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Designing, planning, and prototyping a GCP network →easyMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

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. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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

gcloud compute networks subnets describe my-subnet --region us-central1
- name: my-subnet
- network: my-vpc
- ipCidrRange: 10.0.1.0/24
- privateIpGoogleAccess: true
- purpose: PRIVATE
- logConfig: {enable: true}

Refer to the exhibit. A company has enabled Private Google Access on the subnet. What effect does this have on VMs in the subnet?

Question 1easymultiple choice

Review the full subnetting walkthrough →

Exhibit

gcloud compute networks subnets describe my-subnet --region us-central1
- name: my-subnet
- network: my-vpc
- ipCidrRange: 10.0.1.0/24
- privateIpGoogleAccess: true
- purpose: PRIVATE
- logConfig: {enable: true}

A
VMs can use external IPs to access Google services
Why wrong: Private Google Access means VMs can access services without external IPs.
B
VMs can access the internet using Cloud NAT
Why wrong: Private Google Access does not provide general internet access.
C
VMs can communicate with each other without firewall rules
Why wrong: VM-to-VM communication still requires firewall rules.
D
VMs can access Google services using only internal IPs
Private Google Access enables access to Google APIs over internal IPs.

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

✓

VMs can access Google services using only internal IPs

Private Google Access enables VMs in a subnet that have only internal IP addresses (RFC 1918) to reach Google APIs and services (e.g., Cloud Storage, BigQuery) through Google's internal network. The traffic is routed via the default internet gateway (which does not require an external IP on the VM) and uses a special 0.0.0.0/0 route with next hop 'default internet gateway' to reach Google's external IPs, but the VM itself never needs a public IP. This is why D is correct: VMs can access Google services using only internal IPs.

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.

✗
VMs can use external IPs to access Google services
Why it's wrong here
Private Google Access means VMs can access services without external IPs.
✗
VMs can access the internet using Cloud NAT
Why it's wrong here
Private Google Access does not provide general internet access.
✗
VMs can communicate with each other without firewall rules
Why it's wrong here
VM-to-VM communication still requires firewall rules.
✓
VMs can access Google services using only internal IPs
Why this is correct
Private Google Access enables access to Google APIs over internal IPs.
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 Private Google Access provides general internet access (like Cloud NAT) or that it requires VMs to have external IPs, when in fact it is strictly for Google APIs and services using internal-only VMs.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

Under the hood, Private Google Access works by leveraging the default route (0.0.0.0/0) pointing to the default internet gateway, but Google's network recognizes traffic destined for Google's public IP ranges (published in the Google Cloud IP ranges list) and routes it internally without requiring the VM to have an external IP. A subtle behavior is that Private Google Access does not support on-premises connectivity via Cloud VPN or Interconnect unless the on-premises hosts use the VPC's internal DNS or a proxy; it only works for VMs directly in the subnet. In a real-world scenario, this is critical for security-conscious deployments where VMs must remain private (no public IPs) but still need to use services like Cloud Storage or Pub/Sub.

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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.

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 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: VMs can access Google services using only internal IPs — Private Google Access enables VMs in a subnet that have only internal IP addresses (RFC 1918) to reach Google APIs and services (e.g., Cloud Storage, BigQuery) through Google's internal network. The traffic is routed via the default internet gateway (which does not require an external IP on the VM) and uses a special 0.0.0.0/0 route with next hop 'default internet gateway' to reach Google's external IPs, but the VM itself never needs a public IP. This is why D is correct: VMs can access Google services using only internal IPs.

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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Last reviewed: Jun 30, 2026

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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.