ACE Practice Question: Designing a GKE cluster for a workload that…
This ACE practice question tests your understanding of designing a gke cluster for a workload that…. 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.
You are designing a GKE cluster for a workload that requires high-memory instances (768 GB RAM) for in-memory analytics. Standard machine types in GCP don't offer this configuration. Which machine family should you select for the node pool?
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
N2 machine family with custom vCPU and memory configuration
N2 custom machines support up to 896 GB memory per VM, but the memory-optimized M series is specifically designed and priced for high-memory workloads with better per-GB memory pricing.
Distractor review
Compute-optimized (C2) machine family
C2 machines are optimized for CPU-intensive workloads with high clock speeds, not for large memory configurations. C2 machines have moderate memory relative to CPU.
Best answer
Memory-optimized (M1 or M2) machine family
M1 (m1-megamem, m1-ultramem) and M2 (m2-megamem, m2-ultramem, m2-hypermem) are purpose-built for high-memory workloads, offering configurations well above 768 GB RAM.
Distractor review
Accelerator-optimized (A2) machine family
A2 machines are optimized for GPU-accelerated workloads (NVIDIA A100 GPUs). They are not designed for high-memory analytics without GPU computation.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
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.
- Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
- Underline the problem statement mentally.
- 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.
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?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Memory-optimized (M1 or M2) machine family — GCP's memory-optimized machine family (M1 and M2 series) is designed for workloads requiring large amounts of memory. M2 series offers up to 12 TB of RAM, while M1 offers up to 3.75 TB. These are purpose-built for in-memory databases, SAP HANA, and analytics workloads. The N2 and E2 families have lower memory-to-vCPU ratios and don't support configurations up to 768 GB.
What should I do if I get this ACE question wrong?
Identify which ACE exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
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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.