Top 10 Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Interview Questions

Vibha Sengar 02 Feb, 2023 • 7 min read

Introduction

The Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is well-known for having the most challenging interview questions. Due to the strong demand for professionals in this field, job interviews are particularly challenging. When preparing for a GCP interview, it’s important to understand its key features, services, and best practices. The following questions will help you understand what to expect in a GCP interview.

Google Cloud Platform

Cloud computing is a service provided by a group of resources, including networks, storage, interfaces, and hardware. A cloud service provider manages the cloud and IT resources of the corporation that provides cloud services. Cloud computing refers to the constant availability of cloud-based computing resources. The Internet is the medium through which it is disseminated. This technology provides worldwide service with no geographical boundaries.

Learning Objectives

  • GCP provides virtual machines, computing, networking, storage, big data, database, and management services.
  • How can Google Cloud servers allow access to data from anywhere?
  • GCP offers better performance and service.
  • How to create storage buckets?

This article was published as a part of the Data Science Blogathon.

Table of Contents

This article will discuss the following:

  • Importance of GCP
  • Applications of GCP
  • Interview Questions on GCP
  • Conclusion
GCP

Source: Google Cloud Architecture Diagram

Importance of GCP

Here are some reasons why Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is important:

  1. Scalability: GCP provides the ability to easily scale computing resources when wanted, allowing corporations to handle spikes in demand and grow their operations.
  2. Cost-effective: GCP provides cost-effective and flexible pricing options, including the ability to only pay for the resources that are used, helping corporations control their spending.
  3. Reliability: GCP provides a highly available and reliable infrastructure, ensuring that applications are always up and running, even during hardware failures.
  4. Global Presence: GCP has a global network of data centers, allowing corporations to store and process data closer to their users, reducing latency and improving performance.
  5. Security: GCP provides a comprehensive security model, including encryption, access controls, and monitoring, helping corporations to keep their data and applications secure.
  6. Wide Range of Services: GCP provides a wide series of services, including computing, storage, databases, machine learning, and more, allowing corporations to build and run complex applications.
  7. Integration with Other Google Services: GCP integrates with other Google services, like Google Workspace, Google Maps, and YouTube, allowing corporations to leverage these services to improve their applications.
  8. Strong Community and Partner Ecosystem: GCP has a strong community and partner ecosystem, including many independent software vendors (ISVs) and managed service providers (MSPs), making it easier to find the resources and support to succeed.

Applications of GCP

Google Cloud Platform (GCP) provides many services that may be used for a variety of applications, including:

  1. Compute: Through Google Kubernetes Engine and Cloud Functions, GCP provides a variety of computing alternatives, including virtual machines, containers, and serverless computing. These apply to application development, testing, and deployment.
  2. Storage: Object storage, file storage, and relational databases are some of the storage options provided by GCP. These can be used for applications’ data storage and management.
  3. Machine Learning: Google Cloud Platform provides various machine learning services, like TensorFlow, Cloud ML Engine, and Cloud Vision API, which may be used to develop and deploy machine learning models.
  4. Big Data: GCP provides various big data services for processing and analyzing massive datasets, including BigQuery, Cloud Dataflow, and Cloud Dataproc.
  5. Networking: GCP provides many networking services, like Cloud VPN, Cloud DNS, and Cloud Load Balancing, that can be used to create and oversee channels for applications that are safe and reliable.
  6. Security: GCP provides various security services, including Cloud Identity and Access Management, Cloud Key Management Service, and Cloud Security Scanner, for protecting cloud-based applications and data.

Interview Questions on GCP

Q1. What is the Google Cloud Platform (GCP)?

The Google Cloud Platform is a platform managed in the cloud by Google. This package includes virtual machines, computing, networking, storage, big data, database and management services, machine learning, and a great agreement more. Google uses the same infrastructure for its end-user products like Google Search, Gmail, and YouTube. All of these services function on the same infrastructure.

GCP

Source: Edureka

Q2. What is the Google cloud platform’s VPC?

A Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) in GCP is a virtual network that connects your compute engine VM examples, GKE (Google Kubernetes Engine) clusters, and other resources. The VPC provides a great agreement of control over how workloads connect regionally or internationally. A single VPC can cover several areas without using the public internet for communication.

Q3. What are the different Google Cloud Platform parts?

The Google Cloud Platform (GCP) consists of a group of pieces that benefit individuals in many ways. The diverse GCP elements are:

  • Google Compute Engine
  • Google Cloud Container Engine
  • Google Cloud Storage
  • Google Cloud Dataflow
  • Google Cloud App Engine
  • Google BigQuery Service
  • Google Cloud Machine Learning Engine
  • Google Cloud Job Discovery
  • Google Cloud Endpoints
  • Google Cloud Test Lab

Q4. What are the major benefits of the Google Cloud Platform?

