Google PCA Practice Question: Analysing and Optimising Technical and Business Processes
A company uses Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL and experiences connection spikes that cause connection limits to be exceeded. They need a solution to manage connection pooling. Which approach should they take?
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 PgBouncer on a separate Compute Engine instance to pool connections
Cloud SQL Auth Proxy handles authentication and encryption, but not pooling. PgBouncer is a lightweight connection pooler for PostgreSQL. Cloud SQL does not natively support ProxySQL for PostgreSQL. Scaling up vCPUs increases connection limits but does not pool connections efficiently.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use ProxySQL to pool connections
Why it's wrong here
ProxySQL is for MySQL, not PostgreSQL.
- ✗
Increase the number of vCPUs on the Cloud SQL instance
Why it's wrong here
Scaling up increases max connections but does not pool; spikes may still exceed limits.
- ✗
Use Cloud SQL Auth Proxy with connection pooling enabled
Why it's wrong here
Cloud SQL Auth Proxy does not provide connection pooling; it provides secure connectivity.
- ✓
Configure PgBouncer on a separate Compute Engine instance to pool connections
Why this is correct
PgBouncer is a PostgreSQL connection pooler that can be deployed alongside Cloud SQL.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Introduction to Google Cloud Platform
Key term
Proxy
A proxy is an intermediary server that sits between a client and a destination server, forwarding requests and responses while providing security, privacy, and control.
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.
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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.