easyMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
Google ACE Practice Question: A developer wants to deploy a containerized web…
A developer wants to deploy a containerized web application that can scale to zero when not in use, and only pay for request processing time. Which compute service should they choose?
⚠ Common exam trap
Google Cloud often tests the distinction between serverless compute options: candidates confuse Cloud Functions (for event-driven code) with Cloud Run (for containerized apps), or assume App Engine Flexible can scale to zero when it cannot.
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
✓
Cloud Run
Cloud Run is the correct choice because it is a managed compute platform that runs containerized applications in a serverless environment, automatically scaling to zero when there are no requests and charging only for the resources used during request processing (billed in 100-millisecond increments). This matches the requirement for a containerized web app that scales to zero and has pay-per-use pricing.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
App Engine Flexible Environment
Why it's wrong here
App Engine Flexible Environment can deploy containerized applications, but it runs each instance on a Compute Engine VM that stays allocated while the service is up. Google Cloud does not allow scaling Flexible Environment instances to zero; at least one VM instance must remain running at all times to accept traffic. As a result, you incur continuous hourly costs even when no users are accessing the app, making it a poor fit for a cost-sensitive workload requiring idle zero-cost.
- ✗
Cloud Functions
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Functions executes code in response to events but does not support scaling to zero for a containerized web application; it runs stateless functions on a per-request basis, not a containerised web server that requires a persistent runtime environment. It is tempting because it offers pay-per-execution billing, which aligns with the cost-saving goal, and would be correct for an event-driven, stateless function rather than a containerised web app.
- ✓
Cloud Run
Why this is correct
Cloud Run is a fully managed serverless platform that executes a container in response to HTTP requests and automatically scales the number of instances to zero when no traffic is arriving. Since you pay only for vCPU and memory during request processing, rounded up to 100ms increments, an idle service incurs no cost. This zero-idle scaling makes Cloud Run the most direct way to run a containerized web application with complete cost savings during inactivity.
- ✗
Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)
Why it's wrong here
GKE (Google Kubernetes Engine) is a full container orchestration platform that requires a cluster of Compute Engine nodes to run workloads. Even with cluster autoscaling, the node pool cannot shrink below one node, because the cluster needs at least one node for the Kubernetes system components and to schedule pods. Consequently, you always pay for the underlying VM nodes, and scaling the application itself to zero still leaves idle infrastructure cost and management overhead.
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
Learn chapter
Google Cloud Platform Overview
Key term
Cloud Run
Cloud Run is a fully managed compute platform from Google Cloud that lets you run containerized applications in a serverless environment, automatically scaling from zero to thousands of requests.
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.