Explain PV access modes and reclaim policies.
Quick Answer
Access modes: ReadWriteOnce (one node RW), ReadOnlyMany (many nodes RO), ReadWriteMany (many nodes RW), ReadWriteOncePod (one pod RW). Reclaim policy on release: Retain (keep data, manual cleanup), Delete (delete the backing storage), or the legacy Recycle.
Detailed Answer
Access modes depend on the backend: block storage (EBS/Azure Disk) is typically RWO; shared filesystems (NFS, EFS, Azure Files) support RWX. Choose based on whether multiple pods/nodes must write. Reclaim policy governs what happens when the PVC is deleted: Retain keeps the data (safe for databases; you clean up manually), Delete removes the underlying volume (convenient but destructive). Set persistentVolumeReclaimPolicy accordingly.
Interview Tip
Match access mode to the backend (block=RWO, shared FS=RWX) and warn that Delete reclaim destroys data — Retain for stateful/critical.