SK0-005 troubleshooting Practice Question
A server administrator is troubleshooting a performance issue on a VMware vSphere host. The host has multiple VMs, and one VM is experiencing high latency on its virtual disk. The administrator checks the datastore and sees it is a RAID 5 array of 4 SAS drives with 50% utilization. Latency for the VM's virtual disk is reported as 200ms. Which action would most likely improve performance?
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
✓
Migrate the VM to a different datastore with SSD storage.
High latency on a heavily utilized RAID 5 array of spinning disks suggests an I/O bottleneck. Migrating to SSD storage would significantly reduce latency. Option A addresses memory, not disk; B might help with allocation but not latency; C might increase capacity but not improve latency (RAID 6 has more overhead).
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Add a second disk to the RAID 5 array (convert to RAID 6).
Why it's wrong here
Converting to RAID 6 would add parity overhead and not reduce latency; it might even increase it.
- ✓
Migrate the VM to a different datastore with SSD storage.
Why this is correct
SSD storage provides much lower latency than SAS spinning disks, directly addressing the high latency.
- ✗
Increase the VM's memory allocation.
Why it's wrong here
Memory allocation does not affect disk latency directly; this would not resolve a storage I/O bottleneck.
- ✗
Change the virtual disk type from thin to thick.
Why it's wrong here
Changing disk type affects space allocation, not I/O latency; the underlying storage device remains the same.
Quick reference
RAID Level Comparison
| RAID Level | Min Disks | Fault Tolerance | Read | Write | Usable Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAID 0 | 2 | None | Excellent | Excellent | 100% |
| RAID 1 | 2 | 1 disk | Good | Moderate | 50% |
| RAID 5 | 3 | 1 disk | Good | Moderate | 67–94% |
| RAID 6 | 4 | 2 disks | Good | Lower | 50–88% |
| RAID 10 | 4 | 1 disk per mirror | Excellent | Good | 50% |
RAID is not a backup strategy — it protects against disk failure but not against accidental deletion, ransomware, or site-level events.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Troubleshooting Hardware and Storage Issues
Key term
RAID 5
RAID 5 is a disk array configuration that uses block-level striping with distributed parity to provide fault tolerance and good read performance while using storage space efficiently.
Key term
RAID Levels
RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) levels are different configurations that combine multiple hard drives or SSDs to improve performance, reliability, or both.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed July 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
This SK0-005 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 SK0-005 exam.