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Question 196
An organization needs to migrate a large amount of data from on-premises to Google Cloud Storage. Which service is most appropriate for this offline data transfer?
A) Cloud VPN
B) Transfer Appliance
C) Cloud Interconnect
D) gsutil
Answer: B
Explanation:
Transfer Appliance is a physical storage device provided by Google for offline data transfer when migrating large amounts of data to Google Cloud Storage. This service is most appropriate when transferring hundreds of terabytes or petabytes of data where network-based transfer would be impractical due to bandwidth limitations, cost prohibitions, or time constraints that make shipping physical storage more efficient than transmitting data over networks.
The Transfer Appliance is available in two capacities: 100 TB and 480 TB usable storage. Organizations request appliances through the Google Cloud Console, receive the hardware at their facilities, connect it to their network using 40 Gbps or 10 Gbps interfaces, copy data to the appliance using standard protocols like NFS or SMB, and ship the appliance back to Google. Google uploads the data to specified Cloud Storage buckets and securely erases the appliance for reuse.
This approach is valuable for scenarios including initial cloud migration with massive datasets, data center closure or consolidation requiring rapid data movement, geographically remote locations with limited network bandwidth, and situations where network transfer costs would exceed shipping costs. The service provides encryption at rest and in transit, tracking capabilities during shipment, and predictable transfer timelines independent of network conditions.
Cloud VPN and Cloud Interconnect provide ongoing network connectivity rather than one-time bulk transfer and would be too slow or expensive for massive initial migrations. The gsutil tool transfers data over networks which may be impractical for petabyte-scale migrations. Transfer Appliance specifically addresses offline bulk data migration scenarios where physical shipping offers advantages over network transfer.
Question 197
Which Cloud Load Balancing option provides client IP address preservation?
A) External HTTP(S) Load Balancer
B) External TCP/UDP Network Load Balancer
C) Internal TCP/UDP Load Balancer
D) Internal HTTP(S) Load Balancer
Answer: B
Explanation:
The External TCP/UDP Network Load Balancer preserves client IP addresses by passing them directly to backend instances without network address translation, enabling backends to see the actual source IP addresses of incoming connections. This pass-through architecture operates at Layer 4, forwarding packets without terminating connections at the load balancer, which maintains original packet headers including source IP addresses throughout the forwarding path.
Client IP preservation is critical for several use cases including security applications that make access control decisions based on source IP addresses, compliance requirements mandating logging of actual client IPs, analytics systems that track user geographic distribution or behavior patterns by IP address, and rate limiting implementations that throttle requests per client IP. Without IP preservation, backends would only see load balancer IP addresses rather than actual client sources.
The Network Load Balancer achieves this through regional external forwarding rules that direct traffic to backend instance groups or network endpoint groups. Traffic flows directly from clients through the load balancer to backends using destination NAT for the destination IP while preserving source IPs. Health checking ensures traffic only reaches healthy backends, and session affinity options enable consistent routing for connection-based protocols.
External and Internal HTTP(S) Load Balancers terminate connections and use proxy architecture where backends see load balancer IPs. The Internal TCP/UDP Load Balancer uses proxy mode without IP preservation. The External TCP/UDP Network Load Balancer specifically provides the pass-through architecture that maintains client IP addresses, enabling backend applications to process actual source IP information.
Question 198
What is the maximum number of peering connections a single VPC network can have?
A) 10
B) 25
C) 50
D) 100
Answer: B
Explanation:
A single VPC network can have a maximum of 25 VPC Network Peering connections to other VPC networks. This quota limits the number of direct peering relationships that can be established from any one VPC, affecting network topology design particularly in hub-and-spoke architectures where central hub VPCs might approach this limit when connecting to numerous spoke VPCs across the organization.
The 25 peering connection limit is a hard quota that cannot be increased through quota adjustment requests. This limitation requires careful network architecture planning for large organizations with many VPCs. When the limit is reached, additional VPCs cannot establish direct peering relationships with the constrained VPC, necessitating alternative connectivity patterns or topology redesigns.
