- A
Deploy the application in two regions with active-active traffic load balancing and Cloud Spanner multi-region configuration.
Cloud Spanner multi-region provides synchronous replication with RPO < 15 min and automatic failover meets RTO.
- B
Deploy in one region with scheduled snapshots to Cloud Storage and use persistent disk snapshots for recovery.
Why wrong: Snapshots have RPO of 1+ hour and recovery time may exceed 1 hour.
- C
Deploy in two regions with active-passive using Cloud Load Balancing and Cloud Spanner backup/restore.
Why wrong: Backup/restore RPO is at least 1 hour, not meeting 15 min RPO.
- D
Use a single region with Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL and enable cross-region replication using Cloud SQL replica.
Why wrong: Cloud SQL replicas are asynchronous and RPO may exceed 15 min; failover is manual.
Quick Answer
The answer is to deploy the application in two regions with active-active traffic load balancing and a Cloud Spanner multi-region configuration. This architecture meets the RTO of 1 hour and RPO of 15 minutes cost-effectively because Cloud Spanner’s multi-region setup uses synchronous replication across regions, providing automatic failover and typically achieving an RPO of seconds—well under the 15-minute requirement. The active-active load balancing on Compute Engine ensures traffic is instantly routed to the healthy region, eliminating manual failover delays and keeping RTO within one hour. On the Google Professional Cloud Architect exam, this scenario tests your understanding that Cloud Spanner’s multi-region configuration is the only managed service that natively delivers synchronous replication for low RPO without costly standby instances. A common trap is choosing a warm standby or backup-and-restore approach, which would fail the RPO or inflate costs. Memory tip: think “Spanner syncs, active-active wins” to remember that synchronous replication plus live traffic routing is the key to hitting tight RTO and RPO.
Google PCA Design and plan a cloud solution architecture Practice Question
This PCA practice question tests your understanding of design and plan a cloud solution architecture. 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 financial services company is designing a multi-region disaster recovery architecture for a critical application. The application runs on Compute Engine with a stateful backend using Cloud Spanner. The Recovery Time Objective (RTO) is 1 hour, and the Recovery Point Objective (RPO) is 15 minutes. What architecture meets these requirements cost-effectively?
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
Deploy the application in two regions with active-active traffic load balancing and Cloud Spanner multi-region configuration.
Option A is correct because it uses Cloud Spanner's multi-region configuration, which provides synchronous replication across regions with automatic failover, meeting an RPO of 15 minutes (typically seconds) and an RTO of 1 hour. Active-active traffic load balancing with Compute Engine ensures that the application can immediately route traffic to the healthy region, minimizing downtime without the need for manual failover or backup/restore operations.
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.
- ✓
Deploy the application in two regions with active-active traffic load balancing and Cloud Spanner multi-region configuration.
Why this is correct
Cloud Spanner multi-region provides synchronous replication with RPO < 15 min and automatic failover meets RTO.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Deploy in one region with scheduled snapshots to Cloud Storage and use persistent disk snapshots for recovery.
Why it's wrong here
Snapshots have RPO of 1+ hour and recovery time may exceed 1 hour.
- ✗
Deploy in two regions with active-passive using Cloud Load Balancing and Cloud Spanner backup/restore.
Why it's wrong here
Backup/restore RPO is at least 1 hour, not meeting 15 min RPO.
- ✗
Use a single region with Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL and enable cross-region replication using Cloud SQL replica.
Why it's wrong here
Cloud SQL replicas are asynchronous and RPO may exceed 15 min; failover is manual.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Cloud Spanner's backup/restore (asynchronous, slow) with its multi-region configuration (synchronous, fast), or assume that active-passive with backups can meet low RTO/RPO when in reality only synchronous replication can achieve sub-minute RPO and automatic failover.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Cloud Spanner multi-region configurations use synchronous Paxos-based replication across zones within a region and asynchronous replication across regions, but for true multi-region setups (e.g., nam3), it provides strong global consistency with automatic failover. The RPO is effectively zero for committed writes because data is replicated synchronously within the region and asynchronously across regions, but the multi-region configuration ensures that failover is seamless and meets strict RTOs. In contrast, Cloud SQL cross-region replication uses PostgreSQL's streaming replication, which is asynchronous and can lag by minutes, making it unsuitable for a 15-minute RPO.
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 startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this PCA question test?
Design and plan a cloud solution architecture — This question tests Design and plan a cloud solution architecture — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Deploy the application in two regions with active-active traffic load balancing and Cloud Spanner multi-region configuration. — Option A is correct because it uses Cloud Spanner's multi-region configuration, which provides synchronous replication across regions with automatic failover, meeting an RPO of 15 minutes (typically seconds) and an RTO of 1 hour. Active-active traffic load balancing with Compute Engine ensures that the application can immediately route traffic to the healthy region, minimizing downtime without the need for manual failover or backup/restore operations.
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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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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