Courseiva
← PCDE
Full test
Question 300 of 1,000
Monitor and optimize database performance →mediumMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

First Action for Cloud Spanner High CPU: Add Nodes

This PCDE practice question tests your understanding of monitor and optimize database performance. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.

Exhibit

Refer to the exhibit.

```
# Cloud Monitoring alert policy configuration
condition:
  conditionThreshold:
    filter: metric.type="spanner.googleapis.com/instance/node_cpu_utilization"
           resource.type="spanner_instance"
           resource.label.instance_id="my-spanner-instance"
    aggregations:
    - alignmentPeriod: 60s
      perSeriesAligner: ALIGN_MEAN
    - crossSeriesReducer: REDUCE_MEAN
    duration: 300s
    comparison: COMPARISON_GT
    thresholdValue: 0.7
```

Refer to the exhibit. You receive an alert from this policy for a Cloud Spanner instance. Which action should you take first?

Clue words in this question

Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.

  • Clue: "first"

    Why it matters: Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.

Exhibit

Refer to the exhibit.

```
# Cloud Monitoring alert policy configuration
condition:
  conditionThreshold:
    filter: metric.type="spanner.googleapis.com/instance/node_cpu_utilization"
           resource.type="spanner_instance"
           resource.label.instance_id="my-spanner-instance"
    aggregations:
    - alignmentPeriod: 60s
      perSeriesAligner: ALIGN_MEAN
    - crossSeriesReducer: REDUCE_MEAN
    duration: 300s
    comparison: COMPARISON_GT
    thresholdValue: 0.7
```

Quick Answer

The answer is to add more nodes to the instance. A Cloud Spanner high CPU alert signals that the instance’s processing capacity is saturated, meaning the existing nodes cannot handle the current workload, so scaling horizontally by adding nodes is the immediate corrective action. On the Google Professional Cloud Database Engineer exam, this scenario tests your understanding that CPU alerts are a capacity issue, not a query performance issue—a common trap is to jump into query optimization or schema changes, but those are secondary steps after resolving the node bottleneck. Remember the memory tip: “CPU high? Nodes multiply.”

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

✓

Add more nodes to the instance

The alert from the policy indicates that the Cloud Spanner instance is experiencing high CPU utilization, which is a sign of resource saturation. Adding more nodes increases the total compute and I/O capacity of the instance, directly alleviating the CPU bottleneck and improving throughput. This is the first and most immediate corrective action because Spanner's performance scales linearly with nodes, and other optimizations (like index or query tuning) are secondary to ensuring sufficient capacity.

Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

  • ✗

    Identify and remove unused indexes

    Why it's wrong here

    May reduce overhead, but not immediate.

  • ✓

    Add more nodes to the instance

    Why this is correct

    Directly reduces per-node CPU utilization.

    Clue confirmation

    The clue word "first" in the question point toward this answer.

    Related concept

    Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

  • ✗

    Review the top queries by CPU usage in the Spanner console

    Why it's wrong here

    Useful but not the first action; the alert indicates resource saturation.

  • ✗

    Split large tables into smaller ones

    Why it's wrong here

    Schema optimization does not increase computational capacity.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

Google PCDE often tests the misconception that query optimization or schema changes are the first step to resolve performance alerts, when in fact capacity scaling (adding nodes) is the immediate corrective action for resource saturation in a managed service like Cloud Spanner.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

Cloud Spanner uses a shared-nothing architecture where each node provides a fixed amount of compute (vCPU), memory, and I/O bandwidth. When CPU utilization exceeds the recommended threshold (typically 65-70% for sustained workloads), adding nodes increases the number of splits and the parallelism available for queries, directly reducing per-node CPU pressure. Unlike traditional databases, Spanner's auto-scaling is not instantaneous, so manual node addition is the correct first response to a capacity alert.

KKey Concepts to Remember

  • Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
  • Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
  • Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.

TExam Day Tips

  • Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
  • Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.

Key takeaway

Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.

Real-world example

How this comes up in practice

An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.

What to study next

Got this wrong? Here's your next step.

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

Related practice questions

Related PCDE practice-question pages

Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.

Building and Implementing CI/CD Pipelines for a Service practice questions

Practise PCDE questions linked to Building and Implementing CI/CD Pipelines for a Service.

Bootstrapping a Google Cloud Organisation for DevOps practice questions

Practise PCDE questions linked to Bootstrapping a Google Cloud Organisation for DevOps.

Applying Site Reliability Engineering Practices to a Service practice questions

Practise PCDE questions linked to Applying Site Reliability Engineering Practices to a Service.

Implementing Service Monitoring Strategies practice questions

Practise PCDE questions linked to Implementing Service Monitoring Strategies.

Optimising Service Performance practice questions

Practise PCDE questions linked to Optimising Service Performance.

Plan and manage database infrastructure practice questions

Practise PCDE questions linked to Plan and manage database infrastructure.

Define data structures and implement SQL for Business Intelligence practice questions

Practise PCDE questions linked to Define data structures and implement SQL for Business Intelligence.

Design and implement database schemas practice questions

Practise PCDE questions linked to Design and implement database schemas.

Monitor and optimize database performance practice questions

Practise PCDE questions linked to Monitor and optimize database performance.

PCDE fundamentals practice questions

Practise PCDE questions linked to PCDE fundamentals.

PCDE scenario practice questions

Practise PCDE questions linked to PCDE scenario.

PCDE troubleshooting practice questions

Practise PCDE questions linked to PCDE troubleshooting.

Practice this exam

Start a free PCDE practice session

Short sessions build daily habit. Longer sessions build exam-day stamina. Try a timed session to simulate real conditions.

10 questions20 questions30 questions50 questionsTimed 30
PCDE practice-test guide →Study guide →Browse all practice tests

FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this PCDE question test?

Monitor and optimize database performance — This question tests Monitor and optimize database performance — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: Add more nodes to the instance — The alert from the policy indicates that the Cloud Spanner instance is experiencing high CPU utilization, which is a sign of resource saturation. Adding more nodes increases the total compute and I/O capacity of the instance, directly alleviating the CPU bottleneck and improving throughput. This is the first and most immediate corrective action because Spanner's performance scales linearly with nodes, and other optimizations (like index or query tuning) are secondary to ensuring sufficient capacity.

What should I do if I get this PCDE question wrong?

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

Are there clue words in this question I should notice?

Yes — watch for: "first". Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

About these practice questions

Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →

How Courseiva writes practice questions · Editorial policy

Keep practising

More PCDE practice questions

Browse all PCDE questions →

Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026

Question Discussion

Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.

Loading comments…

Sign in to join the discussion.

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.