A production database virtual machine on Google Compute Engine has an ext4-formatted persistent disk for data files. The database is about to run out of storage space. How can you remediate the problem with the least amount of downtime?

The correct option leverages Google Compute Engine's ability to resize persistent disks while the VM is running, combined with the resize2fs command to expand the ext4 filesystem to utilize the new space without unmounting. This minimizes downtime. Shutting down the VM (option 2) introduces unnecessary downtime. While fdisk (option 3) can verify disk partitions, it doesn't expand the filesystem itself. Creating a new disk (option 4) or restoring from a snapshot to a new disk (option 5) would involve significant configuration changes, data migration, or extended downtime for the database service, making them less efficient for simply expanding existing storage.