VCP-DCV Configure and Manage vSphere Networking Practice Question
An administrator needs to capture traffic from a specific virtual machine for troubleshooting. Which vSphere networking feature should be used?
⚠ Common exam trap
VCP-DCV often tests the distinction between monitoring features — port mirroring (packet capture), NetFlow (flow metadata), and LLDP (topology discovery) — baiting candidates who conflate them.
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
✓
Port mirroring on the VDS.
Port mirroring on a vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS) copies traffic from a source VM's vNIC (or uplink) to a destination port where a packet analyzer is attached. It is the purpose-built feature for capturing VM traffic for troubleshooting, supporting both ingress/egress directions and multiple session types.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Port mirroring on the VDS.
Why this is correct
Port mirroring on a vSphere Distributed Switch copies frames from a source VM's dvPort to a destination dvPort or uplink, satisfying the requirement to capture one specific virtual machine's traffic without disrupting its connectivity. Standard vSwitches lack this capability, so the VDS is required.
- ✗
LLDP on the VDS.
Why it's wrong here
LLDP advertises neighbour and VLAN information between switches and hosts; it carries no packet payload, so no frames from the VM can be inspected. Packet capture requires a port mirroring session, which is what the scenario demands.
- ✗
NetFlow on the VDS.
Why it's wrong here
NetFlow exports summary metadata about flows — addresses, ports, byte counts — not packet contents, so payload-level troubleshooting is impossible. Full frame capture needs a mirrored session; NetFlow suits traffic profiling and capacity analysis instead.
- ✗
Traffic shaping on the VDS.
Why it's wrong here
Traffic shaping meters and limits throughput on a port group; it does not duplicate frames to a capture target. It suits bandwidth policing for noisy neighbours, whereas port mirroring (a distributed port group or session) is the feature that copies a VM's traffic for analysis.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
This VCP-DCV question is part of Courseiva's 281-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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.