VCP-DCV vSphere Performance and Scaling Practice Question
A VM with a large memory footprint is experiencing high swap rates. The host has free memory but the swap rate is still high. What is the most likely cause?
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
✓
The VM's memory limit is set too low.
High swap rates despite available host memory indicate the VM is hitting a configured limit, not physical memory shortage. The memory limit caps the amount of host physical memory the VM can consume; if the guest requires more, it must swap. Option B is correct. Option A (slow datastore for swap file) could worsen swap performance but does not cause swapping if host memory is free. Option C (software iSCSI latency) is unrelated to memory swapping. Option D (memory reservation set too high) would guarantee memory, not cause swapping; in fact, high reservation reduces swapping likelihood.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The VM's virtual machine swap file is on a slow datastore.
Why it's wrong here
If host has free memory, the VM should not be swapping; the swap file speed is irrelevant.
- ✓
The VM's memory limit is set too low.
Why this is correct
A low memory limit restricts the VM's memory usage, causing the guest OS to swap.
- ✗
The host is using software iSCSI causing high latency.
Why it's wrong here
iSCSI latency does not cause memory swapping.
- ✗
The VM's memory reservation is set too high.
Why it's wrong here
A high reservation guarantees memory, not cause swapping.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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