Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Interview Questions and Answers for experienced

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100 GCP Interview Questions and Answers

  1. What are the core services offered by Google Cloud Platform (GCP)?

    • Answer: GCP offers a wide array of services, including Compute Engine (virtual machines), App Engine (PaaS), Kubernetes Engine (container orchestration), Cloud Storage (object storage), Cloud SQL (database service), Cloud Functions (serverless computing), BigQuery (data warehousing), Cloud Spanner (globally-distributed database), and many more, categorized into Compute, Storage, Databases, Networking, Big Data, Machine Learning, Management Tools, and more.

  2. Explain the difference between Compute Engine and App Engine.

    • Answer: Compute Engine provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), giving you complete control over your virtual machines. App Engine provides Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), abstracting away much of the infrastructure management, focusing on application deployment and scaling. App Engine is generally easier to use for simpler applications, while Compute Engine offers more flexibility and control for complex workloads.

  3. Describe Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE). What are its key features?

    • Answer: GKE is a managed Kubernetes service. Key features include automated node provisioning, self-healing capabilities, horizontal pod autoscaling, integrated monitoring and logging, and strong security features. It simplifies the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications.

  4. What are different types of Cloud Storage buckets?

    • Answer: Cloud Storage offers various storage classes like Standard, Nearline, Coldline, and Archive, each with different access speeds and pricing. The choice depends on how frequently you access your data.

  5. Explain the concept of regions and zones in GCP.

    • Answer: Regions are geographical areas containing multiple zones. Zones are isolated locations within a region. Distributing resources across zones within a region provides high availability and fault tolerance.

  6. How do you ensure high availability in a GCP application?

    • Answer: High availability is achieved through techniques like load balancing (across multiple instances and zones), redundancy (replicating data and services), and using managed services with inherent high availability features. Proper design with consideration for failover mechanisms is crucial.

  7. What is a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) in GCP?

    • Answer: A VPC is a customizable virtual network that isolates your GCP resources from other projects and the public internet. It allows you to define your own IP address ranges, subnets, firewalls, and routing rules, providing strong network security and control.

  8. Explain Cloud SQL and its different database engine options.

    • Answer: Cloud SQL is a fully managed database service. It supports various database engines like MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server, offering features like automatic backups, high availability, and scaling.

  9. What is Cloud Functions? When would you use it?

    • Answer: Cloud Functions is a serverless compute platform that allows you to run code in response to events without managing servers. Ideal for tasks like processing data from Cloud Storage, responding to HTTP requests, or reacting to changes in other GCP services.

  10. What are the different types of load balancing offered by GCP?

    • Answer: GCP offers different load balancing types: HTTP(S), TCP, and internal load balancing. The choice depends on the application protocol and the type of traffic being load balanced.

  11. Explain the importance of IAM (Identity and Access Management) in GCP.

    • Answer: IAM controls access to GCP resources. It allows you to define roles and permissions for users, groups, and service accounts, ensuring that only authorized entities can access specific resources. This is crucial for security and compliance.

  12. How can you monitor the performance of your GCP resources?

    • Answer: GCP provides Cloud Monitoring and Cloud Logging for monitoring resource performance, identifying issues, and gaining insights into application behavior. These services offer dashboards, alerts, and metrics to track various aspects of your infrastructure and applications.

  13. Describe the process of deploying an application to App Engine.

    • Answer: The process involves creating an App Engine application, configuring deployment settings (e.g., scaling, environment variables), building your application, and deploying it using the `gcloud` command-line tool or the App Engine console. The specific steps depend on the application framework used (e.g., Java, Python, Node.js).

  14. What are the benefits of using Cloud Spanner?

    • Answer: Cloud Spanner is a globally-distributed, scalable, and strongly consistent database service. Its key benefits include horizontal scalability, high availability, ACID transactions across multiple regions, and automatic failover.

  15. How does Cloud Storage handle data redundancy and durability?

    • Answer: Cloud Storage employs multiple copies of your data across different zones within a region to ensure high durability and availability. Data is replicated and protected against failures.

  16. Explain the difference between a managed instance group and an unmanaged instance group in Compute Engine.

    • Answer: Managed instance groups automatically manage the lifecycle of instances, including health checks, autoscaling, and rolling updates. Unmanaged instance groups provide more manual control but lack the automated features of managed instance groups.

