PCSE Practice Question: Configuring Access Within a Cloud Solution Environment
A company uses Active Directory (AD) on-premises and wants to implement SSO for Google Cloud Console access. They want to maintain user lifecycle management (create/disable accounts) from AD. Which TWO components are required?
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
✓
Cloud Directory Sync (CDS)
Cloud Directory Sync synchronizes users from AD to Google Cloud Directory. SAML SSO with Cloud Identity allows users to sign in using their AD credentials. Both are needed: CDS for provisioning, SAML for authentication.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Cloud Directory Sync (CDS)
Why this is correct
CDS syncs users from AD to Google Cloud Directory.
- ✓
SAML 2.0 SSO with Cloud Identity
Why this is correct
SAML SSO enables users to authenticate with their AD credentials.
- ✗
Workload Identity Federation
Why it's wrong here
Workload Identity Federation is for non-human identities.
- ✗
Identity-Aware Proxy (IAP)
Why it's wrong here
IAP is for application-level access, not console SSO.
- ✗
Cloud VPN
Why it's wrong here
VPN is network connectivity, not identity management.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every PCSE question from scratch — 960 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or 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 PCSE 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 PCSE exam.