Google PCA Manage and provision cloud infrastructure Practice Question
This PCA practice question tests your understanding of manage and provision cloud infrastructure. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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.
Exhibit
Refer to the exhibit.
gcloud compute instances describe my-instance
...
scheduling:
automaticRestart: true
onHostMaintenance: TERMINATE
preemptible: false
...
What will happen to this instance during a Google-initiated maintenance event?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The instance will be terminated and then restarted after maintenance.
During a Google-initiated maintenance event, a standard (non-live-migratable) Compute Engine instance is terminated and then restarted on another host after the maintenance is complete. This behavior is controlled by the instance's 'onHostMaintenance' setting; when set to 'TERMINATE' (the default for instances with GPUs or certain configurations), the instance is stopped, the host undergoes maintenance, and then the instance is restarted. Option B correctly describes this termination-and-restart sequence.
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.
✗
The instance will be migrated and then restarted.
Why it's wrong here
Migration is not set; it's TERMINATE.
✓
The instance will be terminated and then restarted after maintenance.
Why this is correct
Correct. TERMINATE with automaticRestart=true causes termination followed by restart.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
The instance will be preempted and deleted.
Why it's wrong here
Preemptible instances behave differently; this instance is not preemptible.
✗
The instance will stop and remain stopped.
Why it's wrong here
automaticRestart=true triggers a restart.
✗
The instance will be live-migrated to another host.
Why it's wrong here
Live migration requires onHostMaintenance=MIGRATE.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google Cloud often tests the misconception that all instances are live-migrated by default, but the trap here is that instances with GPUs, local SSDs, or certain machine types are terminated instead, and candidates must recognize the 'TERMINATE' behavior as the correct answer.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, Google Compute Engine uses the 'onHostMaintenance' metadata key to determine behavior: 'MIGRATE' triggers a live migration using the KVM-based migration protocol, preserving the instance's state and network connections, while 'TERMINATE' issues an ACPI shutdown signal, waits for the instance to stop (or forces it after a timeout), performs host maintenance, and then starts the instance on a new host. This distinction is critical for workloads requiring GPUs or sole-tenant nodes, where live migration is not supported. In real-world scenarios, a database server with local SSDs would use 'TERMINATE' to ensure data integrity, as live migration cannot preserve local SSD state.
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
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this PCA question in full detail.
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: The instance will be terminated and then restarted after maintenance. — During a Google-initiated maintenance event, a standard (non-live-migratable) Compute Engine instance is terminated and then restarted on another host after the maintenance is complete. This behavior is controlled by the instance's 'onHostMaintenance' setting; when set to 'TERMINATE' (the default for instances with GPUs or certain configurations), the instance is stopped, the host undergoes maintenance, and then the instance is restarted. Option B correctly describes this termination-and-restart sequence.
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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Question Discussion
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