Architectural approaches to work within this limit include using Shared VPC instead of peering to consolidate multiple projects under a single VPC network, implementing tiered hub-and-spoke topologies where regional hub VPCs peer with a central hub that has remaining capacity, utilizing VPN or Interconnect for connectivity when peering slots are exhausted, or reconsidering VPC segmentation strategy to reduce the total number of VPCs requiring interconnection.
The limit applies per VPC network rather than per project, so organizations with multiple VPCs can establish different peering relationships for each. Peering connections count against the limit of both participating VPCs. Understanding and planning for this constraint is essential when designing scalable network architectures for large enterprises with extensive VPC network requirements.
Question 199
Which feature allows you to route traffic through Network Virtual Appliances in Google Cloud?
A) Cloud NAT
B) Policy-based routing
C) VPC Network Peering
D) Cloud Load Balancing
Answer: B
Explanation:
Policy-based routing enables routing traffic through Network Virtual Appliances by creating custom routes that direct specific traffic flows to NVA instances based on packet attributes beyond destination IP addresses. This capability is essential for implementing security architectures requiring traffic inspection, inserting third-party network services like firewalls or intrusion detection systems, or establishing service chaining where traffic traverses multiple network functions.
Policy-based routes use tags, network interfaces, or priority values to selectively route traffic through NVA instances. Common implementations include tagging specific VM instances to route their traffic through firewall appliances, creating routes with next-hop internal IP addresses pointing to NVA instances, or establishing multi-tier routing where different traffic types follow different paths through inspection appliances based on source or destination characteristics.
The architecture typically deploys NVAs in separate VPC subnets with multiple network interfaces, configures IP forwarding on NVA instances to allow packet forwarding, and creates custom static routes directing traffic to NVA internal IP addresses as next hops. High availability designs use instance groups with health checking and multiple routes with equal priorities, enabling load distribution and automatic failover when NVA instances fail.
Cloud NAT provides outbound internet access rather than traffic steering. VPC Network Peering connects VPCs without intermediary appliances. Cloud Load Balancing distributes traffic to applications rather than routing through network appliances. Policy-based routing specifically provides the custom routing capabilities necessary for directing traffic through Network Virtual Appliances for inspection or processing.
Question 200
What is the purpose of Private Service Connect in Google Cloud?
A) To connect VPCs to the internet
B) To privately consume Google and third-party services using internal IP addresses
C) To create VPN tunnels
D) To load balance external traffic
Answer: B
Explanation:
Private Service Connect enables private consumption of Google services and third-party services using internal IP addresses from within VPC networks, providing a secure and scalable way to access services without exposing traffic to the internet or requiring complex peering arrangements. PSC creates endpoints in VPC networks that appear as internal IP addresses, allowing consumers to access services through these private endpoints with traffic remaining within Google’s network infrastructure.
The service supports two primary use cases: consuming Google APIs and services like Cloud Storage or BigQuery through private endpoints rather than using public googleapis.com addresses, and consuming third-party services published by partners or other organizations through private service attachments. Consumers create PSC endpoints in their VPCs that map to service attachments, establishing private connectivity without VPC peering.
Private Service Connect offers several advantages including eliminating overlapping IP address concerns because consumers use their own IP addresses for endpoints, providing better security by avoiding public internet exposure, supporting granular IAM controls over which principals can create connections, enabling centralized billing and quota management, and scaling seamlessly as Google manages the underlying connectivity infrastructure.
The service is particularly valuable for multi-tenant service architectures where providers want to offer services to many consumers without complex network configurations, enterprise scenarios requiring private access to Google services, and partner ecosystems where third-party services need secure consumption models. Consumers see services as internal IP addresses making service access transparent to applications.
