- A
Cloud Monitoring, Cloud Logging, and Cloud Trace with Logging's _Required and _Default buckets.
Why wrong: Default log buckets do not support customer-managed encryption keys (CMEK).
- B
Cloud Monitoring, Cloud Logging, and Cloud Trace with a custom sink to a BigQuery dataset that uses CMEK.
This provides all three telemetry types and enables CMEK for logs stored in BigQuery, meeting encryption and access control requirements.
- C
Cloud Monitoring and Cloud Logging with Log Analytics.
Why wrong: This combination lacks Cloud Trace for distributed tracing, which is needed for full observability.
- D
Cloud Monitoring, Cloud Logging, and Cloud Trace with Cloud Audit Logs.
Why wrong: Cloud Audit Logs record admin activity but do not provide custom encryption for sensitive data.
Cloud Digital Leader Scaling with Google Cloud operations Practice Question
This GCDL practice question tests your understanding of scaling with google cloud operations. 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 financial services company is migrating its on-premises monitoring system to Google Cloud. They need to collect metrics, logs, and traces from multiple projects and provide a unified view for their operations team. Security requires that logs containing sensitive data be stored with additional encryption and access controls. Which combination of services should they use?
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 Monitoring, Cloud Logging, and Cloud Trace with a custom sink to a BigQuery dataset that uses CMEK.
Option B is correct because the company needs to collect metrics, logs, and traces (requiring Cloud Monitoring, Cloud Logging, and Cloud Trace) and must store logs containing sensitive data with additional encryption and access controls. A custom sink to BigQuery with CMEK provides customer-managed encryption keys for the BigQuery dataset, and BigQuery's native access controls (IAM, row-level security) satisfy the requirement for additional access controls beyond the default Logging buckets.
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 Monitoring, Cloud Logging, and Cloud Trace with Logging's _Required and _Default buckets.
Why it's wrong here
Default log buckets do not support customer-managed encryption keys (CMEK).
- ✓
Cloud Monitoring, Cloud Logging, and Cloud Trace with a custom sink to a BigQuery dataset that uses CMEK.
Why this is correct
This provides all three telemetry types and enables CMEK for logs stored in BigQuery, meeting encryption and access control requirements.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Cloud Monitoring and Cloud Logging with Log Analytics.
Why it's wrong here
This combination lacks Cloud Trace for distributed tracing, which is needed for full observability.
- ✗
Cloud Monitoring, Cloud Logging, and Cloud Trace with Cloud Audit Logs.
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Audit Logs record admin activity but do not provide custom encryption for sensitive data.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google Cloud often tests the misconception that the _Required and _Default buckets are sufficient for compliance, but they lack CMEK and granular access controls, which are essential for sensitive data handling.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Cloud Logging's custom sinks can route log entries to BigQuery datasets, where CMEK encrypts the dataset at rest using a key managed in Cloud KMS. BigQuery also supports column-level security and authorized views, allowing fine-grained access control on sensitive log fields. In contrast, the _Required and _Default buckets are Logging's internal storage with no support for CMEK or custom IAM policies beyond project-level roles, making them unsuitable for regulated data requiring customer-controlled encryption.
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.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this GCDL question test?
Scaling with Google Cloud operations — This question tests Scaling with Google Cloud operations — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Cloud Monitoring, Cloud Logging, and Cloud Trace with a custom sink to a BigQuery dataset that uses CMEK. — Option B is correct because the company needs to collect metrics, logs, and traces (requiring Cloud Monitoring, Cloud Logging, and Cloud Trace) and must store logs containing sensitive data with additional encryption and access controls. A custom sink to BigQuery with CMEK provides customer-managed encryption keys for the BigQuery dataset, and BigQuery's native access controls (IAM, row-level security) satisfy the requirement for additional access controls beyond the default Logging buckets.
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 →
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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