Cloud Digital Leader How Google Cloud Resources Are Managed Practice Question
A developer tries to create a new Compute Engine instance in the us-central1 region but receives an error 'Quota 'CPUS' exceeded. Limit: 24.0'. What should the developer do to resolve this?
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
✓
Request a quota increase for CPUs in us-central1
The error indicates a resource quota (CPU limit) has been reached. The correct action is to request a quota increase in the Cloud Console for the specific region and resource type (CPUs).
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Wait for the quota to reset automatically
Why it's wrong here
Compute Engine quotas are hard limits set on a project rather than temporary allowances, so they do not reset on any interval (e.g., monthly or daily). They remain exhausted until you either delete resources in that region or explicitly request a limit increase. Merely waiting does not change the cap, so the instance creation will continue to fail.
- ✗
Use a different machine family with lower CPU count
Why it's wrong here
Switching to a machine family with fewer vCPUs only works if your workload can tolerate less compute, but it bypasses the real issue: the vCPU quota in us-central1 is exhausted, regardless of machine family. The quota counts the total number of vCPUs across all instance types in the region, so a lower-CPU instance might still exceed the remaining allowance if the overall cap is reached. This is a temporary workaround, not a proper resolution, and could degrade performance.
- ✗
Delete unused instances in other regions
Why it's wrong here
CPU quotas are scoped per region, meaning each region has its own independent vCPU limit. Deleting unused instances in, say, us-west1 or europe-west1 will only free quota space in those specific regions, not in us-central1. To free quota in us-central1, you would need to delete or stop instances that are actually located in that region. Thus, this action has no effect on your ability to create an instance in us-central1.
- ✓
Request a quota increase for CPUs in us-central1
Why this is correct
Requesting a quota increase is the correct action because it raises the regional vCPU cap for your project. In the Google Cloud Console, navigate to IAM & Admin > Quotas, filter by the 'Compute Engine API' service and 'CPUs' metric, select the 'us-central1' region, and click 'Edit' to request a higher limit. This permanently increases the allowed number of vCPUs, and for standard adjustments it is often approved immediately or after a short review. This addresses the root cause directly and allows you to provision the instance as intended.
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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
Region
A region is a distinct geographic location where a cloud provider operates multiple data centers that are connected by low-latency networks and provide cloud services.
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JA
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.