PCDOE Implementing service monitoring strategies Practice Question
You are setting up alerting for a batch processing job that runs daily on Compute Engine. The job must complete within 2 hours. Which metric and alert condition should you use to ensure you are notified if the job is still running after 90 minutes?
⚠ Common exam trap
Google Cloud often tests the distinction between direct state monitoring (custom metric with start/end signals) and indirect signals (CPU, heartbeats, log counts), where candidates mistakenly choose an indirect metric that seems plausible but fails to accurately capture the specific condition of 'still running after 90 minutes'.
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
✓
Create a custom metric that emits 1 when the job starts and 0 when it finishes; alert if the metric is 1 for more than 90 minutes
It directly monitors the job's running state using a custom metric that emits 1 at job start and 0 at completion. By alerting when the metric remains at 1 for more than 90 minutes, you are notified if the job exceeds the 90-minute threshold, ensuring you catch failures before the 2-hour deadline. This approach is precise and avoids false positives from indirect signals like CPU or logs.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Alert on CPU utilization greater than 80% for the instance running the job
Why it's wrong here
CPU utilization may be high even after the job completes, or low during the job, leading to false negatives.
- ✓
Create a custom metric that emits 1 when the job starts and 0 when it finishes; alert if the metric is 1 for more than 90 minutes
Why this is correct
This directly measures job duration and triggers an alert if it exceeds 90 minutes.
- ✗
Use a heartbeat metric that reports every 5 minutes; alert if no heartbeat for 90 minutes
Why it's wrong here
No heartbeat for 90 minutes indicates a failure, not that the job is still running.
- ✗
Set up a log-based metric that counts job completion log entries; alert if the count is zero after 90 minutes
Why it's wrong here
A log-based metric counting completion entries cannot detect a running job because it only evaluates log data after the job finishes; if the count is zero after 90 minutes, the job may still be running or may have failed without logging completion. This option is tempting because it directly monitors job completion events, which would be correct if the requirement were to verify that the job finished at all, rather than to detect ongoing execution within a time window.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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