  17. What is Cloud Composer and its use cases?

    • Answer: Cloud Composer is a fully managed Apache Airflow service for creating, scheduling, and monitoring workflows. It's used for orchestrating batch jobs, ETL processes, and other data pipelines.

  18. How can you secure your GCP resources using Cloud Armor?

    • Answer: Cloud Armor is a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) protection service and a web application firewall (WAF). It secures your resources by filtering and mitigating malicious traffic based on rules and policies.

  19. Explain the concept of service accounts in GCP.

    • Answer: Service accounts are non-human accounts used by applications to access GCP resources. They are essential for allowing applications to authenticate and authorize access without requiring human user credentials.

  20. How do you implement cost optimization strategies in GCP?

    • Answer: Cost optimization involves using right-sized VMs, leveraging sustained use discounts, using preemptible VMs where appropriate, scheduling instances, monitoring resource utilization, employing automated resource cleanup, and using the GCP pricing calculator.

  21. What are the different ways to deploy applications to Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)?

    • Answer: Applications can be deployed to GKE using various methods, including kubectl, deployment tools like Helm, CI/CD pipelines, and Google Cloud Build.

  22. Describe how you would handle database backups and recovery in Cloud SQL.

    • Answer: Cloud SQL offers automatic backups by default. For enhanced recovery, point-in-time recovery options are available. Regular testing of the backup and recovery process is crucial.

  23. What is BigQuery and what are its advantages over traditional data warehouses?

    • Answer: BigQuery is a fully managed, serverless, highly scalable data warehouse. Its advantages include cost-effectiveness, ease of use, scalability to handle massive datasets, and fast query performance using columnar storage.

  24. Explain the different networking options available in GCP for connecting on-premises infrastructure to GCP.

    • Answer: Options include Cloud VPN, Cloud Interconnect (dedicated connection), and VPN tunnels. The choice depends on bandwidth requirements, security needs, and cost considerations.

  25. How do you troubleshoot network connectivity issues in GCP?

    • Answer: Troubleshooting involves using tools like `ping`, `traceroute`, checking firewall rules, examining network configurations, reviewing logs, and using GCP's monitoring and diagnostic tools.

  26. What are the key security best practices for deploying applications on GCP?

    • Answer: Best practices include properly configuring IAM roles and permissions, using strong passwords and secrets management, enabling encryption, regularly patching systems, implementing firewalls, and utilizing security monitoring tools.

  27. Describe the use of Cloud Dataproc for big data processing.

    • Answer: Cloud Dataproc is a fully managed Hadoop and Spark service. It simplifies the deployment and management of big data clusters, allowing you to easily process and analyze large datasets using familiar tools.

  28. Explain how to use Cloud Build for continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD).

    • Answer: Cloud Build automates the build, test, and deployment of applications. You define a configuration file (e.g., `cloudbuild.yaml`) specifying the build steps, and Cloud Build executes them automatically, often triggered by events like code commits.

  29. What are the benefits of using serverless technologies like Cloud Functions and Cloud Run?

    • Answer: Serverless technologies eliminate server management, reducing operational overhead. They offer automatic scaling, cost-effectiveness based on usage, and faster deployment cycles.

  30. Explain the difference between Cloud Run and App Engine.

    • Answer: Both are PaaS offerings but differ in control and flexibility. App Engine is opinionated, offering managed environments for specific frameworks. Cloud Run is more flexible, supporting custom container images and greater control over the runtime environment.

  31. How do you handle logging and monitoring in a distributed application running on GCP?

    • Answer: Centralized logging using Cloud Logging aggregates logs from different services. Cloud Monitoring provides metrics and dashboards for observing the overall health and performance of the distributed application.

  32. What are the different ways to deploy a machine learning model using GCP?

    • Answer: Options include deploying models using AI Platform Prediction, deploying to Cloud Run or Kubernetes Engine, or embedding models directly into applications.

  33. Explain the concept of Dataflow and its use cases.

    • Answer: Dataflow is a fully managed, unified stream and batch data processing service. It's used for building data pipelines, ETL processes, and real-time data analytics applications.

  34. How would you implement a disaster recovery plan for a critical application running on GCP?

    • Answer: A disaster recovery plan includes choosing a secondary region, replicating data and resources to that region, testing the failover process, and establishing procedures for recovery.

  35. What are the key features of Cloud Pub/Sub?

    • Answer: Cloud Pub/Sub is a fully managed real-time messaging service. Key features include asynchronous messaging, pub/sub architecture, scalability, and reliability.

