Google Cloud · Associate
Google Cloud Associate Cloud Engineer (ACE)
Deploy applications, monitor operations, and manage enterprise solutions on Google Cloud.
ACE exam at a glance
| Exam code | ACE |
|---|---|
| Vendor | Google Cloud |
| Level | Associate |
| Domains | 5 |
| Published practice questions | 251 |
| Our mock exam | 50 questions in 120 minutes |
| Our practice pass target | 70% |
| Checked against the exam guide | July 6, 2026 |
| Official exam page | Google Cloud — ACE |
The mock exam length, time limit and pass target are our practice settings, not official exam scores or a guarantee of passing. Check the official ACE exam page for the current format, price and scoring before you book.
ACE exam domains
Weights show our practice allocation, built from the official exam guide; official blueprints may give ranges. Each domain links to its free sample questions (with explanations) and study guide preview once they are published.
Setting up a cloud solution environment
18%Set up projects, billing, IAM, and the gcloud CLI environment.
- Resource hierarchy: organization, folders, projects
- Billing accounts, budgets, alerts, billing exports to BigQuery
- Enabling APIs and quotas
- IAM roles (basic/predefined/custom) and members
- Service accounts creation and best practices
- gcloud CLI configuration, Cloud Shell, Cloud SDK components
Free Setting up a cloud solution environment practice questions →Setting up a cloud solution environment study guide →
Planning and configuring a cloud solution
17%Plan compute, storage, and network resources and estimate pricing.
- Pricing calculator, sustained/committed use discounts, preemptible/Spot VMs
- Choosing compute: Compute Engine vs GKE vs Cloud Run vs Cloud Functions
- Choosing storage: Cloud Storage classes vs Filestore vs persistent disks
- Choosing databases: Cloud SQL, Spanner, Firestore, Bigtable, BigQuery
- Network planning: VPCs, subnets, IP ranges
- Load balancing options overview
Free Planning and configuring a cloud solution practice questions →Planning and configuring a cloud solution study guide →
Deploying and implementing a cloud solution
25%Deploy VMs, GKE clusters, serverless workloads, storage, and networking resources.
- Compute Engine: instances, instance templates, managed instance groups, autoscaling
- GKE: cluster creation (Autopilot vs Standard), deploying workloads, kubectl basics
- Cloud Run services and Cloud Functions deployment
- Cloud Storage buckets: lifecycle, retention, signed URLs
- Cloud SQL instance creation and connections
- VPC creation, firewall rules, static IPs
- Cloud Load Balancing setup basics
- Deployment via Terraform / Infrastructure Manager basics
Free Deploying and implementing a cloud solution practice questions →Deploying and implementing a cloud solution study guide →
Ensuring successful operation
20%Manage running resources, monitoring, logging, and day-2 operations.
- Managing Compute Engine: snapshots, images, resizing, SSH access
- Managing GKE: node pools, upgrades, scaling workloads
- Cloud Monitoring: dashboards, uptime checks, alerting policies
- Cloud Logging: log sinks, log-based metrics, retention
- Managing Cloud Storage objects: lifecycle transitions, gsutil/gcloud storage
- Spanner/Cloud SQL operations basics, BigQuery jobs
- Pub/Sub topics and subscriptions operations
Free Ensuring successful operation practice questions →Ensuring successful operation study guide →
Configuring access and security
20%Manage IAM, service accounts, and audit visibility.
- IAM policy bindings, least privilege, policy troubleshooting
- Service account keys, impersonation, attaching to resources
- Workload Identity (GKE) and workload identity federation basics
- Organization policies common constraints
- Audit logs: admin activity vs data access logs
- Secret Manager basics
- VPC Service Controls awareness
Free Configuring access and security practice questions →Configuring access and security study guide →
ACE FAQ
How is the Associate Cloud Engineer (ACE) practice assessment configured?
Our practice format targets 50 questions in 120 minutes. Availability depends on the published question bank and is shown on this course page. Official exam question counts and formats may differ.
What does the 70% practice target mean?
Check the provider's current exam guide for official scoring. A practice percentage is not an official scaled score. DataCertPrep uses 70% as an internal practice target, not a prediction or guarantee of passing.
How should I assess my progress in Associate Cloud Engineer (ACE)?
Use practice accuracy to find weak topics. Repeating familiar questions can inflate your score. Check coverage of the current objectives, practise hands-on tasks, and assess yourself on unseen questions.
What is the best way to study Associate Cloud Engineer (ACE)?
Read the available guides, work through practice explanations, use flashcards and complete practical exercises. Take a timed assessment when available. Check the provider's current exam guide before booking your exam.
Should I use ACE exam dumps?
No. "Dumps" are questions copied or recalled from the live exam. Certification exams are covered by a candidate agreement that prohibits sharing or using them, and breaking it can lead to a revoked certification or a ban from future exams. Dumps are also often wrong, and they go out of date when the exam blueprint changes. Memorising answers does not build the skills the exam tests. Study the official Google Cloud exam guide and practise with original questions that explain each answer, such as the free sample questions linked on this page.