Google PCA Practice Question: Analysing and Optimising Technical and Business Processes
An application running on Compute Engine frequently makes connection requests to a Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL instance. The connections are short-lived and many are created per second. What should be implemented to reduce latency and connection overhead?
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 PgBouncer on the application server or as a sidecar
Connection pooling reuses database connections instead of creating new ones for each request. PgBouncer is a lightweight connection pooler for PostgreSQL. Cloud SQL Auth Proxy is for secure connections but does not pool.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Deploy PgBouncer on the application server or as a sidecar
Why this is correct
PgBouncer acts as a connection pooler, maintaining a pool of persistent connections to the database and reusing them for application requests, reducing latency and overhead.
- ✗
Increase the number of vCPUs on the Cloud SQL instance
Why it's wrong here
More vCPUs may handle more connections but do not reduce the overhead of creating connections. Connection pooling is more effective.
- ✗
Enable connection scaling in Cloud SQL
Why it's wrong here
Cloud SQL does not have a connection scaling feature like that. The correct approach is connection pooling.
- ✗
Use Cloud SQL Auth Proxy with private IP
Why it's wrong here
Cloud SQL Auth Proxy provides secure connectivity but does not pool connections. It adds overhead for each new connection.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Introduction to Google Cloud Platform
Key term
Proxy
A proxy is an intermediary server that sits between a client and a destination server, forwarding requests and responses while providing security, privacy, and control.
Key term
Cloud SQL
Cloud SQL is a fully managed relational database service that lets you set up, maintain, and scale SQL databases (like MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server) in the cloud without managing the underlying infrastructure.
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every PCA question from scratch — 955 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 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.