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220-1201 Practice Question: A technician is configuring a cloud-based virtual…
A technician is configuring a cloud-based virtual machine for a developer who needs to run a custom application that requires 16 GB of RAM and 4 vCPUs. The technician selects an instance type that meets these specs. After launching, the developer complains the application runs slowly. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap is assuming that matching the advertised vCPU and RAM specs guarantees performance; candidates overlook that cloud instances are shared and subject to noisy-neighbor effects, so resource contention is the most likely culprit when specs are met but performance is poor.
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
✓
Resource contention from other tenants
In public cloud environments, instance types are often oversubscribed, meaning the physical host's CPU, memory, and I/O are shared among multiple tenants. Even if the VM is allocated 16 GB RAM and 4 vCPUs, noisy-neighbor effects from other tenants on the same host can cause performance degradation. This is the most likely cause when specs match but performance lags.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Insufficient storage IOPS
Why it's wrong here
Insufficient storage IOPS (Input/Output Operations Per Second) primarily affects applications that are heavily reliant on disk read/write operations, such as databases or large file processing. While low IOPS could cause delays in data retrieval or saving, a general application slowdown typically points to compute resource limitations like CPU or memory. If the application is slow in processing rather than just accessing data, storage IOPS is less likely to be the primary bottleneck.
- ✗
Network bandwidth throttling
Why it's wrong here
Network bandwidth throttling would manifest as slow data transfer rates to and from the virtual machine, impacting tasks like downloading updates, accessing remote databases, or serving web content. It would not directly cause an application's internal computational processes or local execution speed to decrease. The application itself would run slowly due to processing limitations, not because of slow network communication.
- ✓
Resource contention from other tenants
Why this is correct
In a multi-tenant public cloud environment, multiple virtual machines often share the same underlying physical CPU, memory, and storage resources of a host server. If other virtual machines (tenants) on the same host are experiencing high demand, their resource usage can lead to a 'noisy neighbor' syndrome. This contention means your VM's allocated resources are not consistently available, resulting in unpredictable performance degradation and a general slowdown of applications.
- ✗
Incorrect operating system version
Why it's wrong here
An incorrect operating system version would typically lead to application incompatibility issues, such as the application failing to install, crashing upon launch, or exhibiting specific functionality errors due to missing libraries or API mismatches. It is highly unlikely to cause a gradual slowdown where the application still functions but performs poorly. Instead, it would likely prevent the application from running correctly or at all, rather than just making it slow.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
This 220-1201 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA 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 220-1201 exam.