This VCP-DCV practice question tests your understanding of vsphere performance and scaling. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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.
During a performance review, an administrator notices that a VM with 4 vCPUs and 16 GB memory is experiencing over 10% CPU ready time. The host has two 8-core sockets (hyper-threading enabled) and 256 GB memory. The host runs 15 other VMs with varying CPU loads. What is the most likely cause?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
NUMA node mismatch causing cross-node memory access.
Why wrong: NUMA issues cause memory latency, not CPU ready.
CPU hot-add is enabled on the VM.
Why wrong: CPU hot-add does not cause high ready time.
Memory over-provisioning causing ballooning.
Why wrong: Ballooning affects memory, not CPU ready time.
Over-provisioning of vCPUs on the host leading to contention.
Too many vCPUs relative to cores causes CPU ready time.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Over-provisioning of vCPUs on the host leading to contention.
Option D is correct because the host has 16 physical cores (with hyper-threading, 32 logical processors), but running 16 VMs with a total of 4 vCPUs each would require 64 vCPUs. This 2:1 over-provisioning ratio, combined with varying CPU loads, leads to contention for physical CPU resources, manifesting as CPU ready time exceeding 10%. CPU ready time measures the percentage of time a VM is ready to run but waiting for a physical CPU to become available.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
NUMA node mismatch causing cross-node memory access.
Why it's wrong here
NUMA issues cause memory latency, not CPU ready.
CPU hot-add is enabled on the VM.
Why it's wrong here
CPU hot-add does not cause high ready time.
Memory over-provisioning causing ballooning.
Why it's wrong here
Ballooning affects memory, not CPU ready time.
Over-provisioning of vCPUs on the host leading to contention.
Why this is correct
Too many vCPUs relative to cores causes CPU ready time.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse CPU ready time with memory-related issues like ballooning or NUMA effects, failing to recognize that CPU ready time is purely a CPU scheduling metric tied to vCPU over-provisioning and physical core availability.
Detailed technical explanation
CPU ready time is a key metric in vSphere performance monitoring, calculated as the percentage of time a VM is in a 'ready' state but cannot be scheduled due to lack of available physical CPU cores. With hyper-threading enabled, each physical core presents two logical processors, but they share execution resources; thus, over-provisioning vCPUs beyond the number of logical processors (32 in this case) can still cause contention. In real-world scenarios, a CPU ready time above 5% is considered problematic, and values above 10% indicate severe contention, often requiring vCPU reduction or host consolidation.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A practitioner preparing for the VCP-DCV exam encounters this exact type of scenario on the job. The correct answer here is not the most general option — it is the best answer for the specific constraint described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Real exam questions reward reading the full scenario before eliminating options, because the constraint defines which answer fits.
What to study next
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FAQ
vSphere Performance and Scaling — This question tests vSphere Performance and Scaling — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Over-provisioning of vCPUs on the host leading to contention. — Option D is correct because the host has 16 physical cores (with hyper-threading, 32 logical processors), but running 16 VMs with a total of 4 vCPUs each would require 64 vCPUs. This 2:1 over-provisioning ratio, combined with varying CPU loads, leads to contention for physical CPU resources, manifesting as CPU ready time exceeding 10%. CPU ready time measures the percentage of time a VM is ready to run but waiting for a physical CPU to become available.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Yes — watch for: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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.
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