KCNA Container Orchestration Practice Question
Which TWO statements about containers compared to virtual machines are correct? (Select 2)
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
✓
Containers have lower overhead than virtual machines
Options A and B are correct. Containers have lower overhead than virtual machines because they do not require a separate guest OS per instance, making them more lightweight. Containers share the host OS kernel, which allows them to be efficient and portable. In contrast, each virtual machine includes a full guest OS running on top of a hypervisor, leading to higher resource usage. Option C is false because virtual machines have their own kernel, not shared with the host. Option D is false because containers share the host kernel and do not run their own OS kernel. Option E is false because virtual machines provide stronger isolation due to hardware virtualization.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Containers have lower overhead than virtual machines
Why this is correct
Containers do not need a full guest OS, so they have lower overhead.
- ✓
Containers are lightweight and share the host OS kernel
Why this is correct
Containers share the host kernel, making them lightweight.
- ✗
Virtual machines share the host OS kernel
Why it's wrong here
VMs run their own kernel.
- ✗
Each container runs its own operating system kernel
Why it's wrong here
Containers share the host OS kernel.
- ✗
Virtual machines provide weaker isolation than containers
Why it's wrong here
VMs provide stronger isolation because each has its own kernel.
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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. Which TWO statements about containers are true compared to virtual machines? (Select TWO.)
medium- ✓ A.Containers are more lightweight and start faster than VMs
- B.Containers include a full guest operating system
- ✓ C.Containers are more portable across different environments
- D.Containers provide stronger isolation than VMs
- E.Containers require a hypervisor to run
Why A: Containers share the host OS kernel and run as isolated processes, requiring no hypervisor or full OS boot. This makes them lightweight (megabytes vs gigabytes) and allows them to start in milliseconds, whereas VMs must boot a full guest OS, which takes seconds to minutes.
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.