- A
Cloud Storage in a multi-region bucket with direct public access
Why wrong: Multi-region buckets improve availability but don't provide CDN edge caching — users still connect to GCP regions, not edge PoPs close to them.
- B
Cloud Storage + Cloud CDN via a Global Load Balancer backend bucket
Enabling Cloud CDN on a Cloud Storage backend bucket caches video files at Google's edge PoPs globally, reducing latency and origin bandwidth for geographically distributed users.
- C
Upload video files to a Compute Engine VM with nginx serving them directly
Why wrong: Self-managed video serving on a VM adds operational overhead, lacks global edge caching, and provides worse global performance than Cloud CDN.
- D
Cloud Filestore with NFS-mounted streaming
Why wrong: Cloud Filestore is a managed NFS service for internal GCP workloads — it's not designed for global public video delivery.
Quick Answer
The answer is Cloud Storage combined with Cloud CDN via a Global Load Balancer backend bucket, as this architecture delivers the best low latency video streaming performance for large files stored in Cloud Storage. By terminating HTTP(S) traffic at the closest point of presence and caching content from a multi-region bucket, Cloud CDN reduces origin load and minimizes latency for global users. On the Google Associate Cloud Engineer exam, this scenario tests your understanding of how to optimize content delivery using edge-caching and global load balancing, often appearing as a direct question about serving large media files. A common trap is choosing Cloud Storage alone or a regional load balancer, which lacks the distributed caching needed for global low latency. Remember the memory tip: “CDN caches, LB balances, bucket stores” — for streaming, you need all three working together.
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 media company needs to serve large video files (average 2 GB) to global users with low latency. The files are stored in Cloud Storage. What combination of services delivers the best streaming performance?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"best"Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
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
Cloud Storage + Cloud CDN via a Global Load Balancer backend bucket
Cloud Storage combined with Cloud CDN via a Global Loader Balancer backend bucket is the best choice because it provides edge-caching of large video files, reducing latency for global users. The Global Load Balancer terminates HTTP(S) traffic at the closest point of presence, and Cloud CDN caches content from the multi-region bucket, minimizing origin load and improving streaming performance.
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.
- ✗
Cloud Storage in a multi-region bucket with direct public access
Why it's wrong here
Multi-region buckets improve availability but don't provide CDN edge caching — users still connect to GCP regions, not edge PoPs close to them.
- ✓
Cloud Storage + Cloud CDN via a Global Load Balancer backend bucket
Why this is correct
Enabling Cloud CDN on a Cloud Storage backend bucket caches video files at Google's edge PoPs globally, reducing latency and origin bandwidth for geographically distributed users.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Upload video files to a Compute Engine VM with nginx serving them directly
Why it's wrong here
Self-managed video serving on a VM adds operational overhead, lacks global edge caching, and provides worse global performance than Cloud CDN.
- ✗
Cloud Filestore with NFS-mounted streaming
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Filestore is a managed NFS service for internal GCP workloads — it's not designed for global public video delivery.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google Cloud often tests the misconception that direct Cloud Storage access (Option A) is sufficient for global low-latency streaming, but the trap is that without a CDN and load balancer, users experience high latency and the bucket cannot handle global traffic efficiently.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Cloud CDN uses Google's global edge cache network to store copies of content close to users; when a cache miss occurs, the request is forwarded to the backend bucket via the Global Load Balancer, which supports anycast IP for single-IP global routing. For large video files, Cloud CDN supports cache modes like FORCE_CACHE_ALL to override cache directives, and the backend bucket can be configured with signed URLs or IAM permissions for access control without exposing the bucket publicly.
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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
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.
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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: Cloud Storage + Cloud CDN via a Global Load Balancer backend bucket — Cloud Storage combined with Cloud CDN via a Global Loader Balancer backend bucket is the best choice because it provides edge-caching of large video files, reducing latency for global users. The Global Load Balancer terminates HTTP(S) traffic at the closest point of presence, and Cloud CDN caches content from the multi-region bucket, minimizing origin load and improving streaming performance.
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.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 30, 2026
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