Container services comparison in Azure - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

🧠 Conceptual

intermediate

Differences between Azure Container Instances and Azure Kubernetes Service

Which statement correctly describes a key difference between Azure Container Instances (ACI) and Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)?

A AKS is serverless and does not require cluster management, while ACI requires manual server setup.

B Both ACI and AKS require manual scaling of container instances.

C ACI is a serverless container service that runs containers without managing servers, while AKS requires managing a Kubernetes cluster.

D ACI supports complex orchestration features like automatic load balancing, while AKS does not.

💡 Hint

Think about which service abstracts infrastructure management.

Azure Container Instances (ACI) lets you run containers without managing servers or clusters, making it serverless. Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) provides managed Kubernetes clusters, so you manage the cluster but not the underlying servers.

❓ Architecture

intermediate

Choosing container service for microservices architecture

You want to deploy a microservices application with multiple containers that need to communicate, scale independently, and have rolling updates. Which Azure container service is best suited?

A Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) because it supports orchestration, scaling, and rolling updates.

B Azure Container Instances (ACI) because it supports complex orchestration and rolling updates.

C Azure App Service because it is designed for container orchestration.

D Azure Functions because it runs containers with microservices support.

💡 Hint

Consider which service supports container orchestration and scaling features.

AKS supports container orchestration, allowing multiple containers to communicate, scale independently, and perform rolling updates. ACI is for simple container runs without orchestration.

❓ service_behavior

advanced

Behavior of Azure Container Instances on resource limits

What happens when an Azure Container Instance exceeds its allocated CPU or memory limits during runtime?

A The container continues running without any impact despite exceeding limits.

B The container is automatically restarted by ACI to recover from resource exhaustion.

C ACI automatically scales up resources to meet container demand.

D The container is throttled or terminated by the platform, causing possible failure.

💡 Hint

Think about how resource limits protect the host environment.

When a container exceeds its CPU or memory limits in ACI, the platform throttles or terminates the container to protect resources. It does not auto-scale or restart containers automatically.

❓ security

advanced

Securing container images in Azure container services

Which option best describes a recommended practice to secure container images used in Azure Container Instances or AKS?

A Store container images in Azure Container Registry with image scanning and access control.

B Use public container registries without authentication for faster deployment.

C Build container images directly on the production cluster to avoid image transfer.

D Use unverified third-party images to save time on development.

💡 Hint

Consider how to protect images from vulnerabilities and unauthorized access.

Storing images in Azure Container Registry allows you to control access and scan images for vulnerabilities, improving security. Public registries without authentication or unverified images increase risk.

✅ Best Practice

expert

Optimizing cost and performance for container workloads in Azure

You have a variable workload with unpredictable spikes running containerized apps. Which approach best balances cost efficiency and performance using Azure container services?

A Use AKS with manual scaling to adjust nodes once per month.

B Use Azure Container Instances for burst workloads and AKS for steady workloads, combining both.

C Use only Azure Container Instances for all workloads regardless of size or duration.

D Use Azure Kubernetes Service with a fixed number of nodes to handle peak load at all times.

💡 Hint

Think about combining services to optimize cost and handle spikes.

Combining ACI for burst workloads and AKS for steady workloads allows cost savings by avoiding over-provisioning while maintaining performance during spikes.