KCNA Cloud Native Architecture Practice Test 8 — 15 Questions

Question 1

Which TWO are benefits of using a service mesh? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Observability of service-to-service communication. Service mesh provides observability (e.g., metrics, tracing) and traffic management (e.g., routing, retries) between services.

Answer

Automatic database scaling

Answer

Container image building

Answer

Load balancing of external requests

Question 2

Which THREE are key characteristics of event-driven architecture? (Choose three.)

Accepted Answer

Event processing can trigger multiple downstream actions. Event-driven architecture is based on producing, detecting, and reacting to events, with loose coupling between components and asynchronous communication.

Answer

Requires a central database for state

Answer

Synchronous communication between components

Question 3

Which TWO tools are commonly used for GitOps? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Flux. ArgoCD and Flux are two popular GitOps tools that automate deployment of applications from Git repositories.

Answer

Jenkins

Answer

Helm

Answer

Terraform

Question 4

What is the primary purpose of the CNCF (Cloud Native Computing Foundation)?

Accepted Answer

To host and nurture open-source cloud-native projects and drive adoption. The CNCF fosters the adoption of cloud-native technologies by hosting and nurturing open-source projects like Kubernetes, Prometheus, and Envoy.

Answer

To certify individuals in cloud-native technologies

Answer

To develop and maintain the Kubernetes project exclusively

Answer

To provide commercial support for cloud-native software

Question 5

Which of the following is a core principle of the 12-factor app methodology?

Accepted Answer

Treat logs as event streams. The 12-factor app methodology emphasizes treating logs as event streams, not files, to enable centralized processing.

Answer

Store configuration in the application code

Answer

Store logs in the local filesystem of each container

Answer

Use shared filesystems for persistent storage

Question 6

In a service mesh architecture, what is the role of the sidecar proxy?

Accepted Answer

It intercepts and controls network communication to and from the main container. The sidecar proxy intercepts all network traffic to/from the main container, enabling observability, traffic management, and security without modifying application code.

Answer

It provides persistent storage for the pod

Answer

It manages the lifecycle of the pod

Answer

It serves as the main application container

Question 7

A developer wants to deploy a function that reacts to image upload events in a cloud storage bucket. The function should scale to zero when idle. Which architecture best fits this use case?

Accepted Answer

Implement a serverless function using a FaaS platform like AWS Lambda. FaaS (Function-as-a-Service) platforms like AWS Lambda are event-driven and can scale to zero when idle, making them ideal for sporadic event-triggered workloads.

Answer

Use a long-running virtual machine to process events

Answer

Deploy a container on Kubernetes with HorizontalPodAutoscaler set to minReplicas 0

Answer

Use a Kubernetes Job triggered by a CronJob

Question 8

Which GitOps tools use a pull-based approach to synchronize the desired state in a Git repository with the actual state in a Kubernetes cluster? (Select all that apply.)

Accepted Answer

Flux. Both Flux and ArgoCD are pull-based GitOps tools. Flux pioneered the pull-based pattern, while ArgoCD is also a popular implementation. Therefore, both A and D are correct.

Answer

Terraform

Answer

Helm

Question 9

In a microservices application, you want to prevent cascading failures by limiting the number of concurrent requests to a downstream service. Which resilience pattern should you implement?

Accepted Answer

Bulkhead pattern. The bulkhead pattern isolates resources into separate pools (e.g., thread pools) to limit the impact of a failure in one service on others.

Answer

Circuit breaker

Answer

Timeout pattern

Answer

Retry pattern

Question 10

Which CNCF project is classified as a 'graduated' project?

Accepted Answer

Linkerd. Linkerd is a graduated CNCF project. K3s is in the CNCF sandbox, while Knative and Backstage are incubating projects.

Answer

K3s

Answer

Knative

Answer

Backstage

Question 11

What is the primary benefit of using an API gateway in a microservices architecture?

Accepted Answer

It provides a single entry point for client requests and handles cross-cutting concerns. An API gateway acts as a single entry point for clients, providing request routing, composition, and cross-cutting concerns like authentication and rate limiting.

Answer

It replaces the need for service meshes

Answer

It stores application state

Answer

It performs service-to-service communication

Question 12

Which of the following best describes 'Infrastructure as Code' (IaC)?

Accepted Answer

Defining infrastructure resources in a declarative configuration file. IaC is the practice of managing and provisioning infrastructure through machine-readable definition files, rather than manual processes.

Answer

Manually configuring servers via SSH

Answer

Using a scripting language to automate tasks

Answer

Running containers on a Kubernetes cluster

Question 13

In event-driven architecture, what is the role of an event broker?

Accepted Answer

It stores events and enables asynchronous communication between producers and consumers. An event broker acts as a central intermediary that receives events from producers, stores them durably (often in a log or queue), and delivers them to consumers asynchronously. This decouples producers and consumers, allowing them to operate independently without blocking or direct knowledge of each other. Technologies like Apache Kafka, RabbitMQ, or AWS Kinesis exemplify this role by persisting events and enabling replay, fan-out, and load-leveling.

Answer

It executes business logic in response to events

Answer

It provides a user interface to view events

Answer

It converts events into HTTP requests

Question 14

Which component in a service mesh is responsible for collecting telemetry data and enforcing traffic policies?

Accepted Answer

Sidecar proxy (data plane). The sidecar proxy (often Envoy) intercepts all traffic and collects metrics, traces, and logs, and also enforces traffic management rules.

Answer

Control plane

Answer

Certificate authority

Answer

Service mesh ingress gateway

Question 15

Which TWO of the following are key characteristics of cloud-native applications? (Select two.)

Accepted Answer

Microservices architecture. Cloud-native applications are designed as microservices and use containers for deployment, enabling scalability and resilience.

Answer

Monolithic architecture

Answer

Manual scaling

Answer

Long-lived virtual machines