GCP Interview Questions Lecture Notes

Introduction

Presenter: Aman from Medical
Topic: GCP Interview Questions
Audience: Candidates preparing for various GCP job roles (Cloud Engineer, Cloud Developer, Customer Engineer, Administrator, etc.)

Agenda

General cloud computing and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) questions
Questions on different GCP service domains:
- Compute and Hosting
- Storage and Databases
- Networking
- Big Data, Machine Learning, Cloud AI
Skills required to become a Cloud Engineer
GCP Certification

General Cloud Computing Questions

What is Cloud?

Refers to a global network of servers with unique functions
Designed to store/manage data, run applications, deliver content
Located in data centers worldwide
Services: Compute, Storage, Databases, Networking, etc.

What is Cloud Computing?

On-demand availability of computer system resources
Includes computing power, storage, databases, etc.
Benefits: No need to own/maintain physical data centers and servers
Uses: Data backup, disaster recovery, virtual desktops, software development, big data analytics, customer-facing web applications

Types of Service Models

IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service): Rent IT infrastructure (servers, VMs, storage, networks, OS)
PaaS (Platform as a Service): Provides environment for developing, testing, delivering, and managing applications
SaaS (Software as a Service): Cloud providers lease applications/software to clients

Types of Cloud Deployment Models

Public Cloud: Resources available to the general public over the internet
Private Cloud: Operated solely for a single organization
Hybrid Cloud: Combination of public and private clouds
Community Cloud: Shared infrastructure between organizations with common concerns (e.g., educational institutions)

Benefits of Cloud Computing

Reduced cost of managing IT infrastructure
Scalability of resources
Improved productivity and collaboration
Data backup and storage
Automatic updates from cloud service providers

What is Eucalyptus?

Elastic Utility Computing Architecture for Linking Your Programs to Useful Systems
Open-source software infrastructure
Builds public, hybrid, private clouds
Can create data centers into a private cloud

Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Questions

What is Google Cloud Platform?

Suite of cloud computing services/tools by Google
Runs on Google’s internal cloud infrastructure

Services Offered by GCP

Compute Services
Storage and Databases
Networking Services
Big Data Services
Identity and Security Services
Internet of Things (IoT) Services
Machine Learning and Cloud AI Services

What is Google Cloud SDK?

Set of command-line tools for GCP development
Access to Compute Engine, Cloud Storage, BigQuery, etc.

What is Google Cloud API?

Programmatic interface to GCP services
Allows integration of computing, networking, storage, and machine learning capabilities

Why Prefer GCP Over Other Cloud Providers?

Better pricing model
Increased performance and service
Quick updates on servers and security
Excellent security level

What are Projects in GCP?

Projects organize GCP resources
Consist of users, APIs, billing, authentication, and monitoring settings
Creation: Google Cloud Platform Console -> Project -> New Project

What is Cloud Shell?

Online development/operational environment accessible via browser
Manage resources with pre-loaded utilities
Develop, build, debug, and deploy cloud-based applications

Availability Zones and Regions in GCP

Region: Geographical location for resources
Availability Zones: Isolated locations within regions
GCP: 25 regions, 76 zones
Choosing zone/region factors: Latency, Cost

Compute and Hosting Services in GCP

What is Google Compute Engine?

Secure and customizable compute service for VMs

What is Google App Engine?

Fully managed, serverless platform for web applications
Automatically manages servers/scaling

What is Serverless Computing?

Cloud provider allocates machine resources on-demand
Customer focuses on building applications

Difference Between Google App Engine and Google Compute Engine

Compute Engine: IaaS, customizable infrastructure
App Engine: PaaS, managed environment emphasizes application development

GCP Pricing Model

Based on compute instances, network use, and storage
VMs charged per second (min. 1 minute)
Storage based on data amount
Network charges for data transmission

What is Google Kubernetes Engine?

Managed environment for deploying, managing, scaling containerized applications

Application Deployment in GCP

Depends on application requirements:
- Compute Engine for custom VMs
- Kubernetes Engine for containerized apps
- App Engine for managed, scalable environments
- Cloud Functions for event-driven functions

Migrating Servers/VMs to Compute Engine

Use Cloud Migrate for Compute Engine (free software by Google)

Why Choose Google Cloud Hosting?

Benefits: Better pricing, live VM migration, enhanced performance, security, redundant backup

What are Shielded VMs?

