Cloud Engineer Cost Optimization & Resource Management Flashcards
6 cards from real Cloud Engineer practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Cloud Engineer Cost Optimization & Resource Management flashcards as text
Which GCP resource hierarchy level should you use to apply spending budgets that cover multiple projects?
Answer: Billing account level
Budgets are attached to a billing account and can cover all projects linked to that account, or be scoped to specific projects, services, or labels.
What is the main cost advantage of using Cloud Run over Compute Engine for stateless web workloads?
Answer: Cloud Run charges only for CPU and memory consumed during request processing, with no idle charges
Cloud Run scales to zero and charges only while actively handling requests, eliminating idle infrastructure costs that you'd pay for always-on Compute Engine VMs.
Which label strategy is a best practice for enabling accurate cost allocation across teams in a large GCP organization?
Answer: Use consistent resource labels (e.g., team, env, cost-center) on all billable resources
Consistent resource labels allow Cloud Billing reports to break down costs by dimensions like team, environment, or cost center, enabling granular showback and chargeback.
A Cloud Storage bucket stores large amounts of data that must be retained for compliance but is rarely accessed. Which lifecycle action reduces cost while meeting retention needs?
Answer: Transition objects to Archive storage class after 365 days
Transitioning compliance data to Archive storage after a year of inactivity dramatically reduces storage costs while keeping the data accessible if needed for audits.
What GCP feature lets you set maximum resource quotas per project to prevent runaway spend on services like Compute Engine or BigQuery?
Answer: Quotas and limits in the Cloud Console / API
GCP quotas (found in IAM & Admin > Quotas) cap the maximum number of resources a project can use, preventing runaway costs from misconfigured autoscaling or runaway queries.
Which pricing model is most cost-effective for a BigQuery workload with consistent, predictable high query volumes throughout the month?
Answer: BigQuery Reservations (flat-rate pricing with slots)
BigQuery Reservations (flat-rate) purchases a fixed number of query processing slots, providing cost predictability and potentially lower total cost for consistently high query volumes.