The answer is that you must create a Cloud Router in the same region as the VPN gateway and configure a VPN tunnel. This is required because Cloud VPN with dynamic routing relies on BGP to exchange routes between your VPC and on-premises network; the Cloud Router acts as the BGP speaker that advertises VPC subnets and learns remote prefixes, while the VPN tunnel provides the encrypted IPSec link over which those BGP sessions are established. On the Google Professional Cloud Network Engineer exam, this tests your understanding that a Cloud Router is mandatory for dynamic routing—a common trap is thinking you can use static routes with BGP, or forgetting that the Cloud Router must be regionally aligned with the gateway. Remember the mnemonic: “Router and gateway, same region’s the key—BGP won’t speak if they disagree.”
PCNE Configuring network services Practice Question
This PCNE practice question tests your understanding of configuring network services. 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.
Which TWO steps are required to set up a Cloud VPN with dynamic routing (BGP)? (Choose 2.)
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create a VPN gateway and a VPN tunnel.
Option C is correct because a Cloud VPN requires both a VPN gateway (the GCP-side endpoint for encrypted traffic) and a VPN tunnel (the actual IPSec tunnel configuration that defines the remote peer IP, shared secret, and IKE parameters). Option E is correct because dynamic routing with BGP mandates a Cloud Router in the same region as the VPN gateway to exchange BGP routes with the on-premises router; the Cloud Router advertises the VPC subnets and learns remote prefixes via BGP sessions over the tunnel.
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.
✗
Configure a static route for the remote network.
Why it's wrong here
With dynamic routing, BGP exchanges routes; static routes are not needed.
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 firewall rules are part of the VPN setup process, but they are a separate security control applied after the VPN infrastructure is created; the trap here is confusing prerequisite security policies with the actual configuration steps for the VPN gateway, tunnel, and BGP routing.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
When using BGP dynamic routing, the Cloud Router establishes a BGP session over the VPN tunnel using the BGP peering IPs (link-local addresses 169.254.x.x) and exchanges routes via eBGP. The VPN gateway must be in the same region as the Cloud Router because the Cloud Router's BGP sessions terminate on the VPN gateway's forwarding plane; cross-region Cloud Routers are not supported for VPN tunnels. A common real-world scenario is migrating from static routes to BGP to enable automatic failover and route propagation across multiple tunnels.
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 company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
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.
Configuring network services — This question tests Configuring network services — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create a VPN gateway and a VPN tunnel. — Option C is correct because a Cloud VPN requires both a VPN gateway (the GCP-side endpoint for encrypted traffic) and a VPN tunnel (the actual IPSec tunnel configuration that defines the remote peer IP, shared secret, and IKE parameters). Option E is correct because dynamic routing with BGP mandates a Cloud Router in the same region as the VPN gateway to exchange BGP routes with the on-premises router; the Cloud Router advertises the VPC subnets and learns remote prefixes via BGP sessions over the tunnel.
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.
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Question Discussion
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