EC2 vs Azure VMs vs Google Compute Engine MCQ 60 Tests With Answers (2026)
PerfectNotes TeamUpdated: April 2026~15 min practice 60 Questions · 3 Levels 60 Questions · 3 Levels
EC2 vs Azure VMs vs GCE MCQ practice questions are essential for preparing for competitive exams, cloud certifications, and technical infrastructure engineering interviews. This comprehensive MCQ platform provides 60 carefully curated practice questions comparing the three dominant cloud compute services: Amazon EC2, Microsoft Azure Virtual Machines, and Google Compute Engine.
These questions are organized into three progressive difficulty levels of 20 questions each: Basics (covering foundational compute terminology, standard storage attachments, and basic network firewalls), Concepts (covering intermediate hypervisor differences, Spot/Preemptible eviction mechanics, and placement rules), and Advanced (covering scenario-based confidential computing, hardware-accelerated networking, and complex billing optimizations). Each question includes a verified, in-depth explanation to reinforce learning.
Practice in Study Mode to reveal answers and detailed explanations instantly, or use Exam Mode for timed testing and real-time scoring to simulate certification environments. The interactive engine tracks your progress and identifies knowledge gaps across EC2 instances, Azure VMs, and GCE machine types.
Contents
- 1.Basics (20 Questions)Instance terminology · storage · autoscaling · networking
- 2.Concepts (20 Questions)Hypervisors · Spot/Preemptible · placement · burstable
- 3.Advanced (20 Questions)Confidential computing · networking · billing · edge
- 4.Conclusionsummary · next steps · study tips
- 5.Key Takeawaysquick-fire bullet recap of essential facts
- 6.Quick Review Summaryconcept · definition · key fact table
- 7.FAQcommon questions answered
EC2 vs Azure VMs vs Google Compute Engine MCQ 60 Tests With Answers (2026) — Basics
1What is the formal name of Google Cloud's primary Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) virtual machine offering?
CorrectB: Google Compute Engine
Google Compute Engine (GCE) is the official brand name for Google Cloud's IaaS virtual machine service, providing scalable computing capacity across global regions and zones.
IncorrectB: Google Compute Engine
Google Compute Engine (GCE) is the official brand name for Google Cloud's IaaS virtual machine service, providing scalable computing capacity across global regions and zones.
2In AWS, what does the acronym "EC2" stand for?
CorrectD: Elastic Compute Cloud
EC2 stands for Elastic Compute Cloud, emphasizing the elasticity and scalability of AWS's virtual machine offerings with automatic resource adjustment capabilities.
IncorrectD: Elastic Compute Cloud
EC2 stands for Elastic Compute Cloud, emphasizing the elasticity and scalability of AWS's virtual machine offerings with automatic resource adjustment capabilities.
3Which cloud provider uses the term "Virtual Machines" (VMs) as the official brand name for its primary IaaS compute service?
CorrectA: Microsoft Azure
Microsoft Azure officially calls its primary IaaS compute offering "Azure Virtual Machines," maintaining consistency with Microsoft's broader virtualization ecosystem.
IncorrectA: Microsoft Azure
Microsoft Azure officially calls its primary IaaS compute offering "Azure Virtual Machines," maintaining consistency with Microsoft's broader virtualization ecosystem.
4What is the default billing increment for newly launched Amazon EC2 Linux instances?
CorrectC: Per second
AWS bills EC2 Linux instances per second (with a 60-second minimum), providing more granular cost tracking compared to older hourly billing models.
IncorrectC: Per second
AWS bills EC2 Linux instances per second (with a 60-second minimum), providing more granular cost tracking compared to older hourly billing models.
5In Google Compute Engine, what is the specific term used to describe the geographical division of resources into independent failure domains?
CorrectC: Zones
GCP Zones are isolated geographical areas within a Region that allow deployment across failure domains to protect against zonal outages.
IncorrectC: Zones
GCP Zones are isolated geographical areas within a Region that allow deployment across failure domains to protect against zonal outages.
6Which of the following best describes an "Instance Type" or "VM Size" across these platforms?
CorrectA: A predefined template specifying the CPU, memory, and networking capacity of the virtual server
Instance types/sizes define the computational resources (vCPUs, RAM, network throughput) allocated to a virtual machine, determining performance characteristics and pricing.
IncorrectA: A predefined template specifying the CPU, memory, and networking capacity of the virtual server
Instance types/sizes define the computational resources (vCPUs, RAM, network throughput) allocated to a virtual machine, determining performance characteristics and pricing.
