KCNA Cloud Native Observability Practice Question
Which of the following is NOT one of the three pillars of observability in cloud-native environments?
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
✓
Security
The three pillars are logs, metrics, and traces. Security is not one of them, though it is important.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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Metrics
Why it's wrong here
Metrics is one of the three pillars of observability, alongside logs and traces, so it cannot be the exception the question seeks. The stem asks which is NOT a pillar. Metrics covers numeric time-series data such as latency and error rates, and is the correct answer only when the question asks what belongs to the set.
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Traces
Why it's wrong here
Traces is one of the three pillars of observability, together with logs and metrics, so it is not the exception requested. Traces follow a request across services, exposing latency and failure paths in distributed systems. It would be the correct selection only if the question asked which item is a genuine pillar.
- ✓
Security
Why this is correct
The three pillars are metrics, logs and traces, which together describe system state and behaviour. Security is a separate discipline applied across those signals, not a pillar itself, so it is the correct exclusion. This satisfies the question's NOT requirement.
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Logs
Why it's wrong here
Logs are one of the three pillars, alongside metrics and traces, so they cannot be the exception the question seeks. The option is tempting because logging is genuinely central to cloud-native diagnostics, but the stem asks which is NOT a pillar, and logs satisfy that membership rather than breaking it.
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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.