VCP-DCV vSphere Performance and Scaling Practice Question
An administrator is designing a new vSphere cluster for a mission-critical application that requires extremely low network latency between VMs within the same cluster. The cluster will use vSphere vMotion for maintenance. Which network configuration best meets these requirements?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often choose SR-IOV (Option B) because it offers the lowest raw latency, but they overlook that SR-IOV disables vMotion, which is explicitly required in the question for maintenance, making the distributed switch with jumbo frames the correct balance of performance and operational flexibility.
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
✓
Configure a distributed switch with jumbo frames and a dedicated VLAN for VM traffic.
A distributed switch with jumbo frames (MTU 9000) reduces CPU overhead and improves throughput for latency-sensitive VM traffic, while a dedicated VLAN isolates VM traffic from management and vMotion, minimizing contention. Jumbo frames allow larger payloads per packet, reducing the number of packets and interrupt processing, which is critical for low-latency applications. The distributed switch also provides consistent network policy across hosts, essential for vMotion compatibility.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Create separate standard switches for VM traffic and management.
Why it's wrong here
Standard switches still lack advanced features.
- ✗
Enable SR-IOV on the physical NICs and assign virtual functions to VMs.
Why it's wrong here
SR-IOV may prevent vMotion and other features.
- ✓
Configure a distributed switch with jumbo frames and a dedicated VLAN for VM traffic.
Why this is correct
Distributed switch provides QoS, jumbo frames, and performance isolation.
- ✗
Use a single vSphere Standard Switch for all traffic.
Why it's wrong here
Standard switch lacks QoS and jumbo frame support.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.