5V0-22.23 VMware vSAN Specialist v2 Free Practice Exam Questions (2025 Updated)

To upgrade multiple vSAN Witness nodes with vLCM (single image management) that are used for vSAN Stretched and two-node Clusters, the administrator can upgrade two witness node types: appliance witness node and nested witness node. An appliance witness node is a virtual ESXi host that runs on a physical ESXi host and contains the witness components of VM objects stored in the vSAN cluster. A nested witness node is a virtual ESXi host that runs on another virtual ESXi host and contains the witness components of VM objects stored in the vSAN cluster. Both types of witness nodes can be managed by vLCM as independent nodes since vSphere 7.0 Update 3, as long as they are version 7.0 Update 2 or later. The other options are not correct. A shared witness node is a witness node that serves multiple vSAN clusters, which is not supported by vLCM. A dedicated witness node is a witness node that serves only one vSAN cluster, which is not a specific type of witness node. A physical witness node is aphysical ESXi host that contains the witness components of VM objects stored in the vSAN cluster, which cannot be upgraded by vLCM. References: vSphere Lifecycle Manager and the vSAN Witness Hosts; Shared Witness for 2-Node vSAN Deployments

To satisfy the customer’s needs for high-performance, low-latency applications at edge locations, the best deployment option is to use a new three-node vSAN 8.0 All-Flash Cluster with OSA in each edge location and configure each application VM with a RAID-1 VM storage policy. This option will provide the following benefits:

All-flash clusters offer the highest performance and lowest latency for vSAN, as they use flash devices for both cache and capacity tiers. Flash devices have faster read and write operations than magnetic disks, and they also support advanced features such as deduplication, compression, and encryption.

OSA stands for One Socket Architecture, which means that each host has only one CPU socket with multiple cores. This reduces the licensing cost and complexity of vSphere and vSAN, as well as the power consumption and cooling requirements of the hosts. OSA also improves the performance of vSAN by eliminating the NUMA effect, which is the latency caused by accessing memory or devices across different CPU sockets.

RAID-1 is a mirroring technique that creates two copies of each data component and places them on different hosts. This provides high availability and fault tolerance for the application VMs, as they can survive the failure of one host or disk. RAID-1 also offers better performance than RAID-5 or RAID-6, as it does not incur any parity overhead or additional write operations.

The other options are not optimal for the customer’s needs, as they either sacrifice performance or capacity. Option A uses RAID-5, which is an erasure coding technique that splits each data component into three data segments and one parity segment, and distributes them across four hosts. This reduces the capacity consumption by 25%, but it also increases the write latency and network traffic, as each write operation requires four hosts to participate. Option C uses ESA, which stands for Enterprise Storage Architecture, which means that each host has two CPU sockets with multiple cores. This increases the licensing cost and complexity of vSphere and vSAN, as well as the power consumption and cooling requirements of the hosts. ESA also introduces the NUMA effect, which can degrade the performance of vSAN by adding latency to access memory or devices across different CPU sockets. Option D uses RAID-5 with ESA, which combines the disadvantages of both options A and C.

Adding one more disk group per host with the same configuration and adding an ESXi host with identical device configuration are the two methods that the vSAN administrator should use to meet the goal of increasing capacity and performance with the least amount of impact. Adding one more disk group per host will increase the raw storage capacity by 20% and also improve the performance by distributing the I/O load across more cache devices and disk groups. Adding an ESXi host with identical device configuration will increase the raw storage capacity by 25% and also improve the performance by adding more compute and network resources to the cluster. Both methods can be done without disrupting any ongoing operations or requiring any data evacuation or resynchronization.

The other options are incorrect for the following reasons:

Replacing all capacity devices with a similar larger device is incorrect because it will not increase the performance and will have a significant impact on the cluster. Replacing the capacity devices requires deleting the disk groups, which will erase all data on them and trigger a resynchronization of the affected objects. This can be disruptive and time-consuming, and also introduce additional network and disk traffic.

