PCDE Practice Question: Manage a solution that can span multiple database technologies
Your Cloud SQL for MySQL instance is running low on storage. You need to increase the storage size without downtime. What should you do?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently assume any storage change requires downtime (Option A) or that cloning is the only safe method (Option B), but Cloud SQL explicitly supports online storage increases for MySQL instances.
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
✓
Edit the instance and increase the storage size; it will be applied online.
Cloud SQL for MySQL supports online storage increases. When you edit the instance and increase the storage allocation, the operation is applied without requiring a restart or causing downtime. The underlying infrastructure uses live migration and dynamic volume expansion to make the additional capacity available immediately while the instance continues serving traffic.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
You cannot increase storage online; you must create a new instance.
Why it's wrong here
Online storage increase is supported.
- ✗
Create a clone of the instance with larger storage and switch traffic.
Why it's wrong here
This causes unnecessary complexity and potential downtime.
- ✗
Enable automatic storage increase and it will happen automatically.
Why it's wrong here
Auto-increase takes effect only when storage uses more than the threshold, not immediately.
- ✓
Edit the instance and increase the storage size; it will be applied online.
Why this is correct
Cloud SQL allows online storage increase without downtime.
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Same concept, more angles
2 more ways 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 Cloud SQL for MySQL instance is running low on disk space. You need to increase the storage without downtime. What is the correct approach?
easy- A.Create a new instance with larger storage and migrate the data using mysqldump.
- B.Enable automatic storage increase; resize manually is not possible.
- C.Stop the instance, resize the attached persistent disk, then restart.
- ✓ D.Use the gcloud command to resize the storage; the operation is performed online.
Why D: Cloud SQL for MySQL supports online storage resizing using the `gcloud sql instances patch` command or the Google Cloud Console, which allows you to increase the storage capacity without any downtime. The operation is performed while the instance remains available, and the underlying persistent disk is resized live, leveraging Google Cloud's live resize capability for Cloud SQL instances.
Variation 2. A Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL instance is running low on disk space. The database size is 500 GB and the current storage is 600 GB. The engineer needs to increase storage to 800 GB without downtime. What should they do?
easy- A.Shut down the instance, edit the configuration to increase storage, then restart.
- ✓ B.Use gcloud sql instances patch to increase storage size to 800 GB.
- C.Create a new instance with 800 GB storage and migrate data using pg_dump.
- D.Enable auto-storage increase and wait for it to happen automatically.
Why B: Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL supports online storage increases using the `gcloud sql instances patch` command, which resizes the disk without requiring an instance restart or downtime. The storage can be increased up to the maximum allowed for the instance tier, and the change takes effect immediately while the instance remains available.
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.