Internet connectivity uses Cloud NAT or external IPs. VPN tunnels use Cloud VPN. External load balancing uses specific load balancer services. Private Service Connect specifically provides the private service consumption model using internal IP addressing for Google and third-party services.
Question 201
Which protocol does Cloud VPN support for establishing encrypted tunnels?
A) SSL/TLS
B) IPsec
C) PPTP
D) L2TP
Answer: B
Explanation:
Cloud VPN supports IPsec protocol for establishing encrypted tunnels between on-premises networks and Google Cloud VPC networks, providing secure site-to-site connectivity over the public internet. IPsec is an industry-standard protocol suite that provides authentication, integrity, and confidentiality for IP communications, making it the preferred choice for enterprise VPN implementations requiring strong security and broad interoperability.
Cloud VPN supports two types of VPN gateways: Classic VPN which provides a single interface with external IP address supporting static and dynamic routing through IKEv1 or IKEv2, and HA VPN which provides two interfaces with separate external IP addresses for high availability configurations supporting only dynamic routing with IKEv2. HA VPN is recommended for production deployments requiring 99.99% availability SLA.
The IPsec implementation supports various encryption algorithms including AES-GCM for encryption and authentication, multiple authentication methods, configurable IKE and IPsec parameters, and perfect forward secrecy ensuring that compromised keys cannot decrypt past communications. Cloud Router enables dynamic routing over VPN tunnels using BGP, automatically propagating route changes between on-premises and cloud environments.
SSL/TLS provides application-layer security rather than network-layer VPN. PPTP and L2TP are older VPN protocols with security limitations not supported by Cloud VPN. IPsec specifically provides the secure, standardized, interoperable VPN protocol that Cloud VPN implements for encrypted connectivity between on-premises networks and Google Cloud.
Question 202
What is the recommended method for connecting multiple on-premises locations to Google Cloud?
A) Create separate Cloud VPN tunnels from each location
B) Use Cloud Interconnect with multiple VLAN attachments
C) Use VPC Network Peering
D) Use Cloud NAT
Answer: B
Explanation:
Using Cloud Interconnect with multiple VLAN attachments is the recommended method for connecting multiple on-premises locations to Google Cloud when consistent high-bandwidth low-latency connectivity is required. This approach provides dedicated private connections from each location or aggregation point to Google Cloud, with separate VLAN attachments enabling logical isolation and independent routing for each location while sharing physical connectivity infrastructure.
VLAN attachments associate with Cloud Routers that establish BGP sessions for dynamic routing, enabling each location to advertise its routes and learn cloud routes independently. Multiple locations can share a single Dedicated Interconnect connection using separate VLANs, or each location can have dedicated connections depending on bandwidth requirements and redundancy needs. Cross-connects in colocation facilities or Partner Interconnect services connect on-premises networks to Google’s network.
The architecture provides several benefits including higher bandwidth than VPN alternatives supporting 10 Gbps or 100 Gbps per connection, lower latency with private dedicated paths, reduced egress costs compared to internet-based transfer, SLA-backed availability guarantees, and centralized management of all location connections through a unified interface. Each location maintains independent routing control while sharing infrastructure.
Separate VPN tunnels from each location work but provide lower bandwidth and higher latency over internet paths. VPC Network Peering connects VPCs within Google Cloud rather than on-premises locations. Cloud NAT provides outbound internet access. Cloud Interconnect with multiple VLAN attachments specifically delivers the enterprise-grade connectivity appropriate for connecting multiple on-premises sites to cloud infrastructure.
Question 203
Which firewall rule component specifies the traffic direction?
A) Priority
B) Action
C) Direction
D) Target
Answer: C
Explanation:
The Direction component in VPC firewall rules specifies whether the rule applies to ingress traffic entering instances or egress traffic leaving instances. This fundamental attribute determines when the rule is evaluated during packet processing, with ingress rules checked for incoming connections and egress rules checked for outgoing connections, enabling administrators to control both inbound and outbound traffic flows with separate policies.
