easyMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
PCD Practice Question: A company uses Cloud Monitoring to set up an…
A company uses Cloud Monitoring to set up an alerting policy for CPU utilization on Compute Engine instances. They want to be notified when average CPU usage exceeds 80% for 5 minutes. Which threshold type should they use?
⚠ Common exam trap
Google Cloud often tests the distinction between alerting on a sustained level (Threshold) versus alerting on a change (Change rate) or a prediction (Forecast), and candidates confuse 'average over time' with 'rate of change'.
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
✓
Threshold
A Threshold alerting policy in Cloud Monitoring triggers when a metric's value crosses a defined static boundary. For this use case, setting a threshold of 80% with a duration of 5 minutes directly matches the requirement to alert when average CPU usage exceeds 80% for that period.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Forecast
Why it's wrong here
Forecast alerts on predicted future values.
- ✗
Change rate
Why it's wrong here
Change rate alerts on sudden changes, not sustained high usage.
- ✓
Threshold
Why this is correct
Threshold alert fires when metric crosses a set value for a duration.
- ✗
Metric absence
Why it's wrong here
Metric absence alerts when data stops arriving.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PCD 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 PCD exam.