Google PCA Ensure solution and operations reliability Practice Question
A retail company uses a Cloud SQL for MySQL instance with a single zone. The database is critical for order processing, and the company wants to minimize downtime if the zone hosting the instance fails. They also want to ensure that the application can continue to write data during a zonal failure without manual intervention. What should they do?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that a read replica can provide high availability, but read replicas do not offer automatic failover and are intended for read scaling.
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 high availability by configuring the instance as regional.
Configuring Cloud SQL as regional provides a synchronous standby in another zone and automatic failover. This ensures that writes can continue with minimal downtime during a zonal failure, satisfying the business requirement. Other options either require manual intervention, result in data loss, or do not provide automatic failover.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Migrate the database to a Compute Engine instance with a regional persistent disk.
Why it's wrong here
Using a Compute Engine instance with a regional persistent disk provides disk replication but does not automatically fail over the database instance itself. The database process would still be unavailable if the zone fails, requiring manual intervention to start a new instance. This does not meet the requirement for automatic failover and minimal downtime.
- ✗
Create a read replica in another zone and promote it if the primary fails.
Why it's wrong here
A read replica is asynchronous and does not provide automatic failover. If the primary zone fails, an operator must manually promote the replica, causing downtime. Additionally, read replicas are for read scaling, not for high availability with automatic failover. This does not meet the requirement for minimal downtime and automatic continuation of writes.
- ✓
Enable high availability by configuring the instance as regional.
Why this is correct
Configuring a Cloud SQL instance as regional creates a standby replica in a different zone. If the primary zone fails, Cloud SQL automatically fails over to the standby, allowing writes to continue with minimal downtime. This matches the requirement for automatic failover and continued write availability during a zonal failure.
- ✗
Take regular automated backups and restore to a new instance in another zone.
Why it's wrong here
Backups and restores are for disaster recovery, not high availability. Restoring from a backup can take significant time and results in data loss up to the last backup. This approach does not provide automatic failover or continuous write availability during a zonal failure. It is not suitable for minimizing downtime.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Data Migration and Transfer Services
Key term
Regional
Regional refers to a deployment strategy where cloud resources are distributed across multiple geographic areas to improve availability, reduce latency, and meet compliance requirements.
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.