Ingress rules evaluate traffic coming into VM instances from any source including other VMs in the same VPC, VMs in peered VPCs, on-premises networks through VPN or Interconnect, or the internet. Ingress rule sources specify where traffic originates using IP ranges, source tags, or source service accounts. Egress rules evaluate traffic leaving VM instances to any destination with egress rule destinations specified using IP ranges or destination tags.
Default VPC networks include pre-configured firewall rules including default-allow-internal permitting ingress from any source within the VPC’s IP ranges, and implied egress rule allowing all outbound traffic. Custom rules override these defaults based on priority values. Both ingress and egress rules must permit traffic for bidirectional communication, requiring appropriate rules in both directions for protocols like HTTP or SSH.
Priority specifies rule evaluation order when multiple rules match. Action determines whether matching traffic is allowed or denied. Target specifies which instances the rule applies to through tags, service accounts, or all instances. Direction specifically controls whether rules apply to incoming or outgoing traffic, fundamental to understanding firewall rule behavior and traffic flow control.
Question 204
What is the purpose of Cloud CDN in Google Cloud?
A) To provide DNS resolution
B) To cache content at Google edge locations for faster delivery
C) To create VPN tunnels
D) To manage SSL certificates
Answer: B
Explanation:
Cloud CDN caches content at Google’s globally distributed edge locations, delivering faster content to users by serving cached copies from locations nearest to them rather than retrieving content from origin servers for every request. This content delivery network reduces latency, improves user experience, decreases origin server load, and reduces bandwidth costs by serving frequently accessed content from cache rather than repeatedly transferring from origin.
The service integrates with External HTTP(S) Load Balancer, automatically caching responses from backend services when appropriate cache control headers are present. Cache modes control caching behavior with options including CACHE_ALL_STATIC for automatically caching static content, USE_ORIGIN_HEADERS for respecting cache directives from origin responses, and FORCE_CACHE_ALL for caching all content regardless of headers. Cache invalidation capabilities enable removing stale content when updates occur.
Cloud CDN provides several benefits including global reach with over 100 edge locations across six continents, reduced latency through proximity serving, decreased origin server load as repeated requests are served from cache, lower egress costs when cached responses are served from edge rather than origin, and integration with Cloud Armor for edge security. Monitoring provides visibility into cache hit ratios and performance metrics.
DNS resolution uses Cloud DNS. VPN tunnels use Cloud VPN. Certificate management uses Certificate Manager though Cloud CDN integrates with SSL certificates. Cloud CDN specifically provides content caching and delivery acceleration through global edge infrastructure, optimizing content distribution and user experience for internet-facing applications.
Question 205
Which load balancer operates at Layer 7 and supports SSL termination?
A) Network Load Balancer
B) TCP/UDP Load Balancer
C) Internal HTTP(S) Load Balancer
D) All load balancers support Layer 7
Answer: C
Explanation:
The Internal HTTP(S) Load Balancer operates at Layer 7 and supports SSL termination, providing proxy-based load balancing for internal HTTP and HTTPS traffic within VPC networks. This regional load balancer enables advanced traffic management including URL-based routing, host-based routing, request header manipulation, and SSL offloading for internal applications that require Layer 7 features without external internet exposure.
The load balancer architecture uses Envoy proxy as the data plane, deployed across multiple zones within a region for high availability. Internal forwarding rules with internal IP addresses receive traffic from clients, the load balancer terminates SSL connections when configured with SSL certificates, and traffic is forwarded to backend services based on URL maps that specify routing logic. Backends can be instance groups, network endpoint groups, or serverless NEGs.
Layer 7 capabilities enable sophisticated routing scenarios including sending traffic to different backend services based on URL paths, hostname-based routing serving multiple domains from one load balancer, header-based routing directing traffic based on custom headers, traffic mirroring for testing or analysis, and traffic splitting for canary deployments or A/B testing. SSL policies control cipher suites and TLS versions.