VMs hardened with security controls against threats (e.g., malicious insiders, guest firmware attacks)

Storage and Database Services in GCP

What is Cloud Storage?

Primary storage service for objects (files of any format)
Bucket: Container for objects, controls access, defines geographical location

Types of GCP Storage

Google Drive: Personal file storage, management, and sharing
Cloud Storage for Firebase: Mobile app data management
Persistent Disk: Block storage for Compute Engine VMs
Filestore: File-based storage for workloads

What is Object Versioning?

Retrieve overwritten/deleted objects
Increases storage cost, provides data security

Libraries and Tools for Cloud Storage

Console: Google Cloud Console for visual management
Gsutil: Command-line tool for terminal interactions
Client Libraries: Manage data using supported languages (C++, Java, Python, etc.)
REST APIs: JSON/XML APIs for managing data

Maximizing Data Availability

Store data in multi-region or dual-region bucket locations for high availability

What is Cloud SQL?

Fully managed relational database service
Supports MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server

Choosing the Right Google Cloud Database Service

Cloud SQL: For relational databases up to 10 TB
Cloud Spanner: For large data with transactional consistency
Firestore/Datastore: For application development, live sync, offline support
Bigtable: For large single key data with low latency
MemoryStore: For transactional latency focus

App Engine Accessing Cloud SQL in Different Region

Yes, with potential latency increase due to geographical distance

Importing/Exporting Databases

MySQL: Single or multiple databases
PostgreSQL: Only specific databases

Networking in GCP

What is Google Cloud VPC?

Virtual network providing connectivity for VMs and other resources

Difference Between Google VPC and Other Providers

Traditional VPC: Region-specific, VMs connect via VPC gateway
Google VPC: Global construct, VMs communicate directly across regions

What are Routes and Firewall Rules?

Routes: Define VM instance traffic pathways
Firewall Rules: Control packet travel to/from VM instances

What is Load Balancing?

Distributing computing resources/workload
Reduces performance issues, ensures content delivery proximity
Software-defined managed service, not hardware-based

What is Cloud DNS?

High performance, resilient global DNS service
Translates domains to IP addresses for easier communication between computers

Connecting Existing Network to GCP Resources

Four options:
- Cloud Interconnect: Connect VPC network via low latency connection
- Cloud VPN: Connect VPC network via IPsec connection
- Direct Peering: Exchange traffic between business network and Google
- Carrier Peering: Connect to Google’s network edge via service providers

Security in GCP

Security Aspects in Cloud

Access Control: Admin-controlled user access
Identity Management: Authorization for applications/services
Authorization and Authentication: Controlled user access to applications/data

GCP Security Services

Cloud Security Command Center: Monitors assets, detects vulnerabilities, reviews access permissions
Cloud Armor: DDoS and application defense system
Cloud Identity: Defines user and resource access

Other GCP Services

What is Google BigQuery?

Fully managed, petabyte-scale analytics data warehouse
Organizes data into datasets for analytics

Big Data Services in GCP

Google Cloud BigQuery
Google Cloud Dataflow
Google Cloud Dataproc
Google Cloud Pub/Sub
Google Cloud Composer
Google Cloud Datacatalog

What is Google Cloud Dataflow?

Managed service for a wide range of data processing patterns (batch/streaming)

What is Cloud AutoML?

Enables developers with limited ML expertise to train high-quality models
Creates custom ML models tailored to business needs

What is Google Cloud AI Platform?

Suite of services for building, deploying, managing ML models
Integrated tools: BigQuery, Data Labeling Service

What is Cloud IoT Core?

Fully managed service for connecting, managing, storing data from millions of globally distributed devices

Service for Text Analytics in GCP

Cloud Natural Language: Analyze text, integrate with document storage, understand social media sentiments and customer conversations

Skills Required to Become a Cloud Engineer

Knowledge of Cloud Service Providers: Familiarity with AWS, Azure, or GCP
Programming Skills: Essential languages (PHP, Java, .NET, SQL, Python, Ruby)
Important Cloud Service Domains: Compute, storage, networking, security
Web Services and APIs: Integration over the internet using standards (XML, SOAP, WSDL, UDDI)
Linux: Architect, administer, maintain Linux environments
DevOps: Efficient development and operational practices, bridging gaps between the two teams

GCP Certification

Validates cloud skills
Makes resume stand out, potential for higher pay
Prepares for job interviews, client-preferred certification
Recommended course: Edureka’s Google Cloud Architect Certification Training