Google PCA Practice Question: Managing and Provisioning a Solution Infrastructure
A developer wants to deploy a containerized web application on Google Cloud that can scale to zero when not in use and charges only for resources consumed during request processing. Which compute 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 serverless container platform that scales to zero when idle and charges per request, making it cost-effective for intermittent traffic. GKE requires at least one node to be running, so it cannot scale to zero. Compute Engine instances incur costs even when idle. App Engine Flexible Environment also runs at least one instance.
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 is serverless and can scale to zero, charging only for resources used during request processing. It is ideal for intermittent containerized workloads.
- ✗
Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)
Why it's wrong here
GKE requires at least one node in the cluster, so it cannot scale to zero. It is not serverless and incurs costs for idle resources.
- ✗
App Engine Flexible Environment
Why it's wrong here
App Engine Flexible Environment runs containers but always keeps at least one instance running, so it does not scale to zero.
- ✗
Compute Engine instance group
Why it's wrong here
Compute Engine instances are provisioned and billed per second, but you must keep at least one instance running to serve traffic. It cannot scale to zero.
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
CAN
A CAN (Controller Area Network) is a robust vehicle bus standard designed to allow microcontrollers and devices to communicate with each other without a host computer.
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JA
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.