This CKAD practice question tests your understanding of services and networking. 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.
A developer creates a headless Service named 'db' to discover all database pod IPs. The Service selects pods with label 'app: db'. The pods are assigned IPs 10.0.0.1, 10.0.0.2, and 10.0.0.3. When a client performs a DNS lookup for 'db', what will it receive?
The IP of the first pod only
Why wrong: All pod IPs are returned.
The cluster IP of the Service
Why wrong: Headless Services do not have a cluster IP.
All three pod IPs as separate A records
DNS returns all pod IPs as A records for the headless Service.
A round-robin list of pod IPs
Why wrong: DNS returns all IPs, but the client may rotate; it's not a round-robin from DNS, but the DNS response contains all A records.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
All three pod IPs as separate A records
A headless Service (clusterIP: None) does not have a cluster IP. Instead, DNS queries for the Service name return A records for all pods matching the selector. Since the Service selects pods with label 'app: db', the DNS lookup for 'db' returns the three pod IPs (10.0.0.1, 10.0.0.2, 10.0.0.3) as separate A records, allowing direct pod-to-pod communication.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
The IP of the first pod only
Why it's wrong here
All pod IPs are returned.
The cluster IP of the Service
Why it's wrong here
Headless Services do not have a cluster IP.
All three pod IPs as separate A records
A round-robin list of pod IPs
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates confuse headless Services with regular Services, assuming DNS returns a single cluster IP or a round-robin list, when in fact headless Services return all pod IPs as separate A records with no load balancing.
Detailed technical explanation
Under the hood, Kubernetes uses CoreDNS (or kube-dns) to resolve headless Service names. For a headless Service, the DNS record is created as a set of A/AAAA records for each endpoint (pod IP) rather than a single record pointing to the cluster IP. This is defined in the Kubernetes DNS specification and is similar to how SRV records are used for stateful workloads. In real-world scenarios, headless Services are essential for StatefulSets (e.g., databases like Cassandra or ZooKeeper) where each pod needs a stable network identity and direct peer discovery.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A practitioner preparing for the CKAD 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.
What to study next
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Services and Networking — study guide chapter
Learn the concepts, then practise the questions
Services and Networking practice questions
Targeted practice on this topic area only
All CKAD questions
991 questions across all exam domains
Certified Kubernetes Application Developer CKAD study guide
Full concept coverage aligned to exam objectives
CKAD practice test guide
How to use practice tests most effectively before exam day
Related practice questions
Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.
Practise CKAD questions linked to Application Design and Build.
Practise CKAD questions linked to Application Deployment.
Practise CKAD questions linked to Application Environment, Configuration and Security.
Practise CKAD questions linked to Application Observability and Maintenance.
Practise CKAD questions linked to Services and Networking.
Practise CKAD questions linked to CKAD fundamentals.
Practise CKAD questions linked to CKAD scenario.
Practise CKAD questions linked to CKAD troubleshooting.
Practice this exam
Short sessions build daily habit. Longer sessions build exam-day stamina. Try a timed session to simulate real conditions.
FAQ
Services and Networking — This question tests Services and Networking — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: All three pod IPs as separate A records — A headless Service (clusterIP: None) does not have a cluster IP. Instead, DNS queries for the Service name return A records for all pods matching the selector. Since the Service selects pods with label 'app: db', the DNS lookup for 'db' returns the three pod IPs (10.0.0.1, 10.0.0.2, 10.0.0.3) as separate A records, allowing direct pod-to-pod communication.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This CKAD 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 CKAD exam.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.