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 requires that all data stored in Cloud Storage be encrypted with keys they manage, rotate, and audit. They also need to enforce encryption at the bucket level. Which configuration should they use?
Use Cloud KMS with customer-managed encryption keys (CMEK)
CMEK provides key rotation and audit through Cloud KMS.
C
Use customer-supplied encryption keys (CSEK)
Why wrong: CSEK is deprecated and less manageable.
D
Enable CMEK at the bucket level with a Cloud KMS key
Why wrong: CMEK is set per object via bucket default kms key, but the concept is correct, though the wording is ambiguous. However, option B is more precise.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Use Cloud KMS with customer-managed encryption keys (CMEK)
Option B is correct because customer-managed encryption keys (CMEK) with Cloud KMS allow the company to manage, rotate, and audit their own encryption keys while enforcing encryption at the bucket level. This meets the requirement of controlling key lifecycle and auditing, as Cloud KMS integrates with Cloud Audit Logs for key usage tracking.
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 default Google-managed encryption
Why it's wrong here
Google manages keys.
✓
Use Cloud KMS with customer-managed encryption keys (CMEK)
Why this is correct
CMEK provides key rotation and audit through Cloud KMS.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Use customer-supplied encryption keys (CSEK)
Why it's wrong here
CSEK is deprecated and less manageable.
✗
Enable CMEK at the bucket level with a Cloud KMS key
Why it's wrong here
CMEK is set per object via bucket default kms key, but the concept is correct, though the wording is ambiguous. However, option B is more precise.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse CSEK with CMEK, thinking CSEK provides key management and auditing, when in fact CSEK requires the client to supply the key per request and lacks rotation and audit capabilities at the bucket level.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
CMEK uses Cloud KMS to wrap data encryption keys (DEKs) with a key encryption key (KEK) stored in KMS; each object is encrypted with a unique DEK that is encrypted by the KEK. The bucket's default encryption setting can be configured via the `gcloud storage buckets update` command with the `--default-encryption-key` flag, which enforces that all new objects are encrypted with the specified CMEK key. A subtle behavior is that existing objects are not re-encrypted when the default key changes—only new writes use the new key.
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.
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: Use Cloud KMS with customer-managed encryption keys (CMEK) — Option B is correct because customer-managed encryption keys (CMEK) with Cloud KMS allow the company to manage, rotate, and audit their own encryption keys while enforcing encryption at the bucket level. This meets the requirement of controlling key lifecycle and auditing, as Cloud KMS integrates with Cloud Audit Logs for key usage tracking.
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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