Question

Difficulty: MediumEstimating GCP Costs with the Pricing Calculator

A cloud engineer is utilizing the Google Cloud Pricing Calculator to model monthly infrastructure costs for a baseline web service running continuous 24/724/7 workloads on five `n2-standard-4` Compute Engine virtual machines in the `us-central1` region. The organization plans to run this workload uninterrupted for the next three years. Which configuration approach in the Pricing Calculator will yield the most accurate and cost-effective monthly estimate for these instances?

  1. Select a 3-Year Committed Use Discount (CUD) for the N2 compute instances, because committed use discounts offer deeper savings than automatic sustained use discounts for long-term continuous workloads.Answer
  2. B
    Apply automatic Sustained Use Discounts (SUD) while simultaneously selecting a 3-Year Committed Use Discount to combine both discount models for maximum savings.
  3. C
    Configure the virtual machines as Spot VMs combined with a 3-Year Committed Use Discount to achieve the lowest possible hourly instance price.
  4. D
    Change the boot disk persistent storage type to Coldline Cloud Storage within the instance configuration to reduce compute billing.

Answer

Selecting a 3-Year Committed Use Discount for the N2 instances in the GCP Pricing Calculator yields the accurate baseline cost estimate because CUDs provide the maximum available discount for predictable 24/7 workloads over long durations.
For continuous 24/7 Compute Engine workloads planned over a three-year horizon, selecting a 3-Year Committed Use Discount in the pricing calculator provides the highest percentage savings. Committed Use Discounts apply to predictable resource demands and supersede Sustained Use Discounts.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze workload continuity and commitment duration requirements
The workload runs continuous 24/7 operations for a planned three-year timeline.
Understanding usage patterns determines whether On-Demand, Sustained Use Discounts (SUD), Committed Use Discounts (CUD), or Spot instances apply.
2
Evaluate discount compatibility and suitability in the Google Cloud Pricing Calculator
A 3-Year Committed Use Discount offers the highest price reduction for predictable Compute Engine workloads and cannot be stacked with Sustained Use Discounts.
CUDs require a 1-year or 3-year commitment in exchange for significantly lower hourly rates compared to SUDs.

Key Concept

Google Cloud Pricing Calculator Committed Use Discounts vs Sustained Use Discounts
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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