Google PCA Practice Question: Managing Implementation and Ensuring Solution and Operations Reliability
A company has a Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL instance in a single zone. To achieve high availability, they want to ensure automatic failover with zero data loss and minimal downtime. Which configuration should they use?
⚠ Common exam trap
PCA often tests the misconception that read replicas provide HA failover; in Cloud SQL, only a regional instance with a standby replica delivers automatic zero-data-loss failover.
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
✓
Configure a Cloud SQL regional instance with a failover replica in a different zone
A Cloud SQL regional instance provisions a standby replica in a different zone within the same region and performs automatic failover with synchronous replication, ensuring zero data loss (RPO=0) and minimal downtime. This is the standard HA configuration for Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Deploy a read replica in the same zone and enable automatic failover
Why it's wrong here
A read replica in the same zone provides no failover and shares the zone's failure domain; Cloud SQL HA requires a regional instance with a standby in a different zone and synchronous replication. It is tempting because read replicas scale reads, but they are asynchronous and not automatic failover targets.
- ✗
Enable automatic backups and point-in-time recovery
Why it's wrong here
Backups and point-in-time recovery restore data after a failure, but provide no standby instance and no automatic failover, so downtime persists until an administrator performs a restore. Backups suit accidental deletion or corruption recovery, not the zero-data-loss HA requirement here.
- ✗
Add a cross-region read replica and configure failover manually
Why it's wrong here
A cross-region read replica is asynchronous, so it cannot guarantee zero data loss, and failover is manual rather than automatic, breaching both requirements. Read replicas serve read scaling and disaster recovery across regions, not same-region automatic HA failover.
- ✓
Configure a Cloud SQL regional instance with a failover replica in a different zone
Why this is correct
A Cloud SQL regional instance maintains a synchronous standby replica in a different zone within the same region. Synchronous replication guarantees zero data loss (RPO of zero), while automatic failover to the standby delivers minimal downtime, satisfying both the high availability and no-data-loss constraints in the stem.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Cloud SQL and Managed Data Stores
Key term
RPO
Recovery Point Objective (RPO) is the maximum acceptable amount of data loss measured in time, defining how recent data must be to resume operations after a disruption.
Key term
Data
Data is raw, unprocessed information, like numbers, words, or measurements, that can be stored, processed, and analyzed by computers.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Google Cloud exam blueprint
This PCA 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 PCA exam.