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XK0-006 Practice Question: A Linux administrator receives reports that a web…
A Linux administrator receives reports that a web application hosted on the company's internal server is intermittently slow. The server runs CentOS 7 and hosts multiple virtual hosts. The administrator checks system resources and notices that the system's swap usage is high. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the performance issue?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates often associate performance issues with CPU or network problems first, overlooking that high swap usage is a direct indicator of memory exhaustion, not a symptom of CPU load or network congestion.
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
✓
Insufficient physical memory for the workload
High swap usage indicates that the system is actively paging memory to disk because the available physical RAM is insufficient to hold the active working set. This causes significant latency because disk I/O is orders of magnitude slower than RAM, leading to intermittent slowdowns for the web application. The fact that multiple virtual hosts are running on CentOS 7 increases the memory demand, making insufficient physical memory the most likely root 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.
- ✗
Misconfigured virtual host causing memory leaks
Why it's wrong here
Memory leaks could increase memory usage but are not the most likely cause; swap usage indicates overall memory shortage.
- ✓
Insufficient physical memory for the workload
Why this is correct
Insufficient RAM forces the kernel to use swap, leading to high swap usage and performance degradation.
- ✗
Network congestion on the internal network
Why it's wrong here
Network congestion would cause slow network responses but not high swap usage.
- ✗
Excessive CPU load from a runaway process
Why it's wrong here
Excessive CPU load does not directly cause high swap usage; swap is related to memory pressure.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This XK0-006 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 XK0-006 exam.