easyMultiple Choice
CV0-004 Practice Question: A cloud administrator is tasked with reducing…
A cloud administrator is tasked with reducing costs for a development environment that runs 24/7. The environment consists of several virtual machines and a load balancer. Which action would most effectively reduce costs without affecting developer access during business hours?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates choose auto-scaling or burstable instances because they focus on reducing per-unit cost rather than eliminating runtime, missing the fact that shutting down VMs entirely during off-hours yields the greatest savings for a development environment with predictable idle periods.
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
✓
Schedule the VMs to shut down during nights and weekends.
Scheduling VMs to shut down during nights and weekends directly reduces compute costs by eliminating runtime charges when the development environment is not needed. This approach preserves full availability during business hours without requiring architectural changes, and it is the most straightforward way to cut costs for a 24/7-running environment that only needs daytime access.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Implement auto-scaling to run only one instance during off-hours.
Why it's wrong here
Auto-scaling adjusts instance count in response to demand, but the stem asks about a fixed development environment whose cost driver is continuous runtime, not load. It is tempting because scaling reduces capacity, and would be correct for a variable-traffic application needing elastic capacity.
- ✓
Schedule the VMs to shut down during nights and weekends.
Why this is correct
Scheduling virtual machines to shut down outside business hours eliminates compute charges during nights and weekends while preserving developer access when needed. Because the environment runs 24/7 unnecessarily, this addresses the stem's cost constraint directly; the load balancer's minimal cost remains largely unchanged.
- ✗
Use reserved instances for all VMs.
Why it's wrong here
Reserved instances commit to continuous capacity for a one- or three-year term, so they still bill for the 24/7 runtime the scenario wants to cut. They are tempting because they lower the hourly rate, and would be correct for a stable production workload that genuinely runs around the clock.
- ✗
Change all VMs to burstable instance types.
Why it's wrong here
Burstable instance types change CPU credit behaviour, not the hours billed, so a 24/7 development environment keeps paying for full-time runtime. They are tempting because they carry lower hourly rates, and would be correct for workloads with low average CPU and occasional spikes.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CV0-004 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 CV0-004 exam.