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Google ACE Practice Question: A team needs a database backup job to run every…
A team needs a database backup job to run every day at 2 AM UTC. The job calls an HTTP endpoint to trigger the backup. The endpoint requires no complex orchestration — just a timed HTTP call. Which GCP service handles this most simply?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates overcomplicate the solution by choosing Cloud Tasks (A) or Cloud Composer (C) because they assume a 'job' requires a queue or orchestration, when Cloud Scheduler's HTTP target is the simplest and most direct fit for a single timed HTTP call.
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 Scheduler with an HTTP target pointing to the backup endpoint
Cloud Scheduler is the simplest GCP service for a recurring HTTP call because it is a fully managed cron job service that directly supports HTTP targets. You configure a schedule (e.g., '0 2 * * *' for daily at 2 AM UTC) and point it to the backup endpoint URL. No additional code, queue, or orchestration is needed, making it the most straightforward solution for this use case.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Cloud Tasks with a daily task enqueued by a Cloud Function
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Tasks is designed for reliable, asynchronous task distribution with retry logic and scheduling, but it requires a Cloud Function to enqueue the daily task, introducing unnecessary compute overhead and a second service when the stem explicitly asks for the simplest solution — a direct, timed HTTP call. It is tempting because Cloud Tasks excels at scheduling and managing distributed work, and would be correct if the backup required retry handling, fan-out, or complex orchestration beyond a single daily trigger.
- ✓
Cloud Scheduler with an HTTP target pointing to the backup endpoint
Why this is correct
Cloud Scheduler is Google Cloud's fully managed cron service, designed specifically to fire off a single HTTP request on a fixed schedule. With a JSON payload and optional OIDC authentication, it can invoke your backup endpoint at 2 AM UTC daily with zero additional infrastructure to manage. It also offers built-in retries and execution logs, but for a simple scheduled HTTP call, no other service or custom code is required — making it the minimal, correct choice.
- ✗
Cloud Composer DAG running at 2 AM UTC
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Composer (managed Airflow) is a workflow orchestration platform built for complex, multi-step data pipelines with dependencies, sensors, branching, and retries at the DAG level. Using it to trigger a single HTTP backup endpoint means provisioning an entire Airflow environment, writing a DAG file, and managing workers and queues — incurring significant cost and operational overhead for what is essentially a one-line schedule. That level of complexity is unjustified when Cloud Scheduler can accomplish the same result natively and at near-zero cost.
- ✗
Cloud Run Jobs triggered by a Cloud Monitoring alert at 2 AM
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Monitoring alerts are fundamentally reactive — they evaluate metric thresholds, like latency or error rates, and fire only when a condition is crossed; they do not support cron-based, time-of-day scheduling such as 'run every day at 2 AM.' While Cloud Run Jobs are a good option for running containerized batch work, they still need a time-based trigger, and an alert cannot serve that purpose because there is no metric that changes solely due to the clock. Thus, this option fails because it relies on a monitoring feature designed for incident detection, not deterministic scheduled execution.
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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.