Assess your foundational understanding of Azure Kubernetes Service concepts, including cluster components, scaling, networking, security, and deployment basics. Ideal for beginners seeking to reinforce key skills in managing and operating containerized workloads using AKS.
Which two main types of nodes are typically found in an AKS cluster to separate control and operational responsibilities?
Explanation: The correct answer is control plane and worker nodes, as these are the core architectural elements that separate cluster management from application execution. Dockers and containers are technologies used within worker nodes, not node types themselves. Virtual machines and pods are also relevant to containers, but do not directly describe the main node types. Load balancers and networks are supporting infrastructure, not node classifications.
Suppose you want your AKS cluster to automatically add more pods when traffic increases. What feature should you use for this?
Explanation: Horizontal Pod Autoscaler automatically increases or decreases the number of pods based on observed traffic or resource needs. Manual scaling requires human intervention and does not react automatically. The Vertical Node Manager is not a standard scaling feature in AKS. The Pod Scheduler assigns pods to nodes but does not scale the workload up or down.
What is the primary role of a service in an AKS cluster, such as a ClusterIP service?
Explanation: Services primarily exist to enable reliable, consistent access to pods, which may change IP addresses or restart frequently. Task scheduling is handled by the orchestrator itself, not by services. Container image storage is managed by container registries. Running monitoring applications is typically the job of pods and deployments, not services.
To restrict which pods may communicate with each other, what AKS feature would you use?
Explanation: Network Policies are used to control traffic flow between pods and define access rules. Ingress Controllers control external access but not pod-to-pod communication. Pod Volume Mounts manage storage and have no relation to networking. Dashboard Extensions provide additional monitoring or management capabilities, not security between pods.
If you want your pods to run only on nodes with specific labels (for example, 'ssd=true'), which scheduling feature should you configure?
Explanation: Node selectors ensure that pods are scheduled on nodes matching specified labels, such as hardware features. Resource limits restrict how much CPU or memory a pod can use but do not determine placement. Pod priorities influence the order of scheduling, not node selection. Horizontal autoscaling scales pod numbers and does not control node targeting.
What should you use if your application in AKS requires its files to be kept even if a pod is deleted and recreated?
Explanation: A Persistent Volume retains data independently of the life cycle of individual pods, making it suitable for persistent file storage requirements. Config Maps are for storing configuration data, not files. ReplicaSets ensure the correct number of pod replicas but do not handle storage. Pod Autoscaler manages scaling, unrelated to data persistence.
Which Kubernetes object should you use to define and manage the desired number of identical pod replicas for your application in an AKS cluster?
Explanation: A Deployment is the standard object for maintaining the desired state and number of identical pods. A Secret stores sensitive data but does not manage replicas. A Service offers network access, while a Volume Claim manages storage requests. Only Deployments actively manage pod scaling and upgrades.
When creating a new pod in AKS, from where are the application container images usually pulled?
Explanation: Container images are typically stored and retrieved from a container registry, which serves as a repository for such files. Persistent Volumes are for application data, not for storing images. Pod Manifests only describe how to run containers and do not store actual images. Dashboards allow visualization or management, not storage.
If you want to observe and collect metrics like CPU usage and memory consumption for your AKS pods, which kind of tool would you use?
Explanation: A monitoring and logging tool collects and displays operational metrics and resource usage for pods and nodes. An Ingress controller is used for managing external HTTP/S traffic. A network policy editor modifies security and traffic flow between pods. The pod scaler modifies the number of running pods, not their metrics.
Which AKS feature helps you perform updates on nodes with minimal application downtime by draining, updating, and rescheduling pods automatically?
Explanation: A node pool upgrade orchestrates node updates by cordoning, draining, and restoring nodes while rescheduling pods, leading to minimal disruption. Pod affinity manages pod placement, not upgrades. Volume mounts attach storage, unrelated to updates. Static IP assignment manages networking, not cluster upgrades.