VCP-DCV Configure and Manage vSphere Storage Practice Question
An administrator needs to create a datastore cluster for a set of VMs that require high availability. The VMs should be automatically balanced across datastores based on I/O latency. Which feature must be enabled on the datastore cluster?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap is conflating SIOC with Storage DRS — candidates pick SIOC because it deals with I/O latency, but SIOC only prioritizes and measures I/O; it is Storage DRS with the I/O metric that actually balances VMs across datastores.
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
✓
Storage DRS with I/O metric enabled.
Storage DRS with the I/O metric enabled uses datastore latency and I/O load (via SIOC) to make initial placement and ongoing balancing decisions, which is exactly what is needed to balance VMs across datastores based on I/O latency. Enabling the I/O metric is the specific setting that activates latency-aware recommendations.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Storage I/O Control (SIOC) on each datastore.
Why it's wrong here
SIOC throttles per-datastore I/O shares to prevent noisy-neighbour latency; it does not migrate VMs between datastores. Balancing VMs by latency requires Storage DRS with the I/O metric enabled, which performs proactive and manual migrations. SIOC is tempting because it addresses I/O latency, but only within a single datastore.
- ✗
vSphere HA for the datastore cluster.
Why it's wrong here
vSphere HA restarts VMs on surviving hosts after a host failure; it does not place or migrate VMs across datastores. Datastore-cluster balancing by I/O latency is Storage DRS with the I/O metric enabled. HA is tempting because the stem mentions high availability, but HA operates at host level, not datastore level.
- ✗
Storage DRS without I/O metric, using space only.
Why it's wrong here
Storage DRS with space-only balancing moves VMs when capacity thresholds are crossed, ignoring I/O latency entirely, so the stated requirement is unmet. Enabling the I/O metric lets Storage DRS generate migration recommendations from latency data. Space-only mode suits environments where capacity, not performance, drives placement.
- ✓
Storage DRS with I/O metric enabled.
Why this is correct
Storage DRS with the I/O metric enabled satisfies the I/O latency balancing requirement: Storage DRS migrates VM disks between datastores in the cluster, and enabling the I/O metric makes it use observed latency and throughput, not just capacity, when generating migration recommendations.
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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.