Palo Alto Networks (PANW) Certified Cybersecurity Entry-level Technician (PCCET) Practice Exam

How many OS instances are being run when ten containers are spread between five virtual machines on two type 1 hypervisors?

1. 2

2. 5

3. 7

4. 17

The correct answer is: 5

In this scenario, we have ten containers distributed across five virtual machines operating on two type 1 hypervisors. To understand how many operating system (OS) instances are running, it's important to recognize the relationship between containers, virtual machines, and hypervisors. Each type 1 hypervisor allows multiple virtual machines to be created, each of which typically runs its own full operating system instance. Since there are five virtual machines, assuming that each virtual machine runs a separate OS, there will be five OS instances in total. Containers, on the other hand, operate within these virtual machines and share the operating system kernel of their host. They are lightweight instances that do not run their own separate OS, which is why the number of containers does not add to the count of OS instances. Therefore, regardless of the number of containers running within those virtual machines, the total count of operating system instances remains unchanged at five. Other options suggest a different number of OS instances by either misallocating or miscalculating the relationship between containers, virtual machines, and hypervisors. However, the correct answer clearly stems from acknowledging that each of the five virtual machines represents one OS instance, resulting in a total of five OS instances running across the environment.