KCNA Kubernetes Fundamentals Practice Question
A pod is experiencing high memory usage. The administrator wants to enforce that the pod is terminated if it exceeds a memory limit and restarted automatically, but also wants to guarantee a minimum amount of memory for the pod. Which resource specification should be used in the container definition?
⚠ Common exam trap
CNCF often tests the misconception that setting only `limits.memory` is sufficient for both guarantee and enforcement, but without `requests.memory` the pod has no guaranteed minimum and may be evicted under node pressure, failing the 'guarantee a minimum' 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
✓
spec.containers[].resources.requests.memory and limits.memory
Setting both `requests.memory` and `limits.memory` guarantees a minimum memory allocation (the request) while enforcing a hard cap (the limit). If the pod exceeds the memory limit, it is terminated (OOMKilled) and, if part of a Deployment or StatefulSet, the controller automatically restarts it. This satisfies the requirement for both guaranteed minimum and enforced maximum with automatic restart.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
spec.containers[].resources.requests.memory only
Why it's wrong here
Requests guarantee a minimum but do not cap; the pod could use more and affect others.
- ✗
spec.containers[].resources.limits.memory and requests.cpu
Why it's wrong here
requests.cpu is for CPU, not memory; this does not address memory requirements.
- ✗
spec.containers[].resources.limits.memory only
Why it's wrong here
Limits alone cap usage but do not guarantee a minimum; the pod could be starved if nodes are under pressure.
- ✓
spec.containers[].resources.requests.memory and limits.memory
Why this is correct
Requests guarantee the minimum; limits cap the maximum. If memory exceeds limits, the pod is OOMKilled and restarted.
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