220-1101 Virtualization and Cloud Computing Practice Test 2 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A company hosts a critical database server on-premises. They want to migrate to a cloud solution that allows them to retain full administrative control over the operating system, database software, and security patches, but they do not want to manage the physical server hardware, rack space, or network cabling. Which cloud service model should they choose?

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

Accepted Answer

IaaS. IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) is the correct choice because it provides virtualized computing resources over the internet, including virtual machines, storage, and networking. The customer retains full administrative control over the operating system, database software, and security patches, while the cloud provider manages the physical server hardware, rack space, and network cabling. This matches the requirement of full OS and application control without physical infrastructure management.

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PaaS

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SaaS

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DaaS

Question 2

A company runs its e-commerce platform on a private cloud but expects a large traffic spike during a promotional event. They want to automatically add additional virtual servers from a public cloud provider during the peak and release them afterward. Which cloud computing characteristic best describes this capability?

Accepted Answer

Elasticity. Elasticity is the cloud computing characteristic that allows resources to be automatically scaled up or down based on demand. In this scenario, the company uses a hybrid cloud model where additional virtual servers from a public cloud provider are provisioned during a traffic spike and released afterward, which is the definition of elasticity. This contrasts with scalability, which is the ability to handle growth over time, as elasticity specifically addresses dynamic, automated scaling to match fluctuating workloads.

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High availability

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Fault tolerance

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Resource pooling

Question 3

A company uses a private cloud with 10 virtual servers running on a single hypervisor host. The VMs are configured with dynamic memory allocation. Recently, performance has degraded, and the hypervisor shows 90% memory utilization. The IT team wants to add two more VMs without purchasing additional hardware. Which of the following is the most likely limiting factor?

Accepted Answer

The total physical RAM installed in the host. The hypervisor shows 90% memory utilization, and dynamic memory allocation allows VMs to share physical RAM. Adding two more VMs without increasing physical memory will likely exhaust the host's RAM, causing excessive swapping or out-of-memory conditions. This makes total physical RAM the most likely limiting factor.

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The hypervisor's CPU core count

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The storage I/O bandwidth

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The network interface card speed

Question 4

A company runs multiple virtual machines (VMs) on a single hypervisor host for development and testing. Users report that the VMs are performing poorly. The administrator checks the host and sees that CPU utilization is at 40% and memory utilization is at 50%, but disk I/O latency is extremely high. The host has a single SATA SSD that stores all VM disk files. Which of the following actions would MOST likely improve performance?

Accepted Answer

Use a separate SSD for each VM to distribute I/O load.. The host has a single SATA SSD storing all VM disk files, and disk I/O latency is extremely high despite low CPU and memory utilization. This indicates a storage bottleneck where all VMs contend for the same disk. Using a separate SSD for each VM distributes the I/O load across multiple physical drives, reducing contention and improving performance.

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Add more RAM to the hypervisor host.

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Add additional CPU cores to the hypervisor host.

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Enable memory overcommitment on the hypervisor.

Question 5

A company uses a public cloud IaaS provider. They are billed monthly based on the total hours their virtual machines are running and the amount of block storage allocated. Which cloud computing characteristic does this billing model represent?

Accepted Answer

Metered service. The billing model described—charging based on total hours VMs are running and the amount of block storage allocated—directly corresponds to metered service. In cloud computing, metered service (also called pay-per-use or measured service) means the provider tracks resource consumption (e.g., compute hours, storage GB-months) and bills accordingly. This is a core characteristic of cloud computing as defined by NIST SP 800-145, enabling usage-based cost allocation.

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Rapid elasticity

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On-demand self-service

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Resource pooling

Question 6

A company hosts a database virtual machine in a public IaaS cloud. The VM is experiencing slow performance due to high disk I/O latency. The administrator wants to improve performance without changing the VM size (vCPU or RAM). Which of the following actions would MOST likely resolve the issue?

Accepted Answer

Migrate the VM to a storage tier with higher IOPS. Migrating the VM to a storage tier with higher IOPS directly addresses the high disk I/O latency by providing faster data access at the storage layer. Since the VM size (vCPU/RAM) remains unchanged, improving the underlying storage performance is the most effective way to reduce latency without altering compute resources.

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Increase the amount of RAM allocated to the VM

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Add more vCPUs to the VM

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Enable nested virtualization on the host

Question 7

A company plans to run multiple virtual servers on a single physical host to reduce hardware costs. The IT team wants direct hardware access for each virtual machine to maximize performance and minimize latency. Which of the following is the most appropriate hypervisor type to deploy?

Accepted Answer

Type 1 hypervisor (bare-metal) installed directly on the server hardware.. A Type 1 hypervisor (bare-metal) runs directly on the physical hardware without an underlying operating system, allowing each virtual machine to have direct, low-latency access to CPU, memory, and I/O devices. This architecture minimizes overhead and maximizes performance, making it the ideal choice when the requirement is direct hardware access for each VM.

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Type 2 hypervisor installed on top of a general-purpose operating system.

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Container-based virtualization running on the host OS.

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A virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) solution.

Question 8

A company is migrating its on-premises web servers to the cloud. They want to maintain full control over the operating system, web server software, and security configurations, but they do not want to manage the underlying physical hardware, storage, or network infrastructure. Which cloud service model best meets these requirements?

Accepted Answer

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) provides virtualized computing resources over the internet, allowing the company to deploy and manage their own operating systems, web server software, and security configurations while the cloud provider handles the underlying physical hardware, storage, and network infrastructure. This matches the requirement for full control over the OS and software stack without managing physical components.

