What Google Cloud tool is best suited for creating and managing virtual machine images?

The most suitable tool for creating and managing virtual machine images within Google Cloud is Compute Engine. This service provides dedicated infrastructure for running virtual machines (VMs) and offers complete control over your VM configurations.

Compute Engine enables users to create custom images by allowing them to capture the state of a virtual machine, which can include the operating system, applications, and other data. This capability is essential for scaling applications, managing environments, and maintaining backups. Users can create both public and private images, which grants flexibility in sharing and deploying instances across projects.

In contrast, other options serve different purposes. Cloud Functions focuses on serverless computing, allowing you to run code in response to events without managing infrastructure. Cloud Deployment Manager is primarily used for managing resources through configuration files, enabling users to create and configure resources like VMs, but not specifically for managing individual VM images. Google Container Registry is tailored for Docker images, facilitating the management of container images rather than virtual machines. The features and focus of Compute Engine make it the best choice for handling virtual machine images effectively.