Which term is abbreviated as vCPU?

• A. Virtual Central Processing Unit
• B. Video Central Processing Unit
• C. Virtual Core Processing Unit
• D. Vector Central Processing Unit

Answer: (A)

In virtualization, a virtual machine is given virtual CPUs, which are units of CPU time allocated from the host’s physical processors. The abbreviation vCPU stands for Virtual Central Processing Unit, highlighting that it’s a CPU resource presented to a VM rather than a dedicated physical CPU. This virtual resource may map to one or more physical cores or hardware threads depending on the host and hypervisor scheduling, and how those resources are shared can impact performance. The other terms describe different concepts—Video Central Processing Unit would imply a graphics processing unit, Virtual Core Processing Unit isn’t a standard term, and Vector Central Processing Unit refers to a vector/SIMD design—so Virtual Central Processing Unit is the correct meaning.