PDE Storing the Data Practice Question
A data engineer manages a Cloud SQL for MySQL instance that stores order records. Compliance requires that the data be recoverable to any point in time within the last 30 days, and the team wants the smallest possible recovery window. They also want to avoid managing their own backup rotation scripts. Which configuration should the engineer implement?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that a 30-day backup retention period alone delivers 30 days of point-in-time recovery, when log retention is the separate control that governs the recovery window.
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
✓
Enable point-in-time recovery (PITR) with a transaction log retention of 30 days alongside automated backups.
Point-in-time recovery in Cloud SQL combines the latest automated backup with continuously archived binary logs, enabling restoration to a chosen timestamp. Extending transaction log retention to 30 days matches the compliance window while keeping the process fully managed. Daily backups alone or nightly dumps cannot achieve arbitrary-timestamp recovery, and read replicas address availability rather than historical restore.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Configure a read replica in a second zone and promote it if the primary fails.
Why it's wrong here
A read replica provides availability and read scaling, and it can be promoted during a failover, but it does not provide historical point-in-time recovery to an arbitrary minute. If a bad DELETE ran an hour ago on the primary, the replica has already replicated that statement. The requirement is temporal recovery, not high availability.
- ✓
Enable point-in-time recovery (PITR) with a transaction log retention of 30 days alongside automated backups.
Why this is correct
Cloud SQL point-in-time recovery replays binary logs on top of the most recent automated backup, letting you restore to a specific timestamp. Setting the transaction log retention to 30 days satisfies the compliance window, and the feature is managed by the platform, so no custom rotation scripts are needed. This directly meets both the recovery granularity and the operational simplicity requirements.
- ✗
Enable automated backups with a 30-day retention period and rely on the daily backup only.
Why it's wrong here
Daily automated backups with a 30-day retention capture the database state once per day, so any writes between two backups cannot be replayed. Point-in-time recovery to an arbitrary minute within the last 30 days is not achievable with only a daily backup. The scenario explicitly demands recoverability to any point in time, so daily-only backups leave gaps that violate the requirement.
- ✗
Export nightly mysqldump files to a Cloud Storage bucket with a 30-day lifecycle rule.
Why it's wrong here
Nightly logical dumps give at most one recovery point per day and require custom scripting plus restore tooling, which the scenario explicitly wants to avoid. A lifecycle rule only deletes old objects; it does not create finer recovery granularity. This approach cannot restore to an arbitrary point in time and adds operational burden.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Google Cloud exam blueprint
This PDE 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 PDE exam.