Question 98 of 1,446
PCDE Monitor and optimize database performance Practice Question
Your Cloud SQL for MySQL instance is experiencing intermittent performance degradation. You suspect that the issue is due to a sudden spike in connections from a specific application. Which metric and monitoring approach would best help you correlate the connection spike with performance degradation?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse network metrics (like cloudsql.googleapis.com/network/received_bytes_count) or replication metrics with direct indicators of connection-related performance issues, rather than focusing on the thread count (threads_connected) and its impact on CPU and query latency.
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
✓
Monitor 'cloudsql.googleapis.com/database/mysql/threads/threads_connected' and correlate with CPU utilization and query latency.
The 'threads_connected' metric directly measures the number of active connections to the MySQL instance. Correlating this with CPU utilization and query latency allows you to pinpoint whether a sudden spike in connections is causing resource contention and degraded query performance, which is the exact scenario described.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Monitor 'cloudsql.googleapis.com/network/received_bytes_count' and compare with connection count.
Why it's wrong here
Network bytes received is a throughput metric, not a direct indicator of connection spikes.
- ✗
Monitor 'cloudsql.googleapis.com/database/mysql/replication/seconds_behind_master' and compare with query latency.
Why it's wrong here
This metric tracks replication lag, which is unrelated to connection spikes causing performance issues.
- ✗
Monitor 'cloudsql.googleapis.com/instance/uptime' and check for instance restarts during degradation.
Why it's wrong here
Uptime indicates availability, not connection spikes or performance.
- ✓
Monitor 'cloudsql.googleapis.com/database/mysql/threads/threads_connected' and correlate with CPU utilization and query latency.
Why this is correct
Threads connected directly indicates active connections, and correlating with CPU and latency helps identify the impact.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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