PCDOE Managing Google Cloud costs Practice Question
This PCDOE practice question tests your understanding of managing google cloud costs. 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 using Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) with multiple node pools. They notice that their monthly costs are higher than expected. Upon review, they find that several preemptible VMs are being recreated frequently, leading to sustained usage costs. What is the most cost-effective solution to reduce costs?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Migrate to Spot VMs, which have a lower price and no maximum runtime.
Spot VMs are the recommended replacement for preemptible VMs, offering the same low price but without the 24-hour maximum runtime limit. This eliminates the frequent recreation and sustained usage costs caused by preemptible VMs being terminated and restarted, directly reducing monthly expenses.
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.
✗
Purchase committed use discounts for the preemptible VMs.
Why it's wrong here
Committed use discounts are not available for preemptible VMs.
✗
Increase the number of preemptible VMs to spread the workload.
Why it's wrong here
Adding more preemptible VMs would increase costs, not reduce them.
✗
Enable sustained use discounts for the existing VMs.
Why it's wrong here
Sustained use discounts are automatically applied and don't require enabling.
✓
Migrate to Spot VMs, which have a lower price and no maximum runtime.
Why this is correct
Spot VMs are the recommended replacement for preemptible VMs and offer lower costs without the 24-hour limit.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google Cloud often tests the misconception that preemptible VMs are the cheapest option, but the trap here is that Spot VMs are actually cheaper and have no maximum runtime, making them superior for cost reduction.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Preemptible VMs have a maximum runtime of 24 hours and can be terminated at any time, causing frequent recreation and sustained usage billing for partial hours. Spot VMs, introduced in 2021, remove the 24-hour cap and have no forced termination, though they can still be preempted when capacity is needed; they also offer a lower price than preemptible VMs in some regions. Migrating to Spot VMs reduces both the frequency of recreations and the per-hour cost, making it the most cost-effective solution for workloads that can handle interruptions.
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.
Managing Google Cloud costs — This question tests Managing Google Cloud costs — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Migrate to Spot VMs, which have a lower price and no maximum runtime. — Spot VMs are the recommended replacement for preemptible VMs, offering the same low price but without the 24-hour maximum runtime limit. This eliminates the frequent recreation and sustained usage costs caused by preemptible VMs being terminated and restarted, directly reducing monthly expenses.
What should I do if I get this PCDOE 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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