- A
Recreate strategy
Why wrong: Recreate terminates all existing Pods before creating new ones — this causes a service interruption during the update.
- B
Blue-green deployment using a separate Deployment and Service selector swap
Why wrong: Blue-green is valid for zero-downtime updates but requires maintaining two full sets of Pods simultaneously and additional infrastructure setup.
- C
RollingUpdate strategy
RollingUpdate is the default Kubernetes Deployment strategy — it replaces old Pods progressively, ensuring the service remains available throughout the update.
- D
Canary deployment with a traffic-splitting ingress
Why wrong: Canary deployments are valid but require additional infrastructure (weighted ingress rules, separate Deployments) — RollingUpdate achieves zero-downtime updates more simply.
Quick Answer
The answer is the RollingUpdate strategy. This is the correct choice because it gradually replaces old Pods with new ones while keeping the Deployment fully available, achieving the required zero downtime gradual replacement. By default, a RollingUpdate uses a `maxSurge` of 25% and `maxUnavailable` of 25%, meaning it spins up new Pods before terminating old ones in a controlled, incremental fashion rather than destroying all Pods at once. On the Google Associate Cloud Engineer exam, this concept tests your understanding of Deployment update strategies, often appearing in scenario-based questions that contrast RollingUpdate with the Recreate strategy, which kills all old Pods before creating new ones and thus causes downtime. A common trap is confusing `maxSurge` with `maxUnavailable` or assuming a Recreate strategy can achieve zero downtime. Memory tip: think of a rolling wave — the new version rolls in while the old version rolls out, keeping the beach (your application) always covered.
Google ACE Practice Question: Ensuring successful operation of a cloud solution
This ACE practice question tests your understanding of ensuring successful operation of a cloud solution. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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 GKE Deployment must be updated to a new container image version with zero downtime — old Pods should be replaced gradually, not all at once. Which update strategy should be configured?
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
RollingUpdate strategy
The RollingUpdate strategy is correct because it gradually replaces old Pods with new ones while keeping the Deployment available, ensuring zero downtime. By default, it uses a `maxSurge` of 25% and `maxUnavailable` of 25%, allowing a controlled, incremental rollout that matches the requirement of replacing Pods gradually rather than all at once.
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.
- ✗
Recreate strategy
Why it's wrong here
Recreate terminates all existing Pods before creating new ones — this causes a service interruption during the update.
- ✗
Blue-green deployment using a separate Deployment and Service selector swap
Why it's wrong here
Blue-green is valid for zero-downtime updates but requires maintaining two full sets of Pods simultaneously and additional infrastructure setup.
- ✓
RollingUpdate strategy
Why this is correct
RollingUpdate is the default Kubernetes Deployment strategy — it replaces old Pods progressively, ensuring the service remains available throughout the update.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Canary deployment with a traffic-splitting ingress
Why it's wrong here
Canary deployments are valid but require additional infrastructure (weighted ingress rules, separate Deployments) — RollingUpdate achieves zero-downtime updates more simply.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google Cloud often tests the distinction between Deployment update strategies (Recreate vs. RollingUpdate) and higher-level deployment patterns (blue-green, canary), leading candidates to choose a pattern that is not a native Deployment strategy.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, the RollingUpdate strategy leverages the Kubernetes Deployment controller's ReplicaSet management: it creates a new ReplicaSet with the updated image and scales it up while scaling down the old ReplicaSet, respecting `maxSurge` (extra Pods above desired count) and `maxUnavailable` (allowed unavailable Pods). A real-world scenario where this matters is during a critical security patch rollout where you must maintain service availability; tuning `maxSurge` to 10% and `maxUnavailable` to 0% ensures no Pods are ever unavailable but allows a slower rollout.
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 cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
- →
Ensuring successful operation of a cloud solution — study guide chapter
Learn the concepts, then practise the questions
- →
Ensuring successful operation of a cloud solution practice questions
Targeted practice on this topic area only
- →
All ACE questions
500 questions across all exam domains
- →
Google Associate Cloud Engineer study guide
Full concept coverage aligned to exam objectives
- →
ACE practice test guide
How to use practice tests most effectively before exam day
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.
Setting up a cloud solution environment practice questions
Practise ACE questions linked to Setting up a cloud solution environment.
Planning and configuring a cloud solution practice questions
Practise ACE questions linked to Planning and configuring a cloud solution.
Deploying and implementing a cloud solution practice questions
Practise ACE questions linked to Deploying and implementing a cloud solution.
Ensuring successful operation of a cloud solution practice questions
Practise ACE questions linked to Ensuring successful operation of a cloud solution.
Configuring access and security practice questions
Practise ACE questions linked to Configuring access and security.
ACE fundamentals practice questions
Practise ACE questions linked to ACE fundamentals.
ACE scenario practice questions
Practise ACE questions linked to ACE scenario.
ACE troubleshooting practice questions
Practise ACE questions linked to ACE troubleshooting.
Practice this exam
Start a free ACE practice session
Short sessions build daily habit. Longer sessions build exam-day stamina. Try a timed session to simulate real conditions.
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this ACE question test?
Ensuring successful operation of a cloud solution — This question tests Ensuring successful operation of a cloud solution — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: RollingUpdate strategy — The RollingUpdate strategy is correct because it gradually replaces old Pods with new ones while keeping the Deployment available, ensuring zero downtime. By default, it uses a `maxSurge` of 25% and `maxUnavailable` of 25%, allowing a controlled, incremental rollout that matches the requirement of replacing Pods gradually rather than all at once.
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.
About these practice questions
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 →
Last reviewed: Jun 30, 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.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.