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CV0-004 Practice Question: Which THREE of the following are common causes of…
Which THREE of the following are common causes of application performance degradation in a cloud environment? (Choose three.)
⚠ Common exam trap
CV0-004 often tests the distinction between performance degradation causes and security/configuration issues, so candidates may incorrectly select security groups or overprovisioned storage as performance problems.
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
✓
Network latency and bandwidth limitations
Option B (Network latency and bandwidth limitations) is correct because in cloud environments traffic often traverses multiple network hops, availability zones, or regions, and high round-trip latency or constrained throughput directly slows request/response times for distributed applications. Option C (Application code that is poorly optimized) is correct because inefficient algorithms, unindexed database queries, memory leaks, or excessive synchronous calls consume more CPU, memory, and I/O than necessary, degrading performance regardless of how much infrastructure is provisioned. Option D (Resource exhaustion (CPU, memory, disk I/O)) is correct because when an instance or container saturates its vCPU credits, RAM, or IOPS/throughput limits, requests queue and latency rises sharply, a very common cloud scaling failure mode. Option A is not a cause of performance degradation: security groups are stateful firewalls that filter traffic, and having too few of them affects access control and manageability, not application speed. Option E is not correct because overprovisioned storage provides excess capacity and typically does not degrade performance; performance issues more often stem from underprovisioned IOPS or throughput, not from having more storage than needed.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Insufficient number of security groups
Why it's wrong here
Insufficient security groups do not degrade performance; they weaken network access control, since security groups filter traffic rather than throttle it. The distractor tempts because misconfigured rules cause connectivity failures, so administrators associate them with slowdowns. Security groups would be the correct focus when troubleshooting blocked ports or unreachable instances, not latency or throughput.
- ✓
Network latency and bandwidth limitations
Why this is correct
Cloud workloads depend on shared network paths, so latency and constrained bandwidth directly delay request and response cycles between tiers and services. This is a recognised degradation cause, distinct from code or host resource issues, and applies regardless of provider.
- ✓
Application code that is poorly optimized
Why this is correct
Inefficient algorithms, excessive synchronous calls, and unindexed queries consume more CPU and time than necessary, so poorly optimised application code degrades performance independently of infrastructure. It remains a common cause in cloud environments because scaling resources cannot compensate for inefficient logic.
- ✓
Resource exhaustion (CPU, memory, disk I/O)
Why this is correct
When CPU, memory, or disk I/O reaches capacity, request processing queues and latency rises sharply. Resource exhaustion is a common degradation cause in cloud environments, particularly where instance sizing or autoscaling thresholds are misconfigured relative to actual demand.
- ✗
Overprovisioned storage
Why it's wrong here
Overprovisioned storage does not degrade performance; excess capacity sits idle and consumes budget rather than latency or throughput. It is tempting because storage sizing is a genuine cloud concern, and overprovisioning is the correct answer when the question asks about cost waste or inefficient resource allocation, not performance.
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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.