The correct answer is to provision a Filestore instance and mount it on the Compute Engine instances. Filestore provides a fully managed, NFS-based shared filesystem that natively supports low-latency access across multiple zones, meeting the requirement for a shared filesystem that multiple Compute Engine instances across zones can mount simultaneously. On the Google Professional Cloud Architect exam, this scenario tests your understanding of when to choose a managed NFS solution over alternatives like Persistent Disk (which is zonal or regional but lacks native multi-writer support) or Cloud Storage (which is object-based, not a POSIX filesystem). A common trap is selecting a regional Persistent Disk, but that only supports read-only replicas across zones, not the read-write multi-mount required here. Memory tip: think “Filestore for file-sharing across floors (zones)”—it’s the only native multi-writer NFS service for zonal distribution.
Google PCA Manage and provision cloud infrastructure Practice Question
This PCA practice question tests your understanding of manage and provision cloud infrastructure. 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 is migrating its on-premises application to Google Cloud. The application requires low-latency access to a shared filesystem that can be mounted by multiple Compute Engine instances across different zones. Which storage solution should they use?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Provision a Filestore instance and mount it on the instances.
Filestore provides a fully managed, NFS-based shared filesystem that can be mounted by multiple Compute Engine instances across different zones with low-latency access. It supports the required multi-writer, multi-mount scenario natively, making it the ideal choice for shared storage in a zonal-distributed architecture.
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.
✓
Provision a Filestore instance and mount it on the instances.
Why this is correct
Filestore provides a managed NFS filesystem that can be mounted by multiple VMs across zones for low-latency shared access.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Create a Persistent Disk and attach it to all instances.
Why it's wrong here
Persistent Disk is block storage and cannot be attached to multiple instances across zones for shared access.
✗
Attach Local SSD to each instance and replicate data between them.
Why it's wrong here
Local SSD is ephemeral and cannot be shared across instances, replication would add complexity and latency.
✗
Use Cloud Storage FUSE to mount a bucket on each instance.
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Storage is object storage and does not provide POSIX semantics required for shared filesystem.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Persistent Disk's multi-attach capability (which is read-only only) with a writable shared filesystem, or assume Cloud Storage FUSE can replace a POSIX-compliant NFS share for low-latency workloads.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Filestore uses the NFSv3 protocol, which allows multiple clients to mount the same export concurrently while maintaining file-level locking via Network Lock Manager (NLM). Under the hood, Filestore instances are backed by Google's distributed file system architecture, providing consistent performance across zones within the same region, with throughput scaling based on the chosen tier (e.g., 1 GB/s for the Premium tier). A real-world scenario is a media rendering farm where multiple VMs need to read/write the same project files simultaneously; Filestore handles this without the need for custom replication 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
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 PCA question in full detail.
Manage and provision cloud infrastructure — This question tests Manage and provision cloud infrastructure — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Provision a Filestore instance and mount it on the instances. — Filestore provides a fully managed, NFS-based shared filesystem that can be mounted by multiple Compute Engine instances across different zones with low-latency access. It supports the required multi-writer, multi-mount scenario natively, making it the ideal choice for shared storage in a zonal-distributed architecture.
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.
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Question Discussion
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