The answer is to configure cross-region backups, enable point-in-time recovery (PITR), and implement a multi-region instance configuration. These three strategies work together because cross-region backups protect against regional failures by storing copies in a separate geographic location, while PITR provides granular recovery to any point within the default seven-day retention period, which is essential for reversing logical errors or accidental data changes that full backups alone cannot address. On the Google Professional Cloud Database Engineer exam, this question tests your understanding of Cloud Spanner’s layered resilience model—combining physical backups with temporal recovery—and often appears as a trap where candidates mistakenly choose only one strategy, such as PITR alone, without recognizing the need for geographic redundancy. A common memory tip is “Backup across regions, recover to any second,” reminding you that cross-region backups handle site-level disasters while PITR handles time-level precision.
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.
Refer to the exhibit. A company has a Cloud Spanner instance with the backup configuration shown. They need to improve disaster recovery. Which THREE strategies should they implement?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Enable point-in-time recovery (PITR)
Option B is correct because enabling point-in-time recovery (PITR) in Cloud Spanner allows you to recover data to any point within the retention period (default 7 days), which is essential for granular disaster recovery against logical errors or accidental data changes. This complements backup strategies by providing fine-grained restore capabilities beyond full backups.
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.
✗
Schedule regular exports to Cloud Storage
Why it's wrong here
Exports are not suitable for DR due to long export times and potential loss of recent changes.
✓
Enable point-in-time recovery (PITR)
Why this is correct
PITR allows restoring to any point in time within the retention period, improving recovery granularity.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Use multi-region instance configuration
Why this is correct
Multi-region provides automatic synchronous replication across regions for high availability and DR.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Configure cross-region backups
Why this is correct
Cross-region backups store backup data in a different region, protecting against regional failures.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Use read replicas in another region
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Spanner does not support read replicas; all nodes are read-write.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google Cloud often tests the misconception that read replicas or exports are viable disaster recovery mechanisms, when in fact they lack the write availability or point-in-time restore capabilities required for true DR in Cloud Spanner.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Cloud Spanner's PITR uses system-managed backups stored in the same region, allowing you to restore a database to any timestamp within the retention window (up to 7 days) with a recovery point objective (RPO) of seconds. Multi-region instance configurations use synchronous replication across regions, providing automatic failover and a recovery time objective (RTO) of minutes, while cross-region backups (manual or scheduled) store copies in a different region for protection against regional failures.
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 point-in-time recovery (PITR) — Option B is correct because enabling point-in-time recovery (PITR) in Cloud Spanner allows you to recover data to any point within the retention period (default 7 days), which is essential for granular disaster recovery against logical errors or accidental data changes. This complements backup strategies by providing fine-grained restore capabilities beyond full backups.
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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This PCDE 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 PCDE exam.
Question Discussion
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