Google PCA Practice Question: Analysing and Optimising Technical and Business Processes
A media company stores video files in Cloud Storage for streaming. Infrequently accessed videos older than 90 days are currently in Standard storage. To reduce costs, they want to automatically move these files to a lower-cost storage class and delete them after 3 years. Which configuration should they use?
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
✓
Use a lifecycle rule with condition 'age > 90 days' to set storage class to Nearline, and another rule with 'age > 1095 days' to delete.
Cloud Storage lifecycle policies can automatically transition objects between storage classes or delete them based on age. Setting conditions for transition to Nearline (or Coldline/Archive) after 90 days and deletion after 1095 days (3 years) is the correct approach.
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 a Pub/Sub notification on object changes and process via Dataflow.
Why it's wrong here
Pub/Sub notifications on object changes trigger event-driven workflows, but the requirement is for time-based lifecycle management—moving objects after 90 days and deleting after 3 years—which Cloud Storage’s native Object Lifecycle Management handles directly without external compute. This option is tempting because Pub/Sub with Dataflow is a common pattern for processing new or modified objects in real time, such as transcoding uploaded videos, where event-driven logic is needed.
- ✗
Use gsutil rewrite command with -s option manually for each file.
Why it's wrong here
Manual and not scalable.
- ✓
Use a lifecycle rule with condition 'age > 90 days' to set storage class to Nearline, and another rule with 'age > 1095 days' to delete.
Why this is correct
Lifecycle policies automate the transitions and deletion as per requirements.
- ✗
Create a Cloud Function that moves objects monthly using a cron job.
Why it's wrong here
This is manual and error-prone; lifecycle policies are automated.
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
Introduction to Google Cloud Platform
Key term
CAN
A CAN (Controller Area Network) is a robust vehicle bus standard designed to allow microcontrollers and devices to communicate with each other without a host computer.
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.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.