7If an administrator wants to guarantee that Azure VMs in a data center are placed in different physical server racks to avoid a single point of failure, which feature is used?
CorrectD: Azure Availability Sets
Azure Availability Sets distribute VMs across multiple failure domains and update domains within a region, protecting against infrastructure failures.
IncorrectD: Azure Availability Sets
Azure Availability Sets distribute VMs across multiple failure domains and update domains within a region, protecting against infrastructure failures.
8What is the primary characteristic of an AWS "On-Demand" EC2 instance?
CorrectB: It allows users to pay for compute capacity by the second with no long-term commitments
On-Demand instances provide flexible, pay-as-you-go pricing with no commitments, making them ideal for variable or unpredictable workloads.
IncorrectB: It allows users to pay for compute capacity by the second with no long-term commitments
On-Demand instances provide flexible, pay-as-you-go pricing with no commitments, making them ideal for variable or unpredictable workloads.
9How does AWS officially categorize its EC2 instance families for different workloads?
CorrectA: General Purpose, Compute Optimized, Memory Optimized, Storage Optimized
AWS organizes instance families by optimization: General Purpose (balanced), Compute Optimized (CPU-intensive), Memory Optimized (memory-intensive), and Storage Optimized (I/O-intensive).
IncorrectA: General Purpose, Compute Optimized, Memory Optimized, Storage Optimized
AWS organizes instance families by optimization: General Purpose (balanced), Compute Optimized (CPU-intensive), Memory Optimized (memory-intensive), and Storage Optimized (I/O-intensive).
10What is the name of the persistent block storage volume typically attached to an AWS EC2 instance?
CorrectC: Elastic Block Store (EBS)
Elastic Block Store (EBS) provides persistent, network-attached block storage for EC2 instances with automatic replication and backup capabilities.
IncorrectC: Elastic Block Store (EBS)
Elastic Block Store (EBS) provides persistent, network-attached block storage for EC2 instances with automatic replication and backup capabilities.
11Which block storage service natively attaches to Google Compute Engine instances?
CorrectB: Persistent Disk
Google Persistent Disks are the standard block storage offering for GCE VMs, providing durability and encryption by default across zones.
IncorrectB: Persistent Disk
Google Persistent Disks are the standard block storage offering for GCE VMs, providing durability and encryption by default across zones.
12In Azure, what acts as the standard block-level storage volume attached to Azure VMs?
CorrectD: Azure Managed Disks
Azure Managed Disks are the standard block storage for Azure VMs, handling replication and backup automatically without manual storage account management.
IncorrectD: Azure Managed Disks
Azure Managed Disks are the standard block storage for Azure VMs, handling replication and backup automatically without manual storage account management.
13What is a "Custom Machine Type" in the context of cloud compute?
CorrectD: A GCP feature allowing users to specify the exact number of vCPUs and amount of memory independently
GCP Custom Machine Types allow precise resource configuration, letting users specify exact vCPU and memory combinations for cost optimization.
IncorrectD: A GCP feature allowing users to specify the exact number of vCPUs and amount of memory independently
GCP Custom Machine Types allow precise resource configuration, letting users specify exact vCPU and memory combinations for cost optimization.
14When deploying a web application on EC2 that needs a static, unchanging public IP address, which AWS resource must be allocated?
CorrectB: An Elastic IP Address (EIP)
Elastic IP Addresses (EIPs) are static public IPs that persist even when instances are stopped/started, essential for applications requiring fixed IP configurations.
IncorrectB: An Elastic IP Address (EIP)
Elastic IP Addresses (EIPs) are static public IPs that persist even when instances are stopped/started, essential for applications requiring fixed IP configurations.
15What is the Microsoft Azure equivalent of an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) used to launch a virtual machine?
CorrectA: Azure Managed Image
Azure Managed Images are pre-configured machine images containing OS, applications, and configurations, providing similar functionality to AWS AMIs for rapid VM deployment.
IncorrectA: Azure Managed Image
Azure Managed Images are pre-configured machine images containing OS, applications, and configurations, providing similar functionality to AWS AMIs for rapid VM deployment.
16Which Google Cloud resource is functionally equivalent to an AWS AMI for creating new virtual machines?
CorrectC: Custom Image
GCP Custom Images contain the operating system, applications, and configurations needed to launch new instances, serving the same purpose as AWS AMIs.
IncorrectC: Custom Image
GCP Custom Images contain the operating system, applications, and configurations needed to launch new instances, serving the same purpose as AWS AMIs.
