PCNSA Device Management and Services Practice Question
Exhibit
show system resources CPU: user 10% system 5% idle 85% Memory: 4096MB total, 4000MB used Disk /dev/sda1: 20GB, 19GB used Logging partition: 100% used
Refer to the exhibit. An administrator runs 'show system resources' on a PA-500 firewall experiencing performance issues. Based on the output, what is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates often focus on CPU or memory usage as the primary cause of performance issues, overlooking the critical impact of a full logging partition, which is a common and specific failure mode on Palo Alto firewalls.
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
✓
Logging partition full causing log write failures
The 'show system resources' output on a PA-500 firewall indicates that the logging partition is full, which directly causes log write failures. This is a common performance issue because when the logging partition reaches capacity, the firewall cannot write new logs, leading to system instability and performance degradation. Option D is correct because the output explicitly shows the logging partition at 100% utilization.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Disk space on system partition critically low
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect: System partition is 95% used but not full; logging partition is the issue.
- ✗
High CPU usage on management plane
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect: CPU is only 15% used, which is not high.
- ✗
Memory exhaustion on dataplane
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect: Memory usage is high but may not cause performance issues directly; logging partition is more critical.
- ✓
Logging partition full causing log write failures
Why this is correct
Correct: A full logging partition can severely impact performance and log collection.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PCNSA practice question is part of Courseiva's free Palo Alto Networks 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 PCNSA exam.