Question 181 of 750

Virtualization and Cloud Technologies →mediumMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

PCI Passthrough on Type 2 Hypervisor

This 220-1202 practice question tests your understanding of virtualization and cloud technologies. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.

A technician needs to migrate a physical server running a legacy application to a virtual machine on a Type 2 hypervisor for testing. The application requires direct access to a PCIe USB controller card. Which of the following is the best approach to ensure the application continues to function?

Clue words in this question

Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.

Clue: "best"
Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.

A
Use a virtual USB controller and map it to the host's USB port
Why wrong: A virtual USB controller emulates a generic device, which may not provide the direct hardware access the legacy application needs.
B
Install the application directly on the host and share the USB device via network
Why wrong: This defeats the purpose of virtualization and could introduce security and compatibility issues.
C
Enable PCI passthrough for the USB controller card to the VM
PCI passthrough grants the VM exclusive access to the physical USB controller, meeting the application's requirement for direct hardware control.
D
Convert the physical server to a VM using P2V and rely on emulated USB
Why wrong: Emulated USB may not support the specific hardware features needed by the legacy application, leading to failure.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

Quick Answer

The answer is to enable PCI passthrough for the USB controller card to the VM. This is correct because PCI passthrough grants the virtual machine direct, exclusive access to the physical PCIe device, bypassing the host operating system’s abstraction layer and providing the low-level hardware control that a legacy application often requires to function properly. On the CompTIA A+ Core 2 220-1202 exam, this concept tests your understanding of virtualization hardware pass-through, specifically how a Type 2 hypervisor can allocate physical resources to a guest OS. A common trap is confusing PCI passthrough with simply attaching a USB device via the hypervisor’s USB redirection feature, which does not offer the same direct memory access and can cause driver failures for legacy software. Remember the mnemonic: “Pass-through for the PCI, not plug-and-play for the VM.”

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

✓

Enable PCI passthrough for the USB controller card to the VM

Option C is correct because PCI passthrough (also known as VT-d or IOMMU) allows the VM to directly access the physical PCIe USB controller card, providing the legacy application with the exact hardware it requires without emulation or translation overhead. This is essential for applications that need direct hardware access and cannot function through a virtualized or shared USB controller.

Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

✗
Use a virtual USB controller and map it to the host's USB port
Why it's wrong here
A virtual USB controller emulates a generic device, which may not provide the direct hardware access the legacy application needs.
✗
Install the application directly on the host and share the USB device via network
Why it's wrong here
This defeats the purpose of virtualization and could introduce security and compatibility issues.
✓
Enable PCI passthrough for the USB controller card to the VM
Why this is correct
PCI passthrough grants the VM exclusive access to the physical USB controller, meeting the application's requirement for direct hardware control.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Convert the physical server to a VM using P2V and rely on emulated USB
Why it's wrong here
Emulated USB may not support the specific hardware features needed by the legacy application, leading to failure.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

A common misconception in CompTIA A+ is that virtual USB controllers (Option A) or P2V with emulation (Option D) can satisfy direct hardware access requirements, when in fact only PCI passthrough provides the necessary low-level hardware control for legacy applications that depend on specific PCIe devices.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

PCI passthrough leverages the IOMMU (Input-Output Memory Management Unit) to map the physical PCIe device's memory and interrupt resources directly into the VM's address space, bypassing the hypervisor's device emulation layer. This technique is commonly used for high-performance devices like GPUs, NVMe drives, and specialized controllers in lab or testing environments where hardware compatibility is critical. A subtle behavior is that PCI passthrough typically requires the host to reserve the device and prevent the host OS from loading its driver, which can be done via driver blacklisting or using the pci-stub driver in Linux.

KKey Concepts to Remember

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.

TExam Day Tips

Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.

Key takeaway

Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.

Real-world example

How this comes up in practice

A practitioner preparing for the 220-1202 exam encounters this exact type of scenario on the job. The correct answer here is not the most general option — it is the best answer for the specific constraint described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Real exam questions reward reading the full scenario before eliminating options, because the constraint defines which answer fits.

What to study next

Got this wrong? Here's your next step.

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this 220-1202 question test?

Virtualization and Cloud Technologies — This question tests Virtualization and Cloud Technologies — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: Enable PCI passthrough for the USB controller card to the VM — Option C is correct because PCI passthrough (also known as VT-d or IOMMU) allows the VM to directly access the physical PCIe USB controller card, providing the legacy application with the exact hardware it requires without emulation or translation overhead. This is essential for applications that need direct hardware access and cannot function through a virtualized or shared USB controller.

What should I do if I get this 220-1202 question wrong?

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

Are there clue words in this question I should notice?

Yes — watch for: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

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