This GCDL practice question tests your understanding of fundamental cloud concepts. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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 company has a production database running on Cloud SQL. They need to perform maintenance on the primary instance without downtime. Which feature allows this?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "primary"
Why it matters: Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
Read replicas with failover
Read replicas can be promoted, allowing maintenance on the primary without downtime.
Database import/export
Why wrong: Import/export requires downtime.
Multi-region deployment
Why wrong: Cloud SQL does not natively support multi-region failover.
Automated backups
Why wrong: Backups are for recovery, not zero-downtime maintenance.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Read replicas with failover
Read replicas with failover allow you to promote a read replica to a new primary instance in the event of a planned maintenance or failure, enabling zero-downtime operations. Cloud SQL uses this feature to redirect traffic seamlessly by updating the DNS record to point to the promoted replica, ensuring the database remains available during maintenance.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Read replicas with failover
Why this is correct
Read replicas can be promoted, allowing maintenance on the primary without downtime.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "primary" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Database import/export
Why it's wrong here
Import/export requires downtime.
Multi-region deployment
Why it's wrong here
Cloud SQL does not natively support multi-region failover.
Automated backups
Why it's wrong here
Backups are for recovery, not zero-downtime maintenance.
Common exam traps
Google Cloud often tests the misconception that automated backups or multi-region deployment alone provide high availability, but the key is that only read replicas with failover offer a hot standby that can be promoted without downtime.
Detailed technical explanation
Cloud SQL read replicas use asynchronous replication (MySQL uses binary log-based replication; PostgreSQL uses streaming replication via WAL). When you promote a replica, Cloud SQL stops replication and applies any remaining logs, then updates the instance’s IP address and DNS CNAME to the promoted replica. The failover process typically completes within a few minutes, but the exact duration depends on the lag between the primary and replica. In a real-world scenario, you can minimize lag by using a high-memory replica and ensuring the primary’s binary log retention is sufficient.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.
What to study next
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
Fundamental cloud concepts — This question tests Fundamental cloud concepts — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Read replicas with failover — Read replicas with failover allow you to promote a read replica to a new primary instance in the event of a planned maintenance or failure, enabling zero-downtime operations. Cloud SQL uses this feature to redirect traffic seamlessly by updating the DNS record to point to the promoted replica, ensuring the database remains available during maintenance.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Yes — watch for: "primary". Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 30, 2026
This GCDL 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 GCDL exam.
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