CKAD Practice Question: Application Environment, Configuration and Security
A namespace 'team-a' has a ResourceQuota with 'pods: 10' and a LimitRange with default memory request '256Mi'. A user creates a pod with no resource requests. What happens?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse ResourceQuota (which limits total resource consumption) with LimitRange (which sets per-pod defaults and constraints), leading them to incorrectly assume a quota or limit violation when defaults are applied.
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
✓
Pod is created with a default memory request of 256Mi.
When a pod is created in a namespace with a LimitRange that specifies a default memory request, Kubernetes automatically injects that default value into the pod's container spec if no explicit memory request is provided. The ResourceQuota of 'pods: 10' only limits the total number of pods, not the resource consumption of individual pods, so it does not affect this pod's creation. Therefore, the pod is created with a default memory request of 256Mi.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Pod is created with a default memory request of 256Mi.
Why this is correct
LimitRange acts as a mutating admission controller in Kubernetes. When a Pod is created without specifying a memory request, the LimitRange's default (here 256Mi) is automatically injected into the Pod spec before it is admitted. This defaulted request is then counted against the ResourceQuota, so the Pod is successfully created with a memory request of 256Mi. The ResourceQuota of 10 Pods is unrelated to this default memory value.
- ✗
Pod creation fails because the ResourceQuota is exceeded.
Why it's wrong here
This is factually incorrect because the ResourceQuota sets a maximum of 10 Pods, and creating one additional Pod does not push the namespace over that limit unless it already has 10 Pods. ResourceQuota counts Pod objects (and optionally resource requests), but a single Pod with a 256Mi default request is well within typical quota values. The default memory request injected by the LimitRange is not a violation; it is the intended behavior. Therefore, the Pod creation would not fail due to quota exhaustion.
- ✗
Pod creation fails because the LimitRange is not satisfied.
Why it's wrong here
LimitRange does not enforce a 'satisfied' condition that causes admission failure; it provides default values to Pods that omit resource requests. In this scenario, the LimitRange defines a default memory request of 256Mi, so the Pod is not rejected for missing a request—it is silently updated. A LimitRange could cause failure only if it specifies a minimum that the Pod's request violates, but no such minimum is described here. Thus 'not satisfied' is a misconception of the controller's role.
- ✗
Pod is created with no memory request.
Why it's wrong here
Without the LimitRange, a Pod would indeed have no memory request, but the namespace's LimitRange overrides that. The mutating admission controller inspects the incoming Pod, finds no memory request, and applies the default of 256Mi before the Pod reaches the API storage. Consequently, the Pod is never created with an empty request; its spec is transformed. This is why stating it is created with no memory request contradicts the documented behavior of LimitRange.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.