Question 651 of 1,446
Design innovative, scalable, and highly available cloud database solutions →hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
PCDE Practice Question: Design innovative, scalable, and highly available cloud database solutions
A Cloud Bigtable instance stores high-volume time-series data. Write throughput is at node capacity, but read latency spikes occasionally. The row key pattern is 'timestamp#device_id'. Which optimization should be applied first?
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
✓
Reverse the row key to device_id#timestamp
With timestamp first, writes are concentrated on the same tablet, causing hotspots and read latency spikes. Reversing the order or salting distributes writes.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Add more nodes to the cluster
Why it's wrong here
Adding nodes may help but doesn't resolve the root cause of hotspotting.
- ✗
Enable SSD storage
Why it's wrong here
Storage type affects latency but hotspotting is the primary issue.
- ✓
Reverse the row key to device_id#timestamp
Why this is correct
Device ID first distributes writes across nodes, reducing hotspots.
- ✗
Use a single column family
Why it's wrong here
Column families don't affect write distribution.
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
This PCDE 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 PCDE exam.
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