Google PCA Design and plan a cloud solution architecture Practice Question
A media company stores millions of video master files in a Cloud Storage bucket in the us-central1 region. Files are written once, accessed frequently for the first 30 days during editing and publishing, and then almost never accessed again, though they must remain retrievable for seven years. The company wants to minimize storage cost without changing the objects' names or the way applications read them. Which approach should the architect recommend?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is choosing to move objects into a cheaper bucket instead of transitioning their storage class in place.
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 an Object Lifecycle Management rule on the bucket that transitions objects to Nearline Storage after 30 days and to Coldline Storage after 365 days
The access pattern is predictable: hot for 30 days, then cold for years. Object Lifecycle Management transitions objects between storage classes in place, so applications keep reading the same object names while the per-gigabyte cost drops as access frequency falls. Approaches that move objects to another bucket or change the default class either break read paths or fail to reclassify existing data.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Configure an Object Lifecycle Management rule on the bucket that transitions objects to Nearline Storage after 30 days and to Coldline Storage after 365 days
Why this is correct
Object Lifecycle Management changes the storage class of existing objects in place, so object names and read paths stay identical. Transitioning to Nearline after the editing window and to Coldline later matches the access pattern and lowers cost. This meets the seven-year retention requirement while minimizing spend during the long low-access period.
- ✗
Create a second bucket with the Coldline storage class and rewrite each object into it after 30 days using a scheduled job
Why it's wrong here
Rewriting objects into another bucket changes the object location, so applications that read from the original bucket path would break unless they are updated. It also requires a scheduled job to run and to track which objects have moved. Lifecycle rules achieve the same cost reduction without moving data or changing read paths.
- ✗
Set the bucket's default storage class to Archive and enable Autoclass so objects are promoted on access
Why it's wrong here
Archive storage is intended for data accessed less than once a year and has the longest minimum storage duration, so the first 30 days of frequent editing access would incur retrieval costs and latency. Changing the default class also does not move already-written objects. Autoclass manages class transitions automatically but would not optimize this predictable access pattern as directly.
- ✗
Keep objects in Standard storage and enable Turbo Replication to improve read performance across regions
Why it's wrong here
Turbo Replication is a data replication feature that increases bandwidth for cross-region replication and does not reduce storage cost. Keeping every object in Standard storage for seven years pays the highest per-gigabyte rate for data that is almost never read. This option addresses performance rather than the cost minimization the scenario requires.
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Cloud SQL and Managed Data Stores
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.
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every PCA question from scratch — 807 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or 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.