Google PCA Practice Question: Managing and Provisioning a Solution Infrastructure
A financial services company requires that all audit logs be retained for 7 years in a cost-effective, immutable storage. They also need to run ad-hoc SQL queries on the logs. Which configuration should they use?
⚠ Common exam trap
PCA often tests the misconception that BigQuery or Cloud Storage alone can satisfy both immutability and SQL querying, when in fact a dual-sink architecture is required.
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
✓
Create two log sinks: one to BigQuery for querying, and one to Cloud Storage with object retention policy for immutable storage
The requirement has two parts: immutable 7-year retention and ad-hoc SQL querying. A dual-sink approach satisfies both: one sink to BigQuery for SQL analysis, and one sink to Cloud Storage with an object retention policy (or bucket lock) for immutable, cost-effective long-term storage. This separates query and archival concerns while meeting compliance.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Create a log sink to BigQuery with a 7-year partition expiration and use BigQuery's SQL capabilities
Why it's wrong here
BigQuery tables are mutable and lack object-lock immutability, so audit records could be altered or deleted, breaching the immutable retention requirement. It is tempting because BigQuery offers native SQL querying, making it the right choice when ad-hoc analysis matters more than tamper-proof storage.
- ✗
Use Cloud Logging's default retention and set up a log-based metric to trigger a Cloud Function that copies logs to BigQuery
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Logging's default retention is far shorter than seven years, and the Cloud Function copy path provides neither immutability nor guaranteed retention. It is tempting because log-based metrics and Functions suit real-time alerting or lightweight transformation, not long-term archival.
- ✗
Export logs to Cloud Storage with a retention policy set to 7 years and use Cloud Storage SQL interface
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Storage has no SQL query interface; querying requires loading data into BigQuery or running external tables, so ad-hoc SQL is unsupported. It is tempting because Object Lock and retention policies make Cloud Storage the correct choice for immutable long-term archival without query needs.
- ✓
Create two log sinks: one to BigQuery for querying, and one to Cloud Storage with object retention policy for immutable storage
Why this is correct
BigQuery provides the ad-hoc SQL querying the logs require, while a Cloud Storage bucket with an object retention policy enforces immutability for the full 7-year period. Splitting the sinks lets each backend serve its purpose, and Cloud Storage's low cost per gigabyte satisfies the cost-effectiveness constraint.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Security Best Practices and Compliance
Key term
BigQuery
BigQuery is a fully managed, serverless data warehouse on Google Cloud that lets you run fast SQL queries on massive datasets without managing any infrastructure.
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.
About these practice questions
This PCA question is part of Courseiva's 807-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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.