KCNA Cloud Native Architecture Practice Question
In a service mesh architecture, which component is responsible for intercepting and managing traffic between microservices?
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
✓
Sidecar proxy
The sidecar proxy (usually Envoy) is deployed alongside each service instance and handles all incoming and outgoing traffic, enabling observability, traffic management, and security. The control plane manages configuration but does not handle data plane traffic. The API gateway is a separate component for external traffic. The service registry is a pattern but not a specific service mesh component.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Control plane
Why it's wrong here
The control plane manages proxies and configuration but does not intercept traffic directly.
- ✗
API gateway
Why it's wrong here
An API gateway manages external traffic, not internal service-to-service communication.
- ✗
Service registry
Why it's wrong here
A service registry keeps track of service instances but does not intercept traffic.
- ✓
Sidecar proxy
Why this is correct
The sidecar proxy, such as Envoy, runs alongside each service and intercepts all network traffic to and from the service.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Cloud Native Architecture and Concepts
Key term
Service Mesh
A service mesh is a dedicated infrastructure layer that manages communication between microservices, handling tasks like service discovery, load balancing, encryption, and observability without requiring changes to application code.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This KCNA 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 KCNA exam.