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.
Which TWO strategies can be used to reduce cold start latency in Cloud Run? (Choose 2)
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Set a minimum number of instances (min-instances) to keep instances warm.
Option C is correct because setting a minimum number of instances (min-instances) ensures that a specified number of container instances are always running and ready to serve requests, eliminating the cold start latency that occurs when an instance must be started from scratch. This pre-warming strategy directly reduces the time users wait for the first request to be processed.
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 maximum number of concurrent requests per instance.
Why it's wrong here
This affects scaling behavior but does not reduce cold start latency.
✗
Deploy the Cloud Run service in a region closer to the users.
Why it's wrong here
Region proximity reduces network latency but does not reduce cold start time.
✓
Set a minimum number of instances (min-instances) to keep instances warm.
Why this is correct
Correct: min-instances ensures at least that many instances are always ready, eliminating cold starts.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Allocate more memory to the container (up to 4GiB).
Why this is correct
Correct: Memory allocation also increases CPU, which can speed up container startup.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Use a VPC connector to access resources in a VPC network.
Why it's wrong here
VPC connector adds network setup time, potentially increasing cold start.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Cisco often tests the distinction between reducing network latency (region proximity) and reducing cold start latency (instance pre-warming), causing candidates to mistakenly select a region closer to users as a solution for cold start.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Cold start latency in Cloud Run is primarily caused by the time required to pull the container image, start the runtime, and execute the initialization code before the first request can be handled. Setting min-instances keeps a baseline of instances always running, so they are already initialized and can serve requests immediately, effectively bypassing the cold start penalty. Allocating more memory (up to 4GiB) can reduce cold start time because Cloud Run allocates CPU proportionally to memory, and more CPU speeds up container startup and initialization tasks.
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 company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
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.
Deploying applications — This question tests Deploying applications — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Set a minimum number of instances (min-instances) to keep instances warm. — Option C is correct because setting a minimum number of instances (min-instances) ensures that a specified number of container instances are always running and ready to serve requests, eliminating the cold start latency that occurs when an instance must be started from scratch. This pre-warming strategy directly reduces the time users wait for the first request to be processed.
What should I do if I get this PCD 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 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.
Question Discussion
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