PDE Ingesting and Processing the Data Practice Question
A data engineer needs to schedule a recurring batch load of CSV files from an on-premises SFTP server into BigQuery. The files are generated daily and need to be loaded into a partitioned table by date. Which THREE steps should the engineer take? (Choose THREE.)
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mistake is assuming that BigQuery Data Transfer Service can directly ingest from SFTP, but it only supports a limited set of SaaS and cloud sources, not on-premises SFTP servers.
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
✓
Use Storage Transfer Service to copy files from the SFTP server to Cloud Storage every day
The Storage Transfer Service is designed to move data from on-premises sources (including SFTP servers) into Cloud Storage on a scheduled basis. This is the recommended first step for ingesting files from an external SFTP server into Google Cloud, as it handles the network transfer, retries, and scheduling natively without requiring custom code.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Create a Cloud Function triggered by Cloud Scheduler to load files directly from SFTP to BigQuery
Why it's wrong here
Directly loading from SFTP is not recommended; Cloud Functions have timeouts and complexity.
- ✓
Use Storage Transfer Service to copy files from the SFTP server to Cloud Storage every day
Why this is correct
Storage Transfer Service supports scheduled transfers from SFTP to Cloud Storage.
- ✗
Use BigQuery Data Transfer Service with SFTP as a source
Why it's wrong here
BigQuery Data Transfer Service does not support SFTP as a source.
- ✓
Set up a scheduled BigQuery load job using the Cloud Console or `bq` command to load from Cloud Storage
Why this is correct
BigQuery supports scheduled batch loads from Cloud Storage into partitioned tables.
- ✓
Configure the load job to write to a specific partition using `--time_partitioning_field` or `--range_partitioning`
Why this is correct
Partitioning by date is essential for efficient querying and management.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.