VCP-DCV Configure and Manage vSphere Storage Practice Question
Which storage feature in vSphere allows a VM to be migrated from one datastore to another without any downtime?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse vMotion (host migration) with Storage vMotion (datastore migration), as both are live migration technologies but operate on entirely different resources.
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 vMotion
Storage vMotion is the correct answer because it enables live migration of a virtual machine's virtual disk files from one datastore to another with zero downtime. It uses a mirrored copy mechanism where the source and destination datastores are synchronized before the VM is switched to the destination, ensuring continuous VM availability.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
vMotion
Why it's wrong here
vMotion migrates a running VM's compute state between hosts, not its virtual disks between datastores. It is tempting because vMotion achieves zero-downtime movement, and it would be correct when relocating a VM to a different ESXi host rather than to another datastore.
- ✗
Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS)
Why it's wrong here
DRS balances compute resources.
- ✗
Storage DRS
Why it's wrong here
Storage DRS balances datastore capacity and I/O across a datastore cluster using scheduled or automated migrations, not an on-demand relocation of a chosen VM to a named datastore. It is tempting because it moves VMs between datastores, and it would be correct for automated load balancing within a datastore cluster.
- ✓
Storage vMotion
Why this is correct
Storage vMotion relocates a virtual machine's files between datastores while the VM remains powered on and running, satisfying the no-downtime constraint. Compute vMotion moves the VM between hosts instead, and neither cold nor suspended migration avoids an outage.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every VCP-DCV question from scratch — 281 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.