GCDL Practice Question: A company's application uses a relational…
This GCDL practice question tests your understanding of a company's application uses a relational…. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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 company's application uses a relational database for transactional data (orders, payments) and a separate NoSQL database for user session data and product catalog. Why might an architect choose two different database types for the same application?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
Distractor review
Using two databases reduces costs by splitting storage between cheaper providers.
Cost reduction is not the rationale. Polyglot persistence chooses the optimal database type for each data access pattern — the appropriate tool for the job, which may actually cost more due to running two services.
Best answer
Different data patterns suit different database types — relational databases for ACID-compliant transactions, NoSQL for high-throughput flexible-schema lookups. This is called polyglot persistence.
Relational DBs (ACID, SQL, joins) handle orders/payments. NoSQL (flexible schema, horizontal scale, key-value) handles sessions and catalog. Using the right database type per workload is polyglot persistence.
Distractor review
Two databases provide automatic redundancy — if one fails, the other takes over.
Two different databases serving different workloads don't provide failover for each other. Redundancy is handled within each database service independently.
Distractor review
Regulatory requirements mandate separating financial data from operational data in different databases.
Data separation requirements exist for some compliance frameworks, but the described choice is about performance optimization (right tool for the workload), not regulatory compliance.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: NAT rules depend on direction and matching traffic
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
- PAT allows many inside hosts to share one public address using ports.
- Inside local and inside global describe the private and translated addresses.
- NAT ACLs identify traffic for translation, not always security filtering.
TExam Day Tips
- Identify inside and outside interfaces first.
- Check whether the scenario needs static NAT, dynamic NAT or PAT.
- Do not confuse NAT matching ACLs with normal packet-filtering intent.
Key takeaway
NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
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More questions from this exam
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Question 1
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Question 2
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Question 3
Which term describes the process by which organizations integrate digital technology into all areas of their business, fundamentally changing how they operate and deliver value to customers?
Question 4
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Question 5
A hospital runs a patient records system that must remain on-premises due to strict regulatory data residency requirements. However, they also want to use cloud-based AI for diagnostic imaging analysis. Which cloud deployment model best describes their architecture?
Question 6
What is virtualization in the context of cloud computing, and why is it fundamental to how cloud providers deliver services?
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this GCDL question test?
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Different data patterns suit different database types — relational databases for ACID-compliant transactions, NoSQL for high-throughput flexible-schema lookups. This is called polyglot persistence. — Different data workloads have different optimal storage models: relational databases (Cloud SQL, Spanner) excel at structured data with complex relationships, ACID transactions, and SQL querying — ideal for financial/order data requiring consistency. NoSQL databases (Firestore, Bigtable, Memorystore) excel at high-throughput key-value or document access, flexible schemas, and horizontal scale — ideal for sessions (simple lookups by key) and product catalogs (document-structured, read-heavy). Using the best tool for each workload is called polyglot persistence.
What should I do if I get this GCDL question wrong?
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related GCDL NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
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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.