Reduce Costs for Nightly Batch Workload with Virtual Machines

B.

To reduce the cost of the batch workload that runs every night and uses a large number of virtual machines (VMs), one can consider using preemptible VMs, which can provide a cost-effective solution for workloads that can tolerate interruptions. Preemptible VMs are short-lived instances that are terminated after running for a maximum of 24 hours, or if Compute Engine requires those resources for other tasks. They are priced lower than regular VMs, but come with no availability guarantees. Therefore, workloads that run on preemptible VMs must be fault-tolerant and able to handle interruptions.

Option A is the correct answer because it suggests running a test using simulated maintenance events to see if the workload can tolerate interruptions, and if the test is successful, use preemptible N1 Standard VMs when running future jobs. Simulated maintenance events can help simulate the behavior of preemptible VMs, as they can terminate VMs without prior notice. If the test is successful, using preemptible VMs can help reduce the cost of running the batch workload.

Option B is not the best answer because it suggests using regular N1 Standard VMs, which may not be cost-effective for a workload that requires a large number of VMs. It does not provide a solution to reduce the cost of the workload.

Option C is not the best answer because it suggests using a managed instance group, which may be useful for auto-scaling workloads but does not provide a solution to reduce the cost of the workload.

Option D is not the best answer because it suggests using N1 Standard VMs instead of N2, which does not provide a solution to reduce the cost of the workload. The cost of N1 Standard VMs and N2 VMs may be similar, and using N1 Standard VMs may not be cost-effective for a workload that requires a large number of VMs.