PDE Ingesting and Processing the Data Practice Question
An organization needs to trigger a Cloud Run service whenever a new file is uploaded to a specific Cloud Storage bucket. Which service should they use to set up this event-driven architecture?
⚠ Common exam trap
PDE often tests the distinction between Eventarc (managed event routing) and raw Pub/Sub notifications — candidates pick Pub/Sub because it 'works,' missing that Eventarc is the recommended, lower-overhead abstraction for Cloud Run triggers.
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
✓
Eventarc with a trigger for Cloud Storage events
Eventarc is the recommended Google Cloud service for routing events from Cloud Storage (and 90+ other sources) to Cloud Run, Cloud Functions, or GKE. It provides a native Cloud Storage trigger type, handles authentication, retries, and dead-lettering, and integrates directly with Cloud Run's event delivery model. This is the canonical event-driven pattern for GCS-to-Cloud-Run.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Eventarc with a trigger for Cloud Storage events
Why this is correct
Eventarc natively routes Cloud Storage object-finalise events to Cloud Run, satisfying the requirement to trigger on each new upload. It delivers events through the CloudEvents standard with built-in filtering by bucket and event type, so no polling or manual Pub/Sub plumbing is needed.
- ✗
Pub/Sub notifications on the bucket with a push subscription to Cloud Run
Why it's wrong here
Pub/Sub push subscriptions deliver events to an HTTPS endpoint, but Cloud Run requires authenticated, properly formatted requests and the bucket must publish notifications to a topic first. It is tempting because Pub/Sub decoupling genuinely suits fan-out event architectures, yet Eventarc provides the native Cloud Storage-to-Cloud Run trigger path without manual wiring.
- ✗
Cloud Scheduler calling Cloud Run on a schedule
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Scheduler invokes targets on cron or time-based triggers, so it cannot react to a file-upload event; Eventarc delivers Cloud Storage object-finalise events to Cloud Run. Scheduler is tempting because it reliably triggers Cloud Run endpoints, and it would be correct when the requirement is periodic or time-driven invocation rather than event-driven.
- ✗
Cloud Functions with a GCS trigger
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Functions runs its own managed runtime and cannot host the existing Cloud Run container, so the service's code and configuration would need rewriting. It is tempting because GCS triggers on Cloud Functions genuinely suit lightweight, function-shaped event handlers, but the stem requires triggering a Cloud Run service, not replacing it.
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
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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.