The correct actions are to enable high availability (HA) configuration on the instance with a regional persistent disk and to configure automated backups with a retention period of 30 days. Enabling HA with a regional persistent disk provisions a standby instance in a different zone within the same region, ensuring automatic failover for the financial services application. Automated backups in Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL can be scheduled daily, and the retention policy supports up to 365 days, so setting it to 30 days meets the backup and retention requirement. On the Google Professional Cloud Database Engineer exam, this scenario tests your understanding of Cloud SQL’s HA architecture and backup lifecycle management. A common trap is assuming that read replicas alone provide automatic failover, but only a regional persistent disk-based HA configuration does. Memory tip: think “HA = zone redundancy, backups = retention window” — two separate settings that together fulfill high availability and data protection.
PCDE Plan and manage database infrastructure Practice Question
This PCDE practice question tests your understanding of plan and manage database 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.
A Database Engineer is deploying a Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL instance for a financial services application that requires high availability and automatic failover. The engineer also needs to ensure that backups are taken daily and retained for 30 days. Which TWO actions should the engineer take? (Choose two.)
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Enable automated backups and set backup retention to 30 days.
Option B is correct because Cloud SQL automated backups can be configured with a retention period of up to 365 days, and setting it to 30 days meets the requirement for daily backups with 30-day retention. Option C is correct because enabling high availability (HA) on a Cloud SQL instance with a regional persistent disk provides automatic failover to a standby instance in a different zone within the same region, ensuring high availability for the financial services application.
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.
✗
Create a cross-region replica and configure automatic failover.
Why it's wrong here
Cross-region replicas do not support automatic failover in Cloud SQL.
✓
Enable automated backups and set backup retention to 30 days.
Why this is correct
Automated backups with 30-day retention satisfies the requirement.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Enable high availability (HA) configuration on the instance with a regional persistent disk.
Why this is correct
HA provides automatic failover within the region.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Schedule a Cloud Scheduler job to export the database to Cloud Storage daily.
Why it's wrong here
Exports are not backups; they do not support HA failover and are less efficient.
✗
Enable point-in-time recovery (PITR) with a 7-day retention.
Why it's wrong here
PITR is not a substitute for daily backups; also retention requirement is 30 days.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google Cloud often tests the distinction between high availability (automatic failover within a region) and disaster recovery (cross-region replicas), leading candidates to incorrectly select cross-region replicas for failover when they are read-only and require manual promotion.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Cloud SQL HA uses synchronous replication to a standby instance in a different zone, with a regional persistent disk that ensures data durability even if the primary zone fails. Automated backups are stored in Cloud Storage and can be configured with a retention policy that automatically deletes backups older than the specified number of days, reducing manual management overhead. In a real-world scenario, combining HA with automated backups ensures both high availability and compliance with data retention regulations, such as those required for financial services.
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.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Plan and manage database infrastructure — This question tests Plan and manage database infrastructure — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Enable automated backups and set backup retention to 30 days. — Option B is correct because Cloud SQL automated backups can be configured with a retention period of up to 365 days, and setting it to 30 days meets the requirement for daily backups with 30-day retention. Option C is correct because enabling high availability (HA) on a Cloud SQL instance with a regional persistent disk provides automatic failover to a standby instance in a different zone within the same region, ensuring high availability for the financial services application.
What should I do if I get this PCDE 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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