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 wants to set up a cost-effective disaster recovery solution for a critical application running on Compute Engine. The primary region is us-east1. The recovery point objective (RPO) is 1 hour, and recovery time objective (RTO) is 4 hours. Which strategy is most cost-effective?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "primary"
Why it matters: Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Cross-region replica of persistent disks using snapshot schedules every hour
Option C is the most cost-effective because it uses snapshot schedules to create cross-region replicas of persistent disks every hour, meeting the 1-hour RPO without requiring always-on compute resources. This approach minimizes costs by only storing incremental snapshots in Cloud Storage, while automated restore procedures can spin up instances in the secondary region within the 4-hour RTO.
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.
✗
Regular backups to Cloud Storage with automated scripts to restore in a different region
Why it's wrong here
Backups to Cloud Storage are possible but less integrated than snapshot schedules.
✗
Use managed instance groups in two regions with autoscaling
Why it's wrong here
Multi-region MIGs are costly and may exceed RTO?
✓
Cross-region replica of persistent disks using snapshot schedules every hour
Why this is correct
Snapshot schedules allow frequent, incremental backups suitable for DR.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "primary" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Active-active multi-region deployment with HTTP load balancer
Why it's wrong here
Active-active is costly and unnecessary for DR.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google Cloud often tests the misconception that active-active or multi-region instance groups are always the best for disaster recovery, but the trap here is that for cost-effectiveness with moderate RPO/RTO, a snapshot-based replication strategy is more appropriate than maintaining always-on infrastructure.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Cross-region snapshot replication uses Cloud Storage's multi-region storage class to asynchronously copy disk snapshots from the primary region to a secondary region, with incremental changes after the initial full snapshot. The snapshot schedule can be set to hourly intervals, ensuring that the RPO of 1 hour is met, and the restore process involves creating new persistent disks from the latest snapshot in the secondary region, which typically completes within minutes, well under the 4-hour RTO. This approach leverages Google Cloud's snapshot pricing, which charges only for the actual storage used, making it significantly cheaper than maintaining duplicate compute resources.
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: Cross-region replica of persistent disks using snapshot schedules every hour — Option C is the most cost-effective because it uses snapshot schedules to create cross-region replicas of persistent disks every hour, meeting the 1-hour RPO without requiring always-on compute resources. This approach minimizes costs by only storing incremental snapshots in Cloud Storage, while automated restore procedures can spin up instances in the secondary region within the 4-hour RTO.
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: "primary". Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
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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