- A
App Engine Standard Environment
Why wrong: App Engine may have minimum instance idle costs.
- B
Compute Engine preemptible VM
Why wrong: Even preemptible VMs are billed per hour and require provisioning.
- C
Google Kubernetes Engine with a single pod
Why wrong: GKE requires a cluster that incurs costs even when idle.
- D
Cloud Functions
Cloud Functions is serverless, execute on demand, and charge only for compute time.
Question 588 of 1,000
easyMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
Cloud Digital Leader Practice Question: A developer needs to run a custom analysis script…
This GCDL practice question tests your understanding of gcdl exam topics. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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.
A developer needs to run a custom analysis script on a large dataset once a month. The script runs for about 10 minutes. They want to avoid provisioning servers and only pay for the actual compute time used. Which Google Cloud compute option should they choose?
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 Functions
Cloud Functions is the correct choice because it is a serverless compute service that charges only for the actual compute time used and scales to zero when idle. For HTTP-triggered functions, the maximum timeout is now 60 minutes (previously 9 minutes for background functions), comfortably accommodating the 10-minute script. This makes it ideal for infrequent, short-lived tasks without provisioning servers.
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.
- ✗
App Engine Standard Environment
Why it's wrong here
App Engine may have minimum instance idle costs.
- ✗
Compute Engine preemptible VM
Why it's wrong here
Even preemptible VMs are billed per hour and require provisioning.
- ✗
Google Kubernetes Engine with a single pod
Why it's wrong here
GKE requires a cluster that incurs costs even when idle.
- ✓
Cloud Functions
Why this is correct
Cloud Functions is serverless, execute on demand, and charge only for compute time.
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 misconception that serverless options like Cloud Functions cannot handle long-running tasks, but the 9-minute (or extended 60-minute) timeout is sufficient for many batch jobs, leading candidates to incorrectly choose preemptible VMs or Kubernetes for what is effectively a short-lived, infrequent workload.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Cloud Functions uses a container-based execution environment that spins up a new instance per invocation, with a cold start latency of a few hundred milliseconds to a few seconds depending on the runtime (e.g., Node.js, Python, Go). Under the hood, Google Cloud's Knative-based serverless platform manages the lifecycle, and the function can be triggered via HTTP, Cloud Pub/Sub, or Cloud Storage events, making it suitable for event-driven data processing. A real-world scenario is a monthly ETL pipeline that reads from BigQuery, transforms data, and writes results to Cloud Storage, where Cloud Functions' stateless nature and automatic scaling eliminate idle costs.
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
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
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 |
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 GCDL question test?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Cloud Functions — Cloud Functions is the correct choice because it is a serverless compute service that charges only for the actual compute time used and scales to zero when idle. For HTTP-triggered functions, the maximum timeout is now 60 minutes (previously 9 minutes for background functions), comfortably accommodating the 10-minute script. This makes it ideal for infrequent, short-lived tasks without provisioning servers.
What should I do if I get this GCDL question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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 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.
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