Cost optimization strategies in GCP - Interactive Code Practice

Practice - 5 Tasks

1fill in blank

easy

Complete the code to select the GCP service that helps reduce costs by automatically adjusting resources.

GCP

service = "[1]"

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

AAutoscaler

BCloud Storage

CBigQuery

DCloud Functions

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Choosing a storage service instead of a scaling service.

Selecting a data analytics service which doesn't manage resources automatically.

The Autoscaler service automatically adjusts the number of VM instances based on load, helping reduce costs by using only needed resources.

2fill in blank

medium

Complete the code to specify the billing export dataset name for cost analysis.

GCP

billing_export_dataset = "[1]"

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Acost_export

Bbilling_export

Cbilling_data

Danalytics_data

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using generic dataset names that do not reflect billing data.

Confusing cost export with analytics data.

The billing export dataset is commonly named 'billing_export' to store detailed cost data for analysis.

3fill in blank

hard

Fix the error in the code to correctly set a budget alert threshold percentage.

GCP

budget_alert_threshold = [1]

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A0.8

B"80%"

C80

D80.0

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using a string with percent sign which causes errors.

Using a decimal instead of an integer.

The budget alert threshold should be set as an integer percentage without quotes, like 80, not as a string or decimal.

4fill in blank

hard

Fill both blanks to create a filter that selects projects with labels for cost center and environment.

GCP

filter_expression = "labels.[1] = '[2]'"

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Acost_center

Benv

Cproduction

Dfinance

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Mixing label keys and values.

Using environment label key when cost center is required.

The filter selects projects labeled with 'cost_center' equal to 'finance'.

5fill in blank

hard

Fill all three blanks to define a cost optimization rule that stops idle VMs after a threshold.

GCP

rule = {"action": "[1]", "resource_type": "[2]", "idle_time_minutes": [3]

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Astop

Bcompute_instance

C30

Ddelete

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Choosing 'delete' which removes the VM permanently.

Using wrong resource type names.

The rule stops compute instances that have been idle for 30 minutes to save costs.

Practice

1. Which of the following is a basic way to reduce costs in Google Cloud Platform (GCP)?

easy

A. Use the most powerful machines regardless of need

B. Increase the number of virtual machines

C. Use smaller or cheaper machine types

D. Keep all resources running 24/7

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand cost drivers in GCP

   Machine types with more CPU and memory cost more money.

2. Step 2: Choose cost-saving options

   Using smaller or cheaper machine types reduces the hourly cost.

3. Final Answer:

   Use smaller or cheaper machine types -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   Smaller machines cost less [OK]

Hint: Pick smaller machines to save money quickly [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking more machines always save money
• Believing running all resources nonstop is cheaper
• Choosing the most powerful machines by default

2. Which of the following is the correct way to specify a preemptible VM in a GCP instance creation command?

easy

A. gcloud compute instances create my-vm --preemptible

B. gcloud compute instances create my-vm --no-preemptible

C. gcloud compute instances create my-vm --machine-type=preemptible

D. gcloud compute instances create my-vm --enable-preemptible=false

Solution

1. Step 1: Review gcloud syntax for preemptible VMs

   The flag to create a preemptible VM is --preemptible.

2. Step 2: Identify the correct command

   gcloud compute instances create my-vm --preemptible uses --preemptible correctly to enable preemptible VM.

3. Final Answer:

   gcloud compute instances create my-vm --preemptible -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Use --preemptible flag to create preemptible VM [OK]

Hint: Look for --preemptible flag to enable preemptible VMs [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using --no-preemptible which disables preemptible
• Confusing machine-type with preemptible flag
• Using incorrect flag names

3. Consider this Python snippet using GCP SDK to list VM instances and filter by machine type for cost optimization:

instances = [
  {"name": "vm1", "machine_type": "n1-standard-1"},
  {"name": "vm2", "machine_type": "n1-highmem-4"},
  {"name": "vm3", "machine_type": "n1-standard-1"}
]
cheap_vms = [vm["name"] for vm in instances if vm["machine_type"] == "n1-standard-1"]
print(cheap_vms)

What is the output?

medium

A. ['vm2']

B. ['vm1', 'vm3']

C. ['vm1', 'vm2', 'vm3']

D. []

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the list comprehension filter

   The code selects VMs where machine_type equals 'n1-standard-1'.

2. Step 2: Identify matching VMs

   vm1 and vm3 have 'n1-standard-1', vm2 does not.

3. Final Answer:

   ['vm1', 'vm3'] -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   Filter by machine_type 'n1-standard-1' gives vm1 and vm3 [OK]

Hint: Filter list by machine_type to find cheaper VMs [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Including vm2 which has a different machine type
• Returning empty list by mistake
• Confusing keys in dictionary

4. You wrote this command to create a preemptible VM but it keeps creating normal VMs:

gcloud compute instances create cheap-vm --machine-type=n1-standard-1 --enable-preemptible=false

What is the error and how to fix it?

medium

A. The VM name is invalid; rename it

B. The machine type is wrong; use a cheaper type

C. The command is missing zone specification

D. The flag disables preemptible; use --preemptible instead

Solution

1. Step 1: Analyze the preemptible flag usage

   The flag --enable-preemptible=false disables preemptible VMs.

2. Step 2: Correct the flag to enable preemptible

   Use --preemptible without false to create preemptible VM.

3. Final Answer:

   The flag disables preemptible; use --preemptible instead -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   Use --preemptible to enable preemptible VMs [OK]

Hint: Use --preemptible flag alone to enable preemptible VMs [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using --enable-preemptible=false disables preemptible
• Changing machine type instead of flag
• Ignoring flag syntax errors

5. A company wants to optimize costs by automatically stopping VMs when not in use during nights and weekends. Which GCP service or strategy best supports this goal?

hard

A. Use Cloud Scheduler to trigger Cloud Functions that stop/start VMs on schedule

B. Manually stop VMs every night using the console

C. Use preemptible VMs only without scheduling

D. Increase VM size to reduce runtime

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify automation options for VM management

   Cloud Scheduler can run tasks on a schedule, and Cloud Functions can execute commands like stopping VMs.

2. Step 2: Match automation to cost optimization goal

   Automating stop/start reduces costs by not running VMs when unused.

3. Final Answer:

   Use Cloud Scheduler to trigger Cloud Functions that stop/start VMs on schedule -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Automate VM stop/start with Cloud Scheduler and Functions [OK]

Hint: Automate VM stop/start with Cloud Scheduler and Functions [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Relying on manual stopping which is error-prone
• Using preemptible VMs without scheduling
• Increasing VM size which raises costs