Cloud Digital Leader Fundamental Cloud Concepts Practice Test 3 — 15 Questions

Question 1

According to the shared responsibility model, which of the following is the customer responsible for?

Accepted Answer

Data encryption and access control (IAM). Under the shared responsibility model, customers are responsible for securing their data and controlling access to it. This includes encrypting data (at rest and in transit, where applicable) and managing identity and access with IAM policies. Google secures the physical and foundational infrastructure but does not manage customer IAM or data encryption choices.

Answer

Physical security of data centers

Answer

Network infrastructure security

Answer

Hypervisor security

Question 2

A company wants to run a batch job that processes large files (up to 100 TB each) using a custom Linux executable. The job runs once a month and takes about 12 hours. They want to minimise cost. Which compute option should they choose?

Accepted Answer

Compute Engine with preemptible VMs. For a monthly batch job processing large files (up to 100 TB) with a custom Linux executable, preemptible VMs on Compute Engine offer the lowest cost. Preemptible VMs are significantly cheaper than standard VMs and are suitable for batch jobs that can tolerate interruptions, as the job can be restarted if preempted. Since the job runs once a month for about 12 hours, the cost savings outweigh the risk of preemption.

Answer

Compute Engine with standard VMs

Answer

Cloud Run

Answer

App Engine Flexible Environment

Question 3

A company is migrating its on-premises data warehouse to Google Cloud. The data warehouse contains structured relational data (sales transactions, customer records) and is queried using standard SQL. The company wants to separate compute and storage costs and automatically scale compute resources up and down based on query load. Which Google Cloud service is most appropriate?

Accepted Answer

BigQuery. BigQuery is a serverless data warehouse that separates compute and storage, scales automatically, and supports standard SQL. Cloud SQL is for OLTP, not data warehousing. Spanner is globally distributed OLTP. Dataproc is for Hadoop/Spark workloads, not directly for SQL warehousing.

Answer

Cloud SQL

Answer

Dataproc

Answer

Cloud Spanner

Question 4

What is a key benefit of using a Platform as a Service (PaaS) offering like App Engine compared to Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) like Compute Engine?

Accepted Answer

No need to manage the underlying OS or runtime environment. PaaS platforms like App Engine abstract away the operating system, runtime patches, scaling, and infrastructure management, so developers only ship application code. IaaS like Compute Engine gives you a VM where you remain responsible for OS patching, runtime installation, and capacity planning. The core PaaS benefit is therefore the elimination of OS/runtime management overhead.

Answer

Lower cost for always-on workloads

Answer

Full control over the operating system and hardware

Answer

Ability to install custom software on the server

Question 5

Which TWO of the following are NIST-defined characteristics of cloud computing?

Accepted Answer

Resource pooling. Option B, resource pooling, is correct because NIST SP 800-145 lists resource pooling as one of the five essential characteristics of cloud computing, describing how provider resources are pooled to serve multiple consumers using a multi-tenant model with dynamically assigned and reassigned physical and virtual resources. Option E, measured service, is also correct because NIST defines measured service as the characteristic whereby cloud systems automatically control and optimize resource use via metering capabilities appropriate to the service type, providing transparency to both provider and consumer. The other options are not among NIST's five essential characteristics: high availability (A) is a common cloud benefit but not a NIST-defined essential characteristic, pay-as-you-go pricing (C) is a billing model rather than one of the five characteristics, and virtualization (D) is an enabling technology frequently used in cloud implementations but is not itself listed as a NIST essential characteristic.

Answer

High availability

Answer

Pay-as-you-go pricing

Answer

Virtualization

Question 6

A company with a global user base wants to deploy a web application on Google Cloud that is highly available and resilient to zone failures. The application runs on Compute Engine and uses a stateful backend (e.g., a database). Which THREE design elements should they implement?

Accepted Answer

Use a managed database service with automatic failover across zones (e.g., Cloud SQL High Availability). Option A is correct because a managed database service such as Cloud SQL High Availability automatically maintains a standby replica in a different zone and performs failover if the primary zone fails, which directly addresses the stateful backend's resilience requirement. Option C is correct because a global HTTP(S) load balancer distributes traffic to a regional backend service, and configuring the backend as a regional (multi-zone) managed instance group ensures traffic is routed only to healthy instances across zones, providing high availability for the web tier. Option E is correct because deploying Compute Engine instances across multiple zones within a region protects the application from a single zone outage, which is the fundamental building block of zone-failure resilience on Google Cloud. Option B is incorrect because confining resources to a single zone creates a single point of failure and directly contradicts the requirement to survive zone failures. Option D is incorrect because preemptible VMs can be terminated at any time by Compute Engine, making them unsuitable for a highly available production web application with a stateful backend.

