PCNE Implementing VPC Instances Practice Question
A company has an application running on Compute Engine that needs to send traffic to a third-party SaaS service on the internet. The VMs have no external IPs. Which solution provides outbound connectivity with minimal configuration and allows source IP preservation?
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
✓
Use Cloud NAT with a static NAT IP
Cloud NAT allows VMs without external IPs to reach the internet. It preserves the source IP (the NAT IP) for outbound connections. It is regional and can be configured per subnet.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Configure a proxy instance with an external IP and route traffic through it
Why it's wrong here
This requires additional management and does not preserve the original source IP as seen by the SaaS (it would show the proxy's IP unless configured otherwise).
- ✓
Use Cloud NAT with a static NAT IP
Why this is correct
Cloud NAT provides outbound internet access for VMs without external IPs. Using a static NAT IP preserves source IP and provides consistent IP for whitelisting.
- ✗
Assign external IPs to each VM
Why it's wrong here
This would give VMs external IPs, which contradicts the requirement of no external IPs.
- ✗
Use Private Google Access
Why it's wrong here
Private Google Access only works for Google APIs, not for third-party SaaS on the internet.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PCNE 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 PCNE exam.