mediumMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
XK0-006 The system is experiencing slow disk I/O Practice Question
Exhibit
Refer to the exhibit. [ 2.345678] EXT4-fs (sda1): mounted filesystem with ordered data mode. Options: (null) [ 2.345690] systemd[1]: Started Journal Service. [ 2.345700] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] No Caching mode page found [ 2.345710] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Assuming drive cache: write through
The system is experiencing slow disk I/O. Based on the exhibit, which step should the administrator take to improve performance?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates often focus on I/O schedulers or caching mechanisms to fix slow I/O, overlooking the simple and effective filesystem mount option that reduces unnecessary write operations.
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
✓
Add the 'noatime' mount option in /etc/fstab
The 'noatime' mount option disables updating the access time (atime) on every file read, which eliminates a significant source of metadata write operations. Since the exhibit indicates slow disk I/O, reducing unnecessary writes directly improves performance by freeing I/O bandwidth for actual data transfers. This is a standard, low-risk optimization for workloads where access timestamps are not required.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Increase the filesystem block size
Why it's wrong here
Requires reformatting, not a quick fix.
- ✗
Enable write-back caching on the drive using hdparm
Why it's wrong here
Drive does not support caching mode page; may not help.
- ✓
Add the 'noatime' mount option in /etc/fstab
Why this is correct
Correct: Reduces disk writes by not updating access times.
- ✗
Change the I/O scheduler to 'deadline'
Why it's wrong here
May help but does not address the caching mode issue.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
File Permissions and Ownership
Key term
Mount
Mounting is the process of making a file system or storage device accessible to a computer's operating system by attaching it to a specific directory in the existing directory tree.
Key term
Risk
Risk is the possibility that an event or action will negatively affect an organization's ability to achieve its goals, often measured in terms of likelihood and impact.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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