Question 1mediummultiple choice
Full question →Question 47 of 300
mediummultiple choiceObjective-mapped
GCDL Practice Question: A cloud team performs a quarterly review of its…
This GCDL practice question tests your understanding of a cloud team performs a quarterly review of its…. 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 cloud team performs a quarterly review of its Compute Engine instances and discovers 15 VMs that have had zero CPU utilization for over 90 days. What is the recommended operational response to these idle resources?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
A
Distractor review
Leave the VMs running in case they are needed for future workloads — storage costs are minimal for idle VMs
Idle VMs incur compute (CPU/memory) charges regardless of utilization — this is not just storage. Zero-utilization VMs are waste. If there's a future use case, they can be re-provisioned in minutes when needed.
B
Distractor review
Apply committed use discounts to the idle VMs to reduce their cost while keeping them available
Committing to idle VMs locks in payment for resources that provide no value. The correct action is deletion, not committing to ongoing payment for waste.
C
Distractor review
Upgrade the idle VMs to larger machine types so they can handle future workloads if needed
Upgrading unused VMs to larger sizes increases waste, not reduces it. Unused resources should be eliminated, not expanded.
D
Best answer
Investigate whether each VM is still needed; delete confirmed unused VMs to eliminate wasted spend, potentially saving thousands per month
This is the correct operational response. Investigate first (some may have legitimate low-utilization purposes like DR standby), then delete confirmed waste. 15 idle VMs can represent significant ongoing cost that stops immediately upon deletion. Cloud's on-demand model means these can be re-created if needed.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: NAT rules depend on direction and matching traffic
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
- PAT allows many inside hosts to share one public address using ports.
- Inside local and inside global describe the private and translated addresses.
- NAT ACLs identify traffic for translation, not always security filtering.
TExam Day Tips
- Identify inside and outside interfaces first.
- Check whether the scenario needs static NAT, dynamic NAT or PAT.
- Do not confuse NAT matching ACLs with normal packet-filtering intent.
Key takeaway
NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Related practice questions
Related GCDL practice-question pages
Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.
More questions from this exam
Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
Question 1
A traditional retailer currently maintains its own data centers, purchasing servers every 3–5 years and paying for facilities, power, and staff regardless of demand. When it migrates its workloads to the public cloud, which change in cost model does it experience?
Question 2
An e-commerce company plans its infrastructure for peak shopping events (e.g., Black Friday) which drive 50× normal traffic. On-premises, they must maintain 50× capacity year-round. In the cloud, they provision 50× capacity only during peak periods. Which cloud characteristic enables this cost optimization?
Question 3
Which term describes the process by which organizations integrate digital technology into all areas of their business, fundamentally changing how they operate and deliver value to customers?
Question 4
When a company moves from maintaining its own data center to using Google Cloud, which operational responsibility does Google assume that the company previously managed?
Question 5
A hospital runs a patient records system that must remain on-premises due to strict regulatory data residency requirements. However, they also want to use cloud-based AI for diagnostic imaging analysis. Which cloud deployment model best describes their architecture?
Question 6
What is virtualization in the context of cloud computing, and why is it fundamental to how cloud providers deliver services?
Practice this exam
Start a free GCDL 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 GCDL question test?
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Investigate whether each VM is still needed; delete confirmed unused VMs to eliminate wasted spend, potentially saving thousands per month — Idle resources with zero utilization for 90 days are almost certainly waste. The correct operational response is to investigate whether these resources are still needed (some may be reserved for disaster recovery or infrequent testing), then delete confirmed unused resources to eliminate wasted spend. Cloud Asset Inventory and Active Assist can help identify and recommend cleanup of idle resources.
What should I do if I get this GCDL question wrong?
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related GCDL NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
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 →
Discussion
Loading comments…
Sign in to join the discussion.
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.