Google ACE Configuring Access and Security Practice Question
A company has a VPC with a subnet that has Private Google Access enabled. They want their Compute Engine instances to access Google APIs and services through internal IP addresses. Which additional configuration is required?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
No additional configuration is required.
Private Google Access on a subnet allows instances in that subnet to reach Google APIs and services using internal IP addresses. No additional configuration is needed if the instances are in that subnet. Cloud NAT is for outbound internet access, not for Google API access. Cloud VPN and Cloud Interconnect are for hybrid connectivity.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
No additional configuration is required.
Why this is correct
Private Google Access is a subnet-level setting that already routes traffic from VM instances with only internal IP addresses to Google APIs and services over Google's internal network. When this is enabled on the subnet, DNS resolution for googleapis.com automatically maps to Google's internal IP ranges, so the existing VPC routing handles API calls without any extra networking components. Therefore, no additional configuration is required.
- ✗
Configure Cloud NAT to enable access to Google APIs.
Why it's wrong here
Cloud NAT is designed to give instances without external IPs outbound connectivity to the public internet by translating internal IPs to a NAT IP. While it could technically reach Google APIs over the public internet, it does not leverage the internal path that Private Google Access uses and is unnecessary for Google API traffic when Private Google Access is already enabled. Configuring Cloud NAT would be redundant, could add cost, and does not satisfy the requirement of using internal IPs for Google API access.
- ✗
Set up Cloud VPN tunnels to Google APIs.
Why it's wrong here
Cloud VPN tunnels are used to securely connect an on-premises network or another cloud environment to a VPC over the public internet using IPsec. They are bidirectional tunnels between VPN gateways and do not create an internal route from a VM to Google APIs. Google API traffic from within the VPC is handled by Private Google Access over Google's backbone; a VPN tunnel does not affect that path and would be irrelevant for this requirement.
- ✗
Create a VPC peering connection with the Google APIs VPC.
Why it's wrong here
VPC peering connects two VPC networks—typically in the same or different projects—to exchange traffic using internal RFC 1918 IPs, but Google does not expose a 'Google APIs VPC' for peering. Google's public API endpoints are reached through Private Google Access, which relies on internal DNS names and Google's network infrastructure, not on a peering connection to a Google-managed network. Since no such peering relationship exists, this approach is not a valid configuration for internal API access.
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Google Cloud Platform Overview
Key term
NAT
NAT (Network Address Translation) is a method that allows multiple devices on a private network to share a single public IP address when accessing the internet.
Key term
VPC
A Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) is a logically isolated section of a cloud provider's network where you can launch and manage resources like servers and databases with complete control over IP addressing, subnets, route tables, and security.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This ACE practice question is part of Courseiva's free Google Cloud certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the ACE exam.