PDE Storing the Data Practice Question
A data engineer needs to store quarterly financial data that must remain immutable for 7 years to meet regulatory compliance. The data is accessed infrequently after the first year. Which Cloud Storage feature should be used to enforce immutability?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse Object Versioning with immutability, but versioning only protects against accidental deletion by preserving old versions—it does not prevent intentional deletion or overwriting of the current version, which is required for true immutability.
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
✓
Object Lock with Retention Policy
Object Lock with a Retention Policy enforces immutability by preventing object deletion or modification for a specified duration. For regulatory compliance requiring 7-year immutable storage, a retention policy configured with a retention period of 7 years ensures that objects cannot be overwritten or deleted, even by the root account. This directly meets the requirement for data that must remain unchanged for the full 7-year period.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Object Lifecycle Rules
Why it's wrong here
Lifecycle rules transition or delete objects on a schedule; they cannot block deletion or overwrite, so they cannot enforce immutability. They are tempting because they handle the infrequent-access tiering requirement, but the correct feature is a retention policy or bucket lock.
- ✓
Object Lock with Retention Policy
Why this is correct
Object Lock with a retention policy enforces write-once-read-many (WORM) protection at the object level, preventing deletion or modification for the specified retention period. This directly satisfies the seven-year regulatory immutability requirement, while the bucket's storage class can separately be set to a colder tier for the infrequent post-first-year access.
- ✗
Object Versioning
Why it's wrong here
Versioning preserves prior object generations but permits deletion or overwrite of the live object, so it does not enforce immutability. It is tempting because it retains historical copies, yet only a retention policy or bucket lock prevents modification for the mandated seven years.
- ✗
IAM Conditions
Why it's wrong here
IAM Conditions gate who may perform actions under specified attributes; they restrict access rather than make objects unalterable, so they cannot enforce immutability. They are tempting because they control permissions, but the requirement demands a retention policy or bucket lock that blocks deletion outright.
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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.