17What is the primary purpose of an AWS Auto Scaling Group (ASG)?
CorrectC: To automatically add or remove EC2 instances based on real-time traffic demand and CPU utilization
Auto Scaling Groups automatically scale EC2 capacity up or down based on CloudWatch metrics and scheduled policies, ensuring cost-efficiency and performance.
IncorrectC: To automatically add or remove EC2 instances based on real-time traffic demand and CPU utilization
Auto Scaling Groups automatically scale EC2 capacity up or down based on CloudWatch metrics and scheduled policies, ensuring cost-efficiency and performance.
18What terminology does Azure use for its automated scaling capability attached to Virtual Machines?
CorrectD: Virtual Machine Scale Sets (VMSS)
Virtual Machine Scale Sets (VMSS) automatically create, manage, and scale out identical Azure VMs based on demand patterns and performance metrics.
IncorrectD: Virtual Machine Scale Sets (VMSS)
Virtual Machine Scale Sets (VMSS) automatically create, manage, and scale out identical Azure VMs based on demand patterns and performance metrics.
19What is the Google Compute Engine equivalent to an AWS Auto Scaling Group?
CorrectB: Managed Instance Groups (MIGs)
Managed Instance Groups (MIGs) handle automated scaling, instance health monitoring, and rolling updates for GCP compute instances.
IncorrectB: Managed Instance Groups (MIGs)
Managed Instance Groups (MIGs) handle automated scaling, instance health monitoring, and rolling updates for GCP compute instances.
20Which networking component acts as a virtual firewall for an AWS EC2 instance to control inbound and outbound traffic at the instance level?
CorrectA: Security Group
Security Groups act as stateful firewalls at the instance level, controlling ingress and egress traffic through allow rules (deny is implicit).
IncorrectA: Security Group
Security Groups act as stateful firewalls at the instance level, controlling ingress and egress traffic through allow rules (deny is implicit).
EC2 vs Azure VMs vs Google Compute Engine MCQ 60 Tests With Answers (2026) — Concepts
1What is a "Spot Instance" in AWS EC2?
CorrectC: Unused EC2 capacity available at a steep discount that can be interrupted by AWS with a two-minute warning
Spot Instances utilize spare AWS capacity at 70-90% discounts but can be interrupted with a 2-minute warning, suitable for fault-tolerant, flexible workloads.
IncorrectC: Unused EC2 capacity available at a steep discount that can be interrupted by AWS with a two-minute warning
Spot Instances utilize spare AWS capacity at 70-90% discounts but can be interrupted with a 2-minute warning, suitable for fault-tolerant, flexible workloads.
2What is the exact Google Compute Engine equivalent to an AWS Spot Instance?
CorrectA: Spot VMs (formerly Preemptible VMs)
GCP Spot VMs (previously Preemptible VMs) provide up to 70% cost savings but can be reclaimed with a 30-second termination notice.
IncorrectA: Spot VMs (formerly Preemptible VMs)
GCP Spot VMs (previously Preemptible VMs) provide up to 70% cost savings but can be reclaimed with a 30-second termination notice.
3Which feature distinguishes Azure Spot Virtual Machines from standard pay-as-you-go Azure VMs?
CorrectD: They are provisioned from unused Azure capacity and can be evicted based on capacity constraints or maximum price limits
Azure Spot VMs utilize spare capacity and can be evicted when Azure needs capacity, offering 50-90% savings for interruptible workloads.
IncorrectD: They are provisioned from unused Azure capacity and can be evicted based on capacity constraints or maximum price limits
Azure Spot VMs utilize spare capacity and can be evicted when Azure needs capacity, offering 50-90% savings for interruptible workloads.
4What happens to the ephemeral storage (Instance Store) attached to an AWS EC2 instance if the instance is formally stopped and restarted?
CorrectB: The data is permanently lost, as the instance may boot on a different physical host
Instance Store volumes are ephemeral and tied to physical hardware; data is lost when instances stop or fail as they may boot on different hardware.
IncorrectB: The data is permanently lost, as the instance may boot on a different physical host
Instance Store volumes are ephemeral and tied to physical hardware; data is lost when instances stop or fail as they may boot on different hardware.
5In Google Compute Engine, what capability allows a virtual machine to be moved to a different physical host without interrupting the running application?
CorrectD: Live Migration
GCP Live Migration moves running instances to different hardware for maintenance without downtime, utilizing memory pre-copying and network optimization.
