What should you do to allow clients in the same VPC to obtain the IP address of an HTTP API hosted on a Compute Engine instance?

Utilizing a Compute Engine internal DNS service for IP address resolution is the appropriate solution for allowing clients within the same Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) to obtain the IP address of an HTTP API hosted on a Compute Engine instance.

When instances are running within a VPC, they can use the internal DNS capabilities provided by Google Cloud. This service automatically assigns internal DNS names based on their instance names. Thus, clients can resolve these internal DNS names to their corresponding internal IP addresses, enabling seamless communication between instances without requiring any changes to the network configuration or the use of external IP addresses.

This method is efficient because it leverages the built-in features of Compute Engine, allowing for easy scaling and management of resources while maintaining network performance and security. Since the instances communicate over internal IPs, there is no additional latency introduced by routing traffic externally, and it avoids unnecessary costs associated with egress traffic through external IP addresses.

Using an internal DNS service also means that there's no need for static IP addresses or modifying DNS records externally, which could introduce additional complexity. The internal DNS mechanism supports dynamic changes in instance IP addresses as instances are started, stopped, or moved within the VPC, thus enhancing the reliability and maintainability of the solution.

In summary, employing