VCP-DCV vSphere Architecture, Products and Solutions Practice Question
An administrator is troubleshooting a performance issue where a VM is not receiving the expected CPU resources. The VM is a member of a resource pool with a CPU Shares value of 2000. The host has two other resource pools: one with 1000 shares and another with 500 shares. All resource pools are competing for CPU. The VM's reservation is set to 2 GHz, and the host has 8 GHz available. What is the minimum CPU allocation the VM is guaranteed?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse shares with reservations, assuming that a higher share value guarantees more CPU, when in fact only a reservation provides a hard guarantee, and shares only affect the distribution of unused capacity.
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
✓
2 GHz
The VM's reservation of 2 GHz guarantees that the host will reserve at least that amount of CPU capacity for the VM, regardless of contention or share values. Shares only affect the distribution of excess resources beyond reservations, not the guaranteed minimum. Since the host has 8 GHz available, the reservation is fully satisfiable, so the VM is guaranteed 2 GHz.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
4 GHz (based on share ratio)
Why it's wrong here
Shares only determine allocation beyond reservations; the VM is guaranteed its reservation first.
- ✓
2 GHz
Why this is correct
The reservation guarantees 2 GHz regardless of other resource pool shares.
- ✗
8 GHz (all host CPU)
Why it's wrong here
The host has other resource pools that will also get CPU.
- ✗
0 GHz (no guarantee without reservation)
Why it's wrong here
The reservation guarantees a minimum allocation.
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JA
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.