Which of the following will MOST likely resolve the issue?

A datacenter technician is attempting to troubleshoot a server that keeps crashing. The server runs normally for approximately five minutes, but then it crashes. After restoring the server to operation, the same cycle repeats. The technician confirms none of the configurations have changed, and the load on the server is steady from power-on until the crash.

Which of the following will MOST likely resolve the issue?
A . Reseating any expansion cards in the server
B. Replacing the failing hard drive
C. Reinstalling the heat sink with new thermal paste
D. Restoring the server from the latest full backup

View Answer

Answer: C

Explanation:

The most likely solution to resolve the issue of the server crashing after running normally for approximately five minutes is to reinstall the heat sink with new thermal paste. A heat sink is a device that dissipates heat from a component, such as a processor or a graphics card, by transferring it to a cooling medium, such as air or liquid. A heat sink is usually attached to the component using thermal paste, which is a substance that fills the gaps between the heat sink and the component and improves thermal conductivity. Thermal paste can degrade over time and lose its effectiveness, resulting in overheating and performance issues. If a server crashes after running for a short period of time, it may indicate that the processor is overheating due to insufficient cooling. To resolve this issue, the technician should remove the heat sink, clean the old thermal paste, apply new thermal paste, and reinstall the heat sink.