CKA Storage Practice Question
Which reclaim policy will cause the underlying storage to be deleted when the associated PersistentVolume is released from a PersistentVolumeClaim?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse 'Recycle' with 'Delete' because both involve automatic cleanup, but Recycle only scrubs data without removing the storage asset, and it is no longer supported in modern Kubernetes versions.
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
✓
Delete
The Delete reclaim policy instructs the system to remove the underlying storage asset (e.g., an AWS EBS volume, GCE Persistent Disk, or NFS export) when the PersistentVolume is released from a PersistentVolumeClaim. This is the only policy that automatically cleans up the physical storage, ensuring no orphaned resources remain.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Delete
Why this is correct
The "Delete" reclaim policy is the correct choice because it ensures that when a PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC) is deleted, Kubernetes automatically de-provisions both the PersistentVolume (PV) object and the actual underlying storage resource. This automation removes the storage asset, such as an AWS EBS volume or a GCP Persistent Disk, from the external infrastructure, preventing orphaned resources and incurring unnecessary costs.
- ✗
Recycle
Why it's wrong here
The "Recycle" reclaim policy, while historically available, is deprecated since Kubernetes 1.8 and removed in 1.13, making it an invalid option for modern clusters. Its function was to scrub the data from the underlying volume, making it reusable, but it did not de-provision or delete the actual storage asset from the infrastructure. This policy was deemed insecure and inefficient, leading to its replacement by dynamic provisioning.
- ✗
Retain
Why it's wrong here
The "Retain" reclaim policy is designed to preserve the underlying storage asset and its data even after the associated PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC) is deleted. When a PVC is removed, the PersistentVolume (PV) object enters a "Released" state, but the external storage volume remains untouched. This requires a cluster administrator to manually inspect the data, back it up if needed, and then explicitly delete both the PV object and the physical storage resource.
- ✗
Archive
Why it's wrong here
"Archive" is not a valid or standard reclaim policy option for PersistentVolumes in Kubernetes. The only supported reclaim policies are "Delete" and "Retain", with "Recycle" being deprecated and removed. Since "Archive" is not a recognized configuration, it cannot be applied to a PV and therefore cannot cause the underlying storage to be deleted or handled in any specific way by Kubernetes.
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Storage Basics and Volumes
Key term
Storage Classes
A Storage Class in Kubernetes is a template that defines how persistent storage is provisioned automatically, including the type of storage, performance characteristics, and provisioning policies.
Key term
Volumes
In Kubernetes, a volume is a storage resource that outlives the pod it belongs to, enabling data to persist across container restarts and be shared between containers in the same pod.
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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.