--- tags: - cloud - l1 - flashcard-deck - gcp-compute --- [Portal](../../../../library/portal/index.md) | **Level:** [L1: Foundations](../../../../library/portal/levels.md) | **Topics:** [GCP Troubleshooting](../../../../library/portal/topics.md) | **Domain:** Cloud id category difficulty tags question answer source_path gcp-compute/15ff93172519 gcp-compute medium gcp,compute "Remove the label ""env"" from an instance called ""instance-1""" `gcloud compute instances update instance-1 --remove-labels env`\n\nRemember: Labels are key-value metadata for organizing resources. Remove with --remove-labels, add with --update-labels.\n\nGotcha: Labels are different from network tags. Labels are for billing/organization; tags affect firewall rules and routes. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/016-remove-the-label-env-from-an-instance-called-insta.txt gcp-compute/1e27d15de778 gcp-compute hard gcp,compute Explain Google Cloud Billing Catalog. It's a catalog that enables Google Cloud customers to access and download detailed billing data. It's a comprehensive, detailed breakdown of charges and costs incurred while using GCP services. This catalog is accessible through the GCP Billing Console and includes information on the usage and pricing of all services utilized by an organization. It helps users track and analyze their spending across various GCP products and services, allowing for better cost management and planning. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/130-explain-google-cloud-billing-catalog.txt gcp-compute/1ef7ea96a3d7 gcp-compute medium gcp,compute What is Cloud IoT Core in GCP? Cloud IoT Core is a fully managed service for securely connecting, managing, and ingesting data from globally dispersed devices. Cloud IoT Core is a fully managed service that allows you to securely connect, manage, and ingest data from globally dispersed IoT devices. It offers a robust infrastructure to handle IoT device management and enables easy integration with other GCP services for data analysis and insights. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/140-what-is-cloud-iot-core-in-gcp.txt gcp-compute/2903b4a2b6c6 gcp-compute medium gcp,compute,compute What are Committed Use Discounts (CUDs) on GCP? CUDs are cost-saving commitments for specified compute resources over a term. When committing to use specific virtual machine instances or other resources for a one- or three-year term, Google offers discounted pricing compared to pay-as-you-go pricing. These discounts are beneficial for workloads that have predictable and steady resource consumption. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/103-what-are-committed-use-discounts-cuds-on-gcp.txt gcp-compute/3336cff9fb7b gcp-compute medium gcp,compute,compute What is Google Compute Engine (GCE)? GCE is an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) offering by GCP, providing scalable virtual machines to run workloads. Users can select configurations for CPUs, memory, and storage, and have full control over the software running on these VMs. GCE allows users to create, start, stop, and manage instances, providing a flexible and on-demand computing infrastructure within Google Cloud. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/048-what-is-google-compute-engine-gce.txt gcp-compute/38e8df9f2a09 gcp-compute medium gcp,compute,cloud-functions What is Cloud Run in GCP? Cloud Run is a fully managed serverless platform for building and running containerized applications. Notable features include:\n* Portability: Supports containerized applications built on any language or framework.\n* Automatic Scaling: Scales up or down in response to traffic.\n* Pay-for-Usage Model: Charges are based on actual resource usage. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/124-what-is-cloud-run-in-gcp.txt gcp-compute/3e42e68af785 gcp-compute hard gcp,compute Describe Google Cloud Dataflow. Cloud Dataflow is a fully managed service for stream and batch processing. It enables users to create data pipelines for transforming and enriching data, supporting real-time processing as well as processing of large datasets. It integrates with various data sources and other GCP services, providing a flexible and scalable data processing platform. