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Google ACE Practice Question: Migrate a monolithic application to Google Cloud…
A company wants to migrate a monolithic application to Google Cloud with minimal changes to the application code. Which compute option is most suitable?
⚠ Common exam trap
Google Cloud often tests the misconception that 'containerization always means minimal changes,' but the trap here is that GKE and App Engine Flexible Environment still require containerization and potential code adjustments, while Compute Engine allows a true lift-and-shift with zero code changes.
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 (C) is the most suitable option because it provides Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) virtual machines that can run the monolithic application with minimal code changes. The application can be migrated by simply lifting and shifting the existing VM or container image to a Compute Engine instance, preserving the OS, runtime, and dependencies without refactoring.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Google Kubernetes Engine
Why it's wrong here
Google Kubernetes Engine is a container orchestration platform that requires the monolith to be containerized into Docker images, configured with deployment manifests, and managed via clusters. This imposes substantial workflow changes, including building images, setting up health checks, and handling persistent storage through volumes. For a monolithic application, this containerization effort is far greater than simple VM migration and adds operational complexity without immediate benefit.
- ✗
App Engine (Flexible Environment)
Why it's wrong here
App Engine Flexible Environment runs applications in Docker containers on managed VMs, but it requires you to provide a Dockerfile and adapt the app to the runtime environment. It enforces restrictions such as a read-only filesystem except for /tmp, limits on background threads, and a 24-hour maximum instance uptime for manual scaling. A monolith with long-running, stateful processes or custom system dependencies may need significant modification to comply, making it less straightforward than Compute Engine.
- ✓
Compute Engine
Why this is correct
Compute Engine offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service virtual machines in which you select the OS, disk, and networking settings, allowing you to upload a disk image or reinstall the application directly. This 'lift-and-shift' approach preserves the existing architecture, libraries, and configuration with minimal or no code changes, making it the fastest and lowest-effort migration path for a monolithic application. It also provides full administrative control over the environment, letting you manage updates, security, and scaling in a familiar way.
- ✗
Cloud Functions
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Functions is a serverless Function-as-a-Service product designed for single-purpose, event-driven code that scales to zero when idle. A monolithic application is a long-running, stateful service that listens for requests across many endpoints and typically maintains in-memory or persistent connections. Cloud Functions imposes execution time limits (e.g., 9 minutes max) and statelessness, which are fundamentally incompatible with the continuous operation and stateful nature of a monolith.
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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
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.
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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.