Google PCA Practice Question: Managing and Provisioning a Solution Infrastructure
A data science team wants to run training jobs on a GKE cluster. The jobs are resource-intensive and can tolerate interruptions. To reduce costs, the team wants to use preemptible VMs for the node pool. Which additional step should they take to ensure training jobs are not lost when nodes are preempted?
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
✓
Enable cluster autoscaler on the node pool
A cluster autoscaler with a node pool of preemptible VMs will replace preempted nodes. For job resilience, the application should be designed to handle interruptions, but at the infrastructure level, enabling cluster autoscaler ensures new nodes are added.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use a PodDisruptionBudget
Why it's wrong here
PDB only protects against voluntary disruptions, not preemption.
- ✗
Set up a Cloud Scheduler job to recreate nodes
Why it's wrong here
Manual scheduling is not efficient; cluster autoscaler automates this.
- ✓
Enable cluster autoscaler on the node pool
Why this is correct
Cluster autoscaler will automatically add replacement nodes when preemptible VMs are terminated.
- ✗
Configure a Vertical Pod Autoscaler
Why it's wrong here
VPA adjusts resource requests, not node availability.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Google Cloud Resource Hierarchy and Organization
Key term
Autoscaler
An Autoscaler is a cloud service that automatically increases or decreases the number of virtual machines (instances) or resources based on real-time demand, so your application always has enough capacity without wasting money on idle servers.
Key term
Data
Data is raw, unprocessed information, like numbers, words, or measurements, that can be stored, processed, and analyzed by computers.
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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.