Quick Answer
The answer is the Ingress resource. An Ingress resource is the correct choice because it provides HTTP/HTTPS layer-7 routing, allowing you to expose multiple microservices under a single external IP address using path-based or host-based rules, which directly meets the requirement of path-based routing on GKE. On the Google Professional Cloud Developer exam, this concept tests your understanding of how to efficiently expose microservices without creating a separate external IP for each service—a common trap is selecting a Service of type LoadBalancer, which would generate a unique IP per service and increase cost and complexity. Remember that Ingress acts as a smart traffic director at the application layer, while a LoadBalancer service operates at layer 4. A useful memory tip: think of Ingress as the "front door" that reads the URL path to send visitors to the correct room, whereas a LoadBalancer just opens a separate door for each room.
This PCD practice question tests your understanding of deploying applications. 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 company is deploying a microservices architecture on GKE. They need to expose a set of related microservices under a single external IP address with path-based routing. Which Kubernetes resource should they use?
Service of type NodePort
Why wrong: Exposes on node IPs, not suitable for external access with path routing.
NetworkPolicy
Why wrong: NetworkPolicy defines firewall rules, not routing.
Service of type LoadBalancer
Why wrong: Creates a separate external IP for each Service.
Ingress resource
Ingress provides path-based routing to multiple Services under one IP.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Ingress resource
An Ingress resource is the correct choice because it provides HTTP/HTTPS layer-7 routing to expose multiple services under a single external IP address, using path-based or host-based rules. This directly meets the requirement of exposing a set of related microservices with path-based routing on GKE, whereas a Service of type LoadBalancer would create a separate external IP per service.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Service of type NodePort
Why it's wrong here
Exposes on node IPs, not suitable for external access with path routing.
NetworkPolicy
Why it's wrong here
NetworkPolicy defines firewall rules, not routing.
Service of type LoadBalancer
Why it's wrong here
Creates a separate external IP for each Service.
Ingress resource
Why this is correct
Ingress provides path-based routing to multiple Services under one IP.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse a Service of type LoadBalancer with the ability to do path-based routing, but LoadBalancer only provides layer-4 TCP/UDP load balancing with a single external IP per service, not layer-7 path-based routing.
Detailed technical explanation
Under the hood, an Ingress resource relies on an Ingress controller (e.g., GKE's built-in GCE Ingress controller) that configures a Google Cloud HTTP(S) Load Balancer with URL maps for path-based routing. This allows traffic to be directed to different backend Services based on request paths (e.g., /api/* to one service, /web/* to another), all behind a single anycast IP address. A real-world scenario is a microservices e-commerce platform where /products routes to the product service and /orders routes to the order service, reducing public IP management and simplifying TLS termination.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A healthcare organisation deploys an application with a public-facing web tier and a private database tier. The database subnet has no public IP and only accepts connections from the web tier's security group. Questions like this test whether you can design cloud network isolation using VNets/VPCs, subnets, and security group rules.
What to study next
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FAQ
Deploying applications — This question tests Deploying applications — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Ingress resource — An Ingress resource is the correct choice because it provides HTTP/HTTPS layer-7 routing to expose multiple services under a single external IP address, using path-based or host-based rules. This directly meets the requirement of exposing a set of related microservices with path-based routing on GKE, whereas a Service of type LoadBalancer would create a separate external IP per service.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This PCD 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 PCD exam.
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