- A
Cloud SQL with a read replica in a different zone
Why wrong: Read replicas serve read traffic but don't automatically failover — manual promotion is required if the primary fails.
- B
Cloud SQL with High Availability (HA) configuration
Cloud SQL HA creates an automatic failover replica in a different zone. Failover is automatic and requires no manual intervention.
- C
Cloud Spanner multi-region instance
Why wrong: Cloud Spanner is a globally distributed NewSQL database — it's overengineered for a single-application HA requirement and significantly more expensive.
- D
Two separate Cloud SQL instances with application-level failover logic
Why wrong: Managing failover at the application level adds complexity, risks inconsistency, and is exactly what Cloud SQL HA is designed to eliminate.
Quick Answer
The answer is Cloud SQL with High Availability (HA) configuration. This configuration provides automatic failover to a different zone by provisioning a standby instance in another zone, using synchronous replication to ensure zero data loss and a regional persistent disk that both instances share. For the Google Associate Cloud Engineer exam, this scenario tests your understanding of managed database resilience versus manual replication setups; a common trap is confusing read replicas, which require manual promotion, with HA’s automatic failover. The key technical distinction is that HA uses synchronous replication between zones, while read replicas use asynchronous replication and are not designed for automatic failover. Remember the memory tip: HA stands for “High Availability” and “Hands-off Automatic”—you configure it once, and Google Cloud handles the zone failover without any application changes.
Google ACE Planning and configuring a cloud solution Practice Question
This ACE practice question tests your understanding of planning and configuring a cloud solution. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A financial application requires a relational database with automatic failover to a standby in a different zone, with minimal configuration overhead. Which Cloud SQL configuration provides this?
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
Cloud SQL with High Availability (HA) configuration
Cloud SQL's High Availability (HA) configuration provides automatic failover to a standby instance in a different zone using synchronous replication and a regional persistent disk. This meets the requirement for minimal configuration overhead because it is a built-in feature that requires no application-level logic or manual intervention.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Cloud SQL with a read replica in a different zone
Why it's wrong here
Read replicas serve read traffic but don't automatically failover — manual promotion is required if the primary fails.
- ✓
Cloud SQL with High Availability (HA) configuration
Why this is correct
Cloud SQL HA creates an automatic failover replica in a different zone. Failover is automatic and requires no manual intervention.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Cloud Spanner multi-region instance
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Spanner is a globally distributed NewSQL database — it's overengineered for a single-application HA requirement and significantly more expensive.
- ✗
Two separate Cloud SQL instances with application-level failover logic
Why it's wrong here
Managing failover at the application level adds complexity, risks inconsistency, and is exactly what Cloud SQL HA is designed to eliminate.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google Cloud often tests the misconception that a read replica can serve as a failover target, but read replicas use asynchronous replication and require manual promotion, making them unsuitable for automatic failover with minimal configuration.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Cloud SQL HA uses synchronous replication to a standby instance in a different zone, ensuring that transactions are committed on both instances before acknowledging the client. The regional persistent disk is shared between the primary and standby, so no data is lost during failover, and the failover is automatic within approximately 60 seconds. In a real-world scenario, this is ideal for applications that require high availability within a single region without the complexity of multi-region replication or custom failover logic.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this ACE question test?
Planning and configuring a cloud solution — This question tests Planning and configuring a cloud solution — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Cloud SQL with High Availability (HA) configuration — Cloud SQL's High Availability (HA) configuration provides automatic failover to a standby instance in a different zone using synchronous replication and a regional persistent disk. This meets the requirement for minimal configuration overhead because it is a built-in feature that requires no application-level logic or manual intervention.
What should I do if I get this ACE question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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Last reviewed: Jun 30, 2026
This ACE 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 ACE exam.
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