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Google ACE Practice Question: A company runs a stable production workload on 20…
A company runs a stable production workload on 20 n2-standard-8 VMs that run continuously year-round. Which pricing commitment maximizes cost savings on these VMs?
⚠ Common exam trap
Google Cloud often tests the misconception that sustained use discounts are always the best option for long-running workloads, but candidates must recognize that committed use discounts provide significantly higher savings for predictable, continuous usage, especially with a 3-year term.
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
✓
3-year committed use discount (CUD)
The 3-year committed use discount (CUD) offers the highest discount rate (up to 57% for compute-optimized machine types) compared to 1-year CUDs (up to 20%) or sustained use discounts (up to 30% for running a VM the entire month). Since the workload runs 20 n2-standard-8 VMs continuously year-round, a 3-year CUD locks in the maximum savings for this predictable, steady-state usage.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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Sustained use discounts (automatically applied)
Why it's wrong here
Sustained use discounts (SUDs) are applied automatically to N2 VMs that run more than 25% of a month, reaching a maximum discount of 30% for the entire month. While this requires no commitment and is easy to benefit from, the maximum discount is significantly lower than the 57% available from a 3-year CUD. For an always-on stable workload, the automatic nature of SUDs does not compensate for the lower savings relative to a CUD.
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1-year committed use discount (CUD)
Why it's wrong here
While a 1-year committed use discount (CUD) offers a solid discount of around 37% for N2 VMs compared to on-demand pricing, it is not the deepest available discount for a stable workload. Because the workload runs continuously and predictably, the additional commitment of a 3-year CUD is low risk and yields significantly higher savings. Thus, the 1-year CUD is a viable but suboptimal choice when the goal is minimizing cost for always-on production VMs.
- ✓
3-year committed use discount (CUD)
Why this is correct
A 3-year committed use discount (CUD) on N2 VMs provides up to a 57% discount off on-demand pricing, the highest discount Google Cloud offers for this machine family. Since the workload is stable and must run continuously, the long-term commitment carries little risk and maximizes cost savings. This makes the 3-year CUD the most cost-effective choice among the options presented.
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Switching to Spot VMs
Why it's wrong here
Spot VMs are deeply discounted, sometimes up to 60-80% off on-demand rates, but they are preemptible and can be reclaimed by Compute Engine at any time, typically with a 30-second warning. This makes them completely unsuitable for stable production workloads that require high availability and uninterrupted compute capacity. Relying on Spot VMs for such a workload would risk sudden termination and potential service disruption, so despite the cost savings, it is not the correct answer.
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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.