Deploy scalable and highly available databases in Google Cloud →mediumMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
PCDE Practice Question: Deploy scalable and highly available databases in Google Cloud
A company has a Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL instance with cross-region read replicas for disaster recovery. They want to test the failover process without affecting the primary instance. What is the recommended approach?
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
✓
Promote the cross-region read replica to a standalone instance in a separate project for testing.
Cloud SQL cross-region read replicas can be promoted to a standalone instance. This promotion is a manual operation that creates a new primary instance. To test failover non-destructively, you can promote a read replica to a standalone instance in a different project or region. You can then test connectivity and read/write operations. After testing, you can either keep the promoted instance or delete it. You cannot failover and then revert the replica; promotion is irreversible. The promotion does not affect the original primary instance.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Create a clone of the primary instance and promote the clone to simulate failover.
Why it's wrong here
Cloning creates a new instance at a point in time, but it is not a read replica promotion. It does not test the replication and failover path.
- ✓
Promote the cross-region read replica to a standalone instance in a separate project for testing.
Why this is correct
Promoting a read replica creates a new standalone instance without affecting the primary. Testing in a separate project avoids interference. This is a non-destructive way to validate failover.
- ✗
Trigger a failover using the gcloud sql instances failover command on the primary instance.
Why it's wrong here
This command triggers HA failover within the same region (if HA is enabled), not cross-region. It may cause downtime.
- ✗
Stop the primary instance and observe how the application behaves.
Why it's wrong here
This causes actual downtime and may be destructive. It is not a recommended test method.
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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.