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Google Cloud Associate Certification

GCP Associate Cloud Engineer

Complete preparation guide for Google Cloud Associate Cloud Engineer (ACE) certification

Associate Level! This roadmap covers foundational GCP skills across 4 Units with 12 Chapters. Learn to deploy applications, monitor operations, and manage enterprise solutions on Google Cloud Platform.

1

Unit 1: Setting Up Cloud Environment

Projects, billing, and resource management

Chapter 1.1 Unit 1

Cloud Console & CLI

Console, Cloud Shell, and gcloud CLI

Cloud Console Navigation
gcloud CLI Commands
Cloud Shell Environment
Chapter 1.2 Unit 1

Projects & Billing

Resource hierarchy and cost management

Project Creation & Management
Billing Accounts
Budgets & Alerts
Chapter 1.3 Unit 1

IAM Fundamentals

Users, roles, and permissions

IAM Roles (Basic, Predefined, Custom)
Service Accounts
IAM Best Practices
2

Unit 2: Planning & Configuring Solutions

Compute, storage, and network configuration

Chapter 2.1 Unit 2

Compute Engine

VM instances and instance groups

VM Instance Creation
Instance Templates
Managed Instance Groups
Chapter 2.2 Unit 2

Kubernetes Engine

GKE clusters and workloads

GKE Cluster Creation
Deploying Containerized Apps
kubectl Basics
Chapter 2.3 Unit 2

App Engine & Cloud Run

Serverless application platforms

App Engine Standard & Flexible
Cloud Run Services
Cloud Functions
3

Unit 3: Deploying & Implementing Solutions

Storage, databases, and networking

Chapter 3.1 Unit 3

Cloud Storage

Object storage and lifecycle management

Storage Classes
Bucket Management
Lifecycle Policies
Chapter 3.2 Unit 3

Cloud SQL & Databases

Managed database services

Cloud SQL Instances
Firestore & Bigtable
Database Backups
Chapter 3.3 Unit 3

Networking

VPC, load balancing, and Cloud DNS

VPC Networks & Subnets
Firewall Rules
Load Balancers
4

Unit 4: Operations & Monitoring

Monitoring, logging, and troubleshooting

Chapter 4.1 Unit 4

Cloud Monitoring

Metrics, dashboards, and alerts

Metrics Explorer
Custom Dashboards
Alerting Policies
Chapter 4.2 Unit 4

Cloud Logging

Log management and analysis

Log Explorer
Log Sinks & Exports
Log-based Metrics
Chapter 4.3 Unit 4

Troubleshooting

Debugging and performance optimization

Cloud Trace
Cloud Debugger
Error Reporting

💡 Exam Tip: Hands-on practice is crucial! Use Qwiklabs and GCP Free Tier to gain practical experience with all services covered in the exam.

Exam Preparation Resources

Exam Details

  • • Duration: 120 minutes (2 hours)
  • • Questions: 50-60 (multiple choice & multiple select)
  • • Passing Score: Not disclosed (estimated 70%)
  • • Cost: $125 USD
  • • Validity: 3 years

Exam Domains

  • • Setting up a cloud solution environment: 17%
  • • Planning and configuring: 18%
  • • Deploying and implementing: 25%
  • • Ensuring successful operation: 20%
  • • Configuring access and security: 20%

Study Resources

  • • Google Cloud Skills Boost (Qwiklabs)
  • • Coursera ACE Course
  • • Official Practice Exam
  • • Google Cloud Documentation

Key Focus Areas

  • • Compute Engine and GKE
  • • Cloud Storage and databases
  • • Networking fundamentals
  • • Monitoring and logging