IncorrectD: Live Migration
GCP Live Migration moves running instances to different hardware for maintenance without downtime, utilizing memory pre-copying and network optimization.
6How does AWS handle underlying physical host maintenance for standard EC2 instances?
CorrectC: By scheduling a maintenance window and requiring the user to stop and start the instance to move it to healthy hardware
AWS schedules maintenance and requires users to stop/start instances for migration, unlike GCP's automatic live migration capability.
IncorrectC: By scheduling a maintenance window and requiring the user to stop and start the instance to move it to healthy hardware
AWS schedules maintenance and requires users to stop/start instances for migration, unlike GCP's automatic live migration capability.
7Which proprietary hypervisor does AWS primarily use for modern EC2 instances to provide better performance and security isolation?
CorrectA: The AWS Nitro System
The AWS Nitro System is a custom hypervisor providing enhanced security isolation, performance, and overhead reduction for EC2 instances.
IncorrectA: The AWS Nitro System
The AWS Nitro System is a custom hypervisor providing enhanced security isolation, performance, and overhead reduction for EC2 instances.
8Which hypervisor technology underpins the Microsoft Azure Virtual Machine infrastructure?
CorrectB: A heavily customized version of Microsoft Hyper-V
Azure uses a customized version of Microsoft Hyper-V, optimized for cloud infrastructure with features like nested virtualization support.
IncorrectB: A heavily customized version of Microsoft Hyper-V
Azure uses a customized version of Microsoft Hyper-V, optimized for cloud infrastructure with features like nested virtualization support.
9Google Compute Engine's virtual machines run on a hardened, heavily optimized version of which open-source hypervisor?
CorrectB: KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine)
GCP uses a heavily customized KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine), optimized for Google's infrastructure with minimal overhead.
IncorrectB: KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine)
GCP uses a heavily customized KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine), optimized for Google's infrastructure with minimal overhead.
10What is the function of an AWS EC2 "Dedicated Host"?
CorrectD: It provisions a physical server strictly dedicated for your use, allowing visibility into hardware sockets and physical cores for licensing purposes
Dedicated Hosts provide a physical server entirely for your use, essential for license compliance (SQL Server, Oracle) and regulatory requirements.
IncorrectD: It provisions a physical server strictly dedicated for your use, allowing visibility into hardware sockets and physical cores for licensing purposes
Dedicated Hosts provide a physical server entirely for your use, essential for license compliance (SQL Server, Oracle) and regulatory requirements.
11Which Google Compute Engine feature allows users to lease an entire physical server to ensure strict compliance and workload isolation?
CorrectC: Sole-tenant Nodes
GCP Sole-tenant Nodes are entire physical servers reserved exclusively for one customer, similar to AWS Dedicated Hosts.
IncorrectC: Sole-tenant Nodes
GCP Sole-tenant Nodes are entire physical servers reserved exclusively for one customer, similar to AWS Dedicated Hosts.
12In AWS, what defines a "Burstable Performance Instance" (e.g., T3 or T4g families)?
CorrectA: An instance that accumulates CPU credits while idle, allowing it to burst above its baseline CPU performance when demand spikes
T-series instances accumulate CPU credits during idle periods (earning credits) and consume them during high-load periods, providing cost-effective burstable performance.
IncorrectA: An instance that accumulates CPU credits while idle, allowing it to burst above its baseline CPU performance when demand spikes
T-series instances accumulate CPU credits during idle periods (earning credits) and consume them during high-load periods, providing cost-effective burstable performance.
13Which Azure VM family represents burstable performance VMs analogous to AWS T-series instances?
CorrectA: B-Series
Azure B-Series VMs provide burstable performance with baseline CPU and credit-based bursting, similar to AWS T-family instances.
IncorrectA: B-Series
Azure B-Series VMs provide burstable performance with baseline CPU and credit-based bursting, similar to AWS T-family instances.
14What is the Google Compute Engine equivalent to burstable performance instances?
CorrectB: Shared-core Machine Types (e.g., e2-micro, e2-small)
GCP E2-series shared-core machines provide burstable performance for lightweight workloads with cost-effective pricing.
IncorrectB: Shared-core Machine Types (e.g., e2-micro, e2-small)
GCP E2-series shared-core machines provide burstable performance for lightweight workloads with cost-effective pricing.
15When a user provisions an "AWS EC2 Bare Metal instance," what are they fundamentally obtaining?
