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GCDL Practice Question: A business analyst needs to understand why cloud…
This GCDL practice question tests your understanding of a business analyst needs to understand why cloud…. 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 business analyst needs to understand why cloud services bill differently for compute (VMs) versus object storage. Compute VMs are billed per second while they are running; Cloud Storage is billed per GB-month of data stored. Which cloud pricing principle explains why these billing units are different?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
A
Distractor review
The billing difference is a temporary situation; cloud providers are working toward a single universal billing unit for all services
Different billing units for different resource types are a permanent, logical feature of cloud pricing — not a temporary inconsistency. Each unit reflects the nature of the resource's consumption.
B
Distractor review
Cloud providers bill different resources differently to maximize revenue by charging the highest rates for the most-used services
Pricing unit differences reflect the nature of the resource being consumed, not revenue maximization. Storage pricing in GB-months reflects that storage consumption accumulates over time independently of active use.
C
Best answer
Cloud resources are billed based on their natural unit of consumption: compute time for VMs (per second running) and data volume over time for storage (per GB-month) — matching billing to how each resource is actually consumed
This is the correct explanation. Billing models match consumption patterns: VMs consume CPU/memory as long as they run (time-based), while storage accumulates data that persists over time (data×time). This measured service model ensures billing is proportional to actual resource use.
D
Distractor review
Storage is charged per GB-month because cloud providers cannot measure storage usage per second accurately
Cloud providers measure storage with high precision. The GB-month unit is a deliberate design choice reflecting the cumulative nature of storage consumption, not a measurement limitation.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: NAT rules depend on direction and matching traffic
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
- PAT allows many inside hosts to share one public address using ports.
- Inside local and inside global describe the private and translated addresses.
- NAT ACLs identify traffic for translation, not always security filtering.
TExam Day Tips
- Identify inside and outside interfaces first.
- Check whether the scenario needs static NAT, dynamic NAT or PAT.
- Do not confuse NAT matching ACLs with normal packet-filtering intent.
Key takeaway
NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Related practice questions
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More questions from this exam
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Question 1
A traditional retailer currently maintains its own data centers, purchasing servers every 3–5 years and paying for facilities, power, and staff regardless of demand. When it migrates its workloads to the public cloud, which change in cost model does it experience?
Question 2
An e-commerce company plans its infrastructure for peak shopping events (e.g., Black Friday) which drive 50× normal traffic. On-premises, they must maintain 50× capacity year-round. In the cloud, they provision 50× capacity only during peak periods. Which cloud characteristic enables this cost optimization?
Question 3
Which term describes the process by which organizations integrate digital technology into all areas of their business, fundamentally changing how they operate and deliver value to customers?
Question 4
When a company moves from maintaining its own data center to using Google Cloud, which operational responsibility does Google assume that the company previously managed?
Question 5
A hospital runs a patient records system that must remain on-premises due to strict regulatory data residency requirements. However, they also want to use cloud-based AI for diagnostic imaging analysis. Which cloud deployment model best describes their architecture?
Question 6
What is virtualization in the context of cloud computing, and why is it fundamental to how cloud providers deliver services?
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this GCDL question test?
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Cloud resources are billed based on their natural unit of consumption: compute time for VMs (per second running) and data volume over time for storage (per GB-month) — matching billing to how each resource is actually consumed — Cloud billing reflects the actual nature of each resource's consumption. Compute resources (CPU, memory) are consumed continuously as long as the VM is running — measured in time units. Storage resources (disk space) are consumed based on how much data is stored and for how long — measured in data-time units. Cloud pricing is designed to match the unit of consumption for each resource type, ensuring customers pay proportionally to actual usage.
What should I do if I get this GCDL question wrong?
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related GCDL NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
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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.