KCNA Cloud Native Architecture Practice Question
Which resource in Kubernetes is used to expose a set of pods as a network service?
⚠ Common exam trap
CNCF often tests the misconception that a Deployment can expose pods as a network service, but a Deployment only manages pod lifecycle and replicas, not network exposure.
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
✓
Service
A Service in Kubernetes provides a stable network endpoint (IP address and DNS name) to expose a set of pods, which are ephemeral and can be replaced. Services use selectors to identify target pods and load-balance traffic across them, enabling reliable communication within or outside the cluster.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Pod
Why it's wrong here
A Pod is the workload unit itself, not a service abstraction, so it cannot expose a stable virtual IP or load-balance across replicas. It is tempting because pods run the containers that listen on ports, but a Service selects those pods and provides the ClusterIP and DNS name.
- ✗
Deployment
Why it's wrong here
A Deployment manages ReplicaSet rollout and scaling of pod replicas; it provides no virtual IP, no kube-proxy load balancing and no stable DNS entry. It is tempting because it owns the pods being exposed, but a Service performs that exposure, not the controller.
- ✓
Service
Why this is correct
A Service provides a stable virtual IP and DNS name, load-balancing traffic across the pods selected by its label selector. That abstraction decouples clients from ephemeral pod IPs, directly satisfying the requirement to expose a set of pods as a network service.
- ✗
Ingress
Why it's wrong here
Ingress routes external HTTP and HTTPS traffic to services by host or path, but it does not itself expose pods as a network service; it depends on a Service behind it. It is tempting because it publishes workloads externally, yet the stem asks for the resource that fronts a pod set.
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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.