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/144-describe-google-cloud-dataflow.txt gcp-compute/3ee5523b4fae gcp-compute medium gcp,database,compute What is Cloud Spanner, and how is it different from other databases? Cloud Spanner is a globally distributed, horizontally scalable database designed for mission-critical applications with strong consistency and SQL support. It combines the benefits of relational databases with the scalability of NoSQL databases. It can automatically scale both storage and compute resources. The Data is replicated across multiple regions for high availability and low latency. It also maintains strong consistency with ACID properties for transactions. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/094-what-is-cloud-spanner-and-how-is-it-different-from.txt gcp-compute/42aa5ab48fee gcp-compute hard gcp,networking,compute Explain each of the following GCP regions are data centers hosted across different geographical locations worldwide.\n\nWithin each region, there are multiple isolated locations known as Zones. Each zone is one or more data-centers with redundant network and connectivity and power supply. Multiple zones ensure high availability in case one of them goes down projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/001-explain-each-of-the-following-zone-region.txt gcp-compute/42f79cb1ac06 gcp-compute hard gcp,compute,compute,compute Differentiate between Preemptible VMs and Standard VMs. Standard VMs:\n* These are regular, long-lived virtual machine instances.\n* Offered at standard pricing.\n* Ideal for workloads requiring continuous availability without interruption.\n* Guaranteed to run until manually stopped or terminated by the user.\nPreemptible VMs:\n* Short-lived and cost-effective instances. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/088-differentiate-between-preemptible-vms-and-standard.txt gcp-compute/44fa99e7c5bb gcp-compute easy gcp, boot, kernel What are sheilded VMs ? Shielded VMs in Google Cloud Platform provide a higher level of protection against various threats to the integrity of your VMs. They're hardened virtual machines that offer a defense against boot and kernel-level attacks.\nKey aspects of Shielded VMs: projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/049-what-are-sheilded-vms.txt gcp-compute/4cb6d49244c6 gcp-compute medium gcp,compute Explain Multi-Regional Storage in GCP. Multi-Regional Storage offers high availability and low latency access to frequently accessed data across multiple regions. It is suitable for workloads requiring quick and reliable access to data, providing redundancy and fast access to data across different geographic regions. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/149-explain-multi-regional-storage-in-gcp.txt gcp-compute/53102774d192 gcp-compute medium gcp,devops,compute What considerations to take when choosing an GCP region for running a new application? * Services Availability: not all service (and all their features) are available in every region\n* Reduced latency: deploy application in a region that is close to customers\n\nRemember: Three factors for region selection: latency (proximity to users), compliance (data residency laws), and service availability.\n\nGotcha: Some services like Cloud Spanner multi-region require specific region configurations. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/003-what-considerations-to-take-when-choosing-an-gcp-r.txt gcp-compute/5a4cb03a1100 gcp-compute easy gcp,compute True or False? All GCP services are available in all regions zones False. You can see [here](https://cloud.google.com/about/locations) which products/services available in each region.\n\nGotcha: Before deploying, always verify service availability in your target region at cloud.google.com/about/locations.\n\nExample: GPUs, Cloud SQL for SQL Server, and certain AI services are only in select regions. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/004-true-or-false-all-gcp-services-are-available-in-al.txt gcp-compute/5b2f41933f85 gcp-compute easy gcp,compute "List the labels of an instance called ""instance-1""" "`gcloud compute instances describe instance-1 --format ""yaml(labels)""`"\n\nRemember: Use --format to control output: yaml, json, table, csv, value. Example: --format='value(labels)' for plain text.\n\nGotcha: Labels are case-sensitive. 'Env' and 'env' are different labels. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/014-list-the-labels-of-an-instance-called-instance-1.txt gcp-compute/5dc69cf3a871 gcp-compute easy gcp,compute How to list all regions? `gcloud compute regions list`\n\nRemember: Regions contain zones. Use `gcloud compute zones list` for zones. Format: region-zone (e.g., us-central1-a).\n\nFun fact: GCP has 40+ regions across 6 continents as of 2025. