Google ACE Deploying and Implementing a Cloud Solution Practice Question
A developer needs to create a zonal GKE cluster with 3 nodes of type e2-standard-4 in zone us-central1-a. Which command 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
✓
gcloud container clusters create my-cluster --zone=us-central1-a --num-nodes=3 --machine-type=e2-standard-4
The correct command creates a zonal cluster (single zone) with specified node count and machine type. The --region flag creates a regional cluster, which is not required.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
gcloud compute instances create my-cluster --zone=us-central1-a --machine-type=e2-standard-4 --num-nodes=3
Why it's wrong here
This command invokes the Compute Engine API, not GKE, so it creates a single standalone VM named 'my-cluster' rather than a Kubernetes cluster. The --num-nodes flag is not supported by 'gcloud compute instances create' — even if it were, there would be no managed control plane, node pool, or Kubernetes API. For GKE, you must use the 'gcloud container clusters create' command.
- ✓
gcloud container clusters create my-cluster --zone=us-central1-a --num-nodes=3 --machine-type=e2-standard-4
Why this is correct
This correct command creates a zonal GKE cluster because --zone targets a single zone, us-central1-a, and the cluster's control plane and nodes are both provisioned there. The --num-nodes=3 flag defines the initial size of the default node pool, and --machine-type=e2-standard-4 sets each node's VM shape. This exactly meets the requirement for a 3-node zonal cluster.
- ✗
gcloud container clusters create my-cluster --zone=us-central1-a --num-nodes=1 --machine-type=e2-standard-4
Why it's wrong here
Although this command uses the correct 'gcloud container clusters create' syntax and specifies the right --zone, it requests only one node via --num-nodes=1. That creates a zonal cluster with a single node, which fails the developer's requirement for exactly 3 nodes. To match the stated requirement, the flag must be set to 3.
- ✗
gcloud container clusters create my-cluster --region=us-central1 --num-nodes=3 --machine-type=e2-standard-4
Why it's wrong here
Using --region=us-central1 instead of --zone makes this a regional cluster, where the control plane is replicated across three zones and the default node pool spreads nodes evenly across those zones. This architecturally differs from a zonal cluster, which places both control plane and nodes in a single zone. Also, with a regional cluster, --num-nodes=3 actually requests 3 nodes per zone, not 3 total, so it would over-provision if the intent was a single-zone cluster.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Security Command Center (SCC)
Key term
Region
A region is a distinct geographic location where a cloud provider operates multiple data centers that are connected by low-latency networks and provide cloud services.
Key term
GKE
GKE is Google's managed Kubernetes service that automates deploying, scaling, and managing containerized applications in the cloud.
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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.