Google ACE Planning and configuring a cloud solution Practice Question
This ACE practice question tests your understanding of planning and configuring a cloud solution. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A batch processing job runs on preemptible VMs in a managed instance group. The job frequently fails due to preemption. Which design change would most effectively improve the job's resilience?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Use a managed instance group with distribution across multiple zones and enable autoscaling.
Option D is correct because distributing the managed instance group across multiple zones and enabling autoscaling ensures that when preemptible VMs are terminated in one zone, the autoscaler can provision replacement VMs in another zone that still has capacity. This architecture leverages the fact that preemption events are often zone-specific, so multi-zone distribution combined with autoscaling provides resilience without requiring persistent resources.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Use committed use discounts (1-year or 3-year).
Why it's wrong here
Committed use discounts reduce cost but do not affect preemption.
✗
Add GPUs to the instances.
Why it's wrong here
GPUs are often not available on preemptible VMs and increase preemption risk.
✗
Use sole-tenant nodes.
Why it's wrong here
Sole-tenant nodes provide dedicated hardware but do not improve resilience to preemption.
✓
Use a managed instance group with distribution across multiple zones and enable autoscaling.
Why this is correct
Distributing across zones reduces the chance of all instances being preempted simultaneously; autoscaling replaces failed instances.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google Cloud often tests the misconception that committed use discounts or sole-tenant nodes provide preemption protection, when in fact they only affect pricing or hardware isolation, not the preemptible VM lifecycle.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Preemptible VMs have a maximum runtime of 24 hours and can be terminated at any time when Compute Engine needs to reclaim capacity, typically within 30 seconds of a preemption notice. By using a managed instance group with autoscaling and multi-zone distribution, the autoscaler monitors the target size and automatically recreates terminated instances, while the group's regional spread reduces the chance of simultaneous preemption across all zones. This design also allows the job to checkpoint progress and resume from the last saved state, which is critical for batch processing.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this ACE question in full detail.
Planning and configuring a cloud solution — This question tests Planning and configuring a cloud solution — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Use a managed instance group with distribution across multiple zones and enable autoscaling. — Option D is correct because distributing the managed instance group across multiple zones and enabling autoscaling ensures that when preemptible VMs are terminated in one zone, the autoscaler can provision replacement VMs in another zone that still has capacity. This architecture leverages the fact that preemption events are often zone-specific, so multi-zone distribution combined with autoscaling provides resilience without requiring persistent resources.
What should I do if I get this ACE question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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