- A
On-demand VM pricing with committed use discounts (1-year CUD)
Why wrong: CUDs require a 1-year or 3-year commitment and provide ~37-57% savings. Spot VMs provide up to 91% savings for interruptible workloads — far more cost-effective for eligible batch jobs.
- B
Spot VMs (preemptible pricing)
Spot VMs cost up to 91% less than on-demand. For batch jobs with checkpointing that can tolerate interruption, this is the maximum cost optimization available.
- C
Sustained use discounts applied automatically to long-running VMs
Why wrong: Sustained use discounts apply to VMs that run >25% of the month — a nightly 4-hour batch job (15-20% of the month) may not fully qualify, and savings are far lower than Spot pricing.
- D
Standard on-demand pricing with no special configuration
Why wrong: Standard on-demand pricing is the most expensive option. For an interruptible batch workload, this provides no cost optimization.
Quick Answer
The answer is Spot VMs, also known as preemptible VMs, as they are the most appropriate Compute Engine pricing model for this batch processing workload. This is correct because Spot VMs offer massive cost savings—typically 60 to 91 percent less than on-demand pricing—by using Google Cloud’s excess capacity, which can be reclaimed at any time. Since the job runs for only four hours nightly, processes 10 TB of data, and tolerates interruption through checkpointing, the risk of preemption is manageable and the batch processing cost savings with Spot VMs directly align with the requirement to minimize expenses. On the Google Associate Cloud Engineer exam, this scenario tests your understanding of fault-tolerant, interruptible workloads versus sustained-use or committed-use discounts, which require longer, stable runs. A common trap is choosing preemptible VMs for stateful or time-sensitive jobs, but here the checkpointing makes Spot VMs ideal. Memory tip: think “Spot the savings, checkpoint the risk.”
Google ACE Planning and configuring a cloud solution Practice Question
This ACE practice question tests your understanding of planning and configuring a cloud solution. Compare every option against the stated constraints before choosing — the best answer satisfies all requirements, not just the most obvious one. 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 needs to run a batch processing workload that processes 10 TB of data nightly. The job runs for 4 hours and can tolerate interruption with checkpointing. Cost must be minimized. Which Compute Engine pricing model is most appropriate for the batch VMs?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Spot VMs (preemptible pricing)
Spot VMs (preemptible pricing) are the most cost-effective choice for batch workloads that are fault-tolerant and can handle interruptions via checkpointing. Since the job runs for only 4 hours nightly and can resume from checkpoints, Spot VMs offer up to 60-91% cost savings over on-demand pricing without requiring any commitment.
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.
- ✗
On-demand VM pricing with committed use discounts (1-year CUD)
Why it's wrong here
CUDs require a 1-year or 3-year commitment and provide ~37-57% savings. Spot VMs provide up to 91% savings for interruptible workloads — far more cost-effective for eligible batch jobs.
- ✓
Spot VMs (preemptible pricing)
Why this is correct
Spot VMs cost up to 91% less than on-demand. For batch jobs with checkpointing that can tolerate interruption, this is the maximum cost optimization available.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Sustained use discounts applied automatically to long-running VMs
Why it's wrong here
Sustained use discounts apply to VMs that run >25% of the month — a nightly 4-hour batch job (15-20% of the month) may not fully qualify, and savings are far lower than Spot pricing.
- ✗
Standard on-demand pricing with no special configuration
Why it's wrong here
Standard on-demand pricing is the most expensive option. For an interruptible batch workload, this provides no cost optimization.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may think sustained use discounts (Option C) are automatic and sufficient for any long-running workload, but they fail to realize that a 4-hour nightly job does not accumulate enough monthly usage to trigger significant discounts, making Spot VMs the clear winner for cost minimization.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Spot VMs in Compute Engine are reclaimed by Google with a 30-second notice when capacity is needed elsewhere, but checkpointing allows the batch job to save state every few minutes and resume from the last checkpoint on a new Spot VM. The cost savings can be up to 91% compared to on-demand, and since the job runs only 4 hours nightly, the risk of preemption is manageable—even if preempted once or twice, the total runtime stays within the window. In real-world scenarios, combining Spot VMs with a managed instance group and a custom checkpointing strategy (e.g., writing to Cloud Storage every 5 minutes) ensures near-zero data loss and minimal cost.
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.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this ACE question test?
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: Spot VMs (preemptible pricing) — Spot VMs (preemptible pricing) are the most cost-effective choice for batch workloads that are fault-tolerant and can handle interruptions via checkpointing. Since the job runs for only 4 hours nightly and can resume from checkpoints, Spot VMs offer up to 60-91% cost savings over on-demand pricing without requiring any commitment.
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.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
1 more ways this is tested on ACE
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A batch data processing job runs nightly for 4 hours and can tolerate interruption because it saves progress checkpoints every 15 minutes. Which VM option offers the greatest cost reduction?
easy- A.Custom machine type VM with reduced memory
- ✓ B.Spot VM
- C.Sole-tenant node VM
- D.Shielded VM
Why B: Spot VMs offer significant cost reduction (up to 60-91% discount) compared to standard VMs, making them ideal for fault-tolerant, interruptible batch workloads. Since the job saves checkpoints every 15 minutes, it can resume from the last checkpoint if preempted, fully leveraging the cost benefit of Spot VMs.
Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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.
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