hardMultiple Choice
Google PCA Practice Question: A global gaming company deploys a leaderboard…
A global gaming company deploys a leaderboard service using Cloud Spanner with a single-region configuration. They need a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of 5 seconds and a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of 1 minute in the event of a regional outage. What should they do?
⚠ Common exam trap
PCA often tests the misconception that backups or read replicas from other database engines can meet tight RPO/RTO for Spanner, when only a multi-region Spanner configuration provides synchronous replication and automatic failover.
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
✓
Deploy Cloud Spanner in a multi-region configuration.
Cloud Spanner multi-region configuration replicates data synchronously across regions and provides automatic failover with strong consistency, meeting an RPO of 5 seconds and RTO of 1 minute for a regional outage. A single-region Spanner instance does not survive a regional failure, so moving to multi-region is the correct fix. Multi-region also preserves the leaderboard's low-latency reads and writes globally.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Set up a cross-region read replica using Cloud SQL.
Why it's wrong here
Cloud SQL is a separate managed MySQL/PostgreSQL/SQL Server product; it cannot serve as a read replica for a Cloud Spanner instance, so no replication topology exists. Cross-region read replicas are the right tool for Cloud SQL or AlloyDB deployments needing regional read scaling and failover.
- ✗
Use Compute Engine instances in multiple zones with a global load balancer to replicate data.
Why it's wrong here
Compute Engine instances with a global load balancer replicate at the application tier and provide no transactional replication of Spanner data, so the leaderboard's writes are not synchronised and RPO cannot be guaranteed. This pattern suits stateless web tiers, not a strongly consistent database.
- ✗
Configure cross-region backups with a 5-second recovery window.
Why it's wrong here
Cross-region backups are point-in-time copies taken periodically, so the achievable RPO is bounded by the backup schedule, not five seconds, and restoring a backup cannot meet a one-minute RTO. Backups suit long-term retention and disaster recovery where hours of data loss are tolerable.
- ✓
Deploy Cloud Spanner in a multi-region configuration.
Why this is correct
Multi-region configuration replicates data synchronously across regions, giving a sub-5-second RPO and rapid failover well within the 1-minute RTO. A single-region setup cannot meet these targets, since a regional outage would halt the service entirely.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
IAM Policies, Service Accounts, and Auditing
Key term
Multi-region
Multi-region refers to a deployment strategy where IT resources, applications, or data are hosted in multiple geographic locations to improve availability, disaster recovery, and performance.
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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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.