- A
Use a StatefulSet with a volumeClaimTemplate referencing a persistent disk in the same zone.
StatefulSet ensures stable pod identity and PVC reattachment; zone affinity ensures the disk is in the same zone.
- B
Use a Deployment with a PVC that has allowedTopologies restricting to the desired zone.
Why wrong: Deployment pods are not guaranteed to have stable identities, and PVC binding can break on rescheduling.
- C
Use a Deployment with a persistent volume that is manually attached after pod creation.
Why wrong: Deployments do not guarantee persistent pod identity, and manual attachment is error-prone.
- D
Use a StatefulSet with a persistent disk that has access mode ReadOnlyMany.
Why wrong: StatefulSet requires ReadWriteOnce for stateful workloads to allow the pod to write.
Quick Answer
The answer is to use a StatefulSet with a volumeClaimTemplate referencing a persistent disk in the same zone. This configuration is correct because StatefulSets guarantee stable pod identities and ordered, graceful deployment and scaling; when a pod is evicted, the StatefulSet controller ensures the replacement pod reattaches the same PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC), which is bound to a GCE Persistent Disk that remains in the original zone. On the Google Professional Cloud Architect exam, this tests your understanding of how StatefulSets maintain data locality and avoid cross-zone reattachment during pod eviction, a common trap being to assume a Deployment with a shared PVC would suffice—it won’t, because Deployments don’t guarantee pod identity or PVC-to-pod binding. Remember the memory tip: “StatefulSet sticks storage to the same spot” — the controller ensures the PVC follows the pod’s zone, preserving state even after eviction.
Google PCA Ensure solution and operations reliability Practice Question
This PCA practice question tests your understanding of ensure solution and operations reliability. 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 company deploys a stateful workload using StatefulSets on GKE. They want to ensure that if a pod is evicted, its persistent volume claim (PVC) is reattached to the replacement pod in the same zone. Which configuration achieves 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
Use a StatefulSet with a volumeClaimTemplate referencing a persistent disk in the same zone.
StatefulSets are designed for stateful workloads and guarantee stable network identities and persistent storage. When a pod is evicted, the StatefulSet controller ensures the replacement pod uses the same PVC, which is bound to a GCE Persistent Disk in the same zone as the original pod, provided the volumeClaimTemplate specifies a disk in that zone. This maintains data locality and avoids cross-zone reattachment.
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 a StatefulSet with a volumeClaimTemplate referencing a persistent disk in the same zone.
Why this is correct
StatefulSet ensures stable pod identity and PVC reattachment; zone affinity ensures the disk is in the same zone.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Use a Deployment with a PVC that has allowedTopologies restricting to the desired zone.
Why it's wrong here
Deployment pods are not guaranteed to have stable identities, and PVC binding can break on rescheduling.
- ✗
Use a Deployment with a persistent volume that is manually attached after pod creation.
Why it's wrong here
Deployments do not guarantee persistent pod identity, and manual attachment is error-prone.
- ✗
Use a StatefulSet with a persistent disk that has access mode ReadOnlyMany.
Why it's wrong here
StatefulSet requires ReadWriteOnce for stateful workloads to allow the pod to write.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google Cloud often tests the misconception that Deployments can handle stateful workloads with persistent storage, but they lack the ordinal identity and PVC reattachment guarantees that StatefulSets provide for zone-pinned recovery.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
StatefulSets use a unique ordinal index for each pod (e.g., pod-0, pod-1), and the volumeClaimTemplate generates a PVC named <volumeClaimTemplate-name>-<pod-name>. When a pod is evicted, the StatefulSet controller recreates the pod with the same name, and the scheduler uses the PVC's node affinity (set by the CSI driver for zonal disks) to bind the replacement pod to the same zone. Under the hood, GKE's Compute Engine Persistent Disk CSI driver sets the volumeHandle and topology keys (e.g., topology.gke.io/zone) to enforce zonal scheduling.
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.
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 PCA question test?
Ensure solution and operations reliability — This question tests Ensure solution and operations reliability — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Use a StatefulSet with a volumeClaimTemplate referencing a persistent disk in the same zone. — StatefulSets are designed for stateful workloads and guarantee stable network identities and persistent storage. When a pod is evicted, the StatefulSet controller ensures the replacement pod uses the same PVC, which is bound to a GCE Persistent Disk in the same zone as the original pod, provided the volumeClaimTemplate specifies a disk in that zone. This maintains data locality and avoids cross-zone reattachment.
What should I do if I get this PCA 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
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Last reviewed: Jun 30, 2026
This PCA 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 PCA exam.
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