- A
Use zonal persistent disks and take snapshots every 45 minutes, then restore in secondary region.
Why wrong: Snapshot RPO is 45 min but RTO might exceed 30 min due to restore time.
- B
Use regional persistent disks with asynchronous replication to a secondary region and deploy GKE clusters in both regions with a load balancer directing traffic.
Regional pd already replicates within zone; adding asynchronous cross-region replication meets RPO/RTO.
- C
Use a third-party replication tool to asynchronously replicate data to the secondary region.
Why wrong: This adds complexity and cost, and is not as integrated as native replication.
- D
Use Cloud Storage FUSE to write state to a multi-regional bucket and read from secondary cluster.
Why wrong: Not suitable for stateful databases due to consistency and performance.
Google PCA Manage implementation of cloud architecture Practice Question
This PCA practice question tests your understanding of manage implementation of cloud architecture. 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.
An organization has a multi-regional deployment of a stateful application on GKE using regional persistent disks. They need to implement disaster recovery with an RPO of less than 1 hour and RTO of 30 minutes. What is the most cost-effective approach?
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
Use regional persistent disks with asynchronous replication to a secondary region and deploy GKE clusters in both regions with a load balancer directing traffic.
Option B is correct because regional persistent disks with asynchronous replication provide built-in, managed replication to a secondary region, meeting the RPO of less than 1 hour and RTO of 30 minutes without additional infrastructure costs. By deploying GKE clusters in both regions and using a load balancer, traffic can be redirected to the secondary cluster within the RTO, making this the most cost-effective approach as it avoids third-party tools or complex manual processes.
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 zonal persistent disks and take snapshots every 45 minutes, then restore in secondary region.
Why it's wrong here
Snapshot RPO is 45 min but RTO might exceed 30 min due to restore time.
- ✓
Use regional persistent disks with asynchronous replication to a secondary region and deploy GKE clusters in both regions with a load balancer directing traffic.
Why this is correct
Regional pd already replicates within zone; adding asynchronous cross-region replication meets RPO/RTO.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Use a third-party replication tool to asynchronously replicate data to the secondary region.
Why it's wrong here
This adds complexity and cost, and is not as integrated as native replication.
- ✗
Use Cloud Storage FUSE to write state to a multi-regional bucket and read from secondary cluster.
Why it's wrong here
Not suitable for stateful databases due to consistency and performance.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse the cost-effectiveness of snapshots (Option A) with the need for low RPO/RTO, overlooking that snapshot-based recovery cannot meet sub-hour RTOs due to restore times, while regional persistent disk replication provides near-continuous replication at a lower total cost than third-party tools.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Regional persistent disks in GKE use synchronous replication within a region and can be configured with asynchronous replication to a secondary region using the 'gcloud compute disks add-replication' command with a replication policy. Under the hood, this leverages Google's internal storage infrastructure to continuously replicate data changes to the secondary region, typically achieving an RPO of seconds to minutes, while the GKE cluster in the secondary region can be pre-provisioned to reduce failover time. In real-world scenarios, this approach is ideal for applications like databases or message queues that require low-latency writes and fast failover without the complexity of custom replication scripts.
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
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this PCA question test?
Manage implementation of cloud architecture — This question tests Manage implementation of cloud architecture — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Use regional persistent disks with asynchronous replication to a secondary region and deploy GKE clusters in both regions with a load balancer directing traffic. — Option B is correct because regional persistent disks with asynchronous replication provide built-in, managed replication to a secondary region, meeting the RPO of less than 1 hour and RTO of 30 minutes without additional infrastructure costs. By deploying GKE clusters in both regions and using a load balancer, traffic can be redirected to the secondary cluster within the RTO, making this the most cost-effective approach as it avoids third-party tools or complex manual processes.
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 24, 2026
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.
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