The answer is to use Cloud CDN to cache static content and deploy the API across multiple regions with global load balancing. This strategy minimizes latency by serving static assets from Cloud CDN’s globally distributed edge caches, bringing content physically closer to users, while the multi-region API deployment paired with Google Cloud’s global external HTTP(S) load balancer routes dynamic requests to the nearest healthy backend, reducing round-trip time. On the Google Professional Cloud Developer exam, this scenario tests your understanding of combining edge caching for static workloads with anycast-based routing for dynamic APIs, often appearing as a distractor where candidates mistakenly choose a single-region solution with a CDN only. A common trap is assuming Cloud CDN alone handles dynamic APIs, but it cannot cache personalized or frequently changing responses. Remember the memory tip: “Static to the edge, dynamic to the region” — static content lives on CDN edges, while dynamic APIs need multi-region backends for both low latency and high availability.
PCD Practice Question: Designing highly scalable, available, and reliable cloud-native applications
This PCD practice question tests your understanding of designing highly scalable, available, and reliable cloud-native applications. 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.
A company is designing a cloud-native application on Google Cloud that requires low-latency access to a global user base. The application serves static content and dynamic APIs. Which strategy best minimizes latency while maintaining high availability?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "best"
Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Use Cloud CDN to cache static content and deploy the API across multiple regions with global load balancing.
Option B is correct because it combines Cloud CDN for caching static content at edge locations worldwide, reducing latency for static assets, and deploys the dynamic API across multiple regions with global load balancing (using Google Cloud's global external HTTP(S) load balancer) to route users to the nearest healthy backend, minimizing latency for dynamic requests while ensuring high availability through regional redundancy.
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.
✗
Deploy the application in a single region and use Cloud Interconnect for global access.
Why it's wrong here
Single regional deployment cannot minimize latency for global users.
✓
Use Cloud CDN to cache static content and deploy the API across multiple regions with global load balancing.
Why this is correct
Cloud CDN caches at edge locations, and multi-region deployment with global load balancing reduces latency for dynamic content.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Use Cloud Armor to protect the application and rely on Google's backbone for low latency.
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Armor is a security service, not for latency reduction.
✗
Store all content in Cloud Storage and serve directly from there.
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Storage does not provide edge caching for dynamic APIs.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may think Cloud Interconnect or Cloud Armor alone can solve global latency, overlooking the need for edge caching and multi-region deployment to reduce physical distance and provide redundancy.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Cloud CDN leverages Google's global edge cache points of presence (PoPs) to serve static content from locations close to users, reducing origin load and latency. The global external HTTP(S) load balancer uses anycast IP addresses and Google's backbone to route traffic to the closest healthy backend, supporting cross-region failover and session affinity. For dynamic APIs, deploying in multiple regions with a global load balancer ensures that requests are handled by the nearest region, while Cloud CDN can also cache API responses with appropriate Cache-Control headers for non-sensitive data.
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.
TExam Day Tips
→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
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Designing highly scalable, available, and reliable cloud-native applications — This question tests Designing highly scalable, available, and reliable cloud-native applications — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Use Cloud CDN to cache static content and deploy the API across multiple regions with global load balancing. — Option B is correct because it combines Cloud CDN for caching static content at edge locations worldwide, reducing latency for static assets, and deploys the dynamic API across multiple regions with global load balancing (using Google Cloud's global external HTTP(S) load balancer) to route users to the nearest healthy backend, minimizing latency for dynamic requests while ensuring high availability through regional redundancy.
What should I do if I get this PCD question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
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 →
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company is designing a global e-commerce platform on Google Cloud. The application requires low-latency access for users worldwide and must be highly available. Which load balancing solution should they use?
easy
A.External TCP/UDP Network Load Balancer
✓ B.External HTTP(S) Load Balancer
C.Cloud CDN
D.Internal TCP/UDP Load Balancer
Why B: The External HTTP(S) Load Balancer is the correct choice because it is a global, proxy-based Layer 7 load balancer that terminates HTTP/HTTPS traffic at Google's edge points of presence (PoPs) and routes requests to the nearest healthy backend. This provides low-latency access for users worldwide by leveraging Google's global network and anycast IPs, while also offering built-in high availability, SSL offloading, and content-based routing.
Variation 2. A company is deploying a global microservices application on Cloud Run. They need to design for high availability, scalability, and low latency. Which three practices should they implement? (Choose three.)
medium
A.Use Cloud Scheduler to trigger services periodically.
✓ B.Enable Cloud CDN for caching static assets.
C.Set a limit on the number of Cloud Run containers per revision to control costs.
✓ D.Use a global HTTP(S) Load Balancer with serverless NEGs to route traffic.
✓ E.Deploy Cloud Run services in multiple Google Cloud regions.
Why B: Option B is correct because Cloud CDN caches static assets at Google's global edge locations, reducing latency for users worldwide and offloading requests from Cloud Run. This improves performance for static content like images, CSS, and JavaScript, which is essential for a global microservices application requiring low latency.
Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
Question Discussion
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This PCD 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 PCD exam.
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