Cloud Digital Leader Fundamental Cloud Concepts Practice Question
A startup wants to deploy a containerized web application without managing servers or clusters. They need automatic scaling, a managed runtime, and pay only for resources used. Which Google Cloud service 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 Run
Cloud Run is a fully managed serverless platform for containers that automatically scales and charges only for resources used. It fits the requirements perfectly.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Cloud Run
Why this is correct
Cloud Run runs stateless containers on a fully managed serverless platform, automatically scaling from zero based on incoming requests and charging only for CPU and memory used during request processing. Since you simply provide a container image that implements an HTTP server, a containerized web app can be deployed with zero infrastructure provisioning, making it the lowest-friction, pay-per-use option for a startup.
- ✗
Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)
Why it's wrong here
Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) is a managed Kubernetes service, but it still requires you to provision and manage a node pool of virtual machines, configure autoscaling, handle cluster upgrades, and monitor node health. It is not serverless: you pay for the underlying compute nodes even when they are idle, and operational complexity is high, making it overkill for a simple containerized web app that needs only request-driven scaling.
- ✗
Compute Engine
Why it's wrong here
Compute Engine offers raw infrastructure-as-a-service virtual machines, so you must manually install a container runtime, deploy your containers, configure load balancing, apply OS patches, and implement autoscaling yourself. You pay for the allocated vCPUs and memory continuously, regardless of traffic, and you have to plan capacity for peak load, which adds significant operational burden and cost for a startup that wants to focus on its product.
- ✗
App Engine
Why it's wrong here
App Engine is serverless but does not natively run arbitrary custom containers in its standard environment, which only supports specific runtimes and languages. The flexible environment can run Docker containers, but it requires a Dockerfile that conforms to App Engine's app structure, has slower cold starts and request latency, and lacks the direct per-request billing granularity that Cloud Run offers for any container image.
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 |
Go deeper
Related to this question
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Cloud Digital Transformation
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.
Key term
Serverless
Serverless is a cloud computing model where the cloud provider manages the servers, and you only pay for the actual compute time your code uses, without having to worry about provisioning or maintaining infrastructure.
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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.