Google PCA Manage and provision cloud infrastructure Practice Question
A startup is deploying a new web application on Google Cloud. They want to minimize operational overhead and ensure the application scales automatically based on traffic. They also want to pay only for what they use. Which Google Cloud service should the architect recommend?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that managed instance groups or GKE are less operational overhead because they are managed, but they still require significant configuration and maintenance.
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 fully managed serverless platform that automatically scales based on traffic, scales to zero, and charges only for resources used during request processing. It requires no infrastructure management, making it ideal for minimizing operational overhead while meeting autoscaling and pay-per-use requirements.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Compute Engine managed instance groups with autoscaling.
Why it's wrong here
Managed instance groups with autoscaling can scale automatically, but they require managing the underlying VMs, including patching and configuration. This adds operational overhead compared to a fully managed serverless platform. The startup wants to minimize operational overhead, so this is not the best fit.
- ✓
Cloud Run.
Why this is correct
Cloud Run is a fully managed serverless platform that automatically scales containers based on traffic, including scaling to zero when there is no traffic. It abstracts away infrastructure management, so the startup only pays for resources used during request processing. This minimizes operational overhead and aligns with the pay-per-use requirement.
- ✗
App Engine standard environment.
Why it's wrong here
App Engine standard is a fully managed serverless platform that scales automatically, but it has runtime restrictions and may not support all languages or libraries. Cloud Run offers more flexibility with containers and also scales to zero. For a new web application, Cloud Run is generally more versatile and still minimizes operational overhead.
- ✗
Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) with cluster autoscaler.
Why it's wrong here
GKE provides container orchestration and autoscaling, but it still requires managing the cluster, nodes, and workloads. This introduces operational overhead for a startup that wants to minimize management. While it offers more control, it is not the least operational overhead option.
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
Billing, Budgets, and Cost Management
Key term
Service
A service is a software component or system that performs a specific function and is available to be used by other programs or users over a network.
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.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Google Cloud exam blueprint
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.