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/005-how-to-list-all-regions.txt gcp-compute/62342cc14b7c gcp-compute hard gcp,cloud-functions Explain Cloud Functions Google Cloud Functions is a serverless execution environment for building and connecting cloud services. With Cloud Functions you write simple, single-purpose functions that are attached to events emitted from your cloud infrastructure and services. Your function is triggered when an event being watched is fired. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/019-explain-cloud-functions.txt gcp-compute/626cd36b402a gcp-compute easy gcp,compute True or False? A resource has to be associated with at least one project True. You can't have resources associate with no projects.\n\nRemember: GCP hierarchy: Organization > Folder > Project > Resources. Every resource must live in a project.\n\nGotcha: Deleting a project deletes ALL resources in it — VMs, databases, everything. Use with extreme caution. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/008-true-or-false-a-resource-has-to-be-associated-with.txt gcp-compute/80e4739b3d56 gcp-compute medium gcp,compute Create an instance with the following properties: `gcloud compute instances create instance-1 --labels app=web,env=dev --machine-type=e2-micro`\n\nRemember: --labels at creation time. --update-labels after creation. Two different flags for the same metadata.\n\nGotcha: e2-micro is part of the free tier (1 per billing account, in select regions). projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/017-create-an-instance-with-the-following-properties-n.txt gcp-compute/8131f8eaaa23 gcp-compute hard gcp,monitoring,compute,compute Describe GCP Cost Explorer. Cost Explorer is a tool to visualize, understand, and manage GCP spending. \n* Cost Tracking: Users can track and analyze their spending based on different GCP services, projects, and timeframes.\n* Forecasting: It offers the ability to forecast future spending based on historical data and trends.\n* Budget Management: Users can set budgets and receive alerts when spending exceeds defined thresholds. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/104-describe-gcp-cost-explorer.txt gcp-compute/8735d72b0192 gcp-compute medium gcp,cloud-functions,devops What is Cloud Functions? It's a serverless platform for building and deploying event-driven, scalable functions.\nKey Features:\n* Event-Based Triggers: Executes code in response to various events from GCP services or HTTP requests.\n* Automatic Scaling: Automatically scales based on the load and triggers, ensuring cost efficiency.\nUse Cases:\nIt's ideal for building lightweight applications, handling microservices, and automating workflows that react to specific events or triggers. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/098-what-is-cloud-functions.txt gcp-compute/8758258b6d6f gcp-compute medium gcp,networking,compute Tell me what do you know about GCP networking Virtual Private Cloud(VPC) network is a virtual version of physical network, implemented in Google's internal Network. VPC is a global resource in GCP.\nSubnetworks(subnets) are regional resources, ie., subnets can be created withinin regions.\nVPC are created in 2 modes, projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/018-tell-me-what-do-you-know-about-gcp-networking.txt gcp-compute/9969d942e6b2 gcp-compute medium gcp,cloud-functions,devops What is cloud function ? Cloud Functions is Google Cloud's serverless execution environment, allowing developers to deploy individual functions that automatically scale based on the triggered events. It enables the execution of code in response to various events within GCP or external triggers without managing the underlying infrastructure. Developers can write functions in Node.js, Python, Go, and other supported languages, making it ideal for event-driven, lightweight applications, and microservices. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/077-what-is-cloud-function.txt gcp-compute/9caf354aaacd gcp-compute hard gcp,monitoring,compute How does GCP provide cost management and optimization? GCP offers cost management tools like Cost Explorer, Budgets, and Rightsizing Recommendations for cost monitoring and optimization. Moreover, budgeting tools enable setting spending limits and alerts. GCP also offers sustained use discounts and committed use discounts for predictable workloads. Additionally, organizations can leverage predefined cost-saving recommendations and custom reports for better insights and decisions regarding resource allocation and usage. