Microservices CI/CD and Deployment Strategies 2

Question 1

In a blue-green deployment, what is the role of the 'green' environment before the cutover?

Accepted Answer

The idle environment running the new version, validated before traffic switches

Answer

Green hosts the new version and is validated while blue still serves traffic, then the router switches traffic to green.

Question 2

What is the primary benefit of a canary release in a microservices system?

Accepted Answer

Exposing the new version to a small subset of users to limit blast radius

Answer

Canary releases route a small percentage of traffic to the new version so problems affect few users before full rollout.

Question 3

Which practice best supports zero-downtime database schema changes during CI/CD?

Accepted Answer

Backward-compatible, expand-and-contract migrations

Answer

Expand-and-contract adds new schema elements compatibly first, then removes old ones after code no longer uses them.

Question 4

What does 'shift-left testing' mean in a CI/CD pipeline?

Accepted Answer

Running tests earlier in the development lifecycle

Answer

Shift-left moves testing earlier so defects are caught sooner and cheaper.

Question 5

Why are immutable container images preferred in deployment pipelines?

Accepted Answer

They guarantee the same artifact runs across all environments

Answer

Immutable images ensure the exact artifact tested is the one deployed, eliminating environment drift.

Microservices Practice Test