PCNE Configuring Network Services Practice Question
Exhibit
$ gcloud compute forwarding-rules describe my-https-lb --region=us-central1 --- creationTimestamp: '2024-01-15T10:30:00.000-08:00' description: '' IPAddress: 34.123.45.67 IPProtocol: TCP loadBalancingScheme: INTERNAL_MANAGED name: my-https-lb networkTier: STANDARD portRange: 443-443 region: us-central1 target: https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/my-project/regions/us-central1/targetHttpsProxies/my-https-proxy
Refer to the exhibit. A network team has created this load balancer. Clients inside the VPC are unable to connect to the load balancer's IP address from a Compute Engine instance in the same VPC. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
Google Cloud often tests the distinction between network tier STANDARD and PREMIUM, trapping candidates who assume all load balancer IPs are reachable from within the VPC regardless of tier, when in fact STANDARD tier IPs are external-only and require public internet routing.
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
✓
The load balancer is configured with network tier STANDARD, which does not support internal traffic.
A load balancer configured with network tier STANDARD uses the Premium Tier's external IP addressing, which does not support internal traffic routing within the same VPC. Clients inside the VPC attempting to connect to the load balancer's IP address from a Compute Engine instance in the same VPC will fail because STANDARD tier IPs are designed for external internet-facing traffic and cannot be reached from within the VPC without a public IP and appropriate routing. The load balancer must use the Premium Tier (network tier PREMIUM) to support internal client traffic within the same VPC.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The target HTTPS proxy is not properly configured to use a backend service.
Why it's wrong here
The exhibit shows a valid target; the issue is the network tier, not the proxy configuration.
- ✓
The load balancer is configured with network tier STANDARD, which does not support internal traffic.
Why this is correct
Internal load balancers must use Premium Tier. Standard tier is for external load balancers only.
- ✗
The load balancer is using INTERNAL_MANAGED scheme, which requires the clients to be in a different region.
Why it's wrong here
Internal managed load balancers are regional and can serve clients within the same region.
- ✗
The load balancer does not have a backend service configured.
Why it's wrong here
While a backend service is needed for traffic to reach instances, clients can still establish TCP connections to the load balancer IP even without a backend.
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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.