The answer is to provision a second Dedicated Interconnect connection to a different point of presence (PoP). This is the correct choice because Google Cloud’s high availability best practice for Dedicated Interconnect requires at least two physical connections terminating at geographically distinct edge PoPs, eliminating any single point of failure at the network edge. A single 10 Gbps link, even with a backup VPN, cannot match the same SLA or bandwidth guarantees for critical workloads, as a VPN lacks the dedicated capacity and fails to protect against a PoP-level outage. On the Google Professional Cloud Network Engineer exam, this question tests your understanding of redundancy design for hybrid connectivity; a common trap is assuming a single connection plus a VPN is sufficient for high availability. Remember the memory tip: “Two PoPs, no drops”—always pair a second physical interconnect at a different location to ensure true fault tolerance.
PCNE Implementing hybrid interconnectivity Practice Question
This PCNE practice question tests your understanding of implementing hybrid interconnectivity. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 company has a Dedicated Interconnect with one 10 Gbps connection. They need high availability for critical workloads. Which design is the best practice according to Google Cloud recommendations?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "best"
Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Provision a second Dedicated Interconnect connection to a different PoP.
Google Cloud best practice for high availability with Dedicated Interconnect requires at least two physical connections, each to a different edge point of presence (PoP), to eliminate single points of failure at the network edge. A single 10 Gbps connection, even with a backup VPN, does not provide the same SLA or bandwidth guarantees for critical workloads. Option A ensures that if one PoP or provider fails, the other connection can maintain connectivity.
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.
✓
Provision a second Dedicated Interconnect connection to a different PoP.
Why this is correct
Connections to different PoPs provide geographic redundancy and higher availability.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Add a second connection to the same PoP using the same provider.
Why it's wrong here
Connecting to the same PoP still risks a single point of failure at the PoP level.
✗
Rely on the single connection and monitor for failures.
Why it's wrong here
Single points of failure are not acceptable for critical workloads.
✗
Use Cloud VPN as a backup to the Dedicated Interconnect.
Why it's wrong here
Cloud VPN provides lower bandwidth and may not be suitable for critical workloads as a primary backup.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often assume a second connection to the same PoP or a VPN backup is sufficient for high availability, but Google Cloud explicitly requires diverse PoPs to protect against facility-level failures, and VPN backup lacks the bandwidth and SLA for critical workloads.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Google Cloud's Dedicated Interconnect SLA requires at least two connections to achieve 99.99% availability; each connection must terminate on a different edge availability domain (EAD) within a region, which typically maps to different PoPs. Under the hood, BGP sessions are established over each connection, and Google Cloud uses active-active or active-passive routing policies (e.g., using AS path prepending or MED) to control traffic flow. In a real-world scenario, if one PoP experiences a fiber cut or power failure, the second connection to a different PoP ensures that BGP withdraws routes only for the failed link, and traffic seamlessly shifts to the remaining connection.
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.
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.
Implementing hybrid interconnectivity — This question tests Implementing hybrid interconnectivity — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Provision a second Dedicated Interconnect connection to a different PoP. — Google Cloud best practice for high availability with Dedicated Interconnect requires at least two physical connections, each to a different edge point of presence (PoP), to eliminate single points of failure at the network edge. A single 10 Gbps connection, even with a backup VPN, does not provide the same SLA or bandwidth guarantees for critical workloads. Option A ensures that if one PoP or provider fails, the other connection can maintain connectivity.
What should I do if I get this PCNE question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
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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