The answer is to create a custom machine type with exactly 96 vCPUs and 624 GB of RAM. This is correct because Google Cloud’s Compute Engine allows you to define custom machine types when no predefined machine type matches your exact vCPU and RAM requirements, giving you the flexibility to specify up to 96 vCPUs and 624 GB of memory without over-provisioning resources. On the Google Associate Cloud Engineer exam, this scenario tests your understanding of when to use custom versus predefined machine types, often appearing as a trap where candidates might incorrectly choose a predefined type with higher specs or a different family. A common memory tip is to remember the maximums: 96 vCPUs and 624 GB RAM for custom types, and that any exact specification within those limits is supported. Think “96 and 624, no more, no less” to recall the ceiling for custom configurations.
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 data science team needs a VM with 96 vCPUs and 624 GB of RAM. No predefined GCP machine type matches these exact specifications. What is the recommended approach?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create a custom machine type with exactly 96 vCPUs and 624 GB RAM
Option B is correct because Google Cloud allows you to create custom machine types when predefined machine types do not meet your exact requirements. Custom machine types let you specify the exact number of vCPUs (up to 96) and memory (up to 624 GB) for a VM, providing flexibility without over-provisioning resources.
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.
✗
Select the closest larger predefined N2 machine type
Why it's wrong here
Selecting a larger predefined type wastes resources and increases cost unnecessarily.
✓
Create a custom machine type with exactly 96 vCPUs and 624 GB RAM
Why this is correct
Custom machine types allow specifying exact vCPU and RAM combinations, avoiding resource waste while meeting exact requirements.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Split the workload across multiple smaller VMs and coordinate manually
Why it's wrong here
Distributing the workload adds architectural complexity and coordination overhead — a single custom VM is simpler and more appropriate.
✗
Contact Google Cloud support to request a new predefined machine type
Why it's wrong here
Custom machine types exist precisely for this scenario — requesting new predefined types is unnecessary.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may assume predefined machine types are the only option, overlooking the custom machine type feature that GCP provides for exact resource matching.
Trap categories for this question
Scenario analysis trap
Custom machine types exist precisely for this scenario — requesting new predefined types is unnecessary.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Custom machine types in GCP allow you to specify vCPU counts in increments of 2 (or 1 for certain generations) and memory in increments of 256 MB, with a maximum of 6.5 GB per vCPU for most machine series. For the N2 series, the maximum memory per vCPU is 8 GB, so 96 vCPUs with 624 GB RAM (6.5 GB/vCPU) is within limits. This flexibility is critical for memory-intensive workloads like in-memory databases or large-scale simulations that require precise resource allocation.
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
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
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: Create a custom machine type with exactly 96 vCPUs and 624 GB RAM — Option B is correct because Google Cloud allows you to create custom machine types when predefined machine types do not meet your exact requirements. Custom machine types let you specify the exact number of vCPUs (up to 96) and memory (up to 624 GB) for a VM, providing flexibility without over-provisioning resources.
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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Question Discussion
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