Google Associate Cloud Engineer Exam - Topic 3 Question 106 Discussion

Actual exam question for Google's Associate Cloud Engineer exam

Question #: 106
Topic #: 3

[All Associate Cloud Engineer Questions]

(Your company is modernizing its applications and refactoring them to containerized microservices. You need to deploy the infrastructure on Google Cloud so that teams can deploy their applications. The applications cannot be exposed publicly. You want to minimize management and operational overhead. What should you do?)

AProvision a Standard zonal Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) cluster.

BProvision a fleet of Compute Engine instances and install Kubernetes.

CProvision a Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) Autopilot cluster.

DProvision a Standard regional Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) cluster.

Show Suggested Answer

Suggested Answer: C

GKE Autopilot is a mode of operation in GKE where Google manages the underlying infrastructure, including nodes, node pools, and their upgrades. This significantly reduces the management and operational overhead for the user, allowing teams to focus solely on deploying and managing their containerized applications. Since the applications are not exposed publicly, the zonal or regional nature of the cluster primarily impacts availability within Google Cloud, and Autopilot is available for both. Autopilot minimizes the operational burden, which is a key requirement.

Option A: A Standard zonal GKE cluster requires you to manage the nodes yourself, including sizing, scaling, and upgrades, increasing operational overhead compared to Autopilot.

Option B: Manually installing and managing Kubernetes on a fleet of Compute Engine instances involves the highest level of management overhead, which contradicts the requirement to minimize it.

Option D: A Standard regional GKE cluster provides higher availability than a zonal cluster by replicating the control plane and nodes across multiple zones within a region. However, it still requires you to manage the underlying nodes, unlike Autopilot.

Reference to Google Cloud Certified - Associate Cloud Engineer Documents:

The different modes of GKE operation, including Standard and Autopilot, and their respective management responsibilities and benefits, are clearly outlined in the Google Kubernetes Engine documentation, a core topic for the Associate Cloud Engineer certification. The emphasis on reduced operational overhead with Autopilot is a key differentiator.

by Shawnta at Apr 30, 2025, 10:17 AM

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Dannette

2 months ago

A fleet of Compute Engine instances sounds like too much work.

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Viola

2 months ago

Definitely go with GKE, it's the best for containerized apps!

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Vanna

2 months ago

GKE Autopilot is great for minimizing overhead!

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Audry

3 months ago

Not sure about GKE Autopilot, does it really handle everything?

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Veda

3 months ago

I think a Standard zonal GKE cluster is enough for most cases.

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Tran

3 months ago

I’m a bit confused about the regional vs. zonal clusters. I think regional might offer better availability, but I’m not sure if it’s necessary for this scenario.

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Virgie

3 months ago

I practiced a similar question where we had to choose between GKE options. I feel like the Autopilot cluster aligns well with minimizing operational tasks.

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Iluminada

4 months ago

I'm not entirely sure, but I think a standard zonal GKE cluster could work too. It just seems like it might require more management.

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Carlee

4 months ago

I remember studying about GKE Autopilot clusters and how they reduce management overhead. I think option C might be the best choice.

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Adelina

4 months ago

I'm a little confused by the different GKE options. I'll need to do some research on the differences between zonal, regional, and Autopilot clusters to determine the best approach.

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Yuriko

4 months ago

I'm confident I can solve this. The question is asking for a managed Kubernetes service, so GKE is the way to go. The regional cluster option seems like the best fit to meet the requirements.

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Mariann

4 months ago

Okay, I think I've got this. The key requirements are to minimize management overhead and not expose the applications publicly. That points me towards the GKE Autopilot option.

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Michel

5 months ago

Hmm, I'm a bit unsure about the differences between the GKE options. I'll need to review the details of each one to make sure I understand the tradeoffs.

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Kenneth

5 months ago

This looks like a straightforward Kubernetes deployment question. I'll need to weigh the pros and cons of the different GKE options to determine the best approach.

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