Question 178 of 1,446
Design innovative, scalable, and highly available cloud database solutions →easyMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
PCDE Practice Question: Design innovative, scalable, and highly available cloud database solutions
A data analyst needs to run a one-time SQL query on a dataset stored in CSV files in Cloud Storage. The query will scan the entire dataset, and the analyst wants to minimize cost. Which Google Cloud service 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
✓
BigQuery
BigQuery can query external data directly from Cloud Storage; using query-on-demand billing, they only pay for the data scanned. It is serverless and requires no infrastructure.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Cloud SQL
Why it's wrong here
Requires loading data which incurs storage costs; not cost-effective for one-time queries.
- ✓
BigQuery
Why this is correct
Serverless and pay-per-query; ideal for ad-hoc queries on data in Cloud Storage.
- ✗
Dataproc
Why it's wrong here
Requires a cluster, which incurs compute cost for the whole runtime.
- ✗
Cloud Spanner
Why it's wrong here
Transactional database not suited for analytical queries on external files.
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
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Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on PCDE
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A data analyst needs to run ad-hoc SQL queries on a large dataset stored in Google Cloud Storage (CSV files). They do not want to manage any infrastructure. Which service should they use?
easy- A.Dataproc
- B.Cloud Spanner
- ✓ C.BigQuery
- D.Cloud SQL
Why C: BigQuery is a serverless data warehouse that can query external data sources like GCS directly using federated queries.
Last reviewed: Jul 4, 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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