200-901 Application Deployment and Security Practice Question
A team is deploying a microservice that must scale independently. The service uses environment variables for configuration. Which Kubernetes resource should be used to store non-sensitive configuration data separate from the container image?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the distinction between ConfigMap and Secret, trapping candidates who confuse 'configuration data' with 'sensitive data' or who think a Deployment itself stores configuration.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
ConfigMap
ConfigMap is the correct Kubernetes resource for storing non-sensitive configuration data (like environment variables) separately from the container image. This allows the microservice to scale independently because configuration changes can be applied without rebuilding or redeploying the image, enabling stateless, horizontally scalable pods.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Secret
Why it's wrong here
Secrets are for sensitive data like passwords and tokens.
- ✗
Service
Why it's wrong here
A Service provides network access to pods, not configuration.
- ✓
ConfigMap
Why this is correct
ConfigMap stores non-sensitive key-value pairs for configuration.
- ✗
Deployment
Why it's wrong here
A Deployment manages replicas and updates, not configuration data.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 200-901 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Cisco certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 200-901 exam.