Answer

Use a single zone to keep data consistent

Answer

Use preemptible VMs to reduce costs

Question 7

Which of the following is a key characteristic of cloud computing as defined by NIST that allows users to automatically provision computing resources without requiring human interaction with each service provider?

Accepted Answer

On-demand self-service. On-demand self-service is the NIST characteristic that allows consumers to unilaterally provision computing capabilities (e.g., server time, storage) automatically without requiring human interaction with each service provider. This is exactly what the question describes — automatic provisioning without provider interaction. It is one of the five essential characteristics of cloud computing defined in NIST SP 800-145.

Answer

Measured service

Answer

Resource pooling

Answer

Broad network access

Question 8

A startup wants to deploy a containerized web application without managing servers or clusters. They need automatic scaling, a managed runtime, and pay only for resources used. Which Google Cloud service should they choose?

Accepted Answer

Cloud Run. Cloud Run is a fully managed serverless platform for containers that automatically scales and charges only for resources used. It fits the requirements perfectly.

Answer

Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)

Answer

Compute Engine

Answer

App Engine

Question 9

A company needs to run a legacy application that requires full control over the operating system, including custom kernel modules. They want to minimize management overhead for the underlying hardware. Which cloud service model should they use?

Accepted Answer

IaaS. IaaS provides virtualized computing resources where the customer manages the OS and above, while the cloud provider manages the hardware and hypervisor.

Answer

PaaS

Answer

FaaS

Answer

SaaS

Question 10

An engineer is deploying a global application that requires low latency for users in North America, Europe, and Asia. They plan to use Compute Engine instances in multiple regions. Which Google Cloud resource is essential to distribute traffic and provide a single anycast IP address?

Accepted Answer

Global external HTTP(S) load balancer. Global external HTTP(S) load balancer provides a single anycast IP and distributes traffic across regions, enabling low-latency access worldwide.

Answer

Cloud CDN

Answer

Traffic Director

Answer

Cloud NAT

Question 11

Which statement best describes the shared responsibility model in Google Cloud?

Accepted Answer

Google is responsible for security of the infrastructure; customers are responsible for their data and configurations.. The Google Cloud shared responsibility model divides security duties: Google secures the underlying infrastructure (physical data centers, hardware, network, hypervisor), while customers are responsible for securing what they put in the cloud — their data, configurations, access controls, and application-level security. Option A accurately captures this division.

Answer

Google is responsible for all security aspects, including customer data.

Answer

Customers are responsible for physical security of data centers.

Answer

Security is entirely the customer's responsibility in IaaS.

Question 12

An organization needs to comply with HIPAA for storing healthcare data in Google Cloud. Which of the following is a customer responsibility?

Accepted Answer

Implementing IAM policies to control access to PHI. Under the shared responsibility model, the customer is responsible for configuring access controls (IAM) and encrypting PHI appropriately.

Answer

Physical security of Google data centers

Answer

Patching the hypervisor

Answer

Obtaining SOC 2 certification for Google Cloud

Question 13

Which Google Cloud tool allows customers to measure the gross carbon emissions associated with their Google Cloud usage?

Accepted Answer

Carbon Footprint dashboard in the Google Cloud Console. The Carbon Footprint dashboard in the Google Cloud Console is the built-in tool that reports gross carbon emissions attributable to a customer's Google Cloud project usage, broken down by service, region, and month. It uses the same billing data that powers cost reports and applies Google's regional grid carbon intensity factors to estimate emissions.

Answer

Google Cloud's Sustainability API

Answer

Cloud Monitoring

Answer

Cloud Audit Logs

Question 14

A company wants to run a stateful application that requires persistent, high-performance block storage attached to a single Compute Engine instance. The application needs consistent low latency. Which storage solution should they use?

Accepted Answer

Persistent Disk. Persistent Disk provides durable block storage with consistent performance attached to a single VM. Local SSDs are ephemeral and not suitable for stateful data.

Answer

Local SSD

Answer

Filestore

Answer

Cloud Storage

Question 15

A company wants to use Google Cloud for a workload that requires compliance with PCI DSS. Which of the following is a Google responsibility under the shared model?

Accepted Answer

Patching the hypervisor. Google is responsible for maintaining the security of the infrastructure, including the hypervisor, network, and physical security, which are part of PCI DSS compliance scope for the cloud provider.

Answer

Configuring firewall rules to protect cardholder data

Answer

Managing access keys for cardholder data

Answer

Encrypting cardholder data at rest