, DNS, DHCP, SSH, RDP, FTP.
• Hardware Components: RAID levels, NVMe, USB standards, NICs, motherboard
connectors.
• Wireless Standards: \(802.11\) WiFi standards (2.4 GHz vs 5 GHz).
• Troubleshooting Methodology: Identification, testing theory, plan of action,
documentation.
• Cloud Concepts: IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), PaaS (Platform), SaaS (Software).
Actual Exam Details & Tips
• Max Questions: 90 (Multiple choice and performance-based).
, • Time Limit: 90 minutes.
• Passing Score: Approximately 75%
Terms in this set (425)
2.1 A series of moving vans • Efficiently move large amounts of data
- Use a shipping truck
• The network topology is the road
- Ethernet, DSL, cable system
• The truck is the Internet Protocol (IP)
- We've designed the roads for this truck
• The boxes hold your data
- Boxes of TCP and UDP
• Inside the boxes are more things
- Application information
2.1 TCP and UDP• Transported inside of IP
- Encapsulated by the IP protocol
• Two ways to move data from place to place
- Different features for different applications
• OSI Layer 4
- The transport layer
• Multiplexing
- Use many different applications at the same time
- TCP and UDP
,2.1 TCP - Transmission Control
Protocol Communication
2.1 TCP - Transmission Control• Connection- oriented
Protocol- A formal connection setup and close
• "Reliable" delivery
- Recovery from errors
- Manages out-of-order messages orretransmissions
• Flow control
- The receiver can manage how much data is sent
2.1 UDP - User Datagram Protocol
Communication
2.1 UDP - User Datagram Protocol• Connectionless - No formal open/close to the
connection
• "Unreliable" delivery
- No error recovery, no reordering of data
orretransmissions • No flow control
- Sender determines the amount of
datatransmitted
, 2.1 Why would you ever use UDP?• Real- time communication
- There's no way to stop and resend the data
- Time doesn't stop for your network
• Connectionless protocols
- DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol)
- TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol)
• The data might not get through
- The application keeps track and decides what todo
- It might not do anything
2.1 Communication using TCP• Connection- oriented protocols prefer a "return receipt"
- HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure)
- SSH (Secure Shell)
• The application doesn't worry about out
of order frames or missing data
- TCP handles all of the communication overhead
- The application has one job
2.1 Speedy delivery• The IP delivery truck delivers from one (IP)
address to another
(IP) address
- Every house has an address, every computer has an
IP address
• Boxes arrive at the house / IP address
- Where do the boxes go? - Each box has a room name
• Port is written on the outside of the box
- Drop the box into the right room
