Why does the google cloud calculator say A2 machine types are not available in Toronto when the API says it exists?

Question

if you go on https://cloud.google.com/products/calculator and under compute engine

and fill out the number of fields: instances: 1, Operating System: Free, Datacenter Location: Toronto

Now if you change the Machine Family to "Accelerator Optimised" and the Machine Series to A2:

you will get a warning saying:

This instance type is not available in this region.

However, if you use the Google Cloud Pricing API: https://cloudbilling.googleapis.com/v1/services/6F81-5844-456A/skus?key=API_KEY

There is an Object in the data that tells us A2 machines are available in Toronto, the object is:

{
   "name":"services/6F81-5844-456A/skus/1CD3-9D89-855A",
   "skuId":"1CD3-9D89-855A",
   "description":"A2 Instance Core running in Toronto",
   "category":{
      "serviceDisplayName":"Compute Engine",
      "resourceFamily":"Compute",
      "resourceGroup":"CPU",
      "usageType":"OnDemand"
   },
   "serviceRegions":[
      "northamerica-northeast2"
   ],
   "pricingInfo":[
      {
         "summary":"",
         "pricingExpression":{
            "usageUnit":"h",
            "displayQuantity":1,
            "tieredRates":[
               {
                  "startUsageAmount":0,
                  "unitPrice":{
                     "currencyCode":"USD",
                     "units":"0",
                     "nanos":34802000
                  }
               }
            ],
            "usageUnitDescription":"hour",
            "baseUnit":"s",
            "baseUnitDescription":"second",
            "baseUnitConversionFactor":3600
         },
         "currencyConversionRate":1,
         "effectiveTime":"2022-07-18T01:31:45.922Z"
      }
   ],
   "serviceProviderName":"Google",
   "geoTaxonomy":{
      "type":"REGIONAL",
      "regions":[
         "northamerica-northeast2"
      ]
   }
}

Can anyone explain this or refer me to the relevant email where I can ask them?

Answer 1

An SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) is an ID for billing. Just because there is an SKU, does not mean it is "in stock" (available).

To determine the availability of a machine type use the machine type API: https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/reference/rest/v1/machineTypes