hardMultiple Select
350-401 Practice Question: Which three statements about virtual machine (VM)…
Which three statements about virtual machine (VM) resource allocation and overcommitment are true? (Choose three.)
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is the absolutist wording in options C and E — 'always guarantees' and 'cannot overcommit' — which candidates may accept if they conflate overcommitment with guaranteed performance or assume vCPU-to-core pinning is mandatory.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Memory overcommitment allows the sum of all virtual machine memory allocations to exceed the physical RAM of the host.
Option A is correct because memory overcommitment is precisely the technique that lets the total configured guest RAM exceed the host's physical RAM, with the hypervisor reclaiming pages via mechanisms like ballooning, swapping, or transparent page sharing. Option B is correct because CPU overcommitment works by having the hypervisor scheduler time-slice multiple vCPUs onto fewer physical cores, commonly at ratios above 1:1, so vCPUs are not permanently bound to cores. Option D is correct because thin provisioning implements storage overcommitment by allocating blocks on demand, so a virtual disk only consumes physical capacity equal to the data actually written rather than its full nominal size. Option C is incorrect because overcommitment is a trade-off that can degrade performance under contention and never guarantees better performance for all VMs. Option E is incorrect because a hypervisor can and routinely does overcommit CPU resources; pinning each vCPU to a dedicated physical core is optional and not a requirement.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Memory overcommitment allows the sum of all virtual machine memory allocations to exceed the physical RAM of the host.
Why this is correct
Memory overcommitment lets the hypervisor assign more RAM to VMs than the host physically holds, relying on reclaim techniques such as ballooning, swapping and transparent page sharing to satisfy actual demand. This directly satisfies the stem's requirement that total VM memory allocations may exceed physical host RAM.
- ✓
CPU overcommitment is achieved by scheduling virtual CPUs onto physical cores, often with a ratio greater than 1:1.
Why this is correct
CPU overcommitment works because the hypervisor scheduler time-slices virtual CPUs onto physical cores, so the vCPU-to-core ratio can exceed 1:1. This matches the stem's statement that overcommitment is achieved by scheduling vCPUs onto physical cores at ratios greater than 1:1.
- ✗
Overcommitment always guarantees better performance for all virtual machines.
Why it's wrong here
Overcommitment lets more virtual CPUs or memory be assigned than physically exists, which can degrade performance through contention or ballooning, so it guarantees nothing. It tempts because overcommitment does raise consolidation ratios, which is its actual purpose.
- ✓
Storage overcommitment is supported by thin provisioning, where virtual disks consume only the space actually used.
Why this is correct
Thin provisioning presents virtual disks larger than the space physically consumed, allocating blocks on write. This is the mechanism behind storage overcommitment, satisfying the stem's claim that virtual disks consume only the space actually used rather than their full provisioned size.
- ✗
A hypervisor cannot overcommit CPU resources because each vCPU must be pinned to a dedicated physical core.
Why it's wrong here
CPU overcommitment is standard: the hypervisor time-slices physical cores across vCPUs, so vCPUs need not map one-to-one to cores. Pinning is an optional affinity control for latency-sensitive workloads, not a prerequisite for allocation. The claim that overcommitment is impossible therefore contradicts how schedulers actually assign CPU cycles.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Cisco exam blueprint
This 350-401 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Cisco certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 350-401 exam.