Google PCA Manage and provision cloud infrastructure Practice Question
This PCA practice question tests your understanding of manage and provision cloud infrastructure. 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.
An organization is migrating a MySQL database to Cloud SQL. They require automatic failover with zero data loss in the event of a zone outage. Which configuration should they use?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Cloud SQL with high availability (HA) configuration.
Option D is correct because Cloud SQL's high availability (HA) configuration uses a synchronous write to a standby instance in a different zone within the same region. This ensures that every transaction committed on the primary is also committed on the standby before acknowledging the client, guaranteeing zero data loss during a zone outage. Automatic failover to the standby occurs with no manual intervention, meeting both the automatic failover and zero data loss requirements.
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 SQL with a cross-region replica.
Why it's wrong here
Cross-region replica provides disaster recovery but not automatic failover within the region.
✗
Cloud SQL with automated backups and binary logging.
Why it's wrong here
Backups are for point-in-time recovery, not automatic failover.
✗
Cloud SQL with a read replica in a different zone.
Why it's wrong here
Read replica is for read scaling, not failover.
✓
Cloud SQL with high availability (HA) configuration.
Why this is correct
HA uses synchronous replication in two zones, providing automatic failover with no data loss.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse a read replica (which uses asynchronous replication and requires manual promotion) with an HA standby (which uses synchronous replication and automatic failover), leading them to incorrectly select Option C.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Cloud SQL HA uses a semi-synchronous replication protocol internally, where the primary waits for the standby to acknowledge receipt of the write-ahead log (WAL) before committing. The standby instance runs as a 'witness' in a separate zone, sharing the same persistent disk (Zonal SSD) but with a synchronous replication layer for the transaction log. In a real-world scenario, if a zone experiences a complete power failure, the Cloud SQL failover automatically promotes the standby within approximately 60 seconds, and because the standby has all committed transactions, there is zero data loss.
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
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
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 SQL with high availability (HA) configuration. — Option D is correct because Cloud SQL's high availability (HA) configuration uses a synchronous write to a standby instance in a different zone within the same region. This ensures that every transaction committed on the primary is also committed on the standby before acknowledging the client, guaranteeing zero data loss during a zone outage. Automatic failover to the standby occurs with no manual intervention, meeting both the automatic failover and zero data loss requirements.
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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