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 needs to perform disaster recovery testing for their Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL instance. They want to validate that a cross-region failover works without affecting production. What is the BEST 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 a cross-region read replica to a standalone instance in the same project and test connectivity.
A read replica can be promoted to a standalone instance, which does not affect the primary instance. This allows testing read/write operations on the promoted instance. After testing, the promoted instance can be deleted or kept. Rolling back a promoted replica is not possible. Performing a failover on the primary would cause downtime. Creating a clone does not test the replication path. Testing in a separate project is not necessary.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Promote a cross-region read replica to a standalone instance in the same project and test connectivity.
Why this is correct
Promoting a read replica creates a new primary instance without affecting the original primary. This is a safe way to test failover.
- ✗
Create a clone of the primary instance in another region and test failover to the clone.
Why it's wrong here
A clone is not a read replica; it does not test the replication and failover mechanism.
- ✗
Use the gcloud sql instances failover command on the primary instance.
Why it's wrong here
This command triggers HA failover within the region, not cross-region. It may cause disruption.
- ✗
Stop the primary instance and promote the read replica, then later re-promote the original primary.
Why it's wrong here
Stopping the primary causes downtime. Re-promotion is not supported; you would need to rebuild the replica.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.