The Global external Application Load Balancer is the correct choice because it is the only Google Cloud load balancer designed to route HTTPS traffic globally to the nearest healthy backend region using anycast IP and client location, ensuring low latency and high availability. This works by presenting a single anycast IP address that directs each user to the closest healthy backend instance across multiple regions, making it ideal for a global web application that needs to route HTTPS traffic to the nearest region. On the Google Associate Cloud Engineer exam, this question tests your ability to distinguish between global and regional load balancers—a common trap is confusing the Global external Application Load Balancer with the regional External Application Load Balancer, which cannot route across regions. Remember the memory tip: for global HTTPS traffic, think "Global ALB" as in "Always Low latency and Broad reach."
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 global web application needs HTTPS traffic routed to backend services in multiple regions, directing each user to the nearest healthy endpoint. Which load balancer type should be used?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Global external Application Load Balancer
The Global external Application Load Balancer (ALB) is the correct choice because it provides cross-regional load balancing for HTTPS traffic, routing each user to the nearest healthy backend based on anycast IP and client location. This is essential for a global web application requiring low latency and high availability across multiple regions.
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.
✗
Regional external Network Load Balancer
Why it's wrong here
The regional network load balancer operates at Layer 4 within a single region — it cannot route traffic globally to multiple regions.
✓
Global external Application Load Balancer
Why this is correct
This load balancer uses Google's global anycast network to route HTTPS traffic to the nearest healthy backend across multiple regions.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Regional internal Application Load Balancer
Why it's wrong here
The internal load balancer is for traffic within a VPC — it's not accessible from the public internet or designed for global routing.
✗
Regional internal TCP/UDP load balancer
Why it's wrong here
This is a regional, internal, Layer 4 load balancer — it handles neither HTTPS nor global traffic routing.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google Cloud often tests the distinction between global and regional load balancers, and the trap here is that candidates may confuse a regional external Network Load Balancer (which handles TCP/UDP traffic but not HTTPS) with a global Application Load Balancer, overlooking the requirement for HTTPS termination and cross-regional routing.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The Global external Application Load Balancer uses Google Front End (GFE) infrastructure with anycast IPs, allowing it to terminate TLS at the edge and route requests to the closest healthy backend service based on latency and capacity. It supports advanced features like URL-based routing, traffic splitting, and Cloud CDN integration, making it ideal for global HTTPS applications. Under the hood, it leverages Google's global network to provide a single anycast IP address that directs users to the nearest regional backend, reducing latency and improving resilience.
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: Global external Application Load Balancer — The Global external Application Load Balancer (ALB) is the correct choice because it provides cross-regional load balancing for HTTPS traffic, routing each user to the nearest healthy backend based on anycast IP and client location. This is essential for a global web application requiring low latency and high availability across multiple regions.
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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