Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is one of the leading cloud service providers, widely adopted by enterprises for scalability, data analytics, AI/ML, and secure infrastructure. Whether you are a cloud fresher, IT professional, data engineer, or DevOps aspirant, preparing for GCP interviews requires both conceptual clarity and practical understanding.
This blog covers the Top 25 Google Cloud Platform interview questions and answers, ranging from basic to advanced levels, commonly asked in real interviews.
1. What is Google Cloud Platform (GCP)?
Google Cloud Platform is a suite of cloud computing services offered by Google that provides infrastructure, platform, and software services. It allows businesses to build, deploy, and scale applications using Google’s highly reliable global infrastructure. GCP offers services such as computing, storage, databases, machine learning, networking, and security.
The core components of GCP include:
Compute Engine is GCP’s Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) offering that allows users to create and manage virtual machines. It provides flexible VM configurations, custom machine types, autoscaling, and high availability.
App Engine is a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) that allows developers to build and deploy applications without managing infrastructure. It automatically handles scaling, load balancing, and server management.
| Compute Engine | App Engine |
|---|---|
| IaaS | PaaS |
| Full control over VM | No infrastructure management |
| Manual scaling | Automatic scaling |
| OS-level access | No OS access |
Google Cloud Storage is an object storage service for storing unstructured data like images, videos, backups, and logs. It is highly durable, secure, and scalable.
BigQuery is a fully managed, serverless data warehouse used for fast SQL-based analytics on large datasets. It is highly scalable and ideal for big data analysis.
Cloud SQL is a fully managed relational database service supporting MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server. It handles backups, replication, and patching automatically.
| Cloud SQL | BigQuery |
|---|---|
| OLTP workloads | OLAP workloads |
| Transaction-based | Analytical queries |
| Relational DB | Data warehouse |
Identity and Access Management (IAM) controls who can access resources in GCP and what actions they can perform. It uses roles, permissions, and policies to enforce security.
A project is a container for all GCP resources. It includes billing, APIs, permissions, and services. Every resource in GCP belongs to a project.
Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) is a private network that allows GCP resources to communicate securely. It supports global networking, subnets, firewall rules, and VPNs.
Cloud Load Balancing distributes traffic across multiple instances to ensure high availability and low latency. It supports HTTP(S), TCP/SSL, and UDP traffic.
Cloud Functions is a serverless execution environment that runs code in response to events such as HTTP requests, Pub/Sub messages, or file uploads.
Google Kubernetes Engine is a managed Kubernetes service that allows users to deploy, manage, and scale containerized applications easily.
Cloud Pub/Sub is a messaging service that enables asynchronous communication between services. It is commonly used for event-driven architectures.
Cloud Monitoring provides insights into application performance, uptime, and resource usage. It supports alerts, dashboards, and metrics analysis.
Cloud Logging collects and stores logs from applications and infrastructure, allowing troubleshooting and audit analysis.
Cloud CDN caches content at edge locations worldwide to reduce latency and improve website performance.
GCP uses a pay-as-you-go pricing model. Users can monitor costs, set budgets, and receive alerts using Cloud Billing tools.
GCP ensures security through:
Companies choose GCP for its:
Preparing for a Google Cloud Platform interview requires a solid understanding of core services, architecture, security, and real-world use cases. These Top 25 GCP interview questions and answers cover exactly what recruiters expect from freshers and experienced professionals alike.
Combine this theoretical knowledge with hands-on practice on GCP Console to stand out in interviews.