- A
Change the load balancer to a regional load balancer and deploy additional instance groups in other regions.
Why wrong: The load balancer is already global; changing to regional would remove global anycast IP and likely worsen the issue.
- B
Enable Cloud CDN on the backend service to cache content closer to users.
Why wrong: CDN would improve latency for cacheable content but does not solve connectivity failure for Asia.
- C
Configure a DNS A record for the load balancer's IP address with a low TTL.
Why wrong: DNS is not the issue; the load balancer IP is reachable, but the backend is not responding properly.
- D
Ensure the backend service's 'Enable Global Access' checkbox is selected in the instance group's network settings.
Global access allows the load balancer's global IP to reach the backend instance group even though it's in a single region. Without it, traffic from other regions may be blocked.
Quick Answer
The correct answer is to ensure the backend service's 'Enable Global Access' checkbox is selected in the instance group's network settings. This setting is required because a Global External HTTP(S) Load Balancer uses a global anycast IP, and without it, the load balancer can only forward traffic to backends within the same region as its frontend, effectively breaking cross-region connectivity. On the Google Professional Cloud Network Engineer exam, this scenario tests your understanding of how global load balancing interacts with VPC network configurations—a common trap is assuming that a global load balancer automatically reaches any instance group, when in fact the backend’s network must explicitly allow global access. The high latency for European users and total failure for Asian users are classic symptoms of this misconfiguration. To remember: think of “Enable Global Access” as the permission slip that lets the load balancer’s anycast IP travel across regions to reach your instances.
PCNE Practice Question: Designing, planning, and prototyping a GCP network
This PCNE practice question tests your understanding of designing, planning, and prototyping a gcp network. 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 has deployed a Global External HTTP(S) Load Balancer with a backend service that points to an instance group in us-central1. The load balancer's frontend uses a reserved static external IP address. Users in Europe report high latency, while users in Asia cannot reach the application at all. The application works fine when accessed directly via the instance group's internal IPs from within us-central1. Which action should be taken to resolve the issue?
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
Ensure the backend service's 'Enable Global Access' checkbox is selected in the instance group's network settings.
Option D is correct because for a Global External HTTP(S) Load Balancer, the backend service must have the 'Enable Global Access' checkbox selected on the instance group's network settings. This setting allows the load balancer's global anycast IP to reach the backend instances across regions. Without it, the load balancer can only forward traffic to instances within the same region as the load balancer's frontend, causing high latency for European users and complete failure for Asian users.
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.
- ✗
Change the load balancer to a regional load balancer and deploy additional instance groups in other regions.
Why it's wrong here
The load balancer is already global; changing to regional would remove global anycast IP and likely worsen the issue.
- ✗
Enable Cloud CDN on the backend service to cache content closer to users.
Why it's wrong here
CDN would improve latency for cacheable content but does not solve connectivity failure for Asia.
- ✗
Configure a DNS A record for the load balancer's IP address with a low TTL.
Why it's wrong here
DNS is not the issue; the load balancer IP is reachable, but the backend is not responding properly.
- ✓
Ensure the backend service's 'Enable Global Access' checkbox is selected in the instance group's network settings.
Why this is correct
Global access allows the load balancer's global IP to reach the backend instance group even though it's in a single region. Without it, traffic from other regions may be blocked.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often assume a global load balancer automatically routes to any backend region, but they overlook the explicit 'Enable Global Access' checkbox that must be enabled for cross-region backend connectivity.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The Global External HTTP(S) Load Balancer uses a single anycast IP address that is advertised from multiple Google Cloud edge locations worldwide. The 'Enable Global Access' setting on the instance group's network configuration allows the load balancer to forward traffic to backend instances in any region, not just the region where the load balancer's frontend is configured. Without this setting, the load balancer's forwarding rule is restricted to the same region as the backend, breaking cross-region traffic.
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.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this PCNE question test?
Designing, planning, and prototyping a GCP network — This question tests Designing, planning, and prototyping a GCP network — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Ensure the backend service's 'Enable Global Access' checkbox is selected in the instance group's network settings. — Option D is correct because for a Global External HTTP(S) Load Balancer, the backend service must have the 'Enable Global Access' checkbox selected on the instance group's network settings. This setting allows the load balancer's global anycast IP to reach the backend instances across regions. Without it, the load balancer can only forward traffic to instances within the same region as the load balancer's frontend, causing high latency for European users and complete failure for Asian users.
What should I do if I get this PCNE 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.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
2 more ways this is tested on PCNE
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company is deploying a global HTTP load balancer with a backend service that spans multiple regions. The backend instances are in a managed instance group. They want to use Cloud CDN to cache content. What is the minimal set of configurations required on the backend bucket or instance group to enable Cloud CDN?
hard- A.Configure Identity-Aware Proxy (IAP) on the backend service to allow cache
- B.Use the gcloud compute backend-services update command with the --enable-cdn flag on the load balancer itself
- ✓ C.Enable Cloud CDN on the backend service and ensure that the load balancer's frontend uses HTTP or HTTPS protocol
- D.Create a Cloud Storage bucket with public access and set it as the backend
Why C: Cloud CDN must be enabled on the backend service of the HTTP(S) load balancer, and the frontend must use HTTP or HTTPS because Cloud CDN only supports HTTP(S) protocols. This is the minimal configuration; no changes to the backend bucket or instance group are required beyond ensuring the backend service is correctly associated with the load balancer.
Variation 2. A company has an external HTTP(S) load balancer with a backend service pointing to an instance group in us-east1. They enable Cloud CDN to improve performance for global users. After enabling, they observe that users in Asia still experience high latency. They verify that the backend instances respond with Cache-Control headers that allow caching. What is the most likely reason for the high latency?
easy- A.The cache TTL is too short.
- B.Cloud CDN is not enabled on the correct backend.
- ✓ C.The load balancer is a regional load balancer, not a global one.
- D.The backend instances are in us-east1, too far from Asia.
Why C: Option C is correct because an external HTTP(S) load balancer that is regional (e.g., a regional external HTTP(S) load balancer) cannot serve traffic globally with low latency; it is confined to a single region. Cloud CDN caches content at edge locations, but if the load balancer itself is regional, the cache points are also regional, so users in Asia still route to us-east1 for cache misses or even for cache hits if the edge is not globally distributed. Only a global external HTTP(S) load balancer (with a global anycast IP) can leverage Cloud CDN's global edge cache locations to serve users from the nearest point of presence.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This PCNE 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 PCNE exam.
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