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220-1201 Practice Question: Migrate a physical server running a legacy…
A company plans to migrate a physical server running a legacy application to a virtual machine to reduce hardware costs. The application requires direct access to a proprietary PCIe card installed in the physical server. Which virtualization feature must the hypervisor support to allow the VM to use this card?
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
✓
PCI passthrough (VT-d/IOMMU)
Direct access to physical hardware like a PCIe card requires hardware passthrough technology, such as Intel VT-d or AMD IOMMU. This allows a VM to directly control the device without going through the hypervisor. The correct answer tests knowledge of advanced virtualization features for hardware compatibility.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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Virtual machine snapshots
Why it's wrong here
Virtual machine snapshots capture the entire state of a virtual machine at a specific point in time, including its memory, disk, and configuration, primarily for rollback purposes or creating a restore point. While crucial for backup and recovery strategies, they are a state-management feature and do not provide any mechanism for a virtual machine to directly access or control physical hardware components like a proprietary PCIe card on the host system.
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Virtual switch VLAN tagging
Why it's wrong here
VLAN tagging, typically implemented using IEEE 802.1Q on virtual switches, is a networking feature designed to logically segment network traffic within a shared physical network infrastructure. It allows multiple virtual networks to coexist on a single physical network adapter, isolating traffic between different virtual machines or departments. This technology manages network packet flow and isolation but has no functional relationship with a virtual machine's ability to directly interface with physical PCIe devices.
- ✓
PCI passthrough (VT-d/IOMMU)
Why this is correct
PCI passthrough, leveraging technologies like Intel VT-d or AMD-Vi (IOMMU), is the correct solution as it allows a virtual machine to gain exclusive, direct access to a physical PCI or PCIe device installed in the host server. This bypasses the hypervisor's virtualization layer for the specific device, providing near-native performance and full driver compatibility within the guest OS, which is essential for proprietary hardware requiring direct, low-latency interaction.
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Virtual machine migration (vMotion)
Why it's wrong here
Virtual machine migration, exemplified by technologies like VMware vMotion, facilitates the live movement of a running virtual machine from one physical host server to another without any service interruption. While critical for maintaining high availability, performing host maintenance, and balancing workloads across a cluster, this feature is solely focused on VM mobility and does not provide any capability for a virtual machine to directly access or control specific physical PCIe devices on its current host.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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