CKA Storage Practice Question
A DevOps team needs to deploy a stateful application that requires persistent storage with ReadWriteMany access mode across multiple pods running on different nodes. Which Kubernetes resource should they use to provision the storage?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse ReadWriteOnce (RWO) with multi-pod access, but RWO restricts access to a single node, not a single pod, so multiple pods on the same node can share an RWO volume, but pods on different nodes cannot, making it unsuitable for the stated requirement.
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
✓
A PersistentVolume with access mode ReadWriteMany
ReadWriteMany (RWX) is the only access mode that allows multiple pods across different nodes to simultaneously read and write to the same persistent storage volume. A PersistentVolume with access mode ReadWriteMany meets the requirement for a stateful application needing concurrent access from pods running on different nodes, typically backed by network filesystems like NFS, GlusterFS, or CephFS.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
A hostPath volume
Why it's wrong here
A hostPath volume mounts a directory or file from the host node's filesystem directly into a Pod. This makes the data local to that specific node, meaning it cannot be shared or accessed by Pods running on different nodes. Consequently, it fails to provide the necessary multi-node concurrent access required for a stateful application whose Pods might be scheduled across distinct nodes.
- ✗
A PersistentVolume with access mode ReadWriteOnce
Why it's wrong here
A PersistentVolume configured with the ReadWriteOnce access mode permits the volume to be mounted as read-write by only a single node at any given time. While multiple Pods on that *same* node could potentially access it, this mode explicitly prevents concurrent attachment by multiple nodes. Therefore, it cannot satisfy the requirement for stateful applications needing shared storage accessible simultaneously from Pods deployed on distinct Kubernetes nodes.
- ✓
A PersistentVolume with access mode ReadWriteMany
Why this is correct
A PersistentVolume with access mode ReadWriteMany allows multiple pods across different nodes to simultaneously read and write to the same storage volume, satisfying the stem’s requirement for concurrent access from pods scheduled on distinct nodes. This access mode directly addresses the constraint of multi-node, multi-pod stateful workloads, whereas ReadWriteOnce would restrict access to a single node.
- ✗
An emptyDir volume
Why it's wrong here
An emptyDir volume is created when a Pod is scheduled to a node and exists only for the lifetime of that Pod on that specific node. It is initially empty and its contents are deleted permanently when the Pod terminates or is removed from the node. This ephemeral nature and node-local scope make emptyDir unsuitable for persistent stateful applications requiring data sharing or durability across multiple nodes or Pod restarts.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Kubernetes Architecture Overview
Key term
Network Policies
A Kubernetes resource that controls how pods communicate with each other and with other network endpoints, acting as a firewall for pod-to-pod traffic.
Key term
Ingress Resources
Ingress Resources are Kubernetes API objects that manage external access to services inside a cluster, typically HTTP and HTTPS traffic, by defining rules for routing requests based on hostnames and paths.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CKA practice question is part of Courseiva's free CNCF 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 CKA exam.