Cloud Digital Leader Practice Question: Google Cloud products, services, and solutions
This GCDL practice question tests your understanding of google cloud products, services, and solutions. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 is designing a disaster recovery plan for its critical application running on Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) in us-central1. The application uses Cloud SQL (MySQL) as its database. Which TWO actions should the company take to achieve a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of less than 5 minutes and a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of less than 1 hour in the event of a regional outage? (Choose two.)
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Configure Cloud SQL for cross-region replication using a read replica in a different region.
Option C is correct because Cloud SQL cross-region replication using a read replica in a different region provides asynchronous replication with a typical lag of under 5 minutes, enabling an RPO of less than 5 minutes. In a regional outage, you can promote the read replica to a primary instance in the other region, achieving an RTO of under 1 hour by failing over the application's database connection.
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.
✗
Use Cloud SQL's automated backups with a backup schedule every 4 hours.
Why it's wrong here
Backup interval too long for RPO <5 minutes.
✗
Store container images in a regional registry in the same region.
Why it's wrong here
Does not help during a regional outage.
✓
Configure Cloud SQL for cross-region replication using a read replica in a different region.
Why this is correct
Provides near real-time replication for RPO <5 minutes.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Deploy a GKE cluster in a different region and use Multi-cluster Ingress to route traffic.
Why this is correct
Enables failover to a cluster in another region.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Use Cloud CDN to cache static content.
Why it's wrong here
CDN is for improving latency, not disaster recovery.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google Cloud often tests the distinction between backup-based recovery (which has higher RPO due to fixed intervals) and continuous replication (which can achieve near-zero RPO), leading candidates to mistakenly choose automated backups for low RPO requirements.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Cloud SQL cross-region replication uses asynchronous replication based on MySQL's binary log (binlog) shipping, where the read replica applies changes from the primary's binlog. The typical replication lag is sub-second to a few minutes, but can increase under heavy write loads; monitoring the `seconds_behind_master` metric is critical to ensure RPO compliance. During promotion, the replica stops applying binlogs and becomes a writable primary, which may take a few minutes depending on the backlog and instance size.
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
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this GCDL question in full detail.
Google Cloud products, services, and solutions — This question tests Google Cloud products, services, and solutions — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Configure Cloud SQL for cross-region replication using a read replica in a different region. — Option C is correct because Cloud SQL cross-region replication using a read replica in a different region provides asynchronous replication with a typical lag of under 5 minutes, enabling an RPO of less than 5 minutes. In a regional outage, you can promote the read replica to a primary instance in the other region, achieving an RTO of under 1 hour by failing over the application's database connection.
What should I do if I get this GCDL 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 →
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
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.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.