This PCDOE practice question tests your understanding of optimizing service performance. 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 is using Cloud CDN to deliver static content globally. Some users in Asia report slow load times. Which configuration change would most likely improve performance for these users?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
Add an additional CDN origin
Why wrong: Multiple origins don't directly affect user latency.
Enable Cloud Armor
Why wrong: Cloud Armor provides security, not performance improvement.
Use a global external HTTP(S) load balancer with Cloud CDN
Global load balancer with anycast IP and edge caching reduces latency significantly.
Increase the cache TTL
Why wrong: Longer TTL reduces origin requests but doesn't change CDN edge locations.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Use a global external HTTP(S) load balancer with Cloud CDN
Cloud CDN relies on a global external HTTP(S) load balancer to route user requests to the nearest cache node. Without this load balancer, Cloud CDN cannot leverage Google's global network and edge caches, so users in Asia would not be served from a nearby point of presence. Option C correctly identifies that using a global external HTTP(S) load balancer with Cloud CDN enables geographic load balancing and edge caching, directly improving latency for distant users.
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.
Add an additional CDN origin
Why it's wrong here
Multiple origins don't directly affect user latency.
Enable Cloud Armor
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Armor provides security, not performance improvement.
Use a global external HTTP(S) load balancer with Cloud CDN
Why this is correct
Global load balancer with anycast IP and edge caching reduces latency significantly.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Increase the cache TTL
Why it's wrong here
Longer TTL reduces origin requests but doesn't change CDN edge locations.
Common exam traps
Google Cloud often tests the misconception that Cloud CDN works independently of the load balancer type, but Cloud CDN requires a global external HTTP(S) load balancer to route traffic to edge caches; using a regional load balancer or no load balancer at all will not provide global performance improvements.
Detailed technical explanation
Cloud CDN uses Google's global edge cache network, which is fronted by a global external HTTP(S) load balancer that uses Anycast IP addresses to direct users to the nearest healthy backend. The load balancer's URL map and backend service configuration determine which content is cached; without it, Cloud CDN cannot serve from edge locations. In practice, a common misconfiguration is using a regional load balancer instead of a global one, which forces all traffic through a single region and negates the benefit of edge caching for distant users.
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
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
Optimizing service performance — This question tests Optimizing service performance — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Use a global external HTTP(S) load balancer with Cloud CDN — Cloud CDN relies on a global external HTTP(S) load balancer to route user requests to the nearest cache node. Without this load balancer, Cloud CDN cannot leverage Google's global network and edge caches, so users in Asia would not be served from a nearby point of presence. Option C correctly identifies that using a global external HTTP(S) load balancer with Cloud CDN enables geographic load balancing and edge caching, directly improving latency for distant users.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Yes — watch for: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 30, 2026
This PCDOE 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 PCDOE exam.
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