easyMultiple Choice
Google PCA Practice Question: A company needs a relational database that can…
A company needs a relational database that can scale horizontally across multiple regions, supports ACID transactions, and provides strong global consistency. Which Google Cloud database should they choose?
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
✓
Cloud Spanner
Cloud Spanner is the only Google Cloud database that offers horizontal scaling, ACID transactions, and strong global consistency across regions.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
BigQuery
Why it's wrong here
BigQuery is an analytical data warehouse optimised for large-scale SQL queries, not transactional row-level writes, so it cannot serve as an ACID relational database for an application. It is tempting because BigQuery handles petabyte-scale SQL across regions, and it would be correct for analytics and reporting rather than operational transactions.
- ✗
Cloud SQL
Why it's wrong here
Cloud SQL runs a single-region primary instance with read replicas; it cannot scale horizontally across multiple regions while preserving strong global consistency and ACID transactions. It is tempting because Cloud SQL is a managed relational database, and it would be correct for regional workloads that fit within one instance's capacity.
- ✓
Cloud Spanner
Why this is correct
Cloud Spanner is horizontally sharded yet presents a single relational schema with externally consistent reads and ACID transactions across regions, using TrueTime for global ordering. That combination satisfies the stem's simultaneous demands for horizontal scale, multi-region reach and strong global consistency.
- ✗
Firestore
Why it's wrong here
Firestore is a document NoSQL database; it cannot enforce relational schemas or joins, and its multi-region mode trades consistency for availability rather than providing strong global consistency. It is tempting because Firestore scales horizontally across regions, and it would be correct for mobile or web app document data needing automatic sync.
Go deeper
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Key term
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Key term
Cloud Spanner
Cloud Spanner is a fully managed, globally distributed relational database service from Google Cloud that combines the benefits of relational database structure with horizontal scalability and strong consistency.
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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.