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Question 364 of 500

Implementing service monitoring strategies →hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

Quick Answer

The answer is that the Cloud Monitoring agent is not installed or not properly reporting CPU metrics on the instance. This is correct because the High Memory alert fires while the High CPU alert does not, indicating that memory metrics are available—likely through guest-attributes or another mechanism—but the standard CPU utilization metrics are missing. On the Google Professional Cloud DevOps Engineer exam, this scenario tests your understanding of how the Cloud Monitoring agent collects OS-level metrics; without it, CPU metrics are absent, while memory may still appear via alternative collection methods. A common trap is assuming both metrics come from the same source, but the agent is required for CPU data. Remember the memory tip: “No agent, no CPU—memory might sneak through.”

PCDOE Implementing service monitoring strategies Practice Question

This PCDOE practice question tests your understanding of implementing service monitoring strategies. 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.

Exhibit

Refer to the exhibit.

```
{
  "alertPolicies": [
    {
      "displayName": "High CPU Alert",
      "combiner": "OR",
      "conditions": [
        {
          "displayName": "CPU usage > 80%",
          "conditionThreshold": {
            "filter": "metric.type=\"compute.googleapis.com/instance/cpu/utilization\" resource.type=\"gce_instance\"",
            "comparison": "COMPARISON_GT",
            "thresholdValue": 0.8,
            "duration": "300s",
            "trigger": {
              "count": 1
            }
          }
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "displayName": "High Memory Alert",
      "conditions": [
        {
          "displayName": "Memory usage > 90%",
          "conditionThreshold": {
            "filter": "metric.type=\"agent.googleapis.com/memory/percent_used\" resource.type=\"gce_instance\"",
            "comparison": "COMPARISON_GT",
            "thresholdValue": 0.9,
            "duration": "60s",
            "trigger": {
              "count": 1
            }
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}
```

A team has set up the alerting policies shown in the exhibit. They receive an alert for High Memory but not for High CPU. What is the most likely reason?

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.

Question 1hardmultiple choice

Full question →

Exhibit

Refer to the exhibit.

```
{
  "alertPolicies": [
    {
      "displayName": "High CPU Alert",
      "combiner": "OR",
      "conditions": [
        {
          "displayName": "CPU usage > 80%",
          "conditionThreshold": {
            "filter": "metric.type=\"compute.googleapis.com/instance/cpu/utilization\" resource.type=\"gce_instance\"",
            "comparison": "COMPARISON_GT",
            "thresholdValue": 0.8,
            "duration": "300s",
            "trigger": {
              "count": 1
            }
          }
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "displayName": "High Memory Alert",
      "conditions": [
        {
          "displayName": "Memory usage > 90%",
          "conditionThreshold": {
            "filter": "metric.type=\"agent.googleapis.com/memory/percent_used\" resource.type=\"gce_instance\"",
            "comparison": "COMPARISON_GT",
            "thresholdValue": 0.9,
            "duration": "60s",
            "trigger": {
              "count": 1
            }
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}
```

A
The Cloud Monitoring agent is not installed or not reporting on the instance, so the memory metric is missing.
The agent is required for agent.googleapis.com metrics.
B
The CPU alert's duration of 300 seconds prevents it from firing before the memory alert.
Why wrong: A longer duration delays the alert, but if CPU is consistently high, it will fire eventually.
C
The memory alert has a higher threshold value, making it easier to trigger.
Why wrong: Both thresholds are high; the threshold is not the issue.
D
The CPU metric is not available because the instance does not have the Cloud Monitoring agent installed.
Why wrong: The metric compute.googleapis.com/instance/cpu/utilization is available without the agent.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

Answer choices

Why each option matters

Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.

Correct answer & explanation

✓

The Cloud Monitoring agent is not installed or not reporting on the instance, so the memory metric is missing.

Option A is correct because the High Memory alert fires while the High CPU alert does not, indicating that the memory metric is available but the CPU metric is missing. This typically happens when the Cloud Monitoring agent is installed but not properly reporting CPU metrics, or when the agent is missing entirely and only the memory metric is being collected via a different mechanism (e.g., guest-attributes). Without the agent, standard CPU utilization metrics are not exposed to Cloud Monitoring, while memory metrics may still be available through other means, causing the memory alert to trigger but not the CPU alert.

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.

✓
The Cloud Monitoring agent is not installed or not reporting on the instance, so the memory metric is missing.
Why this is correct
The agent is required for agent.googleapis.com metrics.
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.
✗
The CPU alert's duration of 300 seconds prevents it from firing before the memory alert.
Why it's wrong here
A longer duration delays the alert, but if CPU is consistently high, it will fire eventually.
✗
The memory alert has a higher threshold value, making it easier to trigger.
Why it's wrong here
Both thresholds are high; the threshold is not the issue.
✗
The CPU metric is not available because the instance does not have the Cloud Monitoring agent installed.
Why it's wrong here
The metric compute.googleapis.com/instance/cpu/utilization is available without the agent.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

Google Cloud often tests the misconception that CPU metrics are always available from the hypervisor, but in reality, detailed CPU metrics (like per-process or utilization with specific labels) may require the Cloud Monitoring agent, and the absence of the agent can cause CPU alerts to fail while memory alerts (which also require the agent) may still fire if memory data is collected via a different path.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

Cloud Monitoring uses the Cloud Monitoring agent (formerly Stackdriver agent) to collect CPU, disk, and memory metrics from Compute Engine instances. If the agent is not installed, CPU utilization is still available via the 'compute.googleapis.com/instance/cpu/utilization' metric from the hypervisor, but memory metrics like 'agent.googleapis.com/memory/percent_used' require the agent. In this scenario, the memory alert fires because the agent is reporting memory, but the CPU alert does not fire because the CPU metric is missing—likely because the agent's CPU collection is misconfigured or the agent is not reporting CPU data due to a permissions or configuration issue.

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 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

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.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this PCDOE question test?

Implementing service monitoring strategies — This question tests Implementing service monitoring strategies — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: The Cloud Monitoring agent is not installed or not reporting on the instance, so the memory metric is missing. — Option A is correct because the High Memory alert fires while the High CPU alert does not, indicating that the memory metric is available but the CPU metric is missing. This typically happens when the Cloud Monitoring agent is installed but not properly reporting CPU metrics, or when the agent is missing entirely and only the memory metric is being collected via a different mechanism (e.g., guest-attributes). Without the agent, standard CPU utilization metrics are not exposed to Cloud Monitoring, while memory metrics may still be available through other means, causing the memory alert to trigger but not the CPU alert.

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.

Are there clue words in this question I should notice?

Yes — watch for: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

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Last reviewed: Jun 30, 2026

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