CorrectD: Direct access to the physical server's hardware, entirely bypassing the AWS virtualization hypervisor layer
Bare Metal instances provide direct hardware access without hypervisor overhead, essential for high-performance computing and specialized software licensing.
IncorrectD: Direct access to the physical server's hardware, entirely bypassing the AWS virtualization hypervisor layer
Bare Metal instances provide direct hardware access without hypervisor overhead, essential for high-performance computing and specialized software licensing.
16In the context of EC2 placement, what is the specific function of a "Cluster Placement Group"?
CorrectC: It packs instances close together inside a single Availability Zone to achieve the lowest possible network latency and highest throughput
Cluster Placement Groups group instances within a single AZ for optimal network performance (10 Gbps or higher inter-instance bandwidth).
IncorrectC: It packs instances close together inside a single Availability Zone to achieve the lowest possible network latency and highest throughput
Cluster Placement Groups group instances within a single AZ for optimal network performance (10 Gbps or higher inter-instance bandwidth).
17Which Azure feature explicitly mirrors the functionality of an AWS Spread Placement Group?
CorrectC: Azure Availability Sets
Azure Availability Sets distribute VMs across separate failed domains and update domains, similar to AWS Spread Placement Groups.
IncorrectC: Azure Availability Sets
Azure Availability Sets distribute VMs across separate failed domains and update domains, similar to AWS Spread Placement Groups.
18What is the primary use case for "Azure Proximity Placement Groups"?
CorrectA: To logically group Azure compute resources physically close together in the same data center to minimize network latency
Proximity Placement Groups colocate Azure resources in the same data center to minimize latency for tightly coupled workloads.
IncorrectA: To logically group Azure compute resources physically close together in the same data center to minimize network latency
Proximity Placement Groups colocate Azure resources in the same data center to minimize latency for tightly coupled workloads.
19If an organization needs to migrate existing on-premises VMware workloads to the cloud without refactoring or changing the underlying virtualization stack, which AWS service is utilized?
CorrectB: VMware Cloud on AWS
VMware Cloud on AWS provides a managed VMware hyper-converged infrastructure running natively on AWS hardware for seamless workload migration.
IncorrectB: VMware Cloud on AWS
VMware Cloud on AWS provides a managed VMware hyper-converged infrastructure running natively on AWS hardware for seamless workload migration.
20What is the Azure equivalent for natively migrating and running VMware environments directly on Azure bare-metal infrastructure?
CorrectD: Azure VMware Solution
Azure VMware Solution provides a dedicated VMware environment on Azure infrastructure for seamless hybrid cloud deployments.
IncorrectD: Azure VMware Solution
Azure VMware Solution provides a dedicated VMware environment on Azure infrastructure for seamless hybrid cloud deployments.
EC2 vs Azure VMs vs Google Compute Engine MCQ 60 Tests With Answers (2026) — Advanced
1Which advanced AWS feature enables an EC2 instance to attach a secondary, isolated compute environment for processing highly sensitive data securely?
CorrectD: AWS Nitro Enclaves
AWS Nitro Enclaves provide isolated compute environments within EC2 instances, protecting sensitive data processing from even AWS personnel and the parent instance.
IncorrectD: AWS Nitro Enclaves
AWS Nitro Enclaves provide isolated compute environments within EC2 instances, protecting sensitive data processing from even AWS personnel and the parent instance.
2Which Google Compute Engine feature utilizes AMD SEV or Intel TDX technologies to encrypt data in use, ensuring that even Google cannot access the memory of the VM?
CorrectB: Confidential VMs
GCP Confidential VMs use hardware-based Trusted Execution Environments (AMD SEV, Intel TDX) to encrypt data in memory, protecting against internal threats.
IncorrectB: Confidential VMs
GCP Confidential VMs use hardware-based Trusted Execution Environments (AMD SEV, Intel TDX) to encrypt data in memory, protecting against internal threats.
3What is the corresponding Microsoft Azure technology that protects data in use by isolating it within hardware-based Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs)?
CorrectC: Azure Confidential Computing
Azure Confidential Computing uses TEE technologies (Intel SGX, AMD SEV) to encrypt data in memory and isolated compute environments.
IncorrectC: Azure Confidential Computing
Azure Confidential Computing uses TEE technologies (Intel SGX, AMD SEV) to encrypt data in memory and isolated compute environments.
4How does an AWS "Elastic Fabric Adapter (EFA)" enhance high-performance computing (HPC) workloads on EC2?
