- A
Configure budget alerts in Cloud Billing to notify when costs exceed a threshold.
Why wrong: Budget alerts are for cost management, not operational monitoring.
- B
Use Cloud Audit Logs to monitor administrative actions and data access.
Audit logs are essential for security and compliance monitoring.
- C
Enable VPC Flow Logs for all subnets to capture all network traffic metadata.
Why wrong: Enabling VPC Flow Logs for all subnets can be very costly; it's better to enable selectively.
- D
Set up alerts based on log-based metrics to detect specific error patterns.
Log-based metrics allow proactive alerting on specific errors.
- E
Use Cloud Monitoring to create uptime checks for external-facing services.
Uptime checks are a best practice to monitor service availability.
Google ACE Practice Question: Which THREE are best practices for monitoring and…
This ACE practice question tests your understanding of ace exam topics. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
Which THREE are best practices for monitoring and alerting in Google Cloud?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"best"Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
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
Use Cloud Audit Logs to monitor administrative actions and data access.
Option B is correct because Cloud Audit Logs provide a comprehensive record of administrative actions (Admin Activity logs) and data access (Data Access logs) within Google Cloud. Monitoring these logs is a best practice for security, compliance, and operational troubleshooting, as they capture who did what, where, and when across services like IAM, Compute Engine, and Cloud Storage.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Configure budget alerts in Cloud Billing to notify when costs exceed a threshold.
Why it's wrong here
Budget alerts are for cost management, not operational monitoring.
- ✓
Use Cloud Audit Logs to monitor administrative actions and data access.
Why this is correct
Audit logs are essential for security and compliance monitoring.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Enable VPC Flow Logs for all subnets to capture all network traffic metadata.
Why it's wrong here
Enabling VPC Flow Logs for all subnets can be very costly; it's better to enable selectively.
- ✓
Set up alerts based on log-based metrics to detect specific error patterns.
Why this is correct
Log-based metrics allow proactive alerting on specific errors.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✓
Use Cloud Monitoring to create uptime checks for external-facing services.
Why this is correct
Uptime checks are a best practice to monitor service availability.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google Cloud often tests the distinction between cost management (budget alerts) and operational monitoring (Cloud Monitoring, log-based metrics, uptime checks), leading candidates to incorrectly include budget alerts as a monitoring best practice.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Cloud Audit Logs are based on the Cloud Audit Logs API and are automatically enabled for Admin Activity logs, while Data Access logs must be explicitly enabled per service. These logs are immutable and stored in Cloud Logging for 30 days (default) or longer with log sinks, and they support log-based metrics for alerting on specific patterns like unauthorized access attempts or IAM policy changes. In a real-world scenario, a security team might set up a log-based metric to trigger an alert when a Data Access log shows a user querying a sensitive BigQuery table outside of business hours.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this ACE question test?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Use Cloud Audit Logs to monitor administrative actions and data access. — Option B is correct because Cloud Audit Logs provide a comprehensive record of administrative actions (Admin Activity logs) and data access (Data Access logs) within Google Cloud. Monitoring these logs is a best practice for security, compliance, and operational troubleshooting, as they capture who did what, where, and when across services like IAM, Compute Engine, and Cloud Storage.
What should I do if I get this ACE question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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Last reviewed: Jun 30, 2026
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.
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