Containerization & Kubernetes Flashcards

What does 'container orchestration' mean?

Answer: Automated management of container deployment, scaling, networking, and health

Container orchestration (e.g., Kubernetes) automates the operational tasks of running containers at scale, including scheduling, scaling, and self-healing.

What is a Kubernetes Namespace?

Answer: A virtual cluster within a Kubernetes cluster for isolating resources

Namespaces partition a single Kubernetes cluster into logically separate environments, useful for multi-team or multi-environment setups.

What is the purpose of Kubernetes resource limits and requests?

Answer: Requests reserve compute resources for a Pod; limits cap the maximum it can consume

Resource requests guide the scheduler in placing Pods on nodes with enough capacity, while limits prevent a Pod from consuming more than its allotted resources.

What does a Kubernetes liveness probe do?

Answer: Periodically checks if a container is still running correctly and restarts it if not

A liveness probe detects when a container has entered an unrecoverable state and triggers a restart to restore service.

What is Helm in the Kubernetes ecosystem?

Answer: A package manager for Kubernetes that templates and manages application deployments

Helm uses charts (templated YAML packages) to define, install, and upgrade Kubernetes applications, similar to apt or yum for Linux packages.

What is the purpose of a Kubernetes Secret?

Answer: Storing sensitive data like passwords and API keys, base64-encoded, for injection into Pods

Kubernetes Secrets hold sensitive information and can be mounted as files or exposed as environment variables in Pods, keeping secrets out of container images.