This PCA practice question tests your understanding of manage and provision cloud infrastructure. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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 developer needs to deploy a containerized application on Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) with minimal operational overhead. They want to automatically scale the number of pods based on CPU utilization. Which GKE feature should they use?
Horizontal Pod Autoscaler.
HPA scales pods based on metrics like CPU.
Node auto-repair.
Why wrong: Node auto-repair fixes node health issues.
Vertical Pod Autoscaler.
Why wrong: VPA adjusts resource requests, not pod replicas.
Cluster Autoscaler.
Why wrong: Cluster Autoscaler adjusts node pool size.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Horizontal Pod Autoscaler.
The Horizontal Pod Autoscaler (HPA) is the correct choice because it automatically scales the number of pod replicas in a GKE deployment based on observed CPU utilization (or other custom metrics). This directly meets the requirement of scaling pods with minimal operational overhead, as HPA is a native Kubernetes resource that requires no manual intervention once configured.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Horizontal Pod Autoscaler.
Why this is correct
HPA scales pods based on metrics like CPU.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Node auto-repair.
Why it's wrong here
Node auto-repair fixes node health issues.
Vertical Pod Autoscaler.
Why it's wrong here
VPA adjusts resource requests, not pod replicas.
Cluster Autoscaler.
Why it's wrong here
Cluster Autoscaler adjusts node pool size.
Common exam traps
Google Cloud often tests the distinction between horizontal scaling (HPA) and vertical scaling (VPA), where candidates mistakenly choose VPA when the question explicitly asks for scaling the number of pods based on CPU utilization.
Detailed technical explanation
The HPA works by querying the Kubernetes Metrics Server (or custom metrics API) at a default interval of 15 seconds, then calculating the desired replica count using the formula: desiredReplicas = ceil(currentReplicas * (currentMetricValue / targetMetricValue)). In GKE, the HPA integrates with the Managed Instance Group to ensure that scaling decisions are efficient, but it does not manage node-level resources—only pod replicas within the existing cluster capacity.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
What to study next
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FAQ
Manage and provision cloud infrastructure — This question tests Manage and provision cloud infrastructure — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Horizontal Pod Autoscaler. — The Horizontal Pod Autoscaler (HPA) is the correct choice because it automatically scales the number of pod replicas in a GKE deployment based on observed CPU utilization (or other custom metrics). This directly meets the requirement of scaling pods with minimal operational overhead, as HPA is a native Kubernetes resource that requires no manual intervention once configured.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 30, 2026
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.
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