  36. Explain the role of Cloud DNS in GCP.

    • Answer: Cloud DNS is a highly scalable and reliable DNS service. It allows you to manage your domain names and route traffic to your GCP resources.

  37. How do you secure access to your Cloud Storage buckets?

    • Answer: Security includes using appropriate IAM permissions, configuring fine-grained access control lists (ACLs), enabling encryption, and using Cloud Storage object lifecycle management.

  38. What are the different pricing models for GCP services?

    • Answer: GCP uses various pricing models, including pay-as-you-go, sustained use discounts, committed use discounts, and free tiers.

  39. Describe your experience with using the Google Cloud SDK (gcloud).

    • Answer: [Describe your experience with gcloud commands, managing projects, deployments, and configurations.]

  40. Explain your experience with Terraform or Cloud Deployment Manager for infrastructure as code (IaC).

    • Answer: [Describe your experience with managing and deploying GCP resources using Terraform or Cloud Deployment Manager, including module creation and version control.]

  41. How would you approach migrating an on-premises application to GCP?

    • Answer: [Outline your approach, including assessment, migration strategy (rehosting, refactoring, replatforming, repurposing, replacing), testing, and cutover plans.]

  42. Describe your experience with using Cloud Monitoring alerts and dashboards.

    • Answer: [Detail your experience with creating custom dashboards, setting up alerts based on metrics, and using the alerting system to proactively manage infrastructure.]

  43. How do you handle different environments (development, staging, production) in GCP?

    • Answer: [Explain your methodology, usually involving separate projects or organizational units, with IaC to manage consistent configurations across environments.]

  44. Explain your understanding of VPC Peering and its use cases.

    • Answer: [Describe VPC peering, its benefits for connecting different VPC networks, and use cases like connecting different projects or organizations within GCP.]

  45. How do you manage secrets and sensitive data in your GCP deployments?

    • Answer: [Discuss your approach, emphasizing the use of Google Cloud Secret Manager for securely storing and managing sensitive information, and integrating it with your deployment pipelines.]

  46. What are some common challenges you've faced when working with GCP, and how did you overcome them?

    • Answer: [Discuss specific challenges encountered, such as network issues, scaling problems, security configurations, or cost management, and detail the problem-solving techniques employed.]

  47. Describe your experience with using Cloud Trace and Cloud Profiler for application performance analysis.

    • Answer: [Describe the use of these tools for identifying performance bottlenecks, optimizing code, and improving application responsiveness.]

  48. How familiar are you with different GCP pricing models and how do you optimize costs?

    • Answer: [Detail your understanding of various pricing models and your strategies for cost optimization, like right-sizing instances, leveraging discounts, and utilizing cost management tools.]

  49. Explain your experience with implementing and managing Kubernetes clusters on GKE.

    • Answer: [Describe your experience with creating, configuring, scaling, and managing GKE clusters, including deployments, services, and networking configurations.]

  50. How do you ensure the security and compliance of your GCP deployments?

    • Answer: [Explain your security practices, including IAM roles, network security, data encryption, security scanning, and adherence to relevant compliance standards.]

  51. What is your experience with deploying and managing databases in Cloud SQL?

    • Answer: [Describe your experience with database deployments, backups, high availability configurations, and performance tuning.]

  52. Explain your understanding of different networking concepts in GCP, such as VPC networks, subnets, firewalls, and routing.

    • Answer: [Demonstrate a solid understanding of these concepts and their interrelationships in configuring secure and efficient GCP networks.]

  53. How do you handle and manage multiple GCP projects?

    • Answer: [Explain your strategies for organizing, managing, and controlling access to multiple GCP projects, often using organizational structures and billing accounts.]

  54. Describe your experience with automating tasks using Cloud Functions or other serverless technologies.

    • Answer: [Discuss experience with creating and deploying serverless functions, including event-driven architectures and integration with other GCP services.]

  55. How do you approach troubleshooting issues with application performance on GCP?

    • Answer: [Detail your approach to troubleshooting, including using logging, monitoring, and profiling tools to identify and resolve performance bottlenecks.]

  56. What are your experiences with integrating GCP services with third-party applications or APIs?

    • Answer: [Describe experiences with integration, including authentication, authorization, and data exchange methodologies.]

  57. How do you stay up-to-date with the latest developments and best practices in GCP?

    • Answer: [Discuss strategies for staying current, like following GCP blogs, attending webinars, using online documentation, and participating in the GCP community.]

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