VCP-DCV vSphere Performance and Scaling Practice Question
Which THREE factors should be considered when designing a vSphere environment to minimize vCPU overcommitment and improve performance for CPU-intensive workloads?
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
✓
Align VM memory with NUMA nodes to reduce remote memory access.
NUMA-aware VM placement ensures that vCPUs access memory from the local NUMA node, reducing remote memory latency and improving performance for CPU-intensive workloads. Option B is correct because selecting hosts with a high physical core count per socket reduces CPU contention and provides more dedicated resources for each VM. Option E is correct because CPU scheduling modes like 'Core Level' allow vSphere to schedule VMs at the core level, minimizing co-scheduling overhead and improving performance for CPU-bound workloads. Option C is incorrect because using VMs with a high number of vCPUs (e.g., 2:1 ratio to pCPUs) increases vCPU overcommitment, leading to resource contention and degraded performance for CPU-intensive workloads. Option D is incorrect because enabling Hyper-Threading increases logical CPUs, but for heavily CPU-bound workloads that saturate physical cores, Hyper-Threading can cause resource sharing conflicts and may not improve performance; it can even degrade it due to increased contention for shared execution resources.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Align VM memory with NUMA nodes to reduce remote memory access.
Why this is correct
NUMA-aware placement improves memory access performance.
- ✓
Select hosts with a high physical core count per socket.
Why this is correct
More cores provide more resources for VMs.
- ✗
Use VMs with a high number of vCPUs (e.g., 2:1 ratio to pCPUs).
Why it's wrong here
High vCPU count increases contention and scheduling overhead.
- ✗
Enable Hyper-Threading on all hosts.
Why it's wrong here
Hyper-Threading helps parallelize, but for CPU-bound workloads it may not reduce overcommitment; it can increase contention.
- ✓
Use CPU scheduling modes like 'Core Level' to increase performance.
Why this is correct
Core-level scheduling reduces co-stop contention.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 498 original VCP-DCV practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. 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.