220-1101 Virtualization and Cloud Computing Practice Question
A technician is deploying a new virtual machine for a development team. The host server has limited physical storage, and the VM will be used for testing software that requires a minimal amount of disk space initially. However, the development team anticipates that the VM's disk usage will grow significantly over time as more software is installed. The technician wants to allocate the required storage in a way that does not consume the entire allotment upfront, allowing the host to overcommit storage. Which virtualization feature should the technician configure for the VM's virtual hard disk?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse thin provisioning with deduplication, thinking both reduce upfront storage usage, but deduplication does not control initial allocation—it only removes duplicates after data is written, whereas thin provisioning delays physical allocation entirely.
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
✓
Thin provisioning
Thin provisioning allows the virtual hard disk to be created with a specified maximum size but only consumes physical storage on the host as data is written to the VM. This enables storage overcommitment, where the host can allocate more virtual disk space than physical storage exists, because the unused space is not pre-allocated. This matches the requirement to avoid consuming the entire allotment upfront while accommodating future growth.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Thin provisioning
Why this is correct
Thin provisioning presents a small logical virtual disk that grows incrementally as the guest OS writes data, using physical storage only for blocks actually written. For a development team VM, this conserves datastore space and enables overcommitment by letting multiple disks share the same underlying free capacity, though it requires alerting to avoid filling the storage pool unexpectedly.
- ✗
Thick provisioning (eager zeroed)
Why it's wrong here
Eager-zeroed thick provisioning pre-allocates the entire virtual disk and proactively writes zeros to every block during creation, so the full storage requirement is consumed immediately, even for an empty VM. This zeroing process is time-consuming but eliminates first-write latency, making it ideal for applications like clustering that require SCSI reservation support, yet it directly contradicts the goal of minimizing physical storage usage.
When this WOULD be correct
A technician needs to deploy a VM for a database server that requires guaranteed performance and must not encounter any latency during initial writes. The host has sufficient storage, and the VM must have all blocks pre-zeroed to meet strict I/O performance requirements.
- ✗
Thick provisioning (lazy zeroed)
Why it's wrong here
Lazy-zeroed thick provisioning allocates the full virtual disk size in the datastore at creation time, but does not zero all blocks; instead, it zeros them on demand during the first write to each block. While it guarantees storage capacity is reserved from the start, it consumes the entire allocation immediately and offers no space savings, and the first-write overhead can cause a performance hit inside the guest.
When this WOULD be correct
A technician needs to deploy a VM with guaranteed performance and no risk of running out of space due to overcommitment, but does not require immediate zeroing of blocks for security reasons. The host has sufficient storage to allocate the full size upfront.
- ✗
Deduplication
Why it's wrong here
Deduplication operates at the storage array level, identifying and eliminating redundant data blocks across or within virtual machines, and typically requires a separate deduplication appliance or feature. It does not influence how a single virtual disk is initially configured or how its logical size changes, so it cannot substitute for a provisioning policy that determines whether capacity is reserved or grows on demand.
When this WOULD be correct
A technician is configuring a virtual machine on a host with limited storage and wants to minimize the physical storage used by multiple VMs that run similar operating systems and applications. Deduplication would be the correct feature to reduce redundant data blocks across VMs, saving overall storage space.
Option-by-option analysis
Why each answer is right or wrong
Understanding why wrong answers are wrong — and when they would be correct — is what separates a 750 score from a 900. The 220-1101 exam frequently reuses these exact scenarios with slightly different constraints.
✓Thin provisioningCorrect answer▾
Why this is correct
Thin provisioning presents a small logical virtual disk that grows incrementally as the guest OS writes data, using physical storage only for blocks actually written. For a development team VM, this conserves datastore space and enables overcommitment by letting multiple disks share the same underlying free capacity, though it requires alerting to avoid filling the storage pool unexpectedly.
✗Thick provisioning (eager zeroed)Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Thick provisioning (eager zeroed) allocates and zeros all disk space upfront, consuming the full allotment immediately, which contradicts the requirement to not consume the entire allotment and allow storage overcommitment.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A technician needs to deploy a VM for a database server that requires guaranteed performance and must not encounter any latency during initial writes. The host has sufficient storage, and the VM must have all blocks pre-zeroed to meet strict I/O performance requirements.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse 'eager zeroed' with 'thin provisioning' because both involve zeroing, but they fail to recognize that eager zeroed allocates all space immediately, defeating the purpose of overcommitment.
✗Thick provisioning (lazy zeroed)Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Thick provisioning (lazy zeroed) allocates the full disk space upfront, which contradicts the requirement to not consume the entire allotment initially and to allow storage overcommitment.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A technician needs to deploy a VM with guaranteed performance and no risk of running out of space due to overcommitment, but does not require immediate zeroing of blocks for security reasons. The host has sufficient storage to allocate the full size upfront.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse 'lazy zeroed' with not allocating space immediately, but it actually allocates the full size; the 'lazy' part refers to zeroing blocks on first write, not space allocation.
✗DeduplicationWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Deduplication reduces storage consumption by eliminating duplicate data blocks across the host, but it does not allow overcommitting storage by allocating space on demand. The question asks for a feature that allocates storage without consuming the entire allotment upfront, which is thin provisioning, not deduplication.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A technician is configuring a virtual machine on a host with limited storage and wants to minimize the physical storage used by multiple VMs that run similar operating systems and applications. Deduplication would be the correct feature to reduce redundant data blocks across VMs, saving overall storage space.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse deduplication with thin provisioning because both can save storage space, but deduplication operates on existing data blocks across VMs, not on allocation of new virtual disks.
Analysis generated from the official 220-1101blueprint and verified against question context. The “when correct” sections are what AI assistants cite when candidates ask “what’s the difference between these options?”
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 220-1101 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 220-1101 exam.