Network Load Balancer and TCP/UDP Load Balancer operate at Layer 4 without Layer 7 features or SSL termination. The External HTTP(S) Load Balancer provides Layer 7 for external traffic. The Internal HTTP(S) Load Balancer specifically delivers Layer 7 load balancing with SSL termination for internal applications requiring advanced traffic management within VPC networks.
Question 206
What is the function of a Cloud NAT gateway?
A) To provide inbound internet access to private instances
B) To translate private IP addresses to public IP addresses for outbound connections
C) To load balance traffic across regions
D) To create VPN tunnels
Answer: B
Explanation:
A Cloud NAT gateway translates private IP addresses of VM instances to public IP addresses for outbound internet connections, enabling instances without external IP addresses to initiate connections to internet destinations while preventing unsolicited inbound connections. This network address translation service is fully managed, automatically scaling to handle traffic demands without requiring manual gateway instance provisioning or configuration.
The gateway operates at the regional level, translating source IP addresses of packets leaving the VPC to public addresses from a configured pool of IP addresses. Each Cloud NAT gateway associates with a Cloud Router in the same region and can serve multiple subnets within that region. Translation mappings track active connections, enabling return traffic to reach the correct internal instances by reversing the translation.
Configuration options include manual IP address allocation where administrators specify external IP addresses for NAT, automatic allocation where Cloud NAT assigns addresses from available pools, minimum and maximum ports per VM instance controlling port allocation density, connection timeout settings, and logging levels for tracking NAT translations. High availability is built-in with automatic failover across zones.
The service specifically handles outbound connections, not inbound access which requires external IPs or load balancers. Load balancing uses dedicated load balancer services. VPN tunnels use Cloud VPN. Cloud NAT specifically provides managed source network address translation enabling secure internet access for private instances without external IP exposure or management overhead.
Question 207
Which Interconnect option provides connections through supported service providers?
A) Dedicated Interconnect
B) Partner Interconnect
C) Carrier Interconnect
D) Direct Interconnect
Answer: B
Explanation:
Partner Interconnect provides connections to Google Cloud through supported service providers, enabling enterprises to establish private connectivity without requiring physical presence in Google colocation facilities. This option is ideal when direct colocation is impractical, lower bandwidth than Dedicated Interconnect’s minimum is sufficient, or organizations prefer leveraging existing relationships with network service providers.
Partner Interconnect offers flexible bandwidth options from 50 Mbps to 50 Gbps through service provider networks. Providers maintain physical connections to Google’s network at colocation facilities, and customers order connectivity through provider portals or account managers. The service provider provisions Layer 2 or Layer 3 connections between customer locations and Google Cloud, with VLAN attachments in Google Cloud connecting to VPC networks.
The architecture provides several advantages including avoiding colocation facility requirements, flexible bandwidth scaling in increments smaller than Dedicated Interconnect’s 10 Gbps minimum, leveraging provider SLA and support, geographic reach through provider networks, and potentially faster deployment compared to establishing new colocation presence. Supported partners include major telecommunications carriers and cloud exchange providers worldwide.
Dedicated Interconnect requires direct physical connections at Google colocation facilities. Carrier Interconnect and Direct Interconnect are not standard Google Cloud service names. Partner Interconnect specifically provides the service provider-based connectivity option that extends Google Cloud private connectivity to enterprises without requiring direct colocation presence or 10 Gbps minimum bandwidth.
Question 208
What is the maximum number of network interfaces that can be attached to a VM instance?
A) 2
B) 4
C) 8
D) It depends on the machine type
Answer: D
Explanation:
The maximum number of network interfaces that can be attached to a VM instance depends on the machine type, with limits ranging from 2 interfaces for the smallest machine types to 8 interfaces for the largest machine types. This variable limit reflects the processing capacity and intended use cases of different machine types, with larger instances supporting more network interfaces to accommodate complex networking requirements.
