PCDE Practice Question: Deploy scalable and highly available databases in Google Cloud
A company wants to implement a disaster recovery plan for their AlloyDB database. They need automatic failover with minimal data loss and RTO under 30 seconds. Which configuration should they use?
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
✓
Enable high availability (HA) on the AlloyDB cluster, which provisions a standby in a different zone.
AlloyDB provides automatic failover within 30 seconds when you enable high availability (primary + standby). This is zone-redundant within the same region.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Configure a cross-region read replica and promote it manually during a disaster.
Why it's wrong here
Cross-region replication is asynchronous, and manual promotion takes minutes.
- ✓
Enable high availability (HA) on the AlloyDB cluster, which provisions a standby in a different zone.
Why this is correct
AlloyDB HA provides automatic failover within 30 seconds and minimal data loss.
- ✗
Deploy AlloyDB in a single zone without HA.
Why it's wrong here
Single zone provides no automatic failover; an outage would cause downtime.
- ✗
Use AlloyDB with multiple read pools and a custom failover script.
Why it's wrong here
Read pools are for read scaling, not failover; custom scripts add complexity and may not meet RTO.
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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.