PCDE Practice Question: Deploy scalable and highly available databases in Google Cloud
A company uses Cloud Spanner and needs to design a backup strategy that meets a 24-hour RPO and 4-hour RTO. Which TWO statements are correct for achieving these goals? (Choose 2)
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
✓
Schedule a daily backup of the Spanner database.
Spanner backups can be created on-demand or scheduled. The backup restore typically completes in hours depending on size, and can meet 4-hour RTO. Scheduling daily backups meets 24-hour RPO.
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 point-in-time recovery to restore to any point within the last 24 hours.
Why it's wrong here
Spanner does not support point-in-time recovery; it uses full backups.
- ✗
Export the database to Avro files in Cloud Storage.
Why it's wrong here
Export/import is not recommended for DR due to longer RTO.
- ✗
Create a cross-region read replica for failover.
Why it's wrong here
Read replicas are not used for backup; they are for read scaling.
- ✓
Schedule a daily backup of the Spanner database.
Why this is correct
Daily backup gives RPO up to 24 hours.
- ✓
Restore the backup to a new Spanner instance in the same region.
Why this is correct
Restore can complete within hours, meeting RTO.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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