Google ACE Planning and configuring a cloud solution Practice Question
This ACE practice question tests your understanding of planning and configuring a cloud solution. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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 needs to store 50 TB of access logs that are rarely accessed (once a year) and must be retained for 7 years. Which storage option is the most cost-effective?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Archive Storage
Archive Storage is the most cost-effective option for data that is accessed less than once a year and must be retained for 7 years. It offers the lowest storage cost among Google Cloud storage classes, specifically designed for long-term, infrequently accessed data with a 365-day minimum storage duration and a higher retrieval cost, which is acceptable given the rare access pattern.
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.
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Nearline Storage
Why it's wrong here
Nearline is for data accessed less than once a month, not as cost-effective for yearly access.
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Regional persistent disk
Why it's wrong here
Persistent disk is for VM storage and not designed for long-term archival; cost is higher.
✓
Archive Storage
Why this is correct
Archive Storage has the lowest cost for data accessed less than once a year and with a 365-day minimum.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Coldline Storage
Why it's wrong here
Coldline is for data accessed less than once a quarter; still more expensive than Archive.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google Cloud often tests the distinction between Coldline and Archive storage by making candidates assume 'cold' is the cheapest, but Archive Storage is the true lowest-cost tier for data accessed less than once a year, with a longer minimum storage duration and higher retrieval fees.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Google Cloud Archive Storage uses a single-redundancy model (no geo-redundancy) to achieve the lowest storage cost, with a 365-day minimum storage duration and a 0.0012 USD per GB per month price (as of standard pricing). Retrieval costs are higher (e.g., 0.05 USD per GB) and data cannot be accessed directly; it must be restored to a standard storage class first, which can take up to 24 hours. This trade-off is ideal for compliance-driven retention where access is rare, such as audit logs or legal holds.
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 startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
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: Archive Storage — Archive Storage is the most cost-effective option for data that is accessed less than once a year and must be retained for 7 years. It offers the lowest storage cost among Google Cloud storage classes, specifically designed for long-term, infrequently accessed data with a 365-day minimum storage duration and a higher retrieval cost, which is acceptable given the rare access pattern.
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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This ACE 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 ACE exam.
Question Discussion
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