Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)

CKA: Certified Kubernetes Administrator

As a backend developer, I used Kubernetes, but I have been destitute. I have done each task assigned to me, but I wanted to dig deeper into Kubernetes. I decided to buy a course in Udemy which calls Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) with Practice Tests.

The course promised that each participant would learn:

1. How to Administer a Kubernetes Cluster
2. How to Build a Kubernetes Cluster from scratch — “The Hard Way.”
3. How to Troubleshoot a Kubernetes Cluster
4. How to Configure Storage on a Kubernetes Cluster
5. How to Design a Kubernetes Cluster
6. How to Test a Kubernetes Cluster end-to-end
7. How to Secure a Kubernetes Cluster
8. How to Configure Network on a Kubernetes Cluster

I bought that course, and I loved it from the beginning. I prefer short videos with presentation diagrams between 5 to 7 minutes. This course is precise to my taste. Even though the instructor is not a native speaker, the speech was clear, motivated and each time he described some topic, the explanation was crystal clear. I love the user base of this course. Maybe I am wrong, maybe not, but probably each problem for the current video is discussed in section questions and answers. Nevertheless, let’s come back to a course.

The course is divided into 17 sections:

1. Introduction
2. Core Concepts
3. Scheduling
4. Logging and Monitoring
5. Application Lifecycle Management
6. Cluster Maintenance
7. Security
8. Storage
9. Networking
10. Design and Install Kubernetes Cluster
11. Install “Kubernetes the kubeadm way.”
12. End to End Test on a Kubernetes Cluster
13. Troubleshooting
14. Other Topics
15. Lighting Labs
16. Mock Exams
17. Course Conclusion

Those 17 parts have one common thing. After each section, the exercise is following. The exercise is done in a unique simulator that contains several questions checked after the end of the exercise. Each question contains a hint where you can check the syntax and maybe give you a lesson where the instructor spoke about the material that has taken over. As I mentioned before, if you have a question, you can check the Q&A section(Questions and Answers), and you will find the solution of exercise or a solution to a specific question.

The course contains a section which is called Mock Exam. This section emulates the exam situation. As time goes down, you have several tasks and receive 70 percent of all the questions. After each exam, there is a video where the instructor explains and solve all the question. In the CKA certification, there are three exams, so there is much space to practice.

After going through all questions, makes all the exercises, making notes, do several times exam labs, I did not pass the exam. I had 3 percent less than was required. Quite a disappointment for me, but. Thank God that you have two attempts to pass the CKA exam.

I found another fantastic web page called Killer shell, which can be found here. Of course, it costs some money, but I prefer to spend 29.99 dollars rather than buy the CKA exam one more time. But, back to the killer.sh. In the killer.sh page, you receive two identical tests with the same questions. It is strange for me but ok. Questions in each test are much more challenging than the questions in the first-mentioned course and much more demanding than in the exam. It is hard on the training ground, easy on the battlefield. I recommend the course as a promising material for preparation.

After going through killer.sh tests, I scheduled another attempt to receive a CKA certificate. Guess what? I passed the exam in flying colours. Ninety-seven percent is a spectacular result for me.