This PCDOE practice question tests your understanding of optimizing service performance. 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.
A DevOps team is using Cloud Build to build and push container images. The build times have increased significantly. They suspect that the build cache is not being used effectively. Which build configuration change would likely improve cache usage?
Increase the machine type
Why wrong: More CPU/memory may speed up build but doesn't improve cache hit ratio.
Use a private pool
Why wrong: Private pools affect compute isolation, not caching.
Use kaniko instead of Docker
Kaniko leverages fine-grained layer caching, reducing rebuild time.
Enable parallel builds
Why wrong: Parallelism reduces wall time but cache usage remains the same.
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 kaniko instead of Docker
Kaniko is a cache-aware container image builder that can leverage a remote image registry as a cache layer, unlike the default Docker builder which relies on a local Docker daemon and its local layer cache. By using Kaniko with a configured cache repository, the team can reuse previously built layers across builds, even when builds run on different Cloud Build workers, significantly reducing build times.
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.
Increase the machine type
Why it's wrong here
More CPU/memory may speed up build but doesn't improve cache hit ratio.
Use a private pool
Why it's wrong here
Private pools affect compute isolation, not caching.
Use kaniko instead of Docker
Why this is correct
Kaniko leverages fine-grained layer caching, reducing rebuild time.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Enable parallel builds
Why it's wrong here
Parallelism reduces wall time but cache usage remains the same.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often assume 'more resources' (larger machine) or 'dedicated resources' (private pool) will fix caching issues, when in fact the problem is the ephemeral nature of the build environment and the need for a persistent, remote cache mechanism like Kaniko provides.
Detailed technical explanation
Kaniko works by extracting the base image layers from a registry, executing build commands in a user-space filesystem, and then pushing only the new layers to the target registry. It supports a `--cache-repo` flag to store intermediate layers in a separate cache repository, enabling reuse across builds even when the build environment is ephemeral. This is particularly valuable in Cloud Build because each build runs on a fresh VM, so the Docker daemon's local cache is always empty, whereas Kaniko's remote cache persists.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.
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 kaniko instead of Docker — Kaniko is a cache-aware container image builder that can leverage a remote image registry as a cache layer, unlike the default Docker builder which relies on a local Docker daemon and its local layer cache. By using Kaniko with a configured cache repository, the team can reuse previously built layers across builds, even when builds run on different Cloud Build workers, significantly reducing build times.
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 25, 2026
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