Cloud Digital Leader Fundamental Cloud Concepts Practice Question
A company is migrating a legacy monolithic application to Google Cloud. They want to break it into microservices without managing underlying servers or container orchestration. Which TWO Google Cloud services allow them to deploy containerized applications serverlessly?
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 and App Engine flexible environment are serverless compute platforms that support containerized applications. Compute Engine and GKE require server/container management. Cloud Functions is serverless but for event-driven functions, not containers.
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 Run
Why this is correct
Cloud Run runs stateless containers in a fully managed, serverless environment, automatically scaling instances from zero to thousands based on incoming request traffic. It abstracts away infrastructure, patching, and capacity planning, letting you deploy a containerized monolith with just an image and a port. Per-request billing and scale-to-zero capability make it a cost-effective choice for intermittent or variable workloads that still need to run a complete application.
- ✗
Cloud Functions
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Functions is a Function-as-a-Service (FaaS) platform designed for running single-purpose event-driven functions, not arbitrary containers. It has runtime-specific limitations (e.g., Node.js, Python, Go), a maximum execution timeout, and a constrained set of supported languages, so you cannot package a legacy monolith as a container image. While it scales automatically, it is unsuitable for migrating an entire monolithic application that expects a persistent runtime and full process lifecycle.
- ✗
Compute Engine
Why it's wrong here
Compute Engine provides virtual machines with full control over the OS, networking, and installed software, but it requires you to manage and maintain the VM fleet yourself. You are responsible for patching the OS, configuring firewalls, setting up autoscaling, and planning for capacity, which reintroduces the operational overhead the company likely wants to avoid. It is not serverless, so it does not offer scale-to-zero or automated request-based billing, and it is a poor fit for a migration aiming to reduce infrastructure management.
- ✓
App Engine flexible environment
Why this is correct
App Engine flexible environment is also a valid container-based option because it runs custom containers on Google-managed infrastructure and automatically scales instances based on traffic. It provides a PaaS experience with standard runtime options, load balancing, and automatic health checks, making it suitable for migrating a monolith to the cloud. However, compared to Cloud Run, it is a more heavyweight service with slower cold starts and less granular per-request billing, though it remains a legitimate way to run containerized apps without managing servers.
- ✗
Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)
Why it's wrong here
Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) requires you to operate and manage a Kubernetes cluster, including node pools, cluster upgrades, autoscaling configuration, and security policies. While GKE can autoscale nodes and pods, the operational burden of Kubernetes itself is significant, and it does not provide the same level of abstraction as serverless services. It is better suited for teams that need custom orchestration, service discovery, or portability, but it is overkill for a simple legacy monolith migration that could be handled more directly.
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 |
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Cloud Digital Transformation
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
Compute Engine
Compute Engine is Google Cloud's Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) offering that lets you create and run virtual machines on Google's infrastructure.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This GCDL 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 GCDL exam.