Cloud Digital Leader How Google Cloud Resources Are Managed Practice Question
A company runs Compute Engine instances for batch processing that are shut down on weekends. They want to automatically reduce costs without committing to a 1-year or 3-year term. Which discount type applies?
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
✓
Sustained use discount
Sustained use discounts automatically apply for instances running more than 25% of a month, with no upfront commitment.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Sustained use discount
Why this is correct
Sustained use discounts are applied automatically for each Compute Engine instance that runs more than 25% of a month; the discount gradually increases with usage, reaching up to 30% for a full month of use. No upfront commitment or configuration is required, making it ideal for batch processing workloads that run for substantial but indeterminate durations.
- ✗
Sole-tenant node discounts
Why it's wrong here
Sole-tenant node discounts do not apply automatically based on how long an instance runs; instead, you pay a fixed price per dedicated physical node, and that price covers all VMs placed on it. Usage-based discounting like sustained use does not apply to the node itself, and savings only come from explicitly negotiated committed use contracts, not automatic month-end adjustments.
- ✗
Preemptible VM discounts
Why it's wrong here
Preemptible VMs are a separate offering with lower per-hour prices for interruptible workloads, but they are not an automatic discount on ordinary instances. These VMs can be terminated by Compute Engine at any time (typically within 24 hours), and they do not accrue sustained use discounts, so they are unsuitable for batch processing that requires reliable, continuous execution without manual restart logic.
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Committed use discount
Why it's wrong here
Committed use discounts require you to sign a 1- or 3-year contract for a predetermined level of vCPU, memory, and other resources, and you must pay for that committed capacity regardless of actual usage. This differs fundamentally from sustained use discounts, which are automatic, require no contract, and adjust dynamically based on the exact hours your instances run each month, avoiding long-term financial commitments.
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Compute Options on Google Cloud
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.
Key term
Batch processing
Batch processing is a method of running high-volume, repetitive data jobs where a group of transactions is collected, processed together automatically, and then results are produced without real-time user interaction.
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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.