Google PCA Practice Question: Designing and Planning a Cloud Solution Architecture
This PCA practice question tests your understanding of designing and planning 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 global gaming company deploys a leaderboard service using Cloud Spanner with a single-region configuration. They need a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of 5 seconds and a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of 1 minute in the event of a regional outage. What should they do?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Deploy Cloud Spanner in a multi-region configuration.
Cloud Spanner multi-region configurations provide automatic synchronous replication across regions, achieving RPO of near zero seconds and RTO of minutes (failover is automatic). Single-region does not provide cross-region failover. Multi-region is required for such low RPO/RTO. Backups are point-in-time and slower to restore. Compute Engine is irrelevant.
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.
✗
Set up a cross-region read replica using Cloud SQL.
Why it's wrong here
Cloud SQL is not Spanner; Spanner does not use read replicas.
✗
Use Compute Engine instances in multiple zones with a global load balancer to replicate data.
Why it's wrong here
This is not a database solution; Spanner does not run on Compute Engine.
✗
Configure cross-region backups with a 5-second recovery window.
Why it's wrong here
Backups do not provide RPO of 5 seconds; they are point-in-time and slower to restore.
✓
Deploy Cloud Spanner in a multi-region configuration.
Why this is correct
Multi-region Spanner provides synchronous replication across regions, enabling automatic failover with RPO near zero and RTO within minutes.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
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.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
→Underline the problem statement mentally.
→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.
Identify which PCA exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Designing and Planning a Cloud Solution Architecture — This question tests Designing and Planning 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 Cloud Spanner in a multi-region configuration. — Cloud Spanner multi-region configurations provide automatic synchronous replication across regions, achieving RPO of near zero seconds and RTO of minutes (failover is automatic). Single-region does not provide cross-region failover. Multi-region is required for such low RPO/RTO. Backups are point-in-time and slower to restore. Compute Engine is irrelevant.
What should I do if I get this PCA question wrong?
Identify which PCA exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
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.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.