- A
Monitor CPU utilization and alert when average exceeds 80%.
Why wrong: CPU is an infrastructure metric, not an SLI; user-facing availability and latency are better.
- B
Use a combination of availability (e.g., HTTP 200 rate) and latency (e.g., p99) as SLIs.
Good SLIs reflect user experience; availability and latency are common SLIs.
- C
Use only synthetic monitoring from multiple locations.
Why wrong: Synthetic monitoring is limited; real user monitoring complements it.
- D
Alert on every 5xx error immediately.
Why wrong: Alerting on every 5xx leads to alert fatigue; use error budget burn rate alerts instead.
- E
Track error budget consumption and alert when burn rate exceeds a threshold.
Error budget alerts give early warning of potential SLO violation.
Question 206 of 1,000
Google PCA Ensure solution and operations reliability Practice Question
This PCA practice question tests your understanding of ensure solution and operations reliability. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
Your service has a 99.99% uptime SLO (monthly error budget ~ 4 minutes). Which TWO monitoring practices best support this SLO? (Choose 2)
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 combination of availability (e.g., HTTP 200 rate) and latency (e.g., p99) as SLIs.
Options B and E are correct. A good SLI combines availability and latency into a single measure; the error budget approach is the standard way to manage SLOs. Option A is wrong: CPU alone is not a user-facing SLI. Option C is wrong: synthetic monitoring is useful but not alone sufficient; a combination of real and synthetic is recommended. Option D is wrong: alerting on every 5xx error can lead to alert fatigue; better to alert based on error budget burn rate.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Monitor CPU utilization and alert when average exceeds 80%.
Why it's wrong here
CPU is an infrastructure metric, not an SLI; user-facing availability and latency are better.
- ✓
Use a combination of availability (e.g., HTTP 200 rate) and latency (e.g., p99) as SLIs.
Why this is correct
Good SLIs reflect user experience; availability and latency are common SLIs.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Use only synthetic monitoring from multiple locations.
Why it's wrong here
Synthetic monitoring is limited; real user monitoring complements it.
- ✗
Alert on every 5xx error immediately.
Why it's wrong here
Alerting on every 5xx leads to alert fatigue; use error budget burn rate alerts instead.
- ✓
Track error budget consumption and alert when burn rate exceeds a threshold.
Why this is correct
Error budget alerts give early warning of potential SLO violation.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
- Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
- Underline the problem statement mentally.
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which PCA exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this PCA question test?
Ensure solution and operations reliability — This question tests Ensure solution and operations reliability — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Use a combination of availability (e.g., HTTP 200 rate) and latency (e.g., p99) as SLIs. — Options B and E are correct. A good SLI combines availability and latency into a single measure; the error budget approach is the standard way to manage SLOs. Option A is wrong: CPU alone is not a user-facing SLI. Option C is wrong: synthetic monitoring is useful but not alone sufficient; a combination of real and synthetic is recommended. Option D is wrong: alerting on every 5xx error can lead to alert fatigue; better to alert based on error budget burn rate.
What should I do if I get this PCA question wrong?
Identify which PCA exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026
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