- A
Serverless VPC Access connector with Private Services Access for Cloud SQL
This configuration provides low-latency, private connectivity between Cloud Run and Cloud SQL.
- B
Cloud NAT for outbound traffic
Why wrong: Cloud NAT is used for outbound internet access, not for connecting to Cloud SQL.
- C
Direct VPC peering with Cloud SQL
Why wrong: Direct VPC peering is not supported for Cloud SQL instances; instead, Private Services Access is used.
- D
Use Cloud SQL Auth Proxy with public IP
Why wrong: The Cloud SQL Auth Proxy over public IP adds latency and exposes traffic to the internet.
Question 898 of 999
Designing highly scalable, available, and reliable cloud-native applications →hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
Cloud Run to Cloud SQL Private Connectivity — Serverless VPC Access and Private Services Access
This PCD practice question tests your understanding of designing highly scalable, available, and reliable cloud-native applications. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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.
An application on Cloud Run needs to connect to a Cloud SQL instance securely with minimal latency. It also needs to access Cloud Storage buckets in the same region. Which networking configuration should they use?
Quick Answer
The correct answer is Serverless VPC Access connector with Private Services Access for Cloud SQL. This configuration works because Serverless VPC Access creates a bridge between Cloud Run and your VPC, allowing the serverless service to reach internal resources, while Private Services Access assigns Cloud SQL a private internal IP within that same VPC, eliminating the need for public internet traversal and thus minimizing latency. On the Google Professional Cloud Developer exam, this scenario tests your understanding of how to securely connect serverless compute to managed databases without exposing them to the public internet, often appearing as a multi-service networking question. A common trap is confusing Cloud NAT, which only handles outbound internet traffic, with the inbound private connectivity needed here. Remember the key pairing: Serverless VPC Access for the compute side, Private Services Access for the database side — think of it as the “bridge and the address” for private, low-latency communication.
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
✓
Serverless VPC Access connector with Private Services Access for Cloud SQL
Serverless VPC Access connector enables Cloud Run to send requests to resources in a VPC network via internal IPs, while Private Services Access allocates an internal IP range for Cloud SQL, allowing direct, low-latency connectivity without traversing the public internet. This combination ensures secure, minimal-latency access to Cloud SQL and also allows Cloud Run to reach Cloud Storage buckets in the same region through the VPC connector's internal routing.
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.
- ✓
Serverless VPC Access connector with Private Services Access for Cloud SQL
Why this is correct
This configuration provides low-latency, private connectivity between Cloud Run and Cloud SQL.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Cloud NAT for outbound traffic
Why it's wrong here
Cloud NAT is used for outbound internet access, not for connecting to Cloud SQL.
- ✗
Direct VPC peering with Cloud SQL
Why it's wrong here
Direct VPC peering is not supported for Cloud SQL instances; instead, Private Services Access is used.
- ✗
Use Cloud SQL Auth Proxy with public IP
Why it's wrong here
The Cloud SQL Auth Proxy over public IP adds latency and exposes traffic to the internet.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
A common misconception is that Cloud SQL cannot be accessed privately from serverless services like Cloud Run. However, by using a Serverless VPC Access connector and Private Services Access, Cloud Run can reach Cloud SQL over internal IPs with low latency and without traversing the public internet.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, the Serverless VPC Access connector creates a regional, highly available bridge using Google's internal networking fabric, allowing Cloud Run instances to send traffic to VPC resources via RFC 1918 addresses. Private Services Access for Cloud SQL provisions a VPC peering connection between the consumer VPC and Google's Cloud SQL service VPC, enabling direct IP-level communication without NAT or public IPs. In real-world scenarios, this setup ensures sub-millisecond latency for database queries and consistent throughput for Storage access, critical for latency-sensitive applications like real-time analytics or user-facing APIs.
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.
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
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 — study guide chapter
Learn the concepts, then practise the questions
- →
Designing highly scalable, available, and reliable cloud-native applications practice questions
Targeted practice on this topic area only
- →
All PCD questions
999 questions across all exam domains
- →
Google Professional Cloud Developer study guide
Full concept coverage aligned to exam objectives
- →
PCD practice test guide
How to use practice tests most effectively before exam day
Related practice questions
Related PCD practice-question pages
Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.
Manage a Solution that Can Span Multiple Database Systems practice questions
Practise PCD questions linked to Manage a Solution that Can Span Multiple Database Systems.
Deploy Scalable and Highly Available Databases in Google Cloud practice questions
Practise PCD questions linked to Deploy Scalable and Highly Available Databases in Google Cloud.
Design Scalable and Highly Available Cloud Database Solutions practice questions
Practise PCD questions linked to Design Scalable and Highly Available Cloud Database Solutions.
Migrate Data Solutions practice questions
Practise PCD questions linked to Migrate Data Solutions.
Designing highly scalable, available, and reliable cloud-native applications practice questions
Practise PCD questions linked to Designing highly scalable, available, and reliable cloud-native applications.
Building and testing applications practice questions
Practise PCD questions linked to Building and testing applications.
Deploying applications practice questions
Practise PCD questions linked to Deploying applications.
Integrating Google Cloud services practice questions
Practise PCD questions linked to Integrating Google Cloud services.
Managing application performance monitoring practice questions
Practise PCD questions linked to Managing application performance monitoring.
PCD fundamentals practice questions
Practise PCD questions linked to PCD fundamentals.
PCD scenario practice questions
Practise PCD questions linked to PCD scenario.
PCD troubleshooting practice questions
Practise PCD questions linked to PCD troubleshooting.
Practice this exam
Start a free PCD practice session
Short sessions build daily habit. Longer sessions build exam-day stamina. Try a timed session to simulate real conditions.
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this PCD question test?
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: Serverless VPC Access connector with Private Services Access for Cloud SQL — Serverless VPC Access connector enables Cloud Run to send requests to resources in a VPC network via internal IPs, while Private Services Access allocates an internal IP range for Cloud SQL, allowing direct, low-latency connectivity without traversing the public internet. This combination ensures secure, minimal-latency access to Cloud SQL and also allows Cloud Run to reach Cloud Storage buckets in the same region through the VPC connector's internal routing.
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.
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 →
Keep practising
More PCD practice questions
- A company is deploying a microservices architecture on GKE. They need to expose a set of related microservices under a s…
- You need to monitor the CPU usage of a Compute Engine instance and trigger an alert when it exceeds 80% for 5 minutes. W…
- A Cloud Bigtable instance has a single cluster. To improve availability and read throughput, the team decides to add a s…
- A developer wants to enable IAM database authentication for Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL. Which IAM role must be granted to…
- A company is using Cloud Bigtable for a time-series workload. They want to monitor performance and identify hot spots. W…
- A company wants to run hybrid transactional/analytical processing (HTAP) workloads on a PostgreSQL-compatible database w…
Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
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.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.