PCSE Practice Question: Managing Operations in a Cloud Solution Environment
A startup uses Cloud SQL for MySQL and wants to implement automated daily backups with a 7-day retention period. The database is 50 GB and experiences moderate write traffic. The team wants to minimize cost and operational overhead. Which two actions should they take? (Choose two.)
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
✓
Configure point-in-time recovery (PITR) with a 7-day log retention
Cloud SQL provides built-in automated backups. Configuring them through the UI or CLI is straightforward and cost-effective. The default backup window can be customized, and retention is set per backup configuration.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use gcloud sql backups create to take on-demand backups daily
Why it's wrong here
On-demand backups are manual; automated backups are preferred for regular schedules.
- ✓
Configure point-in-time recovery (PITR) with a 7-day log retention
Why this is correct
PITR enables recovery to any point in time within the retention window and is built into Cloud SQL.
- ✗
Set up a cron job on a Compute Engine instance to run pg_dump
Why it's wrong here
pg_dump is for PostgreSQL, not MySQL, and adds unnecessary complexity.
- ✓
Enable automated backups in Cloud SQL with a 7-day retention period
Why this is correct
Cloud SQL supports automated backups with configurable retention up to 365 days.
- ✗
Create a Cloud Function to export the database to Cloud Storage daily using mysqldump
Why it's wrong here
Using `mysqldump` for daily exports introduces significant operational overhead, as it requires managing a Cloud Function’s execution schedule, handling potential timeouts for a 50 GB database, and ensuring consistency under moderate write traffic without built-in locking or transaction management. This approach also duplicates storage costs by keeping full exports in Cloud Storage rather than leveraging Cloud SQL’s native backup system, which automatically handles retention and point-in-time recovery. It is tempting because `mysqldump` is a familiar tool for manual database dumps, and it would be correct if the team needed portable, schema-level exports for migration or offline analysis rather than automated, managed backups.
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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.