Introduction

Passing the Google Cloud Associate Cloud Engineer (ACE) certification was a major milestone in my cloud journey. In this post, I’ll walk through the resources I used, how I structured my study plan, and key tips that helped me succeed — especially if you’re balancing this with work or studies like I was.

Why ACE?

The ACE certification is a great entry point for understanding Google Cloud Platform (GCP) fundamentals. It’s hands-on, focused on real-world tasks like deploying apps, managing projects, configuring networks, and handling IAM policies — all of which are essential for any cloud engineer.

My Study Resources

📚 GCPStudyHub.com

This free resource was my foundation. It offers curated summaries, command references, and links to official documentation. I especially liked the section breakdown by exam objective — it made focused revision easier.

🧪 Udemy Practice Exams

The practice tests from this Udemy course helped me simulate the real exam environment. They included tricky scenarios and questions around gcloud commands, IAM, networking, and deployment — all very exam-relevant.

🎓 Google Skill Boosts (Partner Training)

As part of a partner training program, I completed Skill Boosts labs which gave me practical experience with GCP services like Compute Engine, Cloud Storage, Cloud Run, and Pub/Sub. These labs were crucial to connecting theory with hands-on skills.

📝 Colleagues’ Notes

Learning from peers made a big difference. Sharing notes and asking questions about tricky topics like VPC peering, billing accounts, and service accounts helped me deepen my understanding and learn faster.

Study Plan

  • Week 1: Read through GCPStudyHub + watched free Google intro videos.
  • Week 2–3: Completed Skill Boost labs and hands-on practice with the gcloud CLI.
  • Week 4: Took Udemy practice exams and reviewed incorrect answers carefully.
  • Final Days: Focused on topics I struggled with — especially IAM roles, billing/project structure, and network configuration.

Key Topics to Master

  • IAM & Roles (basic and predefined)
  • Compute Engine (VM creation, snapshots, SSH access)
  • Cloud Storage (buckets, lifecycle rules, gsutil)
  • Gcloud CLI commands and deployment YAMLs
  • Monitoring, logging, and troubleshooting
  • VPCs, firewalls, subnets, and Cloud NAT

Exam Experience

The exam is scenario-based, so memorization won’t get you far — you need to understand how services interact. Knowing the gcloud command-line tool was a huge plus. Expect questions about deploying apps, handling permissions, and network setup.

Final Thoughts

The ACE exam is very doable with the right mix of hands-on practice and structured study. If you’re coming from another cloud provider (like AWS or Azure), don’t underestimate the GCP-specific terminology and structure — take time to learn it.

This certification gave me a much deeper confidence in using Google Cloud, and I highly recommend it to anyone aiming for a cloud engineering or DevOps path.

✉️ If you’re studying for ACE, feel free to reach out or comment — I’m happy to share tips and notes.