CompTIA Network+ Practice Test

What type of address can be associated with a virtual machine?

1. Loopback address

2. Public IP address

3. Virtual IP address

4. Private IP address

The correct answer is: Virtual IP address

A virtual machine (VM) can be assigned a virtual IP address, which is an address used to designate a virtual network interface. This setup allows VMs to operate within their own isolated network segment while also enabling them to communicate with other machines on different segments or with the external network. Virtual IP addresses are particularly useful in environments where high availability and load balancing are necessary, as they enable one IP address to represent multiple services or VMs seamlessly. While loopback addresses are used internally on a single machine for testing purposes, they aren't specific to virtual machines and are not routable. Public IP addresses can be assigned to VMs, especially when connecting to the internet, but they are not exclusively associated with virtual environments. Private IP addresses are often used as well, especially in virtualized internal networks, but they are not characterized as "virtual" in the same manner that virtual IP addresses are. Thus, virtual IP addresses specifically address the needs and functionalities associated with virtual machines and cloud infrastructure.