CorrectA: It allows instances to bypass the OS kernel to communicate directly with the network hardware, drastically lowering latency and increasing throughput
EFA provides high-performance, low-latency networking by allowing direct hardware communication, essential for tightly-coupled HPC applications.
IncorrectA: It allows instances to bypass the OS kernel to communicate directly with the network hardware, drastically lowering latency and increasing throughput
EFA provides high-performance, low-latency networking by allowing direct hardware communication, essential for tightly-coupled HPC applications.
5In GCP, what is the maximum number of network interfaces (NICs) that can be attached to a single Google Compute Engine virtual machine?
CorrectA: It varies depending on the machine type, up to a strict maximum of 8 NICs
GCP VMs can have up to 8 network interfaces depending on machine family, supporting complex multi-network architectures.
IncorrectA: It varies depending on the machine type, up to a strict maximum of 8 NICs
GCP VMs can have up to 8 network interfaces depending on machine family, supporting complex multi-network architectures.
6In AWS EC2, what specific benefit does an "Elastic Network Adapter (ENA)" provide over a standard Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) network interface?
CorrectC: It delivers Enhanced Networking capabilities, offering significantly higher bandwidth and lower inter-instance latency within a VPC
ENA enables up to 100 Gbps network throughput with lower CPU utilization through hardware acceleration.
IncorrectC: It delivers Enhanced Networking capabilities, offering significantly higher bandwidth and lower inter-instance latency within a VPC
ENA enables up to 100 Gbps network throughput with lower CPU utilization through hardware acceleration.
7Microsoft Azure virtual machines utilize which specific feature to significantly reduce network latency and CPU utilization by bypassing the virtual switch?
CorrectB: Accelerated Networking (SR-IOV)
Accelerated Networking uses SR-IOV to provide direct hardware access, reducing latency and CPU overhead for network-intensive workloads.
IncorrectB: Accelerated Networking (SR-IOV)
Accelerated Networking uses SR-IOV to provide direct hardware access, reducing latency and CPU overhead for network-intensive workloads.
8Which AWS EC2 pricing model allows customers to purchase a specific capacity reservation linked strictly to a predefined geographic Availability Zone for a set term?
CorrectD: Zonal Reserved Instances
Zonal Reserved Instances are pinned to specific AZs, providing up to 72% discounts with capacity guarantees for that zone.
IncorrectD: Zonal Reserved Instances
Zonal Reserved Instances are pinned to specific AZs, providing up to 72% discounts with capacity guarantees for that zone.
9Google Cloud offers an automated discount that applies to Compute Engine resources when they are used for a significant portion of a billing month. What is this called?
CorrectC: Sustained Use Discounts
GCP Sustained Use Discounts automatically reduce pricing as resource usage increases within a month, with no commitment required.
IncorrectC: Sustained Use Discounts
GCP Sustained Use Discounts automatically reduce pricing as resource usage increases within a month, with no commitment required.
10Which of the following accurately describes an "AWS Compute Savings Plan" compared to an "EC2 Instance Savings Plan"?
CorrectA: Compute Savings Plans apply automatically across any EC2 instance family, AWS Fargate, and AWS Lambda, whereas EC2 Instance Savings Plans are strictly locked to a specific instance family in a specific region
Compute Savings Plans offer flexibility across services (EC2, Fargate, Lambda), while EC2 Instance Savings Plans lock to specific instance families.
IncorrectA: Compute Savings Plans apply automatically across any EC2 instance family, AWS Fargate, and AWS Lambda, whereas EC2 Instance Savings Plans are strictly locked to a specific instance family in a specific region
Compute Savings Plans offer flexibility across services (EC2, Fargate, Lambda), while EC2 Instance Savings Plans lock to specific instance families.
11Azure offers "Azure Dedicated Hosts" to provide isolated physical servers. How does the billing model for Azure Dedicated Hosts operate?
CorrectD: You pay for the entire physical host regardless of how many, or how few, virtual machines you choose to run on it
Dedicated Hosts have a fixed hourly rate regardless of VM count, making them cost-effective only for highly utilized hosts.
IncorrectD: You pay for the entire physical host regardless of how many, or how few, virtual machines you choose to run on it
Dedicated Hosts have a fixed hourly rate regardless of VM count, making them cost-effective only for highly utilized hosts.
12What is "Nested Virtualization," and which major cloud provider explicitly supports it on their standard virtual machines to allow running Hyper-V or KVM *inside* the cloud VM?
CorrectB: The ability to run a virtual machine inside another virtual machine; supported by both Azure and GCP, but generally unsupported on standard AWS EC2 instances (excluding bare metal)
Azure and GCP support nested virtualization on standard instances; AWS requires bare metal instances for this capability.
