The answer is to create a route with a next hop set to the appliance’s internal IP and a high priority. This works because in a hybrid cloud setup, Cloud VPN establishes a default route for on-premises traffic, but a static route with a lower numerical priority value overrides that default, steering traffic to the inspection appliance before it reaches the target subnet. On the Google Professional Cloud Security Engineer exam, this tests your understanding of route priority and traffic steering—a common trap is assuming the VPN tunnel itself must be modified, when in fact a higher-priority static route is the cleanest solution. Remember that in Google Cloud, a lower number means higher priority, so a priority of 100 beats the VPN’s default priority of 1000. Memory tip: “Lower number, higher power—steer traffic to the inspection tower.”
PCSE Configuring network security Practice Question
This PCSE practice question tests your understanding of configuring network security. 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.
A company has a hybrid cloud setup with a Cloud VPN tunnel to an on-premises network. They want to ensure that traffic from on-premises to a specific VPC subnet is routed through a specific next hop appliance for inspection. How can they achieve this?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create a route with a next hop to the appliance's internal IP and a high priority
Option B is correct because creating a static route with a next hop set to the appliance's internal IP and a high priority ensures that traffic from on-premises to the specific VPC subnet is forwarded to the inspection appliance before reaching its destination. In a hybrid cloud setup with Cloud VPN, the VPN gateway is the default next hop for on-premises traffic, but a higher-priority route overrides this, directing traffic to the appliance for security inspection. This leverages route priority (lower numerical value = higher priority) to enforce traffic steering without modifying the VPN tunnel itself.
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.
✗
Use Policy-based routing
Why it's wrong here
GCP does not support policy-based routing; only route-based forwarding is available.
✓
Create a route with a next hop to the appliance's internal IP and a high priority
Why this is correct
This directs traffic to the appliance for inspection before it reaches the destination subnet.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Create a route with a next hop of the internal load balancer
Why it's wrong here
An internal load balancer is for load balancing, not for traffic inspection.
✗
Create a static route with a next hop of the VPN gateway
Why it's wrong here
That would route traffic directly to the VPN, skipping the appliance.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google Cloud often tests the misconception that policy-based routing (PBR) is the only way to steer traffic to a specific next hop, but in cloud VPC environments, static routes with priority are the correct and supported method, and PBR is not available as a VPC route option.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, VPC route tables use a longest-prefix-match algorithm combined with route priority (administrative distance) to determine the active next hop. A higher-priority route (e.g., priority 100) overrides a lower-priority default route (e.g., priority 1000) for the same destination subnet, allowing traffic to be steered to a VM appliance (e.g., a firewall or IDS/IPS) without changing the VPN configuration. In real-world scenarios, this is critical for compliance with security policies that require all cross-premises traffic to pass through a centralized inspection point, and it avoids the complexity of configuring source NAT or policy-based routing on the on-premises router.
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 healthcare organisation deploys an application with a public-facing web tier and a private database tier. The database subnet has no public IP and only accepts connections from the web tier's security group. Questions like this test whether you can design cloud network isolation using VNets/VPCs, subnets, and security group rules.
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 security — This question tests Configuring network security — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create a route with a next hop to the appliance's internal IP and a high priority — Option B is correct because creating a static route with a next hop set to the appliance's internal IP and a high priority ensures that traffic from on-premises to the specific VPC subnet is forwarded to the inspection appliance before reaching its destination. In a hybrid cloud setup with Cloud VPN, the VPN gateway is the default next hop for on-premises traffic, but a higher-priority route overrides this, directing traffic to the appliance for security inspection. This leverages route priority (lower numerical value = higher priority) to enforce traffic steering without modifying the VPN tunnel itself.
What should I do if I get this PCSE 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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