VCP-DCV vSphere Performance and Scaling Practice Question
A vSphere administrator notices that one ESXi host in a DRS-enabled cluster is consistently running at 95% CPU utilization while other hosts average 40%. Which action should the administrator take to determine the cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
VCP-DCV often tests the misconception that changing DRS settings (threshold or automation level) is a diagnostic action, when in fact DRS tuning is a remediation step that should only follow performance analysis.
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
✓
Review the host's performance charts in vCenter for CPU contention metrics.
The correct first step in diagnosing a performance imbalance is to gather data before changing configuration. Reviewing the host's performance charts in vCenter provides CPU contention metrics such as CPU usage, ready time, and co-stop, which reveal whether the host is genuinely overloaded or if VMs are contending for resources. This evidence-based approach identifies the root cause before any DRS tuning is attempted.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Increase the DRS migration threshold from 3 to 5.
Why it's wrong here
The migration threshold governs how aggressively DRS generates migration recommendations; raising it from 3 to 5 makes DRS act on larger imbalance scores, not reveal which virtual machines consume the CPU. It is tempting because threshold tuning is the standard lever for sluggish DRS response in a balanced cluster.
- ✗
Place the host into maintenance mode to isolate the problem.
Why it's wrong here
Maintenance mode evacuates running workloads via DRS and powers the host out of the cluster, so the 95% CPU condition disappears before any diagnostic data is captured. It is tempting because maintenance mode isolates a host for patching or hardware work, which is the right move once a fault is already confirmed.
- ✗
Set the DRS automation level to Fully Automated.
Why it's wrong here
Fully Automated DRS would migrate the loaded virtual machines away, masking the symptom instead of diagnosing why one host is saturated. It suits balancing workloads, but the administrator needs root-cause data such as esxtop metrics or DRS imbalance reasons.
- ✓
Review the host's performance charts in vCenter for CPU contention metrics.
Why this is correct
vCenter performance charts expose CPU contention metrics such as ready time and co-stop for the host, revealing whether the 95% utilisation stems from overcommitted vCPUs, resource pool limits or unbalanced DRS rules. This data identifies the cause before any remediation.
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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
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