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220-1201 Practice Question: That a cloud-hosted application is running very…
A user reports that a cloud-hosted application is running very slowly during peak hours. The application is hosted on an IaaS platform with a single virtual machine. Which of the following is the most likely cause?
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
✓
The virtual machine is under-provisioned for the current workload
In IaaS, performance issues during peak hours often indicate that the virtual machine lacks sufficient resources (CPU, RAM) to handle increased load. Scaling up the VM or adding more instances can resolve this. Other factors like local internet or power are less likely to be the primary cause.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The user's internet connection is saturated
Why it's wrong here
While a user's internet connection could be saturated, this scenario describes slowdowns specific to a single cloud-hosted application during peak hours. If the local internet connection were the bottleneck, all internet-dependent services and applications on the user's network would likely experience similar performance degradation, not just one particular application intermittently.
- ✓
The virtual machine is under-provisioned for the current workload
Why this is correct
Under-provisioning means the virtual machine (VM) lacks sufficient allocated resources, such as CPU cores, RAM, or I/O capacity, to handle the demands of the application during periods of high usage. When the workload increases significantly, the VM becomes resource-constrained, leading to processing delays, increased latency, and the observed application slowdowns and unresponsiveness during peak hours.
- ✗
The cloud provider is experiencing a regional outage
Why it's wrong here
A regional outage by a cloud provider signifies a widespread disruption affecting multiple data centers or availability zones within a specific geographic region. Such an event would typically render numerous cloud services and applications inaccessible or severely impaired for many users, not just cause intermittent slowdowns for a single application during its peak usage times.
- ✗
The application's power supply is failing
Why it's wrong here
In a cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) model, the underlying physical hardware, including power supplies, is managed and maintained by the cloud provider with high redundancy. A failing power supply would typically lead to a complete and abrupt failure of the physical host server or its components, not intermittent slowdowns of a virtual machine, which is an abstracted resource.
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Internet Connection Types
Key term
CAN
A CAN (Controller Area Network) is a robust vehicle bus standard designed to allow microcontrollers and devices to communicate with each other without a host computer.
Key term
CPU
The Central Processing Unit (CPU) is the main electronic brain of a computer that carries out instructions from software by performing basic arithmetic, logic, control, and input/output operations.
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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.