EX280 Storage And Persistent Volumes Practice Question
A cluster administrator has deleted a PersistentVolumeClaim, but the underlying PersistentVolume still exists in the cluster with a Released status and its data remains intact on the storage backend. What is the most likely cause of this behavior?
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
✓
The persistentVolumeReclaimPolicy of the PersistentVolume was set to Retain.
The persistentVolumeReclaimPolicy of the PersistentVolume was set to Retain. When a PVC is deleted, Retain policy transitions the PV to Released rather than deleting or recycling the underlying storage asset.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The StorageClass associated with the PV has allowVolumeExpansion set to false.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Volume expansion settings do not prevent the reclamation of deleted claims.
- ✗
The volume access mode was configured as ReadWriteMany instead of ReadWriteOnce.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Access modes dictate how nodes mount the volume, not how the control plane handles reclamation.
- ✓
The persistentVolumeReclaimPolicy of the PersistentVolume was set to Retain.
Why this is correct
Correct. A Retain reclaim policy prevents automatic deletion of the storage asset, leaving the PV in a Released state.
- ✗
The PVC was protected by a finalizer that prevented immediate deletion.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Finalizers prevent the deletion of the PVC object itself, whereas a Released PV indicates the PVC has already been successfully deleted.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed August 2026 · checked against the official Red Hat exam blueprint
This EX280 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Red Hat 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 EX280 exam.