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Manage and provision cloud infrastructure →hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

Google PCA Manage and provision cloud infrastructure Practice Question

This PCA practice question tests your understanding of manage and provision cloud infrastructure. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 company runs a batch processing workload on Compute Engine instances. The workload is triggered every hour and runs for about 10 minutes. They want to reduce costs. They currently use preemptible VMs, but they notice that sometimes the workload fails because VMs are preempted before completion. They need a cost-effective solution that ensures the workload completes reliably. What should they do?

Question 1hardmultiple choice

Full question →

A
Increase the machine size of the preemptible VMs to finish faster.
Why wrong: Larger preemptible VMs are still subject to preemption, and they cost more per hour, though still cheaper than standard. The workload may still fail if preempted.
B
Provision a commitment-based discount for standard VMs.
Why wrong: Commitment-based discounts require a 1-year or 3-year commitment, which is not suitable for a workload that runs only 10 minutes per hour. It would be more expensive than preemptible with retries.
C
Use standard (non-preemptible) VMs to avoid preemption.
Why wrong: Standard VMs are more expensive and would increase costs significantly, especially for short-running jobs.
D
Create a custom machine type with minimal resources and use a managed instance group with preemptible VMs, combined with a startup script that retries on failure.
Custom machine types match the exact resource needs, avoiding waste. Preemptible VMs are cheap, and the managed instance group will recreate VMs if preempted. A startup script that retries ensures reliability.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

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

✓

Create a custom machine type with minimal resources and use a managed instance group with preemptible VMs, combined with a startup script that retries on failure.

Option D is correct because it combines the cost savings of preemptible VMs with reliability through a managed instance group (MIG) and a retry startup script. The MIG automatically recreates VMs if preempted, and the startup script ensures the batch workload restarts from where it left off or retries the entire job, guaranteeing completion at minimal cost.

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.

✗
Increase the machine size of the preemptible VMs to finish faster.
Why it's wrong here
Larger preemptible VMs are still subject to preemption, and they cost more per hour, though still cheaper than standard. The workload may still fail if preempted.
✗
Provision a commitment-based discount for standard VMs.
Why it's wrong here
Commitment-based discounts require a 1-year or 3-year commitment, which is not suitable for a workload that runs only 10 minutes per hour. It would be more expensive than preemptible with retries.
✗
Use standard (non-preemptible) VMs to avoid preemption.
Why it's wrong here
Standard VMs are more expensive and would increase costs significantly, especially for short-running jobs.
✓
Create a custom machine type with minimal resources and use a managed instance group with preemptible VMs, combined with a startup script that retries on failure.
Why this is correct
Custom machine types match the exact resource needs, avoiding waste. Preemptible VMs are cheap, and the managed instance group will recreate VMs if preempted. A startup script that retries ensures reliability.
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 standard VMs are the only reliable option, overlooking that managed instance groups with preemptible VMs and retry logic provide both reliability and cost savings.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

Preemptible VMs have a maximum runtime of 24 hours and can be terminated with a 30-second notice; a MIG with autoscaling and a startup script can handle preemption by using a shared persistent disk or Cloud Storage to checkpoint job state. The startup script can check for a completion marker and skip re-execution if the job already finished, ensuring idempotency. In real-world scenarios, this pattern is common for batch data processing pipelines where cost is critical but occasional failures are acceptable if retried.

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.

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 PCA question test?

Manage and provision cloud infrastructure — This question tests Manage and provision cloud infrastructure — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: Create a custom machine type with minimal resources and use a managed instance group with preemptible VMs, combined with a startup script that retries on failure. — Option D is correct because it combines the cost savings of preemptible VMs with reliability through a managed instance group (MIG) and a retry startup script. The MIG automatically recreates VMs if preempted, and the startup script ensures the batch workload restarts from where it left off or retries the entire job, guaranteeing completion at minimal cost.

What should I do if I get this PCA 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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This PCA 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 PCA exam.