Examkin

Question

Difficulty: Very hardEstimating GCP Costs with the Pricing Calculator

A system architect is using the Google Cloud Pricing Calculator to model monthly infrastructure costs for a major system migration. The architectural design comprises two primary compute workloads: a critical relational transactional database that must run continuously with 99.99% availability on dedicated Compute Engine instances, and a highly fault-tolerant, stateless batch processing pipeline designed to handle sudden instance terminations without data loss. Additionally, transactional backups will be stored long-term but must be read hourly by automated compliance validation scripts. Which configuration strategy in the Google Cloud Pricing Calculator correctly reflects Google Cloud pricing rules to provide the lowest valid cost estimate?

  1. Configure 3-year Committed Use Discounts (CUDs) for the transactional database Compute Engine instances, select Spot VMs without Committed Use Discounts for the batch processing pipeline, and assign Standard Storage for the hourly accessed transaction backups.Answer
  2. B
    Configure 3-year Committed Use Discounts (CUDs) for both the transactional database instances and the fault-tolerant batch processing pipeline Spot VMs to stack baseline discount rates in the calculator.
  3. C
    Select Spot VMs with a 1-year Committed Use Discount for the transactional database instances to achieve maximum savings, while running standard N2 instances for the stateless batch processing pipeline.
  4. D
    Configure standard Compute Engine instances using Sustained Use Discounts (SUDs) for all workloads, while assigning Archive Storage class for the transaction backups to minimize baseline gigabyte storage rates.

Answer

Configure 3-year Committed Use Discounts for predictable stateful database instances, leverage Spot VMs without stacking CUDs for fault-tolerant stateless processing, and use Standard Storage for frequently read log backups.
The option advocating 3-year Committed Use Discounts for the 24/7 database, Spot VMs for the stateless batch processing pipeline, and Standard Storage for hourly-accessed backups accurately aligns with Google Cloud pricing structures. CUDs maximize savings for steady-state databases, Spot VMs drastically reduce costs for interruptible tasks without invalid stacking, and Standard Storage avoids costly retrieval fees incurred by accessing colder storage classes on an hourly basis.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Evaluate workload operational requirements for compute resource pricing models.
The transactional database requires constant 99.99% uptime, making it eligible for steady-state baseline discounts like 1-year or 3-year Committed Use Discounts (CUDs). The batch processing pipeline is stateless and fault-tolerant, making it an ideal candidate for Spot VMs.
Spot VMs provide up to 60-91% savings over standard pricing for interruptible workloads, while CUDs provide up to 57-70% savings for steady 24/7 compute workloads.
2
Validate discount stacking and applicability rules in the Pricing Calculator.
CUDs apply to standard, non-preemptible compute usage and cannot be combined or stacked on top of Spot VM pricing.
Applying CUDs to Spot VMs in cost estimations leads to an inaccurate and artificially reduced estimate.
3
Analyze storage class lifecycle and retrieval cost trade-offs.
Because compliance scripts read the transaction backups hourly, the data access pattern is frequent. Standard Cloud Storage must be selected.
Coldline or Archive storage classes incur high retrieval fees per gigabyte when accessed continuously, making total costs higher than Standard Storage despite lower per-gigabyte storage pricing.

Key Concept

GCP Pricing Calculator Discount Rules and Storage Tier Retrieval Mechanics
Rate this question

Topics

Estimating GCP Costs with the Pricing Calculator

More questions from this topic