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Google PCA Practice Question: Designing a disaster recovery strategy for a…
A company is designing a disaster recovery strategy for a Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL database with a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of 1 hour and a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of 2 hours. They are using the Regional Cloud SQL tier. Which TWO actions should they take? (Choose TWO.)
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 cross-region replication by creating a cross-region replica.
Option C is correct because a cross-region replica protects against a regional outage, which the Regional tier alone cannot survive; promoting the cross-region replica gives a failover target that can meet the 2-hour RTO, and Cloud SQL's asynchronous replication keeps replica lag well within the 1-hour RPO. Option E is correct because automated backups combined with point-in-time recovery let you restore the instance to any moment within the retention window (transaction logs are retained, typically up to 7 days by default), which is essential for recovering from data corruption or accidental deletion within the 1-hour RPO. Option A is not correct because adding CPUs only improves performance and does not provide any recovery capability or reduce RPO/RTO. Option B is not correct because a read replica in the same region shares the same regional failure domain as the primary, so it cannot satisfy a disaster recovery strategy for a regional outage. Option D is not correct because deletion protection only prevents accidental instance deletion; it does not provide backup, replication, or recovery capability to meet the stated RPO and RTO.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Increase the number of CPUs on the primary instance.
Why it's wrong here
Adding CPUs increases compute capacity for performance, not resilience; it provides no cross-region copy or failover path, so the RPO and RTO remain unmet. It is tempting because vertical scaling is a legitimate response to slow queries, but that addresses throughput rather than disaster recovery.
- ✗
Create a read replica in the same region.
Why it's wrong here
A same-region read replica shares the regional failure domain, so it cannot serve as a cross-region DR target; the replica must be created in a different region. It is tempting because read replicas do offload read traffic and can be promoted, which suits scaling rather than regional disaster recovery.
- ✓
Configure cross-region replication by creating a cross-region replica.
Why this is correct
A cross-region replica continuously replicates data to a different region, giving an RPO well under one hour and enabling promotion within the two-hour RTO. This satisfies both objectives when the primary region fails, unlike same-region options that cannot survive regional outages.
- ✗
Enable deletion protection on the database.
Why it's wrong here
Deletion protection only blocks accidental instance removal; it neither replicates data nor enables recovery, so it cannot meet the one-hour RPO or two-hour RTO. It is tempting because it guards against destructive human error, which is a valid control but unrelated to disaster recovery failover.
- ✓
Enable automated backups and point-in-time recovery.
Why this is correct
Automated backups with point-in-time recovery capture continuous transaction logs, allowing restoration to any moment within the retention window. This satisfies the one-hour RPO for logical corruption or accidental deletion, complementing cross-region replication for regional failures.
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Related to this question
Learn chapter
Data Migration and Transfer Services
Key term
Cloud SQL
Cloud SQL is a fully managed relational database service that lets you set up, maintain, and scale SQL databases (like MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server) in the cloud without managing the underlying infrastructure.
Key term
Read replica
A read replica is a copy of a database that is used only to handle read queries, taking load off the primary database.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.