Google PCA Manage implementation of cloud architecture Practice Question
A company is migrating a monolithic application to Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE). The application currently runs on a single Compute Engine instance and stores session state in local memory. The migration must support horizontal scaling and high availability. What should the company do to manage session state in the new architecture?
⚠ Common exam trap
Google Cloud often tests the distinction between 'making the application stateless' versus 'using sticky sessions or StatefulSets'—the trap here is that candidates may think session affinity (Option C) is sufficient for high availability, but it actually creates a single point of failure at the pod level.
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
✓
Refactor the application to store session state in Cloud Memorystore for Redis and make the application stateless.
Migrating to a stateless architecture with Cloud Memorystore for Redis allows the application to scale horizontally without session state being tied to any single pod. By externalizing session state to a managed, highly available Redis service, any pod can handle any request, which is essential for high availability and autoscaling in GKE.
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 store session state in Cloud Memorystore for Redis and make the application stateless.
Why this is correct
Redis provides a fast, scalable, shared session store that decouples session state from individual pods.
- ✗
Use a StatefulSet with a headless service to assign stable network identities to pods.
Why it's wrong here
StatefulSet does not solve the session state problem; it is for stateful applications requiring stable identities.
- ✗
Use GKE Ingress with session affinity (sticky sessions) to route requests to the same pod.
Why it's wrong here
Sticky sessions can lead to unbalanced load and do not fully solve statelessness.
- ✗
Store session state in Cloud SQL using a replicated database.
Why it's wrong here
Cloud SQL adds latency and is not designed for high-throughput session caching.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Introduction to Google Cloud Platform
Key term
High availability
High availability is a system design approach that aims to keep applications and services operational and accessible with minimal downtime, even when some components fail.
Key term
Compute Engine
Compute Engine is Google Cloud's Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) offering that lets you create and run virtual machines on Google's infrastructure.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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