VCP-DCV vSphere Performance and Scaling Practice Question
Which TWO actions can be taken to reduce CPU ready time for a virtual machine? (Select TWO.)
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates think adding vCPUs always improves performance, but in reality, over-provisioning vCPUs increases CPU ready time and degrades performance, especially on oversubscribed hosts.
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
✓
Decrease the number of vCPUs to match the workload
Reducing the number of vCPUs to match the actual workload demand directly decreases the co-scheduling overhead and contention for physical CPU cores. When a VM has more vCPUs than its workload requires, the ESXi scheduler must wait for all assigned vCPUs to become available simultaneously, which inflates CPU ready time. Right-sizing vCPUs to the workload is a best practice to minimize ready time and improve performance.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Enable CPU hot-add and hot-plug for the VM
Why it's wrong here
CPU hot-add allows adding CPUs while running but does not reduce existing ready time.
- ✓
Decrease the number of vCPUs to match the workload
Why this is correct
Fewer vCPUs reduce co-scheduling demands and lower ready time.
- ✗
Migrate the VM to a host with more physical CPU cores
Why it's wrong here
More cores may help but not directly; it depends on overall utilization.
- ✓
Increase the CPU shares for the VM
Why this is correct
Higher shares give the VM priority, potentially reducing ready time during contention.
- ✗
Add more vCPUs to the VM
Why it's wrong here
Adding vCPUs increases co-scheduling overhead, likely increasing ready time.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every VCP-DCV question from scratch — 498 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.