IncorrectB: The ability to run a virtual machine inside another virtual machine; supported by both Azure and GCP, but generally unsupported on standard AWS EC2 instances (excluding bare metal)
Azure and GCP support nested virtualization on standard instances; AWS requires bare metal instances for this capability.
13Which Google Compute Engine feature protects against boot-level rootkits by cryptographically verifying the integrity of the boot sequence?
CorrectB: Shielded VMs
GCP Shielded VMs use measured boot, secure boot, and integrity monitoring to protect against firmware-level attacks.
IncorrectB: Shielded VMs
GCP Shielded VMs use measured boot, secure boot, and integrity monitoring to protect against firmware-level attacks.
14In an AWS environment, what is the role of "Amazon EC2 Fleet"?
CorrectD: It allows users to define a target compute capacity and automatically provisions a mix of On-Demand, Reserved, and Spot instances across multiple instance types to meet that target
EC2 Fleet optimizes capacity acquisition by automatically blending instance types and purchase options to achieve target capacity at lowest cost.
IncorrectD: It allows users to define a target compute capacity and automatically provisions a mix of On-Demand, Reserved, and Spot instances across multiple instance types to meet that target
EC2 Fleet optimizes capacity acquisition by automatically blending instance types and purchase options to achieve target capacity at lowest cost.
15Which Microsoft Azure feature allows users to utilize their existing, on-premises Windows Server or SQL Server licenses in the cloud to significantly reduce the hourly cost of Azure VMs?
CorrectA: Azure Hybrid Benefit
Azure Hybrid Benefit allows Software Assurance-covered licenses to be used on Azure VMs, reducing costs by up to 55% for Windows and SQL Server.
IncorrectA: Azure Hybrid Benefit
Azure Hybrid Benefit allows Software Assurance-covered licenses to be used on Azure VMs, reducing costs by up to 55% for Windows and SQL Server.
16AWS introduced instances powered by their custom-built, ARM-based processors that offer superior price-performance for specific workloads. What are these processors named?
CorrectC: AWS Graviton
AWS Graviton processors are ARM-based chips offering better price-performance for scale-out workloads with lower costs and power consumption.
IncorrectC: AWS Graviton
AWS Graviton processors are ARM-based chips offering better price-performance for scale-out workloads with lower costs and power consumption.
17Which Azure service is designed to natively deliver low-latency computing power to the network edge, integrating directly with 5G telecom operators?
CorrectB: Azure Edge Zones
Azure Edge Zones bring Azure compute and services to the network edge near wireless carriers, enabling ultra-low-latency 5G applications.
IncorrectB: Azure Edge Zones
Azure Edge Zones bring Azure compute and services to the network edge near wireless carriers, enabling ultra-low-latency 5G applications.
18What is the corresponding Google Cloud capability that brings Google's compute and AI services directly to the network edge or into a customer's private data center?
CorrectD: Google Distributed Cloud Edge
Google Distributed Cloud Edge extends Google Cloud services to on-premises and edge locations for hybrid and distributed deployments.
IncorrectD: Google Distributed Cloud Edge
Google Distributed Cloud Edge extends Google Cloud services to on-premises and edge locations for hybrid and distributed deployments.
19AWS enables the attachment of massive arrays of local, non-volatile NVMe storage to specialized EC2 instances (like the i3en family). What is the primary characteristic of this NVMe Instance Store?
CorrectC: The storage provides multi-million IOPS performance, but the data is completely ephemeral and will be irrevocably lost if the instance stops
NVMe Instance Store provides extreme performance (> 3 million IOPS) but is ephemeral; data is lost on instance stop/termination.
IncorrectC: The storage provides multi-million IOPS performance, but the data is completely ephemeral and will be irrevocably lost if the instance stops
NVMe Instance Store provides extreme performance (> 3 million IOPS) but is ephemeral; data is lost on instance stop/termination.
20When managing an extreme high-availability architecture on Google Compute Engine, what does a "Regional Managed Instance Group (MIG)" accomplish?
CorrectA: It automatically spreads identical virtual machine instances across multiple distinct Zones within a single Region to protect against a total zone failure
Regional MIGs automatically distribute instances across multiple zones within a region, providing high availability against zone failures.
IncorrectA: It automatically spreads identical virtual machine instances across multiple distinct Zones within a single Region to protect against a total zone failure
Regional MIGs automatically distribute instances across multiple zones within a region, providing high availability against zone failures.
