hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
Google PCA Practice Question: Deploy a microservices architecture on Google…
A company wants to deploy a microservices architecture on Google Cloud. They need a service mesh to manage traffic, security, and observability across services. They also want to run workloads on both GKE and Compute Engine. Which solution should they use?
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 Service Mesh (Anthos Service Mesh)
Anthos Service Mesh (based on Istio) provides traffic management, security, and observability for microservices across GKE, Compute Engine, and on-premises. Cloud Service Mesh is the same. Istio alone is open-source but not fully managed. Cloud Run for Anthos is for serverless. Traffic Director is for VM-based load balancing but not a full service mesh.
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 Service Mesh (Anthos Service Mesh)
Why this is correct
It provides a fully managed service mesh across GKE and Compute Engine with Istio compatibility.
- ✗
Cloud Run for Anthos
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Run for Anthos is for serverless containers, not a service mesh.
- ✗
Istio open-source installation on GKE
Why it's wrong here
Open-source Istio requires manual management and does not natively support Compute Engine.
- ✗
Traffic Director
Why it's wrong here
Traffic Director provides load balancing for VMs but is not a full service mesh.
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
Learn chapter
Introduction to Google Cloud Platform
Key term
Cloud Run
Cloud Run is a fully managed compute platform from Google Cloud that lets you run containerized applications in a serverless environment, automatically scaling from zero to thousands of requests.
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.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PCA 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 PCA exam.