The answer is to change the path selection policy to Round Robin on the ESXi host. This is correct because the current Fixed path policy with a single active path forces all I/O through one channel, creating a bottleneck that drives up queue depth and latency, especially during peak business hours. By switching to Round Robin, the host distributes I/O across all available Fibre Channel paths, utilizing the full bandwidth of the SAN and reducing per-path congestion, which directly addresses the 15 ms average and 50 ms peak latency without any hardware cost. On the VCP-DCV exam, this scenario tests your understanding of storage path policies and their impact on performance; a common trap is to immediately recommend adding more LUNs or upgrading the SAN, but the most cost-effective first step is always to optimize existing multipathing. Remember the mnemonic: “Fixed is for failover, Round Robin for throughput”—if you see high latency with multiple paths, think Round Robin first.
VCP-DCV Configure and Manage vSphere Storage Practice Question
This VCP-DCV practice question tests your understanding of configure and manage vsphere storage. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company runs a critical SQL Server VM on vSphere 7.0. The VM has a single 300 GB virtual disk on a VMFS6 datastore backed by a SAN with 8 Gbps Fibre Channel. The VM is configured with 16 vCPUs and 64 GB RAM. Recently, users have reported slow query performance. The administrator checks the datastore performance and sees average latency of 15 ms with peaks of 50 ms during business hours. The storage array has multiple paths to the ESXi host, and the current path policy is Fixed with a single active path. The administrator wants to improve storage performance with minimal cost. Which action should the administrator take first?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "first"
Why it matters: Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Change the path selection policy to Round Robin on the ESXi host.
The current Fixed path policy with a single active path underutilizes the available storage bandwidth, causing high latency during peak I/O. Changing to Round Robin (RR) distributes I/O across all available paths, reducing queue depth on any single path and lowering latency without any hardware cost. This is the most immediate and cost-effective fix for the observed performance issue.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✓
Change the path selection policy to Round Robin on the ESXi host.
Why this is correct
Utilizes multiple paths, reducing latency.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "first" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Add a vSphere Flash Read Cache to the VM.
Why it's wrong here
Adds cost and may require additional licensing.
✗
Upgrade the Fibre Channel infrastructure to 16 Gbps.
Why it's wrong here
Costly and may not be necessary if paths are underutilized.
✗
Convert the virtual disk to thin provisioning to reduce I/O.
Why it's wrong here
Thin provisioning does not improve performance.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may assume hardware upgrades (like faster Fibre Channel) are the only solution to high latency, overlooking the fact that a misconfigured path policy can cause a single path to become a bottleneck even when multiple paths exist.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Round Robin path selection policy on VMware vSphere uses a default I/O operation limit (e.g., 1,000 I/Os per path) before switching to the next active path, effectively load-balancing across all available SAN paths. In a Fibre Channel environment with multiple paths, this reduces the average queue depth per path and can significantly lower latency, especially under sustained I/O loads. The administrator should verify that the storage array supports asymmetric logical unit access (ALUA) and that all paths are in active/optimized state for best results.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A small business has 20 workstations on the 192.168.1.0/24 network and one public IP from its ISP. The router uses PAT (NAT overload) so all 20 devices share one public address using different source ports. NAT questions test whether you understand the four address terms and which direction each translation applies.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Configure and Manage vSphere Storage — This question tests Configure and Manage vSphere Storage — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Change the path selection policy to Round Robin on the ESXi host. — The current Fixed path policy with a single active path underutilizes the available storage bandwidth, causing high latency during peak I/O. Changing to Round Robin (RR) distributes I/O across all available paths, reducing queue depth on any single path and lowering latency without any hardware cost. This is the most immediate and cost-effective fix for the observed performance issue.
What should I do if I get this VCP-DCV question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "first". Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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