PCDE Practice Question: Deploy scalable and highly available databases in Google Cloud
An application running on Compute Engine needs a relational database with high availability across zones within a single region. The application requires an RTO of less than 30 seconds and RPO of zero. Which database solution meets these requirements?
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
✓
AlloyDB
AlloyDB provides automatic failover with RTO of less than 30 seconds and near-zero data loss (RPO ~0). It replicates data synchronously within a primary and read pool across zones in the same region. Cloud SQL HA has RTO <60 seconds, which does not meet the <30 second requirement. Spanner multi-region is overkill and has higher cost. Bigtable does not support SQL and has eventual consistency.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
AlloyDB
Why this is correct
AlloyDB provides automatic failover in less than 30 seconds and near-zero RPO, meeting both requirements.
- ✗
Cloud Bigtable with replication
Why it's wrong here
Bigtable is NoSQL and does not support relational databases. It also does not guarantee zero data loss on failover.
- ✗
Cloud SQL for MySQL with HA configuration
Why it's wrong here
Cloud SQL HA RTO is typically <60 seconds, which does not meet the <30 second requirement.
- ✗
Cloud Spanner multi-region
Why it's wrong here
Spanner multi-region can meet RTO/RPO but is more expensive and complex than needed for a single-region requirement.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
This PCDE question is part of Courseiva's 1,446-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
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.