Small machine types like f1-micro and g1-small support only 2 network interfaces, standard machine types with 2 to 8 vCPUs typically support 2-4 interfaces, and high-memory or high-CPU machine types with many vCPUs support up to 8 interfaces. Each network interface must connect to a different VPC network, enabling instances to participate in multiple networks simultaneously for purposes like network appliance deployment or multi-tenant architectures.
Multiple network interfaces enable several use cases including Network Virtual Appliances that route traffic between networks, security appliances inspecting traffic between security zones, multi-tenant applications with network isolation between tenants, and management network separation where administrative traffic uses dedicated interfaces. Each interface has its own IP address, routes, and firewall rules.
Configuration requires planning as interfaces cannot be added to running instances and must be specified at creation time. The first interface is the default gateway, and additional interfaces require route configuration for proper traffic handling. Understanding the machine type limitations is essential when designing VM-based network appliances or multi-network architectures requiring instances to participate in multiple VPC networks simultaneously.
Question 209
Which feature provides visibility into network traffic between VPC subnets?
A) Cloud NAT Logging
B) VPC Flow Logs
C) Firewall Rules Logging
D) Packet Mirroring
Answer: B
Explanation:
VPC Flow Logs provides visibility into network traffic flowing between VPC subnets by capturing metadata about IP traffic connections including source and destination IP addresses, ports, protocols, bytes transferred, and packet counts. This network telemetry enables network monitoring, troubleshooting, security analysis, cost optimization, and understanding traffic patterns without requiring packet capture or inline inspection appliances.
Flow Logs are enabled per VPC subnet with configurable sampling rates balancing detail level against storage and analysis costs. Log records are written to Cloud Logging where they can be queried, analyzed, exported to external systems, or viewed through the Logs Explorer interface. Each log entry captures five-tuple connection information plus additional metadata about traffic characteristics and outcomes.
The service supports multiple use cases including network troubleshooting by identifying connectivity failures or unexpected traffic patterns, security monitoring detecting unauthorized access attempts or data exfiltration, cost analysis understanding which traffic types consume bandwidth, compliance documentation proving network activity records exist, and capacity planning analyzing traffic growth trends over time. Integration with third-party SIEM and network analytics tools enables advanced analysis.
Cloud NAT Logging tracks NAT translations specifically. Firewall Rules Logging records allowed and denied connections based on firewall rules. Packet Mirroring captures full packet payloads. VPC Flow Logs specifically provides the network flow metadata collection that enables understanding traffic patterns and troubleshooting connectivity between subnets without performance impact or extensive storage requirements.
Question 210
What is the purpose of a default route in a VPC network?
A) To route traffic between subnets
B) To provide a path for traffic that doesn’t match other routes
C) To prevent internet access
D) To enable VPC peering
Answer: B
Explanation:
A default route in a VPC network provides a path for traffic that does not match any more specific routes in the routing table, typically directing internet-bound traffic to the internet gateway. The default route has destination 0.0.0.0/0 matching all IP addresses, and is evaluated only when no more specific routes match the packet destination, following longest prefix match routing rules.
Default VPC networks include an automatically created default route with next hop default-internet-gateway, enabling instances with external IP addresses to reach the internet and receive responses. This route has priority 1000 by default. Custom VPC networks do not automatically include a default route, requiring explicit configuration when internet access is needed. Organizations can create custom default routes with different next hops like Network Virtual Appliances.
The default route is essential for several scenarios including enabling internet access for VM instances, directing traffic for unknown destinations to security inspection appliances, implementing default routing to on-premises networks through VPN or Interconnect for hybrid architectures, and establishing backup paths when primary routes fail. Multiple default routes with different priorities enable traffic engineering and failover.
Traffic between subnets uses subnet routes automatically created when subnets are added. Preventing internet access requires deleting or overriding the default route with higher priority routes. VPC peering automatically exchanges routes between peered networks. The default route specifically provides the catch-all routing entry that handles traffic not matching more specific routes, typically enabling internet connectivity.