Conclusion: Multi-Cloud Compute Mastery
EC2, Azure Virtual Machines, and Google Compute Engine each bring distinct advantages to infrastructure design. AWS EC2 offers the broadest ecosystem and most mature reserved instance options. Azure Virtual Machines integrate seamlessly with Microsoft enterprise software. Google Compute Engine excels at live migration, sustained use discounts, and innovative pricing models.
Multi-cloud mastery requires understanding:How hypervisor technologies differ, why placement strategies matter for application performance, how pricing models can dramatically impact budgets, and when to leverage each platform's unique strengths. These 60 MCQs provide the foundational knowledge needed to architect cost-effective, performant, and secure infrastructure across any major cloud platform.
Next steps: Master instance sizing and performance modeling. Understand network-bound vs compute-bound workloads. Learn cloud cost optimization. Consider hands-on labs with each platform to solidify architectural intuition. Then explore containerized and Kubernetes workloads (Docker, ECS, AKS, GKE) built on top of these compute foundations. Good luck on your multi-cloud journey! 🚀
📌 KEY TAKEAWAYS — EC2 VS AZURE VMS VS GCE
- Instance types — AWS uses family/size naming, Azure uses specific SKUs, GCP emphasizes vCPU/memory configurations. All support burstable, general-purpose, compute-optimized, memory-optimized, and storage-optimized variants.
- Spot/Preemptible instances — provide 50-90% cost savings but risk interruption. AWS (2-min warning), GCP (30-sec), Azure (capacity-based) differ in timing and notification. Ideal for fault-tolerant, stateless, batch workloads.
- Block storage — AWS EBS, Azure Managed Disks, GCP Persistent Disks all provide persistence and encryption. Snapshots enable data portability and backup strategies.
- Hypervisors — AWS Nitro (custom), Azure Hyper-V (customized), GCP KVM (optimized). Choice impacts performance isolation, security, and feature support including nested virtualization.
- Placement strategies — Cluster (lowest latency), Spread (rack isolation), Partition (Kafka resilience) for AWS; Availability Sets, Proximity Groups for Azure; Zones, Sole-tenant/Dedicated for GCP.
- Pricing and billing — AWS (per-second + Reserved Instances), Azure (per-minute + Hybrid Benefit), GCP (per-second + Sustained Use Discounts). Financial planning requires provider-specific analysis.
- Advanced networking — EFA (AWS), Accelerated Networking/SR-IOV (Azure), VPC networking (GCP). Hardware-based improvements bypass OS kernel for performance.
- Confidential computing — AWS Nitro Enclaves, Azure Confidential Computing, GCP Confidential VMs use TEEs for strict isolation. Essential for highly sensitive workloads.
Quick Review & Summary
Use this table to understand compute offering parity across AWS, Azure, and GCP before or after attempting the questions above.
| Capability | AWS EC2 | Azure VM | GCP Compute Engine |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discounted Instances | Spot Instances | Low-Priority VMs | Preemptible (2-min) / Spot (24h) |
| Reserved Commitment | Reserved Instances (1/3-yr) | Reserved Instances (1/3-yr) | RI / Commitment Discounts |
| Auto-Discount | Savings Plans | - | Sustained Use Discounts |
| Block Storage | EBS (gp2/gp3/io1/st1) | Managed Disk (Standard/Premium) | Persistent Disk (Std/SSD/Bal) |
| Placement Strategy | Placement Groups (Cluster/Spread) | Availability Sets / Zones | Zones / Sole Tenancy |
| Hypervisor | Nitro (custom) | Hyper-V (customized) | KVM (optimized) |
| Advanced Networking | ENA / EFA | Accelerated Networking / SR-IOV | Goog Cloud VPC / vNIC |
| Confidential Computing | Nitro Enclaves | Confidential VMs / TEE | Confidential VMs / TDX |
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What topics do these EC2 vs Azure VMs vs GCE MCQs cover?
Q. What is a "compute instance" or "virtual machine" in cloud computing?
Q. How do instance types differ between AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud?
Q. What are the key differences between Spot/Preemptible/Spot instances across cloud providers?
Q. How does block storage work in each cloud provider?
Q. What is the purpose of hypervisor technology in cloud computing?
Q. How do pricing and billing models vary across cloud providers?
Q. When should you use Spot/Preemptible instances instead of on-demand?
Need to review the theory? Read the full Theory Guide: EC2 vs Azure VMs vs Google Compute Engine