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 uses Terraform to manage Google Cloud infrastructure. They want to store the Terraform state file in a remote backend with state locking to prevent concurrent modifications. Which Google Cloud service supports this natively?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Cloud Storage
Google Cloud Storage (GCS) is the only option that natively supports Terraform's remote state backend with state locking. Terraform uses GCS's object versioning and a write-lock mechanism via a separate lock file (e.g., `default.tflock`) stored in the same bucket, leveraging GCS's strong consistency for atomic operations. This prevents concurrent `terraform apply` commands from corrupting the state.
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 Firestore
Why it's wrong here
Firestore is a NoSQL database, not a typical backend for Terraform state.
✗
Cloud Spanner
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Spanner can be used but is not the standard choice; it requires a Terraform provider.
✗
Bigtable
Why it's wrong here
Bigtable is a NoSQL database, not suitable for Terraform state.
✓
Cloud Storage
Why this is correct
Correct. Cloud Storage is the native Terraform backend for GCP.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Cloud SQL
Why it's wrong here
Cloud SQL is a relational database, but Terraform does not have a native backend for it.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google Cloud often tests the misconception that any database with locking (like Cloud Spanner or Cloud SQL) can serve as a Terraform backend, but the exam requires knowing that only services with a native Terraform backend implementation—specifically Cloud Storage—are supported for state locking.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Terraform's GCS backend uses a `prefix` to organize state files and relies on GCS's `generation` and `metageneration` preconditions for optimistic locking. When a lock is acquired, Terraform writes a lock file with a unique ID; if another process attempts to lock, GCS returns a 412 Precondition Failed error, preventing state corruption. This mechanism works because GCS provides strong read-after-write consistency for objects in the same bucket, unlike eventually consistent backends.
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: Cloud Storage — Google Cloud Storage (GCS) is the only option that natively supports Terraform's remote state backend with state locking. Terraform uses GCS's object versioning and a write-lock mechanism via a separate lock file (e.g., `default.tflock`) stored in the same bucket, leveraging GCS's strong consistency for atomic operations. This prevents concurrent `terraform apply` commands from corrupting the state.
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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