- A
Blue/green deployment, where two identical environments run simultaneously and traffic is switched atomically
Why wrong: Blue/green switches all traffic at once from the old (blue) to new (green) environment. The gradual percentage-based rollout described is not blue/green.
- B
Canary deployment, where a new version receives a small percentage of traffic first and is progressively rolled out as metrics confirm it is healthy
Canary deployment precisely matches the description: 5% traffic initially, monitoring, then gradual increase to 100%. The term comes from the mining practice of using canaries to detect dangerous gas — the canary deployment detects problems before full rollout.
- C
Rolling deployment, where instances are updated sequentially one at a time until all run the new version
Why wrong: Rolling deployment replaces instances sequentially (all run the new version once done). It doesn't maintain a percentage traffic split or provide the fine-grained control of a canary.
- D
Recreate deployment, where the old version is terminated before the new version is deployed
Why wrong: Recreate deployment causes downtime by shutting down old instances before starting new ones. The described gradual rollout maintains both versions running simultaneously — the opposite of recreate.
What is a Canary Deployment and How Does It Work?
This GCDL practice question tests your understanding of scaling with google cloud operations. 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 DevOps team wants to implement a release process where a new application version is first deployed to 5% of production traffic, monitored for errors, then gradually increased to 100% if metrics remain healthy. Which deployment strategy does this describe?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"first"Why it matters: Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.
Quick Answer
The answer is a canary deployment, where a new application version is first exposed to a small percentage of production traffic—such as 5%—and then gradually increased to 100% only if key metrics like error rate, latency, and CPU usage remain healthy. This strategy minimizes risk by validating the release on a real but limited user base before a full rollout, making it ideal for catching issues early without impacting all users. On the Google Cloud Digital Leader exam, this question tests your understanding of deployment strategies and their operational benefits; a common trap is confusing canary with blue/green deployments, which swap entire environments rather than incrementally shifting traffic. A helpful memory tip: think of a canary in a coal mine—the small, early exposure warns you of danger before the whole system is affected.
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
Canary deployment, where a new version receives a small percentage of traffic first and is progressively rolled out as metrics confirm it is healthy
This describes a canary deployment, where the new version is initially exposed to a small subset of users (e.g., 5% of traffic) and then gradually rolled out to 100% only if key metrics (latency, error rate, CPU usage) remain within acceptable thresholds. Google Cloud's Deployment Manager and GKE support canary deployments via traffic splitting with services like Istio or native GKE ingress, allowing fine-grained control over the rollout percentage.
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.
- ✗
Blue/green deployment, where two identical environments run simultaneously and traffic is switched atomically
Why it's wrong here
Blue/green switches all traffic at once from the old (blue) to new (green) environment. The gradual percentage-based rollout described is not blue/green.
- ✓
Canary deployment, where a new version receives a small percentage of traffic first and is progressively rolled out as metrics confirm it is healthy
Why this is correct
Canary deployment precisely matches the description: 5% traffic initially, monitoring, then gradual increase to 100%. The term comes from the mining practice of using canaries to detect dangerous gas — the canary deployment detects problems before full rollout.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "first" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Rolling deployment, where instances are updated sequentially one at a time until all run the new version
Why it's wrong here
Rolling deployment replaces instances sequentially (all run the new version once done). It doesn't maintain a percentage traffic split or provide the fine-grained control of a canary.
- ✗
Recreate deployment, where the old version is terminated before the new version is deployed
Why it's wrong here
Recreate deployment causes downtime by shutting down old instances before starting new ones. The described gradual rollout maintains both versions running simultaneously — the opposite of recreate.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The GCDL exam often tests the distinction between canary and blue/green deployments by emphasizing the 'gradual percentage increase' versus 'atomic switch' — the trap here is that candidates confuse the 5% initial traffic with blue/green's 'staging' environment, but blue/green does not use progressive traffic shifting.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
In Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), canary deployments are often implemented using a Service with a selector that matches both stable and canary pods, combined with a traffic-splitting mechanism like Istio's VirtualService or GKE's native ingress with weighted backend services. The canary's health is evaluated using Stackdriver Monitoring metrics (e.g., request latency, 5xx error count) and can be automated with Cloud Deploy's rollout strategies or Spinnaker pipelines. A subtle behavior: if the canary's error rate spikes, the rollout can be automatically rolled back by reducing the canary weight to 0% without affecting the stable version.
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.
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Scaling with Google Cloud operations — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this GCDL question test?
Scaling with Google Cloud operations — This question tests Scaling with Google Cloud operations — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Canary deployment, where a new version receives a small percentage of traffic first and is progressively rolled out as metrics confirm it is healthy — This describes a canary deployment, where the new version is initially exposed to a small subset of users (e.g., 5% of traffic) and then gradually rolled out to 100% only if key metrics (latency, error rate, CPU usage) remain within acceptable thresholds. Google Cloud's Deployment Manager and GKE support canary deployments via traffic splitting with services like Istio or native GKE ingress, allowing fine-grained control over the rollout percentage.
What should I do if I get this GCDL 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: "first". Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This GCDL 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 GCDL exam.
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