easyMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
Google ACE Practice Question: A startup wants to host a static website (HTML,…
A startup wants to host a static website (HTML, CSS, JS) globally with minimal latency and high availability. They expect low traffic initially but want to scale seamlessly. Which solution is most cost-effective and simple?
⚠ Common exam trap
Google Cloud often tests the misconception that static websites require a compute layer (like App Engine or Compute Engine) to serve files, when in fact Cloud Storage with CDN is the simplest and most cost-effective serverless option for static content.
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 Storage bucket with Cloud CDN enabled
A Cloud Storage bucket with Cloud CDN enabled is the most cost-effective and simple solution for hosting a static website globally with minimal latency. Cloud Storage natively serves static content (HTML, CSS, JS) without provisioning servers, and Cloud CDN caches content at edge locations worldwide, reducing latency. It scales seamlessly from zero traffic to high demand without manual intervention, and costs are based only on storage and egress, making it ideal for low-traffic startups.
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 with nginx
Why it's wrong here
Running nginx on Compute Engine means provisioning a dedicated VM, then handling OS patching, security updates, and autoscaling yourself. For a simple static site, you pay for a 24/7 running instance regardless of low traffic, and any resilience requires complex managed instance groups and health checks. This is operational overhead and cost that a managed object storage service eliminates.
- ✗
App Engine standard environment
Why it's wrong here
App Engine standard environment is a PaaS that executes application runtimes like Python, Java, or Go, not a raw static file server. To serve a static site there, you must create a small app handler to stream files, which wastes cold start time and incurs instance billable time even for cached requests. It offers autoscaling, but it's over-engineered for immutable assets that Cloud Storage can serve directly and globally.
- ✗
Cloud Functions with HTTP triggers
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Functions is designed for event-driven, short-lived compute that executes code in response to triggers; it is not an HTTP server for hosting files. Each request that pulls a static asset would invoke a function, leading to cold-start latency, concurrent execution limits, and per-invocation cost. Serving static content from a function is inefficient and expensive compared to using Cloud Storage's native website hosting.
- ✓
Cloud Storage bucket with Cloud CDN enabled
Why this is correct
A Cloud Storage bucket can be configured for static website hosting, making it a serverless origin that serves HTML, CSS, and JS directly with no compute resources. Enabling Google Cloud CDN on that bucket—typically via an external HTTP(S) load balancer with a backend bucket—caches files at global edge locations for low-latency repeat access. This setup is highly available, requires zero infrastructure maintenance, and costs only for storage and network egress.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Google Cloud Platform Overview
Key term
Cloud CDN
A Cloud CDN is a network of servers spread around the world that stores copies of your website or app content so it loads faster for users no matter where they are.
Key term
High availability
High availability is a system design approach that aims to keep applications and services operational and accessible with minimal downtime, even when some components fail.
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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.