- A
Refactor the application to run on App Engine and use Cloud SQL with a cross-region replica for failover.
Why wrong: Refactoring is complex; App Engine may require code changes. Cross-region replica adds cost and latency.
- B
Lift and shift the application to a single Compute Engine VM and use a Cloud SQL instance in the same region.
Why wrong: This does not address availability; a single VM is a single point of failure.
- C
Deploy the application on Compute Engine with a regional managed instance group and use Cloud SQL with high availability.
Correct: This provides automatic failover across zones and managed database, balancing cost and operational overhead.
- D
Containerize the application and run it on Google Kubernetes Engine with a multi-cluster setup across regions.
Why wrong: Overly complex for a small team; containerization and Kubernetes add significant operational overhead.
Cloud Digital Leader Why cloud technology is transforming business Practice Question
This GCDL practice question tests your understanding of why cloud technology is transforming business. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A mid-sized logistics company runs its core tracking application on a single on-premises server. The application is critical for real-time package tracking and customer notifications. Recently, during a regional power outage, the server went down for 6 hours, causing significant customer dissatisfaction and loss of revenue. The company wants to move to Google Cloud to improve availability and disaster recovery. They have a limited IT team with minimal cloud experience and a tight budget. The application is a monolithic Java application that currently runs on a Linux server with a MySQL database. The company needs a solution that minimizes operational overhead and provides automatic failover across regions. Which course of action should they take?
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
Deploy the application on Compute Engine with a regional managed instance group and use Cloud SQL with high availability.
Option C is the most suitable choice given the company's constraints of limited cloud experience, tight budget, and need for minimal operational overhead. A regional managed instance group provides automatic recovery of VM instances across zones within a region, and Cloud SQL with high availability (HA) provides automatic failover to a standby instance in a different zone within the same region using synchronous replication. While this solution does not provide automatic failover across regions (as stated in the requirement), achieving true cross-region automatic failover typically requires more complex and costly setups, such as active-passive configurations with cross-region replicas that require manual promotion or custom orchestration. Given the trade-offs, this regional high-availability approach offers the best balance of availability, simplicity, and cost for the company.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Refactor the application to run on App Engine and use Cloud SQL with a cross-region replica for failover.
Why it's wrong here
Refactoring is complex; App Engine may require code changes. Cross-region replica adds cost and latency.
- ✗
Lift and shift the application to a single Compute Engine VM and use a Cloud SQL instance in the same region.
Why it's wrong here
This does not address availability; a single VM is a single point of failure.
- ✓
Deploy the application on Compute Engine with a regional managed instance group and use Cloud SQL with high availability.
Why this is correct
Correct: This provides automatic failover across zones and managed database, balancing cost and operational overhead.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Containerize the application and run it on Google Kubernetes Engine with a multi-cluster setup across regions.
Why it's wrong here
Overly complex for a small team; containerization and Kubernetes add significant operational overhead.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google Cloud often tests the misconception that cross-region replicas provide automatic failover, but in reality, they require manual promotion, whereas Cloud SQL HA within a region provides automatic failover with synchronous replication.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
A regional managed instance group (MIG) uses an instance template to create VMs across multiple zones, and with autoscaling and health checks, it can automatically replace failed instances. Cloud SQL HA uses synchronous replication to a standby instance in a different zone within the same region, providing automatic failover with a recovery point objective (RPO) of near zero and a recovery time objective (RTO) of under 60 seconds. In a real-world scenario, if a regional power outage affects one zone, the MIG's instances in other zones continue serving traffic, and Cloud SQL automatically fails over to the standby, ensuring minimal downtime without manual intervention.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this GCDL question test?
Why cloud technology is transforming business — This question tests Why cloud technology is transforming business — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Deploy the application on Compute Engine with a regional managed instance group and use Cloud SQL with high availability. — Option C is the most suitable choice given the company's constraints of limited cloud experience, tight budget, and need for minimal operational overhead. A regional managed instance group provides automatic recovery of VM instances across zones within a region, and Cloud SQL with high availability (HA) provides automatic failover to a standby instance in a different zone within the same region using synchronous replication. While this solution does not provide automatic failover across regions (as stated in the requirement), achieving true cross-region automatic failover typically requires more complex and costly setups, such as active-passive configurations with cross-region replicas that require manual promotion or custom orchestration. Given the trade-offs, this regional high-availability approach offers the best balance of availability, simplicity, and cost for the company.
What should I do if I get this GCDL question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
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Last reviewed: Jun 30, 2026
This GCDL 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 GCDL exam.
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