Detailed Exam Domain Coverage

This practice test course is designed to map directly to the official CNCF curriculum. I have structured the 1500 questions to cover every objective you will see on the exam:

Domain 1: Cloud-Native Technologies (20%)
- Topics: Cloud-Native Applications, Service Mesh, Container runtimes, Kubernetes Core Concepts
Domain 2: Containers and Kubernetes (20%)
- Topics: Kubernetes Architecture, Kubernetes Objects, StatefulSets, Deployments, Pods
Domain 3: Cloud-Native Applications (20%)
- Topics: Cloud-Native Architecture, Event-Driven Architecture, Functions as a Service, Serverless
Domain 4: Security and Networking (20%)
- Topics: Kubernetes Networking, Service Mesh Networking, Kubernetes Security, Network Policies
Domain 5: Deployment and Management (20%)
- Topics: Kubernetes Deployment, Kubernetes Cluster Management, Cluster Autoscaling, Cluster Monitoring

Preparing for the KCNA (Kubernetes and Cloud Native Associate) certification requires more than just memorizing documentation. To truly grasp cloud-native applications and Kubernetes, you need to test your knowledge against realistic scenarios.

I created this extensive bank of 1500 practice questions because I noticed a gap in available study materials. Many resources give you the right answer but fail to explain the "why." In this course, I focus heavily on the explanations. Every single question includes a detailed breakdown of why the correct answer is right, and just as importantly, why every other option is incorrect. This approach turns every practice attempt into a deep learning session, solidifying your understanding of complex topics like container runtimes, service mesh networking, and cluster autoscaling.

By working through these mock exams, you will naturally absorb the core concepts of cloud-native architecture. My goal is to ensure you walk into your exam feeling completely prepared to pass on your first attempt.

Sample Practice Questions Preview

Here is a glimpse of the format and depth of the questions you will find inside:

Question 1: Which of the following Kubernetes objects is specifically designed to manage stateful applications, ensuring ordered deployment and stable, unique network identifiers?

Options:
- A) Deployment
- B) ReplicaSet
- C) DaemonSet
- D) StatefulSet
- E) Job
- F) CronJob
Correct Answer: D
Explanation:
- A is incorrect: Deployments are used for stateless applications. They do not guarantee stable network identities or ordered, predictable pod creation.
- B is incorrect: ReplicaSets maintain a stable set of replica Pods running at any given time but lack the stateful guarantees needed for databases.
- C is incorrect: DaemonSets ensure that all (or some) Nodes run a copy of a Pod, usually for cluster-level services like logging, not for maintaining application state.
- D is correct: A StatefulSet is the workload API object used to manage stateful applications. It provides guarantees about the ordering and uniqueness of these Pods, which is critical for systems like databases.
- E is incorrect: Jobs create one or more Pods and ensure that a specified number of them successfully terminate, meant for batch processing.
- F is incorrect: CronJobs manage time-based Jobs, not long-running stateful services.

Question 2: In a cloud-native architecture, which technology is primarily utilized to transparently manage service-to-service communication, providing features like mutual TLS, traffic routing, and observability without altering application code?

Options:
- A) Container Runtime
- B) Service Mesh
- C) Functions as a Service (FaaS)
- D) Ingress Controller
- E) Virtual Private Network (VPN)
- F) Container Registry
Correct Answer: B
Explanation:
- A is incorrect: A Container Runtime (like containerd or CRI-O) is responsible for running containers on a host, not routing traffic between microservices.
- B is correct: A Service Mesh (such as Istio or Linkerd) provides a dedicated infrastructure layer for facilitating service-to-service communications between microservices, offering built-in observability, security (mTLS), and traffic management.
- C is incorrect: Functions as a Service (FaaS) is a serverless computing execution model, not a networking layer for microservices.
- D is incorrect: An Ingress Controller manages external access to the services in a cluster (North-South traffic), while a service mesh primarily handles internal service-to-service (East-West) traffic.
- E is incorrect: A VPN creates a secure connection over a public network, but it does not provide application-layer routing, retries, or observability between microservices.
- F is incorrect: A Container Registry is a repository for storing container images.

Question 3: How does a Kubernetes administrator strictly dictate the allowed network traffic flow between Pods deployed within a cluster?

Options:
Correct Answer: B
Explanation:
- A is incorrect: Security Groups are an infrastructure-level firewall concept used by cloud providers (like AWS), not native Kubernetes objects for Pod-to-Pod traffic control.
- B is correct: Network Policies are Kubernetes resources that control the traffic flow at the IP address or port level (OSI layer 3 or 4). They allow administrators to define rules for which Pods can communicate with each other.
- C is incorrect: RBAC controls which users or service accounts can perform actions on Kubernetes API resources, not network traffic.
- D is incorrect: Pod Security Admission enforces security standards on Pod specifications (like preventing privileged containers), not network routing or firewalls.
- E is incorrect: NodePort Services expose a service on a static port on each Node's IP, which is a method for inbound access, not a mechanism for restricting Pod-to-Pod communication.
- F is incorrect: Kube-proxy maintains network rules on nodes allowing network communication to your Pods, but it is the underlying mechanism implementing services, not the policy object administrators use to restrict traffic.
Welcome to the Mock Exam Practice Tests Academy to help you prepare for your KCNA: Kubernetes and Cloud Native Associate exam.
You can retake the exams as many times as you want
This is a huge original question bank
You get support from instructors if you have questions
Each question has a detailed explanation
Mobile-compatible with the Udemy app

I hope that by now you're convinced! And there are a lot more questions inside the course.