KCNA Cloud Native Architecture Practice Question
Which component in a service mesh architecture is responsible for handling inter-service communication on behalf of the application container?
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 (e.g., Envoy) intercepts all network traffic to and from the application container, providing observability, traffic management, and security.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Sidecar proxy
Why this is correct
The sidecar proxy runs alongside the application container and handles all network communication.
- ✗
Control plane
Why it's wrong here
The control plane manages configuration and policies but does not handle data plane traffic directly.
- ✗
Ingress controller
Why it's wrong here
An ingress controller handles external HTTP traffic into the cluster, not internal service mesh traffic.
- ✗
API gateway
Why it's wrong here
An API gateway manages external API traffic, not internal service-to-service communication.
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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Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on KCNA
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. In a service mesh architecture, which component is responsible for intercepting and managing traffic to and from a pod?
medium- ✓ A.Sidecar proxy
- B.Ingress controller
- C.API gateway
- D.Control plane
Why A: The sidecar proxy (e.g., Envoy) runs alongside each service instance and intercepts all network traffic, enabling features like traffic management and observability.
JA
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.