mediumMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
220-1201 Practice Question: A technician is setting up a virtual lab on a…
A technician is setting up a virtual lab on a laptop with 8 GB RAM and a dual-core CPU. The technician creates two VMs: one with 4 GB RAM and one with 2 GB RAM. The host OS is Windows 10. When both VMs are running, the laptop becomes unresponsive and the VMs are extremely slow. The technician checks resource monitor and sees that the host is using 95% of RAM. What should the technician do to improve performance without purchasing new hardware?
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
✓
Reduce the RAM allocation of the 4 GB VM to 2 GB.
Over-allocating RAM to VMs on a host with limited memory causes swapping and poor performance. The best solution is to reduce the RAM allocated to the VMs or use dynamic memory allocation if supported. The correct answer focuses on adjusting VM memory settings, which is a practical troubleshooting step.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Enable hardware virtualization in the BIOS.
Why it's wrong here
Enabling hardware virtualization (e.g., Intel VT-x or AMD-V) in the BIOS is a prerequisite for running virtual machines efficiently, as it allows the CPU to directly assist the hypervisor in managing guest OS processes. However, if a virtual lab is already set up and running, this feature is almost certainly already enabled. Furthermore, enabling it does not increase the total physical RAM available to the host system, which is the direct cause of RAM exhaustion.
- ✓
Reduce the RAM allocation of the 4 GB VM to 2 GB.
Why this is correct
Reducing the RAM allocated to one of the virtual machines directly frees up physical memory on the host system. If a 4 GB VM is consuming too much of the host's limited RAM, reducing its allocation to 2 GB immediately makes 2 GB available for the host operating system and the other virtual machine. This action directly addresses the RAM exhaustion issue by rebalancing resource distribution without requiring additional hardware or complex configuration changes.
- ✗
Convert the VMs to use dynamic memory allocation.
Why it's wrong here
Dynamic memory allocation allows a hypervisor to adjust a VM's RAM usage based on its actual demand, potentially overcommitting memory by allocating more virtual RAM than physical RAM exists. While beneficial for optimizing resource utilization in general, converting to dynamic memory is not an immediate fix for an already exhausted host. It's a proactive management strategy, and if the host is already out of memory, dynamic allocation may not reclaim sufficient resources quickly enough to resolve the critical shortage.
- ✗
Move the VMs to a Type 1 hypervisor.
Why it's wrong here
A Type 1 hypervisor (bare-metal) runs directly on the host hardware, offering potentially better performance and resource management than a Type 2 (hosted) hypervisor. However, installing a Type 1 hypervisor on a laptop currently running a virtual lab would necessitate wiping the existing operating system and reinstalling everything, which is impractical and disruptive. Crucially, changing the hypervisor type does not magically increase the physical RAM installed in the laptop, which is the fundamental limitation causing the exhaustion.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every 220-1201 question from scratch — 972 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on 220-1201
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A technician is deploying a new virtual machine on a Type 2 hypervisor (hosted) for software testing. The host machine runs Windows 10 Pro with 16 GB RAM and a quad-core CPU. The test application requires 4 GB RAM and two virtual CPUs. After creating the VM with those settings, the technician notices the host becomes extremely sluggish even when the VM is idle. What is the most likely reason for this?
easy- A.The hypervisor does not support hardware acceleration for the guest OS.
- ✓ B.The host machine’s CPU does not support Intel VT-x or AMD-V.
- C.The technician allocated too much RAM to the VM, leaving insufficient memory for the host OS.
- D.The virtual switch is misconfigured, causing network loops.
Why B: Type 2 hypervisors rely on hardware virtualization extensions (Intel VT-x or AMD-V) to run virtual machines efficiently. If the host CPU does not support these extensions (or they are disabled in the BIOS), the hypervisor falls back to software emulation, which imposes heavy overhead on the host CPU. This overhead is present even when the VM is idle because the hypervisor must constantly manage emulated instructions. With the host running Windows 10 Pro and a quad-core CPU, the software emulation can cause the host to become sluggish. Allocating only 4 GB RAM to the VM leaves 12 GB for the host, which is sufficient for Windows 10 Pro and typical background processes, so option C is unlikely to be the cause.
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.