Replacing all cache devices with a larger device is incorrect because it will not increase the capacity and will have a significant impact on the cluster. Replacing the cache devices also requires deleting the disk groups, which will have the same drawbacks as replacing the capacity devices. Moreover, increasing the cache size may not improve the performance significantly, as vSAN OSA uses afixed cache ratio of 70% for write buffer and 30% for read cache, regardless of the cache device size.

Adding faster cache devices is incorrect because it will not increase the capacity and will have a significant impact on the cluster. Adding faster cache devices also requires deleting the disk groups, which will have the same drawbacks as replacing the cache devices. Furthermore, adding faster cache devices may not improve the performance significantly, as vSAN OSA uses a fixed cache ratio of 70% for write buffer and 30% for read cache, regardless of the cache device speed. References:

VMware vSAN Specialist v2 Exam Preparation Guide, page 10

Expanding a vSAN Cluster

Using vSAN ESA and the new Storage pool configuration where all disks contribute to capacity is the correct answer because it allows the organization to take advantage of the new features in vSAN 8.0, such as improved I/O flow, better resiliency, and more efficient disk usage. With vSAN ESA, there is no need to create disk groups or designate cache disks, as all disks are treated as capacity disks and use a new algorithm to distribute data across them. This also simplifies the disk management and reduces the overhead of cache management. References:

VMware vSAN Specialist v2 Exam Preparation Guide, page 6

What’s New in VMware vSAN 8.0

Two actions that would cause some objects to be currently resyncing are:

A change to the storage policy is applied to the objects. This action triggers a resynchronization of objects to make them compliant with the new policy settings, such as FTT, RAID level, stripe width, etc. The resynchronization process copies data from one host to another to create or update replicas or parity segments.

A host failure occurs in the cluster. This action causes some objects to become non-compliant with their storage policy, as they lose one or more replicas or parity segments due to the host failure. The resynchronization process rebuilds the missing components on other hosts in the cluster to restore compliance and availability.References: : VMware vSphere Storage Guide, page 129 : Monitor the Resynchronization Tasks in the vSAN Cluster 1 : VMware vSAN Specialist v2 Exam Preparation Guide, page 13

A durability component is a temporary component that is created when a host or disk group is placed in maintenance mode with the Ensure data accessibility option, or when a host or disk group fails unexpectedly. A durability component improves the availability of data by maintaining the required number of failures to tolerate (FTT) until the original component is restored or rebuilt. A durability component also speeds up the resynchronization process by reducing the amount of data that needs to be copied. The other characteristics are not applicable to a durability component. References: VMware vSAN Specialist v2 EXAM 5V0-22.23, page 10, Objective 6.8; [Durability Components]

To reduce the amount of vSAN datastore capacity the virtual machines will consume, the vSAN administrator should change the FTT rule to “1 Failure - RAID-1 (Mirroring)”, and select “Now” for Reapply to VMs. This action will reduce the number of replicas for each object from three to two, and thus free up some space on the vSAN datastore. The other options are not correct, as they will not reduce the capacity consumption. Modifying the FTT rule to “2 Failures - RAID-5 (Erasure Coding)” will not work for a hybrid vSAN cluster, as erasure coding is only supported for all-flash clusters. Adding the “Flash read cache reservation” rule to the storage policy, and setting to 0% will not affect the capacity layer, as it only controls the amount of flash cache reserved for each object. Disabling Operations reserve and Host rebuild reserve and clicking “Apply” will not change the actual space used by the objects, as these reserves are only logicalsettings that affect how much free space is reported by vSAN. References: 1, page 9; , section 4.3

To prevent vCenter notifications of vSAN Health status during a scheduled maintenance window, the administrator can disable the alarm from the HTML client. This will suppress the alerts for a specified duration or until the alarm is re-enabled. Disabling the performance service, running performance diagnostics, or disabling SNMP service will not affect the vSAN Health status notifications. References: [VMware vSAN Specialist v2 EXAM 5V0-22.23], page 25

The two prerequisites for using the TRIM and UNMAP capability of vSAN are:

B. The vSAN cluster is an all-flash architecture. TRIM and UNMAP are only supported on all-flash vSAN clusters, as they can reclaim space from flash devices that use thin provisioning. TRIM and UNMAP are not supported on hybrid vSAN clusters, as they cannot reclaim space from magnetic disks that use thick provisioning1.