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/129-how-does-gcp-provide-cost-management-and-optimizat.txt gcp-compute/9d6e199ad934 gcp-compute hard gcp,compute,compute Explain resources hierarchy in GCP Organization\n Folder\n Project\n Resources\n\n* Organizations - Company\n* Folder - usually for departments, teams, products, etc.\n* Project - can be different projects or same project but different environments (dev, staging, production)\n* Resources - actual GCP services (Compute, App engine, Storage, etc.) projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/006-explain-resources-hierarchy-in-gcp.txt gcp-compute/a43ce1070d1e gcp-compute easy gcp,compute True or False? In a project, you can have one or more organizations False. It's quite the opposite. First there is an organization and under organization you can have one or more folder with one or more projects.\n\nRemember: GCP hierarchy: Organization > Folders > Projects > Resources. One org contains many projects, never the reverse.\n\nAnalogy: Think of it like a company (org) > departments (folders) > teams (projects) > tools (resources). projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/007-true-or-false-in-a-project-you-can-have-one-or-mor.txt gcp-compute/a938d7ad506b gcp-compute easy gcp,compute True or False? Each GCP region is designed to be completely isolated from the other GCP regions True. GCP regions are isolated from each other. Each region has independent infrastructure, and data doesn't replicate across regions unless explicitly configured.\n\nUnder the hood: Each region has independent power, cooling, and networking. Cross-region data transfer costs money.\n\nGotcha: While regions are isolated, multi-region services (like GCS multi-regional buckets) replicate across them. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/002-true-or-false-each-gcp-region-is-designed-to-be-co.txt gcp-compute/ad650ff071f1 gcp-compute medium gcp,networking,compute What network tags are used for? Network tags allow you to apply firewall rules and routes to a specific instance or set of instances: You make a firewall rule applicable to specific instances by using target tags and source tags. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/021-what-network-tags-are-used-for.txt gcp-compute/af88240f2284 gcp-compute hard gcp,cloud-functions Describe Google Cloud Functions. Cloud Functions is a serverless execution environment for building and connecting cloud services. \nKey aspects include:\n* Event-Driven Computing: Executes code in response to events from various GCP services.\n* Pay-as-You-Go Model: Users are charged only for the time their functions run.\n* Support for Multiple Languages: Allows development in languages like Node.js, Python, and Go. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/123-describe-google-cloud-functions.txt gcp-compute/bf560c6be5ec gcp-compute easy gcp,compute True or False? Project name has to be globally unique True. GCP project names must be globally unique across all of Google Cloud. Project IDs (used in APIs) are also globally unique.\n\nGotcha: Project IDs are also globally unique and immutable once created. Choose carefully — you cannot change the ID later.\n\nRemember: Project names can be changed; project IDs cannot. Project number is auto-assigned. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/009-true-or-false-project-name-has-to-be-globally-uniq.txt gcp-compute/c1b72b19f6fd gcp-compute hard gcp,bigquery,cloud-functions What is Google BigQuery and when would you use it for analytics? BigQuery is a serverless, highly scalable, and cost-effective data warehouse for analyzing big data.\nKey Aspects:\n* Performance: Offers fast query execution on large datasets with high concurrency.\n* Managed Service: No infrastructure management required; Google handles scaling and maintenance.\nUse Cases:\nBigQuery is ideal for interactive analysis, ad-hoc querying, and generating insights from large and complex datasets. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/099-describe-bigquery.txt gcp-compute/d4c7f9718633 gcp-compute hard gcp,database,compute Describe Cloud Spanner in GCP. Cloud Spanner is a globally distributed, horizontally scalable database designed for global applications. It combines the benefits of relational databases with horizontal scalability and global distribution, making it suitable for mission-critical applications requiring high consistency and scalability. