mediumMultiple SelectObjective-mapped
Google ACE Practice Question: A team is deploying a stateful application on GKE…
A team is deploying a stateful application on GKE that requires each pod to have its own persistent disk. Which TWO Kubernetes resources are essential for this deployment? (Choose two.)
⚠ Common exam trap
Google Cloud often tests the misconception that a Deployment can handle stateful workloads with persistent storage, but the trap is that a Deployment does not guarantee stable pod identities or ordered PVC binding, causing data loss or identity conflicts when pods are rescheduled.
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
A StatefulSet is essential because it provides stable, unique network identifiers and ordered, graceful deployment and scaling for stateful applications, ensuring each pod maintains its identity and persistent storage binding across rescheduling. A PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC) is required to request and bind a persistent disk to each pod, enabling the pod to retain its data independently of other pods in the set.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Deployment
Why it's wrong here
A Deployment manages replicas as interchangeable, stateless pods. It provides rolling updates and replica scaling, but each pod gets only an ephemeral hostname (e.g., `pod-abc123`) and no guarantee of stable storage. If multiple replicas share a PersistentVolume, concurrent writes cause corruption; a stateful app like a database requires each pod to have its own private, surviving disk and a fixed identity, which Deployments cannot provide.
- ✗
ConfigMap
Why it's wrong here
ConfigMap is an API resource for injecting non-confidential configuration data as environment variables, command-line arguments, or config files. It exists in etcd and is mounted into pods' filesystems as volumes, but those volumes are temporary and cannot store application-generated data. ConfigMap does not create or attach any persistent storage, so it has no role in persisting state for a stateful application.
- ✓
StatefulSet
Why this is correct
StatefulSet is the correct workload API for stateful applications on GKE. It gives each pod a stable, unique network identity (e.g., `database-0`, `database-1`) and, via `volumeClaimTemplate`, provisions a dedicated PersistentVolume and PVC for each replica. Pods are created and scaled in ordinal order, ensuring predictable startup/shutdown sequences. This is ideal for databases, message brokers, and other apps that need sticky identity and per-pod persistent storage.
- ✗
Ingress
Why it's wrong here
An Ingress resource controls external HTTP(S) access to services by routing traffic based on hostnames or paths, typically through a load balancer. It does not provision or attach any block or file storage, nor does it manage pod identity or persistence. Ingress operates at the network layer above the application and is irrelevant to the data-storage requirements of a stateful workload.
- ✓
PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC)
Why this is correct
A PersistentVolumeClaim is a request for storage, and it is indeed essential in a stateful deployment to bind a pod to a PersistentVolume. However, a PVC alone does not define a workload controller; it lacks the deployment, replicas, and lifecycle management that a pod template provides. In a StatefulSet, PVCs are automatically created per replica through `volumeClaimTemplate`, so the correct answer is the controller that orchestrates that automatic creation, not the claim itself.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)
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.
Key term
Persistent Disk
Persistent Disk is a durable, high-performance block storage service for Google Cloud virtual machines that retains data even after the VM is shut down or deleted.
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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.