Google ACE Planning and Configuring a Cloud Solution Practice Question
A company is planning a lift-and-shift migration of an on-premises monolithic application to Google Cloud. The application runs on a single server and requires a specific kernel module that is not supported by Google Cloud's container-optimized OS. Which compute service should they use?
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
✓
Compute Engine
Compute Engine offers full control over the VM, including choice of OS and kernel modules. GKE and Cloud Run use container-optimized OS, and Cloud Functions is serverless and unsuitable for a monolithic app.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Compute Engine
Why this is correct
Compute Engine is the correct choice because it provides unmodified, full control over the virtual machine, including the guest OS kernel. You can install custom kernel modules, load them via modprobe, and configure kernel parameters exactly as required by the legacy monolithic application. This is essential for a lift-and-shift migration where the application depends on specific low-level OS features or hardware drivers that cannot be abstracted away by a managed platform.
- ✗
Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)
Why it's wrong here
Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) is unsuitable because, by default, GKE nodes run Container-Optimized OS (COS) with a locked-down, read-only root filesystem and a minimal kernel that disallows loading arbitrary kernel modules. Although you could use node images like Ubuntu with GKE, the pod sandboxing and container isolation still limit direct kernel access, and the application would need to be containerized—which violates the lift-and-shift requirement and introduces significant refactoring and operational overhead.
- ✗
Cloud Run
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Run is a managed, serverless container platform that abstracts away the underlying compute infrastructure, including the host OS and kernel. It only accepts as input a container image, and your code runs in a gVisor-based sandbox where kernel modules cannot be loaded. Also, Cloud Run is designed for stateless HTTP-triggered workloads that scale automatically, not for a monolithic application that may need persistent state, custom networking, or low-level system access—so it's fundamentally misaligned with the migration goal.
- ✗
Cloud Functions
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Functions is an event-driven, serverless function-as-a-service (FaaS) platform that runs a single piece of code in response to triggers (like HTTP calls, Pub/Sub messages, or Cloud Storage events). It is not designed to host a continuously running monolithic application; it has a maximum execution timeout, no ability to manage persistent processes, and no access to the underlying kernel. Therefore, Cloud Functions cannot satisfy the custom kernel module requirement or the need to run a full legacy application.
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
Go deeper
Related to this question
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Google Cloud Platform Overview
Key term
Service
A service is a software component or system that performs a specific function and is available to be used by other programs or users over a network.
Key term
Google Cloud
Google Cloud is a suite of cloud computing services offered by Google that provides infrastructure, platform, and software solutions over the internet.
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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.