D. TRIM and UNMAP is enabled. TRIM and UNMAP are disabled by default in vSAN, as they might have a performance impact on some workloads. To enable TRIM and UNMAP on a vSAN cluster, the administrator must use the following RVC command: vsan.unmap_support –enable2. After enabling TRIM and UNMAP, the administrator must power off and then power on all VMs that use the vSAN datastore.

The Skyline Health interval validates online if there are new Health Checks available for vSAN every 24 hours. This means that vSAN checks for new health checks from VMware Analytics Cloud once a day and updates the vSAN Health Service accordingly. The other options are not correct, as they do not match the actual frequency of the online validation. References: About the vSAN Skyline Health

To create a Kerberos secured NFS v4.1 file share, the administrator needs to provide the following information during the configuration of the File Service:

Active Directory Domain: The domain name of the Active Directory server that provides Kerberos authentication service for the NFS server and clients. For example, example.com.

User Account: The user name of the Active Directory account that has permissions to join the NFS server to the domain and create service principal names (SPNs) for the NFS server. For example, administrator@example.com.

Password: The password of the Active Directory account that is used for authentication. For example, P@ssw0rd.

These information are required to enable Kerberos security for NFS 4.1 and allow the NFS server to obtain a Kerberos ticket from the Active Directory server. The administrator also needs to specify the NFS share name, path, and access permissions1 References: 1: VMware vSphere Storage Guide, page 118

 To upgrade the vSAN environment from vSAN 7.0 U3 to vSAN 8.0 using vLCM in a non-internet connected environment, the administrator should configure the vSphere Lifecycle Manager to download updates from a local UMDS-shared repository. UMDS stands for Update Manager Download Service, which is a component of vSphere Lifecycle Manager that can be used to download patches and updates for ESXi hosts, virtual appliances, and VMware Tools from the VMware online depot and store them in a shared repository. The administrator can then configure the vSphere Lifecycle Manager to use the UMDS-shared repository as a custom depot for patching and upgrading the vSAN cluster. This option allows the administrator to perform offline upgrades without requiring internet access for the vSAN cluster12 References: 1: VMware vSphere Lifecycle Manager Administration, page 22 2: VMware vSphere Update Manager Download Service, page 5

To build a vSAN ESA cluster with RAID-5/FTT 1 adaptive storage policy, the absolute minimum number of hosts that need to be part of that vSAN ESA cluster is 3. This is because the vSAN ESA supports a new RAID-5 erasure coding scheme in a 2+1 configuration, which writes the data in a VM as a stripe consisting of 2 data bits and 1 parity bit, across a minimum of 3 hosts. This scheme can tolerate a single host failure (FTT=1) while consuming 1.5x the capacity of the primary data. This scheme is suitable for smaller vSAN clusters that want to reduce capacity usage without compromising performance12 References: 1: VMware vSAN Specialist v2 ExamPreparation Guide, page 15 2: Adaptive RAID-5 Erasure Coding with the Express Storage Architecture in vSAN 8 3

If two hosts in a four-node vSAN cluster are down, the cluster might experience data loss because the default storage policy has a Primary level of failures to tolerate (PFTT) of 1, which means that vSAN can tolerate only one host failure. The Ensure accessibility maintenance mode option does not guarantee full data redundancy, but only ensures that all accessible VMs remain accessible. If another host fails while one host is in maintenance mode, some VMs might lose access to their data components and become unavailable or corrupted. References: vSAN Maintenance Mode Options; vSAN Cluster Configuration Limits

