A server administrator is provisioning a host system equipped with a 16-core processor and… — CompTIA A+ (Core 1 & Core 2)

A server administrator is provisioning a host system equipped with a 16-core processor and $48\text{ GB}$ of physical RAM to run 5 concurrent guest virtual machines (VMs) using a Type 2 hypervisor. The host operating system and hypervisor require a dedicated minimum of $12\text{ GB}$ of physical memory to ensure stable system operation. Each guest VM is statically configured to allocate $8\text{ GB}$ of RAM. The administrator successfully powers on the first 4 VMs, but the 5th VM fails to launch, returning a hypervisor memory allocation error.

Which of the following describes why the fifth virtual machine fails to start, and what is the minimum total host physical RAM required to support all 5 virtual machines concurrently?

The host system has run out of unreserved physical memory; a total of $52\text{ GB}$ of physical RAM is required to support the host overhead and all guest virtual machines without overcommitment.Answer
B
The host CPU logical core limit has been exceeded; the hypervisor requires upgrading to a 32-core physical processor to schedule vCPUs across 5 virtual machines.
C
The host system lacks adequate swap file storage; dynamic memory expansion requires configuring virtual storage equal to twice the total guest vRAM allocation.
D
Hardware-assisted virtualization is disabled in the system BIOS/UEFI; enabling Intel VT-x/AMD-V and Second Level Address Translation (SLAT) will resolve memory limits.

Answer

The host system has run out of unreserved physical memory; a total of

52\text{ GB}

of physical RAM is required to support the host overhead and all guest virtual machines without overcommitment.

Virtual machine capacity planning requires calculating both the cumulative memory requested by all active guest virtual machines and the minimum RAM reserved for host operating system overhead. In this scenario, 5 guest VMs each requiring

8\text{ GB}

need

40\text{ GB}

of memory. Adding the

12\text{ GB}

host OS overhead yields a total host RAM requirement of

52\text{ GB}

. Because the host only has

48\text{ GB}

of installed RAM, powering on 4 VMs consumes

44\text{ GB}

(

32\text{ GB} + 12\text{ GB}

), leaving only

4\text{ GB}

available. Attempting to launch the 5th VM fails because

8\text{ GB}

cannot be allocated.

Step-by-Step Solution

Calculate total memory required for all guest virtual machines

5 \times 8\text{ GB} = 40\text{ GB}

of RAM needed for guest VMs.

Each guest VM requires

8\text{ GB}

of dedicated RAM.

Add the dedicated host operating system and hypervisor memory overhead

40\text{ GB} + 12\text{ GB} = 52\text{ GB}

total host physical memory required.

Host OS and hypervisor functions require

12\text{ GB}

reserved memory to maintain host stability.

Compare total required RAM against current host physical capacity to identify the failure cause

The current

48\text{ GB}

capacity allows 4 VMs (

32\text{ GB} + 12\text{ GB} = 44\text{ GB}

used), leaving only

4\text{ GB}

free, which is insufficient for the 5th VM requiring

8\text{ GB}

Hypervisors enforce strict memory availability when overcommitment features are disabled or unconfigured.

Key Concept

Host Memory Capacity Planning and Hypervisor Overhead Allocation

Estimated Time:2m 0s

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