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/150-describe-cloud-spanner-in-gcp.txt gcp-compute/d7f24b80b7cb gcp-compute hard gcp,compute,cloud-functions,devops When do you use CloudRun ? Cloud Run is a fully managed compute platform that enables developers to deploy containerized applications quickly. It's ideal in scenarios where you have containerized applications or microservices and need a serverless architecture. Cloud Run abstracts infrastructure management and automatically scales based on incoming traffic. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/065-when-do-you-use-cloudrun.txt gcp-compute/e33689b6f910 gcp-compute medium gcp,compute "Update a label to ""app=db"" for the instance called ""instance-1""" `gcloud compute instances update instance-1 --update-labels app=db`\n\nRemember: --update-labels adds or changes labels. --remove-labels removes them. --clear-labels removes all labels.\n\nGotcha: Updating one label does not affect others — it is a merge operation, not a replace. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/015-update-a-label-to-appdb-for-the-instance-called-in.txt gcp-compute/e4ca2aee2cc7 gcp-compute medium gcp,storage,compute Explain Google Cloud Storage classes and their use cases. Storage classes include Standard, Nearline, Coldline, and Archive, each optimized for different access frequencies and costs.\n* Standard: General-purpose storage for frequently accessed data.\n* Nearline: Low-cost storage for data accessed less frequently, with a 30-day minimum storage duration. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/089-explain-google-cloud-storage-classes-and-their-use.txt gcp-compute/e59be699c941 gcp-compute medium gcp,compute How do Organisation Policies differ from OS Policies ? Organization Policies: Focus on defining and enforcing rules and constraints across an entire organization's GCP resources. They are applied at the organizational level, controlling behaviors and settings at a broad scale. These are applied at Org Level i.e the scope is Organisation and Projects. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/056-how-do-organisation-policies-differ-from-os-polici.txt gcp-compute/f0be27ab224f gcp-compute medium gcp,compute,compute Can you provide some examples to labels usage in GCP? * Location (cost center)\n* Project (or environment, folder, etc.)\n* Service type\n* Service owner\n* Application type\n* Application owner\n\nRemember: Labels help with cost allocation in billing reports. Filter by label in Cloud Billing to see per-team costs.\n\nGotcha: Labels have limits: max 64 per resource, key max 63 chars, value max 63 chars. Lowercase only. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/012-can-you-provide-some-examples-to-labels-usage-in-g.txt gcp-compute/f3dab7e3114a gcp-compute medium gcp, scripting What Compute metadata key allows you to run code at startup? `startup-script` — a Compute Engine metadata key whose value is a shell script that runs automatically when the VM boots. Set it via `--metadata startup-script='#!/bin/bash ...'` or point to a Cloud Storage file with `startup-script-url`. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/024-what-compute-metadata-key-allows-you-to-run-code-a.txt gcp-compute/fc564d17f7e2 gcp-compute easy gcp,compute What are GCP's strategies for Disaster Recovery (DR)? GCP provides redundancy, backup, and geo-distribution features to ensure DR.\n* Regional Redundancy: GCP's infrastructure is designed for data redundancy across multiple regions, ensuring availability even in case of regional outages. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/109-what-are-gcps-strategies-for-disaster-recovery-dr.txt gcp-compute/fc7223fae099 gcp-compute hard gcp,database,compute Explain Google Cloud Backup. Google Cloud Backup provides reliable and efficient data backup solutions for GCP services. It provides automated backups for critical GCP resources such as VM instances, databases, and storage, ensuring data resilience and enabling quick recovery in the event of data loss or system failure. Cloud Backup offers a simple and scalable solution for organizations to protect their critical data and applications. projects/knowledge/interview/gcp/137-explain-google-cloud-backup.txt --- ## Wiki Navigation ### Related Content - GCP General Flashcards *(CLI)* (flashcard_deck, L1) — GCP Troubleshooting - GCP Kubernetes Flashcards *(CLI)* (flashcard_deck, L1) — GCP Troubleshooting - GCP Networking Flashcards *(CLI)* (flashcard_deck, L1) — GCP Troubleshooting - GCP Security Flashcards *(CLI)* (flashcard_deck, L1) — GCP Troubleshooting - [GCP Troubleshooting](../../../../library/topics/gcp-troubleshooting/index.md) (Topic Pack, L1) — GCP Troubleshooting - GCP Troubleshooting Flashcards *(CLI)* (flashcard_deck, L1) — GCP Troubleshooting