This CKA practice question tests your understanding of workloads and scheduling. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
You have a ResourceQuota in a namespace that sets limits: pods: 10, requests.cpu: 4, requests.memory: 8Gi. You try to create a Pod with requests.cpu: 1, requests.memory: 2Gi, and no limits. The namespace currently has 8 pods using 3 CPUs and 5Gi memory in total requests. What happens?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The pod is created successfully.
Option A is correct because the ResourceQuota only enforces the total sum of requests across all pods in the namespace. Currently, the namespace has 8 pods using 3 CPUs and 5Gi memory. Adding a pod with requests.cpu: 1 and requests.memory: 2Gi would bring totals to 4 CPUs (3+1) and 7Gi memory (5+2), both within the quota limits of 4 CPUs and 8Gi. The pod does not specify limits, but ResourceQuota does not require limits unless a LimitRange enforces default limits; here, no LimitRange is mentioned, so the pod is allowed.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✓
The pod is created successfully.
Why this is correct
All quotas are still within limits after creating the pod.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
The pod is rejected because it exceeds the memory request quota.
Why it's wrong here
Memory requests would be 7Gi, which is under the 8Gi quota.
✗
The pod is rejected because it exceeds the CPU request quota.
Why it's wrong here
After adding the pod, total CPU requests would be 4, which equals the quota, not exceeds.
✗
The pod is rejected because it does not specify CPU and memory limits.
Why it's wrong here
ResourceQuota can require limits, but the stem does not mention such a requirement. The quota only sets hard limits on requests.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often assume a ResourceQuota enforces both requests and limits simultaneously, or that creating a pod without limits will be rejected, but Kubernetes only rejects pods if the sum of requests (or limits, if specified) would exceed the quota, and it does not require limits unless a LimitRange is present.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
ResourceQuota in Kubernetes operates on the sum of resource requests and limits across all pods in a namespace, not on individual pod constraints. When a pod is created without limits, the ResourceQuota does not enforce any limit value, so only the request counts against the quota. This behavior is defined in the Kubernetes API (v1 ResourceQuota spec) and is critical for multi-tenant clusters where administrators want to cap total resource usage without mandating per-pod limits. A real-world scenario is a development namespace where teams can burst CPU usage beyond requests as long as total requests stay under quota.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A practitioner preparing for the CKA exam encounters this exact type of scenario on the job. The correct answer here is not the most general option — it is the best answer for the specific constraint described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Real exam questions reward reading the full scenario before eliminating options, because the constraint defines which answer fits.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this CKA question in full detail.
Workloads and Scheduling — This question tests Workloads and Scheduling — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: The pod is created successfully. — Option A is correct because the ResourceQuota only enforces the total sum of requests across all pods in the namespace. Currently, the namespace has 8 pods using 3 CPUs and 5Gi memory. Adding a pod with requests.cpu: 1 and requests.memory: 2Gi would bring totals to 4 CPUs (3+1) and 7Gi memory (5+2), both within the quota limits of 4 CPUs and 8Gi. The pod does not specify limits, but ResourceQuota does not require limits unless a LimitRange enforces default limits; here, no LimitRange is mentioned, so the pod is allowed.
What should I do if I get this CKA question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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