Cloud Digital Leader Fundamental Cloud Concepts Practice Question
A startup needs to migrate an on-premises web application to the cloud with minimal operational overhead. The application runs on a custom runtime that is difficult to containerize. The team wants to focus only on code, not infrastructure management. Which Google Cloud service is MOST appropriate?
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
✓
App Engine
App Engine is a PaaS offering that fully manages the runtime environment, allowing developers to deploy code without managing servers or containers. Cloud Run requires containerization, Compute Engine is IaaS (more overhead), and GKE requires managing Kubernetes clusters.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Compute Engine
Why it's wrong here
Compute Engine is an Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) offering that provides raw virtual machines. The team must install and maintain the OS, language runtime, web server, and all application dependencies, as well as handle patching and configure load balancing and autoscaling. For a startup focused on migrating a web app quickly, this creates significant operational overhead instead of reducing it.
- ✗
Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)
Why it's wrong here
Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) delivers orchestration for containerized workloads, but it requires the application to be packaged as a container image and the team to manage a Kubernetes cluster. Even with Autopilot mode, the startup still faces a steep learning curve around Pods, Services, Deployments, and cluster networking. Because the prompt explicitly states that containerization is difficult for this startup, GKE adds complexity rather than removing it.
- ✓
App Engine
Why this is correct
App Engine is a fully managed Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) that abstracts away the underlying infrastructure and runtime. Developers simply upload their source code, and App Engine handles provisioning, load balancing, autoscaling, and health checks. It supports standard environments such as Python, Java, Node.js, Go, and PHP, making it the lowest-effort option for migrating an existing web application without requiring containerization or cluster management.
- ✗
Cloud Run
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Run is a managed serverless compute platform that executes containers as requests arrive. While it offers automatic scaling down to zero and per-request billing, it requires the application to be built into a container image first. The startup specifically finds containerization difficult, so Cloud Run's dependency on Docker images is a barrier. In contrast, App Engine allows deployment directly from source code, making it a simpler fit for this team.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Cloud Digital Transformation
Key term
Anthos
Anthos is a Google Cloud platform that lets you run applications consistently across different computing environments, like on-premises data centers and multiple public clouds.
Key term
Google Cloud
Google Cloud is a suite of cloud computing services offered by Google that provides infrastructure, platform, and software solutions over the internet.
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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.