Cloud Digital Leader How Google Cloud Resources Are Managed Practice Question
A startup expects unpredictable Compute Engine usage and wants to minimize costs without manual intervention. Which discount type automatically applies to VM instances that run for more than 25% of a month?
⚠ Common exam trap
GCDL often tests the confusion between automatic discounts (sustained use) and manual discounts (committed use, spot, preemptible), leading candidates to overlook that only SUDs apply automatically without any commitment or configuration.
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 discounts
Sustained use discounts (SUDs) are automatically applied to Compute Engine instances that run for more than 25% of a month. They provide a discount on the incremental usage beyond that threshold, with the discount increasing the longer the instance runs. No manual action or commitment is required, making them ideal for unpredictable workloads.
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 discounts
Why this is correct
Sustained use discounts are applied automatically to Compute Engine instances that run more than 25% of a billing month; the discount ramps up from 0% to 30% as utilization increases, requiring no upfront commitment or capacity reservation. Because this is assessed monthly based on actual run time per instance and region, it directly benefits workloads with unpredictable usage patterns, making it the only one of these options that adapts to usage without requiring a forecast or accepting termination risk.
- ✗
Committed use discounts
Why it's wrong here
Committed use discounts (CUDs) require you to purchase a fixed quantity of vCPUs, memory, GPUs, or other resources for a 1-year or 3-year term in a specific region. You pay for that committed capacity regardless of whether you actually use it, so this model assumes a predictable baseline and financially penalizes unpredictable demand. A startup with variable usage could end up paying for unused capacity, making CUDs the wrong choice for this scenario.
- ✗
Spot VM discounts
Why it's wrong here
Spot VMs are a non-guaranteed capacity offering that can be reclaimed by Compute Engine at any time; their discounts vary based on spot market prices and are not an automatic function of monthly usage. They are designed for fault-tolerance workloads that can withstand abrupt termination, not for generalized unpredictable always-on compute. Since the question asks about a discount that handles unpredictable usage without additional architectural constraints, Spot VMs do not fit the requirement.
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Preemptible VM discounts
Why it's wrong here
Preemptible VMs offer a flat, lower price but have a hard 24-hour maximum lifetime and can be terminated by Google at any time, making them unsuitable for workloads that must continue running. When terminated, the instance is not automatically restarted, so the workload must implement checkpointing or external orchestration to recover. This is not an automatic monthly discount but a tradeoff of cost for capacity risk, and does not solve the startup's need for unpredictable but continuous compute usage.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Google Cloud exam blueprint
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.