Google PCA Practice Question: Analysing and Optimising Technical and Business Processes
An organization wants to reduce costs for a batch data processing job that runs nightly and is resilient to interruptions. The job can be restarted from checkpoints. Which Compute Engine VM pricing model should be used?
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
✓
Preemptible VMs
Preemptible VMs and Spot VMs are significantly cheaper than standard VMs and can be terminated by Google Cloud at any time. Since the job is batch and can resume from checkpoints, interruptions are acceptable. Sustained use discounts apply automatically to standard VMs, but preemptible/spot VMs offer the lowest cost for fault-tolerant workloads.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
On-demand VMs
Why it's wrong here
On-demand VMs are the most expensive option and not cost-effective for a batch job that can tolerate interruptions.
- ✗
Sustained use discounts
Why it's wrong here
Sustained use discounts apply to standard VMs that run for a significant portion of a month, but preemptible/spot VMs are cheaper than even the maximum sustained use discount.
- ✗
Committed use discounts (1-year)
Why it's wrong here
Committed use discounts require a 1-year commitment and are not ideal for a job that may be interrupted; preemptible/spot cost less and have no commitment.
- ✓
Preemptible VMs
Why this is correct
Preemptible VMs cost about 60-91% less than standard VMs and are suitable for fault-tolerant batch jobs that can handle interruptions. The job can checkpoint and resume.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Introduction to Google Cloud Platform
Key term
Compute Engine
Compute Engine is Google Cloud's Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) offering that lets you create and run virtual machines on Google's infrastructure.
Key term
Organization
An Organization is a top-level container in Google Cloud that represents your company or entities and serves as the root node for all your cloud resources, policies, and access control.
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