Load balancer types comparison in GCP - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

🧠 Conceptual

intermediate

Which GCP load balancer type operates at the HTTP/HTTPS layer and supports URL-based routing?

Identify the GCP load balancer type that works at the application layer (Layer 7) and can route traffic based on URL paths.

A HTTP(S) Load Balancer

B Network Load Balancer

C TCP Proxy Load Balancer

D Internal Load Balancer

💡 Hint

Think about which load balancer understands HTTP headers and URLs.

HTTP(S) Load Balancer operates at Layer 7 and supports advanced routing like URL path-based routing, unlike Network or TCP Proxy Load Balancers which operate at lower layers.

❓ Architecture

intermediate

Which GCP load balancer type is best suited for handling non-HTTP TCP traffic with global load balancing?

Choose the GCP load balancer type that supports global load balancing for TCP traffic but does not inspect HTTP headers.

A Network Load Balancer

B TCP Proxy Load Balancer

C HTTP(S) Load Balancer

D Internal Load Balancer

💡 Hint

This load balancer works at Layer 4 and supports global traffic distribution for TCP.

TCP Proxy Load Balancer handles TCP traffic globally without inspecting HTTP headers, unlike HTTP(S) Load Balancer which is Layer 7.

❓ scaling

advanced

What is a key limitation of the GCP Internal Load Balancer compared to external load balancers?

Select the main limitation of the Internal Load Balancer in GCP regarding its scope and accessibility.

A It only supports HTTP/HTTPS traffic

B It requires manual scaling of backend instances

C It does not support SSL termination

D It cannot load balance traffic across multiple regions

💡 Hint

Consider whether the load balancer can distribute traffic globally or only within a network.

Internal Load Balancer is regional and only routes traffic within a VPC network, unlike external load balancers which can distribute traffic globally.

❓ tradeoff

advanced

Which tradeoff is true when choosing Network Load Balancer over HTTP(S) Load Balancer in GCP?

Identify the correct tradeoff when selecting Network Load Balancer instead of HTTP(S) Load Balancer.

A Network Load Balancer operates at Layer 4 and is faster but lacks Layer 7 features like URL routing

B Network Load Balancer supports SSL termination but HTTP(S) Load Balancer does not

C Network Load Balancer provides global load balancing but HTTP(S) Load Balancer is regional

D Network Load Balancer supports HTTP/2 but HTTP(S) Load Balancer does not

💡 Hint

Think about the OSI layer each load balancer works on and the features that come with it.

Network Load Balancer works at Layer 4, offering faster performance but without Layer 7 features such as URL-based routing and SSL termination which HTTP(S) Load Balancer provides.

❓ estimation

expert

Estimate the maximum number of backend instances supported by a single GCP HTTP(S) Load Balancer backend service.

Given GCP's HTTP(S) Load Balancer, estimate the maximum number of backend instances you can attach to one backend service.

A Up to 100 backend instances

B Up to 5000 backend instances

C No fixed limit; depends on quota and region

D Up to 1000 backend instances

💡 Hint

Consider GCP's documented quotas and typical backend service limits.

GCP HTTP(S) Load Balancer backend services have no fixed limit on the number of backend instances; the capacity depends on quotas, region, and overall system limits.