About Google Cloud Certified Associate Cloud EngineerAn Associate Cloud Engineer deploys applications, monitors operations, and manages enterprise solutions. This individual is able to use Google Cloud Console and the command-line interface to perform common platform-based tasks to maintain one or more deployed solutions that leverage Google-managed or self-managed services on Google Cloud. Exam AssessmentThe Associate Cloud Engineer exam assesses your ability to -Set up a cloud solution environmentPlan and configure a cloud solutionDeploy and implement a cloud solutionEnsure successful operation of a cloud solutionConfigure access and securityThe Google Associate Cloud Engineer exam covers the following topics -1. Setting up a cloud solution environment1.1 Setting up cloud projects and accounts. Activities include: Creating projectsAssigning users to predefined IAM roles within a projectManaging users in Cloud Identity (manually and automated)Enabling APIs within projectsProvisioning one or more Stackdriver workspaces1.2 Managing billing configuration. Activities include: Creating one or more billing accountsLinking projects to a billing accountEstablishing billing budgets and alertsSetting up billing exports to estimate daily/monthly charges1.3 Installing and configuring the command line interface (CLI), specifically the Cloud SDK (e.g, setting the default project).2. Planning and configuring a cloud solution2.1 Planning and estimating GCP product use using the Pricing Calculator2.2 Planning and configuring compute resources. Considerations include: Selecting appropriate compute choices for a given workload (e.g, Compute Engine, Google Kubernetes Engine, App Engine, Cloud Run, Cloud Functions)Using preemptible VMs and custom machine types as appropriate2.3 Planning and configuring data storage options. Considerations include: Product choice (e.g, Cloud SQL, BigQuery, Cloud Spanner, Cloud Bigtable)Choosing storage options (e.g, Standard, Nearline, Coldline, Archive)2.4 Planning and configuring network resources. Tasks include: Differentiating load balancing optionsIdentifying resource locations in a network for availabilityConfiguring Cloud DNS3. Deploying and implementing a cloud solution3.1 Deploying and implementing Compute Engine resources. Tasks include: Launching a compute instance using Cloud Console and Cloud SDK (gcloud) (e.g, assign disks, availability policy, SSH keys)Creating an autoscaled managed instance group using an instance templateGenerating/uploading a custom SSH key for instancesConfiguring a VM for Stackdriver monitoring and loggingAssessing compute quotas and requesting increasesInstalling the Stackdriver Agent for monitoring and logging3.2 Deploying and implementing Google Kubernetes Engine resources. Tasks include: Deploying a Google Kubernetes Engine clusterDeploying a container application to Google Kubernetes Engine using podsConfiguring Google Kubernetes Engine application monitoring and logging3.3 Deploying and implementing App Engine, Cloud Run, and Cloud Functions resources. Tasks include, where applicable: Deploying an application, updating scaling configuration, versions, and traffic splittingDeploying an application that receives Google Cloud events (e.g, Cloud Pub/Sub events, Cloud Storage object change notification events)3.4 Deploying and implementing data solutions. Tasks include: Initializing data systems with products (e.g, Cloud SQL, Cloud Datastore, BigQuery, Cloud Spanner, Cloud Pub/Sub, Cloud Bigtable, Cloud Dataproc, Cloud Dataflow, Cloud Storage)Loading data (e.g, command line upload, API transfer, import/export, load data from Cloud Storage, streaming data to Cloud Pub/Sub)3.5 Deploying and implementing networking resources. Tasks include: Creating a VPC with subnets (e.g, custom-mode VPC, shared VPC)Launching a Compute Engine instance with custom network configuration (e.g, internal-only IP address, Google private access, static external and private IP address, network tags)Creating ingress and egress firewall rules for a VPC (e.g, IP subnets, tags, service accounts)Creating a VPN between a Google VPC and an external network using Cloud VPNCreating a load balancer to distribute application network traffic to an application (e.g, Global HTTP(S) load balancer, Global SSL Proxy load balancer, Global TCP Proxy load balancer, regional network load balancer, regional internal load balancer)3.6 Deploying a solution using Cloud Marketplace. Tasks include: Browsing Cloud Marketplace catalog and viewing solution detailsDeploying a Cloud Marketplace solution3.7 Deploying application infrastructure using Cloud Deployment Manager. Tasks include: Developing Deployment Manager templatesLaunching a Deployment Manager template4. Ensuring the successful operation of a cloud solution4.1 Managing Compute Engine resources. Tasks include: Managing a single VM instance (e.g, start, stop, edit the configuration, or delete an instance)SSH/RDP to the instanceAttaching a GPU to a new instance and installing CUDA librariesViewing current running VM invento
