Manage a solution that can span multiple database technologies →mediumMultiple SelectObjective-mapped
PCDE Practice Question: Manage a solution that can span multiple database technologies
You are designing a disaster recovery plan for a Cloud Bigtable instance. The instance has a single cluster in us-east1. You need to ensure that if the cluster becomes unavailable, the database can still serve read and write requests with minimal downtime. Which THREE steps should you take? (Choose three.)
⚠ Common exam trap
Google Cloud often tests the misconception that synchronous replication is available in Cloud Bigtable, but the service only supports asynchronous replication. Candidates may also incorrectly think that daily backups are sufficient for high availability instead of using multi-cluster replication.
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
✓
Ensure the application can handle eventual consistency between clusters.
Cloud Bigtable uses eventual consistency for replication across clusters. When you add a second cluster and enable replication, data is replicated asynchronously, so writes to one cluster are not immediately visible in the other. The application must be designed to handle eventual consistency to avoid reading stale data after a failover. Option C is correct: adding a second cluster in a different zone (within the same region or a different region) and enabling replication provides redundancy. If the primary cluster fails, the secondary cluster can serve requests. Option D is correct: the application must be configured to route traffic to the secondary cluster in case of primary failure. This can be achieved by using Cloud Bigtable's built-in failover mechanism or by implementing client-side routing logic. Without this routing, traffic would still be directed to the failed primary cluster, causing downtime.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Ensure the application can handle eventual consistency between clusters.
Why this is correct
Bigtable replication is asynchronous, so occasional stale reads are possible.
- ✗
Enable synchronous replication between clusters.
Why it's wrong here
Bigtable only supports asynchronous replication.
- ✓
Add a second cluster in a different zone (e.g., us-east1-b) and enable replication.
Why this is correct
Adding a second cluster in another zone provides regional HA.
- ✓
Configure the application to route traffic to the secondary cluster in case of primary failure.
Why this is correct
Traffic routing must be updated to use the healthy cluster.
- ✗
Take a full backup of the table to Cloud Storage daily.
Why it's wrong here
Backups are for data durability, not for near-instant failover.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 1,446 original PCDE practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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. An e-commerce platform uses Cloud Bigtable for session data. They need to ensure that if one zone fails, the data is still available with eventual consistency. What should they configure?
medium- ✓ A.Enable Bigtable replication across zones within the same region
- B.Create a Cloud Bigtable cluster with multiple nodes
- C.Export Bigtable tables to Cloud Storage periodically
- D.Use Cloud Bigtable HDD storage for durability
Why A: Bigtable replication across zones provides high availability with eventual consistency (async replication). This meets the requirement of surviving a zone failure.
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.