XK0-006 Troubleshooting Practice Question
A system is experiencing high load average. The administrator runs 'vmstat 1 5' and sees a high 'wa' value. What does this indicate?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse 'wa' with memory swapping or CPU usage, but vmstat columns are distinct: 'wa' is specifically I/O wait, while swapping is shown in 'si' and 'so', and CPU usage in 'us' and 'sy'.
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
✓
High disk I/O wait
The 'wa' column in vmstat output indicates the percentage of time the CPU is waiting for I/O operations to complete. A high 'wa' value means the CPU is idle because it is blocked waiting for disk I/O, which directly points to high disk I/O wait. This is a classic indicator of a storage bottleneck.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
High disk I/O wait
Why this is correct
wa stands for I/O wait time.
- ✗
High memory swapping activity
Why it's wrong here
Swapping indicated by 'si' and 'so'.
- ✗
High CPU usage by user processes
Why it's wrong here
That would be 'us' or 'sy' columns.
- ✗
High network I/O
Why it's wrong here
vmstat does not directly show network I/O.
Go deeper
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Process Management and System Monitoring
Key term
Value
Value is the perceived worth, benefit, or usefulness that a service, product, or activity delivers to stakeholders, especially customers and the business.
Key term
Output
In IT service management, output is the result or deliverable produced by a process, system, or component, such as data, reports, or services delivered to a customer.
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