VCP-DCV vSphere Performance and Scaling Practice Question
An administrator is troubleshooting a virtual machine that experiences intermittent performance issues. The VM is configured with 8 vCPUs and 32 GB memory. The administrator runs esxtop and sees that the %RDY for the VM is consistently above 20%. What does this indicate?
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
✓
The VM is contending for CPU resources due to overallocation of vCPUs.
High %RDY indicates that the VM is ready to run but is waiting for CPU resources, meaning the CPU scheduler cannot allocate physical cores quickly enough. This is typically caused by over-allocation of vCPUs relative to available physical cores, leading to contention. Option A correctly identifies this condition. Option B is incorrect because high %RDY is not related to disk latency; disk latency is measured by other metrics like DAVG/GAVG. Option C is incorrect because memory ballooning is a memory management technique, not directly indicated by %RDY. Option D is incorrect because high %RDY signifies inefficient CPU scheduling, not efficient utilization.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
The VM is contending for CPU resources due to overallocation of vCPUs.
Why this is correct
%RDY above 20% means the VM's virtual CPUs wait in the scheduler queue before receiving physical CPU time. With 8 vCPUs, the VM needs eight free logical cores simultaneously, so an overcommitted host causes ready time to climb, confirming CPU contention from vCPU overallocation.
- ✗
The VM's virtual disks are experiencing high latency.
Why it's wrong here
%RDY measures CPU ready time — the interval a vCPU spends waiting for a physical core — so it reports nothing about storage latency. Disk latency appears in esxtop's DAVG/cmd or KAVG counters. It is tempting because storage delay also causes intermittent VM sluggishness, but the metric cited here is purely a CPU scheduler statistic.
- ✗
The VM is experiencing memory ballooning.
Why it's wrong here
Memory ballooning is a memory-reclamation mechanism, tracked via esxtop's MCTLSZ or SWCUR counters, not %RDY, which is a CPU scheduler metric. It is tempting because ballooning also degrades VM performance intermittently, but the administrator observed CPU ready time, so memory pressure is not what this reading indicates.
- ✗
The VM is using its CPU resources efficiently.
Why it's wrong here
High %RDY indicates waiting, not efficiency.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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