Google ACE Planning and configuring a cloud solution Practice Question
This ACE practice question tests your understanding of planning and configuring a cloud solution. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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 company is using Cloud NAT to allow private instances to access the internet. However, they notice that traffic from different instances appears to come from the same external IP address. What is the reason?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Cloud NAT uses a single external IP by default unless you specify multiple.
Cloud NAT uses a source network address translation (SNAT) configuration that, by default, maps all outbound traffic from instances in a VPC network to a single external IP address. This is the expected behavior unless you explicitly configure multiple NAT IP addresses in a NAT gateway or use a Cloud Router with custom SNAT settings. Option B correctly identifies that Cloud NAT defaults to a single external IP unless you specify multiple.
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.
✗
Cloud NAT is not configured correctly; traffic should come from different IPs.
Why it's wrong here
Single IP is normal default behavior.
✓
Cloud NAT uses a single external IP by default unless you specify multiple.
Why this is correct
Default Cloud NAT uses one external IP; you can add more.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
The instances are using a shared VPC so NAT IP is shared.
Why it's wrong here
Shared VPC does not cause single IP; it's the NAT configuration.
✗
Each instance is assigned a unique external IP by Cloud NAT.
Why it's wrong here
Cloud NAT does not assign unique IPs per instance.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google Cloud often tests the misconception that Cloud NAT should assign unique external IPs per instance (like a public IP on a VM), when in fact the default behavior is SNAT with a single shared IP, and candidates may incorrectly assume a misconfiguration or shared VPC is the cause.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, Cloud NAT uses a Cloud Router to dynamically manage SNAT mappings, and by default it allocates a single external IP address from the configured IP range. The NAT gateway maintains a connection tracking table that maps internal source IP:port pairs to the external IP:port, allowing multiple instances to share the same external IP without conflict. In real-world scenarios, if you need to avoid IP-based rate limiting or geolocation issues, you can configure multiple NAT IPs or use manual IP allocation to distribute traffic across several addresses.
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
A company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
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: Cloud NAT uses a single external IP by default unless you specify multiple. — Cloud NAT uses a source network address translation (SNAT) configuration that, by default, maps all outbound traffic from instances in a VPC network to a single external IP address. This is the expected behavior unless you explicitly configure multiple NAT IP addresses in a NAT gateway or use a Cloud Router with custom SNAT settings. Option B correctly identifies that Cloud NAT defaults to a single external IP unless you specify multiple.
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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