KCNA Cloud Native Architecture Practice Question
Which component of an API gateway pattern is responsible for routing requests to the appropriate microservice based on the request path?
⚠ Common exam trap
KCNA often tests the distinction between routing, discovery, and load balancing — the trap is choosing 'load balancer' or 'service registry' because they are related to traffic management, when the question specifically asks about path-based routing to 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
✓
API Gateway
In an API gateway pattern, the API Gateway is the entry point that receives client requests and routes them to the appropriate backend microservice based on the request path, method, or other attributes. It acts as a reverse proxy and centralizes cross-cutting concerns such as authentication, rate limiting, and request transformation.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
API Gateway
Why this is correct
The API Gateway is the entry point that receives client requests and forwards each one to the correct backend microservice by matching the request path against configured routes. It also handles cross-cutting concerns such as authentication, rate limiting and protocol translation before routing.
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Load balancer
Why it's wrong here
A load balancer distributes connections across healthy backend instances; it does not parse request paths to select a named microservice. It would be correct when the requirement is spreading traffic evenly or performing health-checked failover, not path-based dispatch.
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Service registry
Why it's wrong here
A service registry stores the network locations of running service instances for discovery; it holds no path-matching rules and forwards no traffic itself. It would be the right component when instances must locate each other dynamically, not when the gateway must map a URL path to a backend.
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Sidecar proxy
Why it's wrong here
A sidecar proxy handles traffic for a single service instance, intercepting its inbound and outbound calls; it does not own the gateway's central path-to-service routing table. It would be correct when per-instance concerns such as mutual TLS or telemetry offloading are required.
About these practice questions
One of 930 original KCNA practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CNCF exam blueprint
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.