VMware vSphere 6 Advanced Design (VCAP6-DCV Design) — Question 23

A customer is virtualizing a mission-critical Microsoft SQL database and needs a configuration that provides optimal NUMA performance.
✑ There are two possible clusters that the database virtual machine could reside in Cluster A is vSphere 6.0 and Cluster B is vSphere 6.5.
✑ All ESXi hosts contain dual Intel Xeon E5-2650 processors (ie:2 socket, 10 cores per socket) and 256Gb RAM with vNUMA in its default configuration.
Given this scenario, which three statements are true? (Choose three.)

Answer options

• A. Enabling CPU Hot Add on a virtual machine will disable vNUMA.
• B. Placing a 10 vCPU VM in Cluster A and configuring it with 2 Sockets and 5 Cores Per Socket will result in 2 vNUMA nodes.
• C. Placing a 10 vCPU VM in Cluster B and configuring it with 2 Sockets and 5 Cores Per Socket will result in 2 vNUMA nodes.
• D. Enabling Memory Hot Add on a virtual machine will disable vNUMA.
• E. Placing the VM in Cluster B and configuring it with 5 Sockets and 2 Cores Per Socket will result in 1 vNUMA node.

Correct answer: C, D, E

Explanation

The correct answer is C, D, and E. In vSphere 6.5 (Cluster B), configuring a 10 vCPU VM with 2 Sockets and 5 Cores Per Socket does allow for 2 vNUMA nodes, while enabling Memory Hot Add indeed disables vNUMA. However, placing the VM with 5 Sockets and 2 Cores Per Socket results in only 1 vNUMA node due to the configuration. Option A is incorrect because enabling CPU Hot Add does not disable vNUMA.