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.
Your organization has a hybrid cloud environment with an on-premises data center connected to Google Cloud via Cloud VPN. The VPN tunnel uses BGP with Cloud Router for dynamic routing. You need to increase the throughput between on-premises and GCP to support a new batch processing workload that transfers 20 Gbps of data. The on-premises gateway hardware supports multiple IPsec tunnels and ECMP (Equal-Cost Multi-Path). You want to maximize throughput without changing the existing on-premises equipment or network topology. Which solution should you implement?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create additional VPN tunnels to the same Cloud Router, enabling ECMP across them.
Option D is correct because creating additional VPN tunnels to the same Cloud Router and enabling ECMP allows the on-premises gateway to distribute traffic across multiple IPsec tunnels, effectively aggregating bandwidth up to the supported limit (e.g., 3 Gbps per tunnel, with up to 4 tunnels for 12 Gbps, or more with higher limits). This leverages the existing on-premises hardware's support for multiple tunnels and ECMP without requiring topology changes, and Cloud Router automatically handles BGP multipath to load-balance traffic across the tunnels.
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.
✗
Replace Cloud VPN with Dedicated Interconnect.
Why it's wrong here
Requires new physical connection and is not a minimal change.
✗
Enable Cloud NAT for the VPN tunnel.
Why it's wrong here
Cloud NAT does not affect VPN throughput; it allows outbound internet traffic.
✗
Upgrade the Cloud VPN gateway to a larger size.
Why it's wrong here
Cloud VPNgateway is a managed service with fixed capacity; no upgrade option exists.
✓
Create additional VPN tunnels to the same Cloud Router, enabling ECMP across them.
Why this is correct
Adds more tunnels to increase bandwidth without hardware replacement.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates assume upgrading the VPNgateway (Option C) increases throughput, but Cloud VPN gateways are fixed at 3 Gbps per tunnel, and the only way to scale is via multiple tunnels with ECMP, not a single larger gateway.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Cloud Router uses BGP with the 'multipath' feature (RFC 7911) to advertise the same routes over multiple VPN tunnels, enabling ECMP on the on-premises side. Each IPsec tunnel in HA VPN supports up to 3 Gbps, and by creating up to 4 tunnels (or more with partner gateways), you can achieve up to 12 Gbps or higher, though 20 Gbps may require additional tunnels or a combination with Partner Interconnect. The on-premises gateway must support BGP multipath and have sufficient bandwidth to handle the aggregate traffic.
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.
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 additional VPN tunnels to the same Cloud Router, enabling ECMP across them. — Option D is correct because creating additional VPN tunnels to the same Cloud Router and enabling ECMP allows the on-premises gateway to distribute traffic across multiple IPsec tunnels, effectively aggregating bandwidth up to the supported limit (e.g., 3 Gbps per tunnel, with up to 4 tunnels for 12 Gbps, or more with higher limits). This leverages the existing on-premises hardware's support for multiple tunnels and ECMP without requiring topology changes, and Cloud Router automatically handles BGP multipath to load-balance traffic across the tunnels.
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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