Google ACE Practice Question: Ensuring successful operation of a cloud solution
This ACE practice question tests your understanding of ensuring successful operation of 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 runs a batch job on Compute Engine that processes large files from Cloud Storage. The job is taking longer than expected. The instances are using standard persistent disks. Which change would most likely improve I/O performance?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Replace standard persistent disks with SSD persistent disks.
Standard persistent disks (pd-standard) are backed by HDDs and have lower IOPS and throughput compared to SSD persistent disks (pd-ssd). Since the batch job processes large files from Cloud Storage, the bottleneck is likely disk I/O performance. Upgrading to SSD persistent disks provides higher IOPS and throughput, directly improving I/O performance for read/write operations.
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 regional persistent disks instead of zonal.
Why it's wrong here
Regional disks provide redundancy, not better performance.
✗
Increase the machine type to have more vCPUs.
Why it's wrong here
More vCPUs help CPU-bound jobs, but the bottleneck is I/O.
✗
Add local SSDs to the instances.
Why it's wrong here
Local SSDs are ephemeral and not suitable for persistent data; also data would be lost on instance stop.
✓
Replace standard persistent disks with SSD persistent disks.
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
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 distinction between persistent disk types (standard vs. SSD) versus disk replication options (zonal vs. regional), leading candidates to mistakenly choose regional disks for performance instead of durability.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Persistent disks are network-attached block storage; pd-standard offers up to 0.75 MB/s per GB of throughput and 0.75 IOPS per GB, while pd-ssd offers up to 1.5 MB/s per GB and 30 IOPS per GB. For large file processing, sequential read/write throughput is critical, and pd-ssd provides significantly higher throughput limits. Additionally, persistent disk performance scales with disk size, so using larger pd-ssd disks can further improve I/O.
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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this ACE question in full detail.
Ensuring successful operation of a cloud solution — This question tests Ensuring successful operation of a cloud solution — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Replace standard persistent disks with SSD persistent disks. — Standard persistent disks (pd-standard) are backed by HDDs and have lower IOPS and throughput compared to SSD persistent disks (pd-ssd). Since the batch job processes large files from Cloud Storage, the bottleneck is likely disk I/O performance. Upgrading to SSD persistent disks provides higher IOPS and throughput, directly improving I/O performance for read/write operations.
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.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
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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