Google Cloud Platform is gaining popularity among cloud experts and users due to its benefits.

  • GCP provides fair pricing.
  • Google Cloud servers allow access to data from anywhere.
  • GCP has superior speed and service in comparison to other cloud hosting options.
  • Google Cloud provides rapid updates to servers and security
  • Google Cloud Platform’s security is great; the cloud platform and networks are guarded and encrypted using various security techniques.
  • Commitment to Constant expansion and development
  • The private network provides productivity and maximum time
  • Integrity and dependability of data are ensured through redundant backups.
GCP
Source: Sailpoint

Q5. What cloud storage libraries and tools are available on GCP?

There are two main cloud storage options available on the Google Cloud Platform. These include:

  • JSON
  • XML APIs

In addition, Google provides the following tools for use with cloud storage:

  • Google Cloud Platform Console for bucket and object operations.
  • Cloud Storage Client Libraries that provide language-specific programming capabilities.
  • Gustil command-line Too provides a CLI for cloud storage.
  • Several third-party applications, like Boto Library.

Q6. What are the different Google Compute Engine API authentication methods?

There are several authentication mechanisms for the Google Compute Engine API. The following are:

  • Using Client Library: Accessing Google Cloud APIs from a supported language is simplified with the help of client libraries. Client libraries provide simplifications that dramatically minimize the amount of code you need to write while allowing you to access Google Cloud APIs directly by sending raw queries to the server.
  • Applying OAuth 2.0: OAuth 2.0 is used for authentication and permission by Google APIs. Google supports typical OAuth 2.0 use cases, including a web server, client-side, installation, and limited-input device apps.
  • Using an access token directly: Access tokens are opaque tokens that comply with the OAuth 2.0 protocol. They include permission data but not identification data. They are used to provide Google APIs with authentication and authorization information.

Q7. What is a Google Cloud API? How did we get our hands on it?

Google Cloud APIs are the programmatic interfaces that allow users to add functionality to Google Cloud-based applications, like storage access and machine learning-based image analyses.

Cloud APIs are easily available through server programs and client libraries. The Google Cloud API is available through several programming languages. Using mobile applications is possible through Firebase SDKs or third-party clients. Google SDK command-line tools and the Google Cloud Platform Console Web UI may be used to access Google Cloud APIs.

Q8. What is BigQuery in Google? What benefits can BigQuery provide data warehouse professionals?

Google BigQuery is a data warehouse that contains all an organization’s analytical data. It divides the data table into several datasets.

Some advantages of BigQuery for data warehouse practitioners include the following:

  • BigQuery allows query and storage resources based on use and requirements. Consequently, it does not need the allocation of resources before use.
  • It can store data in several forms for storage management efficiency. For example, Google’s Distributed File System, format, columnar format, query access pattern, etc.
  • It is controlled and maintained without interruption or downtime.
  • It provides comprehensive backup and catastrophe recovery. Users may reverse modifications and revert to a prior state without submitting a backup recovery request.

Q9. What is Google Cloud SDK?

Google Cloud SDK (Software Development Kit) is a group of tools for managing applications and resources hosted on the Google Cloud Platform. It consists of the gcloud, gsutil, and bq command line utilities.

Google Cloud SDK is only compatible with certain operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and macOS, and requires Python 2.7.x. Other specialized tools in the set may have extra specifications too.

Q10. What is a bucket in the context of Google Cloud Storage?

Buckets are the main containers for storing data. We may arrange the data and grant access to the control using the containers. The bucket has a globally unique name and a geographic location where its contents are kept. A default storage class is available, which is applied to objects uploaded to the bucket without a defined storage class. The number of buckets that may be created or removed is infinite.

Conclusion

The above are the most often-asked Interview questions about the Google Cloud Platform. These questions will improve your understanding of the Google cloud and help you easily pass your interview. We hope that you find these questions useful for interview preparation. Insights from the article :

  • GCP provides virtual machines, computing, networking, storage, big data, database and management services, and machine learning.
  • Google Cloud servers allow access to data from anywhere.
  • GCP provides higher service and performance compared to other cloud hosting options.
  • The number of buckets of storage that can be created or removed is infinite.

If you cannot locate an answer to a particular query, you might leave a comment in the comments section. We will respond with the solution.

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Vibha Sengar 02 Feb 2023

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