VCP-DCV vSphere Performance and Scaling Practice Question
A vSphere administrator is evaluating the performance of a new cluster. The administrator notices that the CPU ready time for a particular VM is consistently above 10%. The host has 24 physical cores and is running 30 VMs, each with 2 vCPUs. Which action would most directly reduce the CPU ready time for this VM?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is thinking that adding more vCPUs or increasing shares will solve CPU ready time, when in fact they can exacerbate the problem or are ineffective under heavy overcommitment.
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 host with fewer VMs using vMotion.
High CPU ready time means the VM is waiting for physical CPU resources. The most direct way to reduce it is to decrease contention on the host. Migrating the VM to a host with fewer VMs via vMotion reduces the number of vCPUs competing for physical cores, allowing the scheduler to allocate CPU time more quickly. Other options either increase demand or do not address the root cause.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Migrate the VM to a host with fewer VMs using vMotion.
Why this is correct
CPU ready time indicates that the VM is waiting for physical CPU resources. Moving the VM to a less utilized host reduces contention, allowing the scheduler to allocate CPU cycles more quickly. This directly addresses the root cause by balancing the workload across the cluster. vMotion is a non-disruptive way to achieve this.
- ✗
Enable CPU affinity for the VM to pin it to specific cores.
Why it's wrong here
CPU affinity restricts the VM to specific physical cores, which can reduce scheduling flexibility and potentially increase ready time if those cores are busy. It is not a recommended solution for high CPU ready time because it prevents the scheduler from using idle cores elsewhere. This can lead to worse performance and is generally discouraged.
- ✗
Increase the CPU shares of the VM to High.
Why it's wrong here
CPU shares only affect the relative priority of the VM during CPU contention. If the host is overcommitted, even a High share VM may still experience ready time because shares do not guarantee immediate access. The fundamental issue is the ratio of vCPUs to physical cores, which is not resolved by adjusting shares.
- ✗
Increase the number of vCPUs assigned to the VM.
Why it's wrong here
Adding more vCPUs to a VM that is already experiencing high CPU ready time can worsen the problem because the ESXi scheduler must find multiple physical cores simultaneously to schedule the vCPUs. This increases scheduling constraints and can lead to higher ready time. The correct approach is to reduce contention, not add more demand.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official VMware exam blueprint
This VCP-DCV practice question is part of Courseiva's free VMware 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 VCP-DCV exam.