Two characteristics of the vSAN Data-At-Rest Encryption (DARE) are that it is Software Defined and works independently of the Cache or Capacity drives installed on the Nodes, and that it continues to operate unaffected during downtime on vCenter Server. DARE is a feature that encrypts all data stored on vSAN disks using AES-256 XTS mode. It does not require Self-Encrypting Drives (SEDs) to work, as it uses software-based encryption keys that are generated by an external Key Management Server (KMS) or a vSphere Native Key Provider. DARE also does not depend on the type or size of the disks used in the vSAN cluster, as it encrypts data after all other processing, such as deduplication and compression, is performed. DARE can function even when the vCenter Server is offline or unavailable, as it uses key persistence to store the encryption keys on the ESXi hosts or in a Trusted Platform Module (TPM). The hosts can access the keys without contacting the KMS or the vCenter Server. The other options are notcorrect, as they do not describe DARE accurately. DARE does not need to be enabled together with the vSAN Data-In-Transit encryption, as they are independent features that can be enabled or disabled separately. Data-In-Transit encryption encrypts data that is transmitted between hosts in a vSAN cluster using secure sockets layer (SSL) certificates. DARE is supported on Stretched Cluster environments, as it can encrypt data across multiple sites using site affinity rules. 

The correct order to perform the update from vSAN version 7.0.2 to version 8.0 is to upgrade the vCenter Server first, then upgrade the ESXi hosts, and finally upgrade the vSAN on-disk format. This order follows the general vSphere upgrade order, which ensures compatibility and interoperability between different components. Upgrading the vCenter Server first allows it to manage and monitor the ESXi hosts and the vSAN cluster during the upgrade process. Upgrading the ESXi hosts second ensures that they have the latest software patches and drivers for vSAN. Upgrading the vSAN on-disk format last enables the new features and functionality of vSAN 8.0. The other options are not correct, as they do not follow the recommended upgrade order.

 To perform maintenance on one of the hosts in a three-node vSAN cluster with the best availability for the VMs with the least effort and data transfer, the maintenance mode option that should be used is Ensure accessibility. This option migrates only enough components to ensure that all accessible VMs remain accessible, but does not guarantee full data redundancy or policy compliance. This option is also the only evacuation mode available for a three-node cluster or a cluster with three fault domains, as there are not enough hosts to perform full data migration or re-protection after a failure. The other options are not correct. Migrating all VMs and their storage from the host to a different storage system or a different vSphere cluster would require more effort and data transfer than using Ensure accessibility, as well as additional resources and configuration steps. Full data migration is not possible in a three-nodecluster, as it would require at least four hosts to evacuate all data from one host and maintain full redundancy and policy compliance. References: Place a Member of vSAN Cluster in Maintenance Mode; Working with Maintenance Mode

The host rebuild reserve is a feature that allows vSAN to reserve space in the cluster for vSAN to be able to repair in case of a single host failure. This reservation is set to one host worth of capacity, which means that if one host in the vSAN cluster fails and no longer contributes storage, there is still sufficient capacity remaining in the cluster to rebuild and re-protect all vSAN objects. This feature prevents the creation of new VMs or powering on VMs if such operations consume the reserved space. By default, the host rebuild reserve is disabled, but it can be enabled in the vSAN Services configuration. The other options are not related to the hostrebuild reserve. References: vSAN Capacity Management in v7.0U1; Configure Reserved Capacity

The most likely cause for some components to be not in a fully healthy state is that one host is in maintenance mode with the ensure accessibility option. This option creates temporary durability components on other hosts to maintain the required number of failures to tolerate (FTT) until the original components are restored or rebuilt. These durability components are not considered fully healthy because they do not have full redundancy and might not be compliant with the storage policy. The other options do not explain why some components are not fully healthy, as they do not affect the FTT or the compliance state of the objects. References: Durability Components; esxcli vsan debug object overview