DevOps Google Cloud Platform Syllabus

Google Cloud Platform syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Google Cloud Platform in DevOps, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Introduction to Google Cloud

   3 topics

   • Overview of Cloud Computing
     • What is Cloud Computing?
     • Benefits of Cloud Computing
     • Types of Cloud Services (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS)
   • Introduction to Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
     • What is Google Cloud Platform?
     • Key Features of GCP
     • GCP Global Infrastructure
   • Getting Started with GCP
     • Creating a GCP Account
     • Navigating the GCP Console
     • Setting Up Billing and Budgets
2. 2

   Core GCP Services

   5 topics

   • Compute Services
     • Google Compute Engine
     • Google Kubernetes Engine
     • Google App Engine
     • Google Cloud Functions
   • Storage Services
     • Google Cloud Storage
     • Google Cloud SQL
     • Google Cloud Spanner
     • Google Bigtable
     • Google Firestore
   • Networking Services
     • Google Virtual Private Cloud (VPC)
     • Cloud Load Balancing
     • Cloud CDN
     • Cloud DNS
     • Cloud Interconnect
   • Big Data Services
     • Google BigQuery
     • Google Dataflow
     • Google Dataproc
     • Google Pub/Sub
     • Google Data Studio
   • Machine Learning and AI Services
     • Google AI Platform
     • Google AutoML
     • Google Cloud Vision
     • Google Cloud Speech-to-Text
     • Google Cloud Text-to-Speech
     • Google Cloud Translation
3. 3

   GCP Management Tools

   3 topics

   • Google Cloud IAM
     • Understanding IAM
     • Creating and Managing IAM Policies
     • Service Accounts and Roles
   • Google Cloud Monitoring
     • Setting Up Monitoring
     • Creating Dashboards and Alerts
     • Using Logs and Traces
   • Google Cloud Deployment Manager
     • Introduction to Deployment Manager
     • Creating Deployment Templates
     • Managing Deployments
4. 4

   Security and Compliance

   2 topics

   • Google Cloud Security
     • Understanding GCP Security Model
     • Data Encryption
     • Network Security
     • Identity and Access Management
   • Compliance and Governance
     • Regulatory Compliance
     • Governance Policies
     • Audit and Reporting
5. 5

   Advanced Topics

   3 topics

   • Hybrid and Multi-Cloud Strategies
     • Understanding Hybrid Cloud
     • Implementing Multi-Cloud Solutions
     • Google Anthos
   • Serverless Architectures
     • Introduction to Serverless
     • Building Serverless Applications
     • Use Cases for Serverless
   • DevOps on GCP
     • CI/CD Pipelines
     • Infrastructure as Code
     • Monitoring and Logging
6. 6

   Certifications and Learning Resources

   2 topics

   • GCP Certifications
     • Associate Cloud Engineer
     • Professional Cloud Architect
     • Professional Data Engineer
     • Professional Cloud Developer
     • Professional Cloud Network Engineer
     • Professional Cloud Security Engineer
     • Professional Collaboration Engineer
   • Learning Resources
     • Official GCP Documentation
     • Google Cloud Training
     • Online Courses and Tutorials
     • Community and Forums

Google Cloud Platform flashcards for DevOps

20 of 71 cards from the Google Cloud Platform deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. What is cloud computing?

   The on-demand delivery of computing resources (compute, storage, databases, networking, software) over the internet with pay-as-you-go pricing, instead of owning and maintaining physical hardware.

2. Name the three standard cloud service models and what each abstracts.

   IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) provides virtualized compute, storage, and networking; PaaS (Platform as a Service) provides a managed runtime/platform for deploying apps; SaaS (Software as a Service) delivers ready-to-use applications over the internet.

3. What are the four main cloud deployment models?

   Public cloud, private cloud, hybrid cloud, and multi-cloud (sometimes community cloud is added).

4. List the five essential characteristics of cloud computing per NIST.

   On-demand self-service, broad network access, resource pooling, rapid elasticity, and measured service.

5. In the shared responsibility model, what does the cloud provider secure versus the customer?

   The provider secures the cloud infrastructure (hardware, network, hypervisor, physical security); the customer secures what they put in the cloud (data, access/IAM, OS/app configuration, depending on the service model).

6. What is Google Cloud Platform (GCP)?

   Google's suite of public cloud computing services that run on the same infrastructure Google uses for products like Search and YouTube, offering compute, storage, networking, big data, AI/ML, and management tools.

7. What is the hierarchy of the GCP resource model from top to bottom?

   Organization → Folders → Projects → Resources. Projects are the base-level container that group resources and own billing, APIs, and IAM policies.

8. What is a GCP Project and what three identifiers does it have?

   A project is the fundamental organizing entity for GCP resources. It has a Project Name (display), a globally unique Project ID, and a system-generated Project Number.

9. What is a GCP region versus a zone?

   A region is a specific geographic location (e.g., us-central1) containing multiple zones; a zone is an isolated deployment area within a region (e.g., us-central1-a). Zones provide fault isolation within a region.

10. What are the main ways to interact with GCP services?

    The Google Cloud Console (web UI), the gcloud CLI (part of Cloud SDK), client libraries/APIs, and Cloud Shell (browser-based shell with tools preinstalled).

11. What is Cloud Shell in GCP?

    A free browser-based shell environment with the gcloud CLI, client libraries, and common dev tools preinstalled, plus 5 GB of persistent home storage, used to manage GCP resources without local setup.

12. What is Google Compute Engine (GCE)?

    GCP's IaaS offering that provides scalable, configurable virtual machines (VMs) running in Google's data centers, with control over OS, machine type, disks, and networking.

13. What is a preemptible / Spot VM in Compute Engine and why use it?

    A short-lived, low-cost VM that Compute Engine can reclaim (preempt) at any time when capacity is needed. Used for fault-tolerant, batch, or interruptible workloads at up to ~60-91% discount.

14. What is Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)?

    GCP's managed Kubernetes service for deploying, scaling, and managing containerized applications, handling the control plane, node provisioning, upgrades, and autoscaling.

15. Compare App Engine Standard vs Flexible environments.

    Standard runs apps in a sandboxed, language-specific runtime with fast scaling to zero; Flexible runs apps in Docker containers on Compute Engine VMs, allowing custom runtimes and more control but slower scaling and no scale-to-zero.

16. What is Cloud Run?

    A fully managed serverless platform that runs stateless containers, automatically scaling them (including to zero) based on incoming requests, billing only for resources used during request handling.

17. What are the main Google Cloud Storage classes ordered from hottest to coldest?

    Standard, Nearline (≥30-day min), Coldline (≥90-day min), and Archive (≥365-day min). Colder classes have lower storage cost but higher access/retrieval cost and longer minimum storage durations.

18. What is a Cloud Storage bucket?

    The basic container that holds objects (files) in Google Cloud Storage. Bucket names are globally unique, and each bucket has a location and a default storage class.

19. Differentiate Cloud SQL, Cloud Spanner, Firestore, and Bigtable.

    Cloud SQL = managed relational DB (MySQL/PostgreSQL/SQL Server); Cloud Spanner = globally distributed, horizontally scalable relational DB with strong consistency; Firestore = serverless NoSQL document DB; Bigtable = wide-column NoSQL for large analytical/operational workloads.

20. What is a persistent disk in Compute Engine?

    Durable, network-attached block storage for VMs that exists independently of the VM lifecycle, available as standard (HDD), balanced, or SSD types, and supports snapshots.

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Google Cloud Platform (DevOps) FAQ