Google PCA Practice Question: Managing Implementation and Ensuring Solution and Operations Reliability
A company wants to implement a disaster recovery (DR) strategy for their Cloud SQL for MySQL databases. They need to be able to recover to a specific point in time (within seconds) in case of accidental data deletion. Which TWO actions should they take? (Choose TWO.)
⚠ Common exam trap
PCA often tests the confusion between high availability (failover replicas) and point-in-time recovery, tricking candidates into selecting HA features that replicate — rather than protect against — accidental data deletion.
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
✓
Enable binary logging (binlog)
Option A is correct because Cloud SQL for MySQL point-in-time recovery (PITR) relies on binary logging (binlog) to capture all data changes, allowing recovery to a specific moment within seconds. Option D is correct because automated backups provide the base backup that, combined with binlog, enables PITR; without automated backups enabled, PITR cannot function. Option B is incorrect because a failover replica provides high availability within a region, not point-in-time recovery from accidental deletion. Option C is incorrect because a cross-region read replica is for read scaling and regional DR, not for recovering to a specific point in time. Option E is incorrect because daily exports to Cloud Storage are manual/periodic snapshots and cannot achieve second-level point-in-time recovery.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Enable binary logging (binlog)
Why this is correct
Binary logging captures every committed transaction, enabling Cloud SQL point-in-time recovery to a chosen timestamp within seconds of accidental deletion. This satisfies the seconds-level recovery objective, which automated backups alone cannot meet because they restore only to fixed snapshot times.
- ✗
Configure a failover replica in another zone
Why it's wrong here
A failover replica provides zone-level high availability through automatic failover, not point-in-time recovery; it cannot rewind to a moment before accidental deletion. It would be correct for surviving a zone outage, but the requirement here is restoring data to a specific past second.
- ✗
Create a cross-region read replica
Why it's wrong here
A cross-region read replica provides asynchronous replication for regional failover, not sub-second point-in-time recovery; it cannot rewind to just before an accidental DELETE. It is tempting because it does offer DR, and would be correct for surviving a full regional outage rather than recovering deleted rows.
- ✓
Enable automated backups
Why this is correct
Automated backups provide the base snapshot that point-in-time recovery replays binary logs onto. Without a backup, binlogs alone cannot reconstruct the instance, so this action satisfies the recovery requirement by supplying the restore foundation for the DR strategy.
- ✗
Export the database daily to Cloud Storage
Why it's wrong here
Daily Cloud Storage exports give recovery only to the last export, losing up to 24 hours of data, which fails the seconds-level point-in-time requirement. Exports suit long-term archival or cross-project migration, not continuous recovery from accidental deletion.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Cloud SQL and Managed Data Stores
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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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Google Cloud exam blueprint
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.