- A
Cloud Spanner
Why wrong: Spanner can handle high throughput but is more complex and expensive; Bigtable is optimized for time-series and high write volume.
- B
Cloud SQL (PostgreSQL)
Why wrong: Cloud SQL cannot scale to 500K writes per second; it is not designed for such high throughput.
- C
BigQuery
Why wrong: BigQuery is for analytics on large datasets with latency in seconds, not real-time sub-second queries.
- D
Cloud Bigtable
Bigtable supports millions of writes per second and sub-second latency for time-range scans, perfect for this workload.
Question 460 of 1,000
PCDOE Design and Plan Database Solutions Practice Question
This PCDOE practice question tests your understanding of design and plan database solutions. Compare every option against the stated constraints before choosing — the best answer satisfies all requirements, not just the most obvious one. 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 startup is building a real-time analytics dashboard that ingests 500,000 events per second and needs to query the last hour of data with sub-second latency. The data has a high write volume and the query pattern is time-range scans. Which Google Cloud database is most appropriate?
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
✓
Cloud Bigtable
Cloud Bigtable is the correct choice because it is a fully managed, scalable NoSQL database designed for high-throughput writes and low-latency time-series data access. It supports sub-second latency on time-range scans by storing data in sorted order by row key, making it ideal for ingesting 500,000 events per second and querying the last hour of data.
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 Spanner
Why it's wrong here
Spanner can handle high throughput but is more complex and expensive; Bigtable is optimized for time-series and high write volume.
- ✗
Cloud SQL (PostgreSQL)
Why it's wrong here
Cloud SQL cannot scale to 500K writes per second; it is not designed for such high throughput.
- ✗
BigQuery
Why it's wrong here
BigQuery is for analytics on large datasets with latency in seconds, not real-time sub-second queries.
- ✓
Cloud Bigtable
Why this is correct
Bigtable supports millions of writes per second and sub-second latency for time-range scans, perfect for this workload.
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 choose BigQuery for analytics workloads, but BigQuery is not designed for sub-second real-time queries on streaming data, whereas Cloud Bigtable is purpose-built for high-throughput, low-latency time-series access.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Cloud Bigtable uses a distributed, sorted key-value store based on Google's Bigtable paper, where row keys are lexicographically sorted, enabling efficient time-range scans by prefixing row keys with timestamps. It leverages SSTables and LSM-tree architecture for high write throughput, and its integration with Cloud Dataflow or Pub/Sub allows seamless ingestion of streaming events. In a real-world scenario, a startup might use Bigtable to store IoT sensor data, where each row key is a combination of device ID and timestamp, enabling sub-second retrieval of the last hour's data without indexing overhead.
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 company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
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.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this PCDOE question test?
Design and Plan Database Solutions — This question tests Design and Plan Database Solutions — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Cloud Bigtable — Cloud Bigtable is the correct choice because it is a fully managed, scalable NoSQL database designed for high-throughput writes and low-latency time-series data access. It supports sub-second latency on time-range scans by storing data in sorted order by row key, making it ideal for ingesting 500,000 events per second and querying the last hour of data.
What should I do if I get this PCDOE 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.
About these practice questions
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
This PCDOE 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 PCDOE exam.
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