305-300 Online Practice Questions

Explanation:
A hypervisor is a software that creates and runs virtual machines (VMs) by separating the operating system and resources from the physical hardware. One of the main tasks of a hypervisor is to map the resources of VMs to the resources of the host system, such as CPU, memory, disk, and network. This allows the hypervisor to allocate and manage the resources among multiple VMs and ensure that they run efficiently and independently123. Another important task of a hypervisor is to isolate the VMs and prevent unauthorized access to resources of other VMs. This ensures the security and privacy of the VMs and their data, as well as the stability and performance of the host system. The hypervisor can use various techniques to isolate the VMs, such as virtual LANs, firewalls, encryption, and access control145.
The other tasks listed are not part of a hypervisor’s responsibility, but rather of the guest operating system or the application running inside the VM. A hypervisor does not create filesystems during the installation of new VMs, as this is done by the installer of the guest operating system6. A hypervisor does not provide host-wide unique PIDs to the processes running inside the VMs, as this is done by the kernel of the guest operating system7. A hypervisor does not manage authentication to network services running inside a VM, as this is done by the network service itself or by a directory service such as LDAP or Active Directory8.
Reference: 1 (search for “What is a hypervisor?”), 2 (search for
“How does a hypervisor work?”), 3 (search for “The hypervisor gives each virtual machine the resources that have been allocated”), 4 (search for “Benefits of hypervisors”), 5 (search for “Isolate the virtual machines and prevent unauthorized access”), 6 (search for “Create filesystems during the installation of new virtual machine quest operating systems”), 7 (search for “Provide host-wide unique PIDs to the processes running inside the virtual machines”), 8 (search for “Manage authentication to network services running inside a virtual machine”).

Explanation:
Hardware-based virtualization uses CPU-assisted virtualization features to improve performance and isolation when running virtual machines. According to virtualization documentation, modern processors such as Intel VT-x and AMD-V provide special CPU instructions that allow the processor to trap and transfer control to the hypervisor when sensitive or privileged instructions are executed by a guest virtual machine. This behavior makes statement A correct.
Additionally, hardware-based virtualization requires explicit CPU and chipset support, which is now standard in most modern x86-based systems. These hardware extensions reduce the need for complex software emulation and enable near-native performance for virtual machines. Therefore, statement C is also correct.
Statement B describes full software emulation rather than hardware-assisted virtualization and is incorrect in this context. Statement D is false because hardware-based virtualization is widely available and heavily used on x86 architectures in enterprise, cloud, and desktop environments.
Virtualization notes consistently highlight that hardware-based virtualization is the foundation for platforms such as KVM, Xen, VMware ESXi, and Hyper-V, making it a critical technology in modern computing. Thus, the correct answers are A and C.

Explanation:
The foundational technology of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is virtualization. Virtualization enables cloud providers to abstract physical hardware into flexible, on-demand virtual resources such as compute instances, storage, and networks.
All major IaaS platforms rely on virtualization to provide scalability, isolation, elasticity, and multi-tenancy. Without virtualization, the dynamic provisioning model of IaaS would not be possible.
Therefore, the correct answer is B.

Explanation:
Cloud-init is a widely used instance initialization and configuration tool designed specifically for cloud environments. According to cloud-init documentation, it is responsible for customizing cloud instances at first boot using metadata and user-provided data.
Cloud-init performs tasks such as setting hostnames, configuring networking, injecting SSH keys, installing packages, and executing user-defined scripts. It is supported by most major cloud providers and works across virtual machines regardless of the underlying hypervisor.
Cloud-init is not a containerization tool, a cloud management platform, or a virtualization solution. Instead, it operates within a virtual machine to perform configuration tasks after the instance has been provisioned.
Therefore, the correct answer is A.

Explanation:
Emulation is a technique in which a complete computing system is implemented entirely in software. According to virtualization documentation, emulation allows operating systems and applications compiled for one CPU architecture to run on a different, foreign architecture, making statement A correct.
Statement C is also correct because emulation reproduces the entire hardware environment, including CPU, memory, and devices, using software alone. This contrasts with virtualization, which relies on hardware support and does not emulate the full system.
Statement B is incorrect because emulation does provide full virtual machines, not just individual components. Statement D is also incorrect, as emulation does not require changes to the guest OS; the guest believes it is running on real hardware.
Therefore, the correct answers are A and C.