CV0-004 Troubleshooting Practice Question
A cloud administrator is troubleshooting a web application hosted on a cloud VM that is experiencing intermittent high latency. The administrator reviews the cloud provider's monitoring metrics and sees that the VM's CPU utilization is consistently around 30%, memory usage is 40%, and network throughput is well below the instance's limit. Which factor is the most likely cause of the latency?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is focusing on CPU or memory because they are common causes of latency, but the metrics show they are not saturated, so the bottleneck must be elsewhere, likely storage.
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
✓
Disk I/O latency on the VM's volume
When CPU, memory, and network metrics are all well within normal ranges, storage I/O latency is a frequent hidden cause of application latency. Disk operations may be slow due to volume type, IOPS limits, or contention, and this may not be reflected in default monitoring dashboards.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Network packet loss between the client and the VM
Why it's wrong here
Network packet loss would cause retransmissions and latency, but the monitoring shows network throughput is below the limit. While packet loss could still occur, it is less likely when throughput is low. Disk I/O is a more common hidden bottleneck when other metrics are normal.
- ✓
Disk I/O latency on the VM's volume
Why this is correct
High latency with low CPU, memory, and network utilization often points to storage I/O bottlenecks. If the application performs frequent disk reads/writes, slow disk I/O can cause delays. Cloud monitoring may not show disk latency by default, so it is a prime suspect when other metrics are normal.
- ✗
Insufficient CPU credits on a burstable instance
Why it's wrong here
Burstable instances accumulate CPU credits and can throttle when credits are exhausted, but that would typically show as high CPU utilization or CPU credit balance depletion. With CPU at 30%, the instance is not CPU-bound, so CPU credits are unlikely to be the cause of latency.
- ✗
Memory swapping due to insufficient RAM
Why it's wrong here
Memory swapping occurs when memory usage is high, typically near 100%. With memory at 40%, the VM has ample free RAM, so swapping is unlikely. The symptom of swapping would also be high disk I/O, which aligns with disk latency, but the root cause is not memory shortage here.
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JA
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 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.