ACE Practice Question: A team is designing a system where two GCP…
This ACE practice question tests your understanding of a team is designing a system where two gcp…. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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 team is designing a system where two GCP projects — a shared services project and an application project — need their VMs to communicate using private IPs. Both projects are in the same organization. Which networking option best enables this with centralized network management?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
Distractor review
VPC Peering between the two projects' VPCs
VPC Peering connects separate VPCs and allows private IP communication, but each project manages its own VPC. It doesn't provide centralized network management.
Best answer
Shared VPC (XPN) with the shared services project as the host
Shared VPC centralizes network management in the host project while allowing service project VMs to use shared subnets with private IPs — ideal for organization-wide network governance.
Distractor review
Cloud VPN between the two projects' default VPCs
Cloud VPN connects networks over an encrypted tunnel — it adds latency and complexity for two projects in the same organization where direct private IP connectivity is possible.
Distractor review
Using external IPs with TLS — private IP communication isn't necessary between GCP projects
Using external IPs adds unnecessary exposure, egress costs, and latency. Private IP communication between projects is a standard requirement addressed by Shared VPC or VPC Peering.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: usable hosts are not the same as total addresses
Subnetting questions often tempt you into counting all addresses. In normal IPv4 subnets, the network and broadcast addresses are not usable host addresses.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
Subnetting questions test whether you can identify the network, broadcast address, usable range, mask and correct subnet. Slow down enough to calculate the block size correctly.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
- Block size helps identify subnet boundaries.
- Network and broadcast addresses are not usable hosts in normal IPv4 subnets.
- The required host count determines the smallest suitable subnet.
TExam Day Tips
- Write the block size before choosing the subnet.
- Check whether the question asks for hosts, subnets or a specific address range.
- Do not confuse /24, /25, /26 and /27 host counts.
Key takeaway
Count usable hosts — not total addresses — and remember that the network and broadcast addresses are not available to hosts in standard IPv4 subnets.
Related practice questions
Related ACE practice-question pages
Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.
More questions from this exam
Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
Question 1
What is the correct order of the Google Cloud resource hierarchy from highest to lowest level?
Question 2
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Question 3
Which gcloud command creates a Compute Engine VM named 'web-01' using the e2-medium machine type in zone us-central1-a?
Question 4
A team wants to receive an email alert when the average CPU utilization of VMs in a managed instance group exceeds 80% for more than 5 minutes. What should they create in Cloud Monitoring?
Question 5
A junior developer needs read-only access to all GCP resources in a project. Which IAM role grants the minimum permissions required?
Question 6
A startup creates its first Google Cloud project. Before deploying any paid resources, what must be linked to the project?
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this ACE question test?
CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Shared VPC (XPN) with the shared services project as the host — Shared VPC (XPN) allows one project (the host project) to share its VPC subnets with other projects (service projects). VMs in all projects can use private IPs within the shared subnets, with network management centralized in the host project. VPC Peering connects separate VPCs but requires each project to manage its own VPC.
What should I do if I get this ACE question wrong?
Review block sizes, usable host formulas (2^n − 2), and how to find network and broadcast addresses for /24 through /30. Then practise related ACE subnetting questions on CIDR, address ranges, and subnet selection.
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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.