Kubernetes and Cloud Native Associate (KCNA)

The KCNA exam is ideal for those looking to validate their foundational skills and start their journey in the Kubernetes and cloud-native ecosystem as the certification will: 

• Prove your understanding of Kubernetes and cloud-native principles to employers looking for cloud-native knowledge.
• Test your knowledge of Cloud Native Orchestration, Architecture, Telemetry and Observability, Prometheus, and much more.
• Builds a strong vendor-neutral foundation for the most career flexibility and growth. 

The Kubernetes and Cloud Native Associate (KCNA) certification demonstrates  foundational knowledge of Kubernetes and cloud-native technologies. 

The KCNA certification validates:

• Foundational understanding of Kubernetes architecture, components, and basic concepts, including pods, nodes, clusters, namespaces, and the control plane.
• Familiarity with the purpose and function of key Kubernetes resources like Deployments, Services, and ConfigMaps.
• Familiarity with core cloud-native concepts such as containerization, microservices, and immutable infrastructure and how Kubernetes enables scalability, reliability, and portability for cloud-native applications.
• Knowledge of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) landscape and its key projects beyond Kubernetes, such as Prometheus, Envoy, and Fluentd and how Kubernetes fits within the broader cloud-native ecosystem.

• Understanding of concepts like scheduling, orchestration, and service discovery, continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) practices
• Awareness of security best practices in Kubernetes
• Basic understanding of Kubernetes networking and storage concepts 

Earning the KCNA demonstrates readiness to work with Kubernetes and cloud-native tools and allows candidates to showcase their foundational expertise in Kubernetes and cloud-native technologies, laying the groundwork for entry-level roles in the Kubernetes ecosystem.

 

Kubernetes and Cloud Native Associate (KCNA) Curriculum

 

46% – Kubernetes Fundamentals

 

• Kubernetes Resources
• Kubernetes Architecture
• Kubernetes API
• Containers
• Scheduling

 

8% – Cloud Native Observability

 

•Telemetry & Observability
•Prometheus
•Cost Management

 

22% – Container Orchestration

 

• Container Orchestration Fundamentals
• Runtime
• Security
• Networking
• Service Mesh
• Storage

 

 

8% – Cloud Native Application Delivery

 

 

• Application Delivery Fundamentals
• GitOps
• CI/CD

 

 

16% – Cloud Native Architecture

 

 

• Cloud Native Architecture Fundamentals
• Autoscaling
• Serverless
• Community and Governance
• Personas
• Open Standards