easyMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
Google ACE Practice Question: Store 50 TB of access logs that are rarely…
A company needs to store 50 TB of access logs that are rarely accessed (once a year) and must be retained for 7 years. Which storage option is the most cost-effective?
⚠ Common exam trap
Google Cloud often tests the distinction between Coldline and Archive storage by making candidates assume 'cold' is the cheapest, but Archive Storage is the true lowest-cost tier for data accessed less than once a year, with a longer minimum storage duration and higher retrieval fees.
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
✓
Archive Storage
Archive Storage is the most cost-effective option for data that is accessed less than once a year and must be retained for 7 years. It offers the lowest storage cost among Google Cloud storage classes, specifically designed for long-term, infrequently accessed data with a 365-day minimum storage duration and a higher retrieval cost, which is acceptable given the rare access pattern.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Nearline Storage
Why it's wrong here
Nearline Storage is a lower-cost class than Standard, but it's engineered for objects accessed less than once a month (30-day minimum storage duration). The company's access logs are read only rarely—likely annually or for compliance—so the per-GB retrieval and early-deletion charges of Nearline would still be significantly higher than Archive. Moreover, Nearline has a 30-day minimum retention, which is far shorter than the 365-day minimum of Archive, making it a poor fit for 50 TB of dormant logs.
- ✗
Regional persistent disk
Why it's wrong here
Regional persistent disks are block storage attached to Compute Engine VMs; they are not a managed object-storage service like Cloud Storage. Even with snapshots, they are not designed for long-term archival—the cost per GB/month is typically several times higher than Archive Storage, and you'd be paying for the disk capacity whether or not the data is ever accessed. To use a regional persistent disk for 50 TB, you'd have to keep a VM or at least a disk resource active, incurring ongoing compute/storage charges that are completely unjustified for logs accessed less than once a year.
- ✓
Archive Storage
Why this is correct
Archive Storage is the correct choice because it is Google Cloud's lowest-cost storage class, specifically designed for data that is accessed less than once a year and has a 365-day minimum storage duration. For 50 TB of access logs that are rarely read, Archive gives the lowest total cost of ownership, and the data remains immediately retrievable (with retrieval latency in the seconds-to-minutes range, not offline tape). The 365-day minimum is irrelevant here because the logs will be stored for years, and any retrieval costs will be minimal given the rare access pattern.
- ✗
Coldline Storage
Why it's wrong here
Coldline Storage is priced for data accessed less than once a quarter, with a 90-day minimum storage duration. While cheaper than Standard and Nearline, it is still more expensive than Archive Storage on a per-GB-month basis, and the 90-day minimum is shorter than the 365-day minimum of Archive. For logs that are effectively never accessed, the extra cost of Coldline provides no benefit—the retrieval latency is the same as Archive, and the company does not need sub-quarterly access. Therefore, Coldline is a costlier option that does not fit the stated access pattern.
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
Go deeper
Related to this question
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Google Cloud Platform Overview
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.
Key term
Cloud storage
Cloud storage is a service that lets you save data on remote servers accessed over the internet instead of on your computer's hard drive.
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JA
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.