Professional Cloud ArchitectManage and provision solution infrastructureEasy
A research institution is running computationally intensive simulations that require a large number of virtual machines (VMs) for a few hours daily. These simulations are fault-tolerant and can be interrupted and restarted without significant loss of progress. The institution needs to minimize costs while maintaining sufficient compute capacity. Which type of Compute Engine VM instance should they primarily use?
- ASole-tenant nodes
- BPreemptible VMs
- CStandard instances
- DCommitted Use Discounts
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Preemptible VMs
Preemptible VMs are significantly cheaper than standard instances and are ideal for fault-tolerant, batch jobs that can tolerate preemption, making them perfect for cost-sensitive, interruptible workloads like these simulations.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Sole-tenant nodes provide dedicated hardware for specific compliance or licensing needs, not primarily for cost optimization of interruptible workloads.
- C. Standard instances offer higher availability but at a higher cost, which is not the primary concern for this fault-tolerant workload.
- D. Committed Use Discounts are for consistently running workloads over a 1 or 3-year term, not for maximizing savings on interruptible, short-duration tasks.
Preemptible VMs
Low-cost Compute Engine instances that can be terminated by Google Cloud if resources are needed elsewhere, ideal for fault-tolerant workloads.
- Up to 80% cheaper than standard VMs.
- Max run time of 24 hours.
- Suitable for batch jobs, fault-tolerant applications, and development/testing.
Memory trick: Preemptible VMs for cheap, interruptible compute.