VCP-DCV vSphere Architecture, Products and Solutions Practice Question
An administrator is planning a vCenter Server deployment for a large environment with 15 ESXi hosts and 300 VMs. The environment requires high availability for vCenter Server. Which deployment topology should the administrator choose?
⚠ Common exam trap
VCP-DCV often tests the deprecated Windows vCenter/external PSC topologies as distractors, causing candidates to pick legacy architectures that sound robust (mirrored SQL, external PSC) but are no longer supported or do not provide true HA.
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
✓
A VCSA configured with vCenter HA (active-passive).
vCenter HA (active-passive) is the native, supported high-availability solution for VCSA, providing automatic failover between an active, passive, and witness node. For a large environment (15 hosts, 300 VMs) requiring vCenter HA, this topology ensures minimal downtime and is the recommended approach in modern vSphere versions.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
A Windows vCenter Server with a mirrored SQL database.
Why it's wrong here
A Windows vCenter Server with a mirrored SQL database is no longer a supported deployment in current vSphere releases, so it cannot deliver the required availability. It is tempting because database mirroring historically provided vCenter redundancy, and it would have been valid on older vSphere versions before the VCSA became mandatory.
- ✓
A VCSA configured with vCenter HA (active-passive).
Why this is correct
vCenter HA uses an active-passive node arrangement with a witness, providing automatic failover of the vCenter Server appliance. For 15 hosts and 300 VMs, this meets the high-availability requirement without relying on manual restoration or external database clustering.
- ✗
A single VCSA with an embedded database.
Why it's wrong here
A single embedded-database VCSA is a standalone node with no second vCenter instance, so it cannot satisfy the stated high-availability requirement. It is tempting because embedded deployment is the default, simplest topology, and it would be the right choice for a small environment where brief vCenter downtime is acceptable.
- ✗
A VCSA deployed with an external Platform Services Controller.
Why it's wrong here
An external Platform Services Controller was deprecated and removed from vSphere 7 onward; it provides no vCenter redundancy, only separated service roles. It is tempting because external PSC topologies once addressed linked-mode and certificate isolation, and it would have been valid on vSphere 6.x deployments requiring that separation.
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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.