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Software as a Service (SaaS)

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Platform as a Service (PaaS)

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Desktop as a Service (DaaS)

Question 9

A company hosts its web servers on a public cloud IaaS platform. They want to ensure that if the physical host running one of their virtual machines fails, the VM automatically restarts on another healthy physical host within the same cloud provider's infrastructure. Which cloud computing characteristic makes this possible?

Accepted Answer

High availability. High availability (C) is the correct answer because it refers to a system's ability to remain operational and automatically recover from failures. In this scenario, the automatic restart of a VM on a healthy physical host after a host failure is a direct implementation of high availability, often achieved through features like VMware vSphere HA or Microsoft Hyper-V Failover Clustering, which monitor host health and restart VMs on surviving hosts.

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Rapid elasticity

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Resource pooling

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Measured service

Question 10

A company runs multiple virtual machines on a single hypervisor host using a Type 2 hypervisor. The IT manager wants to migrate to a Type 1 hypervisor to improve performance and reduce overhead. Which of the following is a key advantage of using a Type 1 hypervisor in this scenario?

Accepted Answer

It runs directly on the hardware, providing more resources to VMs.. A Type 1 hypervisor (bare-metal) runs directly on the host hardware without an underlying operating system, eliminating the overhead of a host OS. This direct access to physical resources (CPU, memory, I/O) allows virtual machines to achieve near-native performance and reduces resource contention, which directly addresses the company's goal of improving performance and reducing overhead.

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It can run on any commodity hardware without specific requirements.

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It allows running Windows and Linux on the same host.

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It does not require a separate management console.

Question 11

A company runs a web application on a public cloud platform. The application often experiences variable traffic, with usage spikes lasting only a few hours. The company wants to automatically increase the number of virtual machine instances when CPU utilization exceeds 70% and decrease them when utilization drops below 30%. Which characteristic of cloud computing does this capability BEST represent?

Accepted Answer

Rapid elasticity. The ability to automatically scale virtual machine instances up and down in response to CPU utilization thresholds (70% up, 30% down) is a direct example of rapid elasticity. This cloud characteristic allows resources to be provisioned and released elastically, often automatically, to match demand at any given time. The scenario describes a dynamic, automated scaling action, which is the core definition of rapid elasticity in cloud computing.

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On-demand self-service

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Resource pooling

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Measured service

Question 12

A small business wants to develop and deploy a custom web application. They do not want to manage any underlying infrastructure, including servers, operating systems, or runtime environments. They want to simply upload their code and let the cloud provider handle scaling and maintenance. Which cloud service model BEST fits this requirement?

Accepted Answer

Platform as a Service (PaaS). Platform as a Service (PaaS) is the correct choice because it provides a complete development and deployment environment in the cloud, abstracting away the underlying infrastructure. The business can upload custom code without managing servers, OS, or runtime, and the cloud provider automatically handles scaling, patching, and maintenance. This directly matches the requirement to avoid infrastructure management while deploying a custom web application.

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Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

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Software as a Service (SaaS)

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Anything as a Service (XaaS)

Question 13

A startup is developing a new web application. They want to write code and deploy it without worrying about the underlying operating system, web server, or scaling. Which cloud service model should they choose?

Accepted Answer

Platform as a Service (PaaS). Platform as a Service (PaaS) provides a managed environment where developers can write and deploy code without managing the underlying OS, web server, or scaling. The cloud provider handles the runtime, middleware, and infrastructure, allowing the startup to focus solely on application code. This aligns with the requirement to avoid worrying about the operating system, web server, or scaling.

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Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

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Software as a Service (SaaS)

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Desktop as a Service (DaaS)

Question 14

An administrator manages a virtualized environment running on a Type 1 hypervisor (VMware ESXi). The physical host has 64 GB of RAM. The sum of allocated memory to all running VMs is 80 GB, and the hypervisor is using memory ballooning to reclaim memory from VMs. A critical database VM is experiencing significant performance degradation. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the performance issue?

Accepted Answer

The database VM is experiencing memory starvation due to the hypervisor reclaiming memory via ballooning.. The physical host has only 64 GB of RAM, but the sum of allocated memory to all running VMs is 80 GB, which is a 25% overcommitment. VMware ESXi uses memory ballooning to reclaim memory from VMs by forcing the VM's balloon driver to allocate guest memory, which the hypervisor then reclaims for other VMs. The critical database VM is experiencing significant performance degradation because the hypervisor is reclaiming memory from it via ballooning, causing the VM to swap to disk (memory starvation), which severely impacts database performance.

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The hypervisor is overcommitting CPU resources, causing contention.

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The VM's virtual disk is on a slow network storage link.

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The hypervisor has insufficient network bandwidth for inter-VM communication.

Question 15

A company hosts its customer relationship management (CRM) application on a single virtual machine (VM) in a public cloud. The VM is configured with a static private IP address that is used by a third-party service to send data to the application. During a scheduled hardware maintenance event, the cloud provider automatically migrates the VM to a different physical host. After the migration, the CRM application can no longer receive data from the third-party service. Which of the following cloud computing concepts was MOST likely not properly implemented?

Accepted Answer

High availability. High availability. The VM was migrated to a different physical host during maintenance, which is a normal high-availability operation. However, the static private IP address was not preserved or re-mapped after migration, causing the third-party service to lose connectivity. Proper high-availability implementation requires that the VM's IP address (or a floating IP) remains reachable after failover or migration, typically through mechanisms like virtual IPs, DNS updates, or cloud provider's elastic IP services.

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Elasticity

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Scalability

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Resource pooling