Question 21 of 1,446
PCDE Plan and manage database infrastructure Practice Question
A company is designing a global application using Cloud Spanner. They need to ensure low latency reads and writes across three continents. Which TWO configurations should they consider?
⚠ Common exam trap
Google Cloud often tests the misconception that read replicas or caching alone can solve global write latency, but Cloud Spanner requires leader regions in each continent for low-latency strongly consistent writes.
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 multi-region configuration with leader regions in each continent.
Cloud Spanner multi-region configurations allow you to place leader regions in multiple continents, which enables low-latency strongly consistent reads and writes by directing traffic to the nearest leader. This is achieved through Spanner's TrueTime and Paxos-based replication, ensuring global consistency without sacrificing performance. Option D is also correct because read replicas in each continent can serve stale reads (read-only queries that tolerate slightly outdated data) with low latency, which is acceptable for many use cases like dashboards or reporting. Options B and C are incorrect: a single-region instance would cause high latency for users far from that region, and application caching does not guarantee consistency. Option E is incorrect: interleaved tables optimize query performance within a single table hierarchy but do not address global latency.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Use a multi-region configuration with leader regions in each continent.
Why this is correct
Multi-region with leader regions reduces write latency.
- ✗
Use a single-region instance and rely on application caching.
Why it's wrong here
Single-region instances cannot provide low latency globally.
- ✗
Use strongly consistent reads from a single region.
Why it's wrong here
Strongly consistent reads from a single region will have high latency for remote users.
- ✓
Use read replicas in each continent for stale read use cases.
Why this is correct
Read replicas reduce read latency for remote users.
- ✗
Use interleaved tables to optimize query performance.
Why it's wrong here
Interleaved tables improve performance within a region, not across continents.
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Last reviewed: Jun 30, 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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