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Google ACE Practice Question: Deploying a stateful application on Google…
A company is deploying a stateful application on Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) that requires persistent storage. Each pod needs its own dedicated persistent disk that is not shared. Which Kubernetes resource should be used to manage the deployment?
⚠ Common exam trap
Google Cloud often tests the distinction between Deployments and StatefulSets, and the trap here is that candidates mistakenly choose a Deployment with a PVC template, not realizing that Deployments treat all pods as interchangeable and would share the same PVC, violating the 'dedicated disk per pod' requirement.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
StatefulSet with volumeClaimTemplates
A StatefulSet with volumeClaimTemplates is designed for stateful applications where each pod requires its own dedicated PersistentVolume (PV) that is not shared. The volumeClaimTemplates automatically generate a unique PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC) for each pod replica, ensuring each pod gets a separate, stable persistent disk that persists across rescheduling. This matches the requirement for a stateful application on GKE where pods need dedicated, non-shared storage.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Job with PersistentVolume
Why it's wrong here
A Job is designed for finite, batch-style workloads that run until completion, not for long-running application services that must stay available. Attaching a PersistentVolume to a Job doesn't grant the pod a stable identity or automatically provision durable storage, and once the Job's pod finishes or fails, the pod won't be restarted with the same claim. Therefore it cannot provide the operational behavior expected from a production stateful application.
- ✗
DaemonSet with hostPath volumes
Why it's wrong here
DaemonSet ensures that a copy of a pod runs on every node, which is intended for node-level infrastructure such as log collectors or monitoring agents, not for a stateful application with a defined number of replicas. Furthermore, hostPath volumes refer to a directory on the node's filesystem, so the data is tied to that specific node, lacks per-pod isolation, and is lost or inaccessible if the pod moves to another node. This makes it unsuitable for durable, dedicated persistent storage for each stateful replica.
- ✗
Deployment with PersistentVolumeClaim template
Why it's wrong here
A Deployment manages a group of identical, interchangeable pods, and its template cannot include volumeClaimTemplates; you can only reference existing PVCs or shared volumes. Because all replicas are ephemeral and share the same volume, or the Deployment cannot guarantee a fresh PVC per pod, scaling or rolling updates won't preserve a stable binding between a pod and its disk. Thus a Deployment fails to provide the unique persistent storage and stable pod identity required by a stateful application.
- ✓
StatefulSet with volumeClaimTemplates
Why this is correct
StatefulSet is purpose-built for stateful applications: each pod gets a stable, ordinal identity (e.g., web-0, web-1) and a matching PersistentVolumeClaim provisioned from the volumeClaimTemplates block. When a pod is rescheduled, the StatefulSet controller reattaches the same PVC to the same pod name, preserving the data and ensuring consistent storage across restarts. This combination of stable identity, ordered deployment, and per-pod persistent storage is exactly what a stateful service on Google Kubernetes Engine needs.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Google Cloud Platform Overview
Key term
Google Kubernetes Engine
Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) is a managed Kubernetes service on Google Cloud that lets you deploy, scale, and manage containerized applications without having to operate the underlying cluster control plane.
Key term
Anthos
Anthos is a Google Cloud platform that lets you run applications consistently across different computing environments, like on-premises data centers and multiple public clouds.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This ACE practice question is part of Courseiva's free Google Cloud certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the ACE exam.