This ACE practice question tests your understanding of ensuring successful operation of 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's Google Kubernetes Engine cluster has experienced a sudden increase in latency. The team suspects a misconfigured node pool is causing resource contention. They want to verify the node's resource usage. Which command or tool should they use?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "which command"
Why it matters: Tests specific CLI syntax. Recall the exact command and its required context — near-synonyms and partial matches are common distractors.
Run 'gcloud container clusters describe cluster-name'.
Why wrong: This shows cluster metadata, not real-time resource usage.
Run 'kubectl top nodes'.
This shows CPU and memory usage per node.
Use the Cloud Console Monitoring page to view node metrics.
Why wrong: This is a valid approach but not a direct command-line tool.
Run 'kubectl describe node node-name'.
Why wrong: This shows node details but not aggregated utilization in a quick view.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Run 'kubectl top nodes'.
B is correct because 'kubectl top nodes' directly displays real-time CPU and memory usage for each node in the cluster, which is the fastest way to identify resource contention causing latency. This command leverages the metrics-server to aggregate resource metrics from kubelets, giving immediate insight into node-level utilization without additional overhead.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Run 'gcloud container clusters describe cluster-name'.
Why it's wrong here
This shows cluster metadata, not real-time resource usage.
Run 'kubectl top nodes'.
Why this is correct
This shows CPU and memory usage per node.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "which command" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Use the Cloud Console Monitoring page to view node metrics.
Why it's wrong here
This is a valid approach but not a direct command-line tool.
Run 'kubectl describe node node-name'.
Why it's wrong here
This shows node details but not aggregated utilization in a quick view.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates confuse 'kubectl describe node' (which shows static capacity and requests) with 'kubectl top nodes' (which shows actual live usage), leading them to choose D when they need real-time utilization data.
Trap categories for this question
Command / output trap
This shows cluster metadata, not real-time resource usage.
Detailed technical explanation
Under the hood, 'kubectl top nodes' queries the metrics-server, which collects resource usage from the kubelet's Summary API (cAdvisor) every 15 seconds. In a real-world scenario, if a node pool is misconfigured with insufficient CPU or memory, this command will show high utilization percentages, allowing engineers to correlate latency spikes with resource exhaustion before scaling or adjusting node pool settings.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.
What to study next
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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FAQ
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..
The correct answer is: Run 'kubectl top nodes'. — B is correct because 'kubectl top nodes' directly displays real-time CPU and memory usage for each node in the cluster, which is the fastest way to identify resource contention causing latency. This command leverages the metrics-server to aggregate resource metrics from kubelets, giving immediate insight into node-level utilization without additional overhead.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Yes — watch for: "which command". Tests specific CLI syntax. Recall the exact command and its required context — near-synonyms and partial matches are common distractors.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 25, 2026
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