hardMultiple Choice
Google PCA Practice Question: A company uses Cloud Storage for analytics data…
A company uses Cloud Storage for analytics data with lifecycle policies to move objects from Standard to Coldline after 30 days and delete after 365 days. They notice that objects are being deleted after 30 days instead of 365. What is the most likely cause?
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
✓
The lifecycle rule is set to delete objects after 30 days instead of transitioning to Coldline.
Lifecycle rules apply in order; if a rule is set to delete after 30 days, it will delete regardless of earlier transitions. The most likely issue is that the rules are configured incorrectly: there may be a delete rule with age 30 days overriding the transition rule. The correct order should be: transition to Coldline at 30 days, then delete at 365 days.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
An IAM policy is inadvertently allowing users to delete objects.
Why it's wrong here
IAM permissions govern who may delete objects, not when lifecycle rules fire; the deletion timing points to rule configuration, such as an Age condition of 30 days on the delete action. It is tempting because over-broad permissions do cause data loss, but they would not align deletions to a fixed 30-day boundary.
- ✗
The Coldline storage class has a minimum storage duration of 30 days, causing immediate deletion.
Why it's wrong here
Coldline's 30-day minimum storage duration affects early-deletion charges, not object lifetime; it never triggers deletion. It is tempting because the 30-day figure matches the observed timing, but that minimum applies to billing, whereas lifecycle Age conditions control when objects are actually removed.
- ✗
The bucket is using a uniform bucket-level access policy.
Why it's wrong here
Uniform bucket-level access governs IAM permissions on objects, not lifecycle actions, so it cannot shorten a deletion interval. It is tempting because it centralises access control, and it would be the right choice when you need to enforce consistent permissions across all objects in a bucket.
- ✓
The lifecycle rule is set to delete objects after 30 days instead of transitioning to Coldline.
Why this is correct
A lifecycle rule configured to delete after 30 days removes objects before the intended Coldline transition at 30 days and deletion at 365 days ever apply. The rule's action is wrong, not its age condition, so objects vanish a full 335 days early.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Cloud Storage: Objects and Buckets
Key term
Cloud storage
Cloud storage is a service that lets you save data on remote servers accessed over the internet instead of on your computer's hard drive.
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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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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