PCDOE Implementing service monitoring strategies Practice Question

Which TWO metrics should be monitored to detect a potential memory leak in a Compute Engine VM?

⚠ Common exam trap

Google Cloud often tests the misconception that CPU utilization is a primary indicator of memory leaks, but in reality, a leak can silently consume memory without spiking CPU until the system is critically low on memory.

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

✓

Process count

A memory leak causes processes to consume increasing amounts of memory without releasing it, leading to a growing process count as new instances of the leaking process are spawned or existing processes remain active. Monitoring the process count helps detect abnormal growth that correlates with memory exhaustion. Option C is correct because memory usage percentage directly reflects how much of the VM's available RAM is consumed; a steady upward trend without a corresponding increase in workload indicates a leak.

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

✗
CPU utilization
Why it's wrong here
High CPU could be due to many causes, not necessarily a memory leak.
✓
Process count
Why this is correct
A memory leak may cause the application to spawn more processes.
✓
Memory usage (percentage)
Why this is correct
Gradual increase in memory usage indicates a leak.
✗
Disk read IOPS
Why it's wrong here
Disk I/O is not directly related to memory leaks.
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Network bytes sent
Why it's wrong here
Network traffic is not indicative of memory leaks.

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PCDOE Implementing service monitoring strategies Practice Question

Why each option matters

Option-by-option breakdown

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