Google Cloud Professional Cloud Database Engineer Practice Exam

What the Google Cloud Professional Cloud Database Engineer exam covers

• Design innovative, scalable, and highly available cloud database solutions235 questions
• Manage a solution that can span multiple database technologies180 questions
• Migrate data solutions169 questions
• Deploy scalable and highly available databases in Google Cloud145 questions

Free Google Cloud Professional Cloud Database Engineer sample questions

A sample of 10 questions with answers and explanations. Sign up free to practice all 729.

1. Question 1Design innovative, scalable, and highly available cloud database solutions

   A global payments company is building a ledger that must serve reads and writes from users on three continents, guarantee strong external consistency across all regions, and scale horizontally to millions of transactions per second without any sharding logic in the application. Which Google Cloud database best fits these requirements?

   • ACloud SQL for PostgreSQL with cross-region read replicas
   • BCloud Spanner in a multi-region instance configurationCorrect
   • CFirestore in Native mode with composite indexes
   • DBigtable with multi-cluster routing enabled
   ✓ Correct answer: B

   A financial ledger needs ACID transactions, relational semantics, and correctness across continents without the application managing shards. Cloud Spanner's TrueTime-based external consistency and automatic sharding deliver exactly this at scale, which no other listed service provides simultaneously.

   Why the other options are wrong

   • ARead replicas are asynchronous, so they give neither global write scale nor external consistency.
   • CFirestore is a document store and does not offer relational SQL transactions at that write scale.
   • DBigtable is NoSQL wide-column and has no cross-region multi-row ACID transactions.
2. Question 2Design innovative, scalable, and highly available cloud database solutionsSelect all that apply

   A regulated insurer must retain sole control over its encryption key lifecycle, including instant revocation, and the key material must never reside on Google infrastructure. Which TWO steps meet these requirements? (Select TWO.)

   • AKeep the default Google-managed encryption for the database at rest.
   • BRely on SSL/TLS in transit to satisfy the key-control requirement.
   • CUse CMEK backed by Cloud EKM so key material stays in an external manager.Correct
   • DStore the key in a global Cloud KMS keyring for easier access.
   • EManage rotation and revocation through Cloud KMS IAM on the customer key.Correct
   ✓ Correct answer: C, E

   CMEK backed by Cloud External Key Manager holds the actual key material outside Google, and managing that key through Cloud KMS gives the customer full lifecycle control including rotation and immediate disable or revocation. This combination meets both the external-material and the sole-control requirements.

   Why the other options are wrong

   • AGoogle-managed keys give the customer no lifecycle control.
   • BIn-transit encryption does not control keys for data at rest.
   • DA global keyring neither externalizes material nor aids residency.
3. Question 3Design innovative, scalable, and highly available cloud database solutionsSelect all that apply

   A DBA is hardening a business-critical Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL instance against disruption from planned maintenance. Which TWO actions directly reduce the user-facing impact of maintenance? (Select TWO.)

   • AConfigure the maintenance window during the instance's lowest-traffic periodCorrect
   • BDelete the maintenance window so that updates never apply
   • CUse Cloud SQL Enterprise Plus edition for near-zero downtime maintenanceCorrect
   • DDisable Cloud SQL maintenance notifications to reduce alert noise
   • EStore the database files on HDD storage instead of SSD
   ✓ Correct answer: A, C

   The window controls when the update lands, and Enterprise Plus shrinks the interruption to sub-second. Together they minimize both the timing and the size of user impact.

   Why the other options are wrong

   • BDeleting the window does not prevent required updates from applying.
   • DTurning off notifications removes advance warning without reducing any impact.
   • EHDD lowers performance and has no effect on maintenance downtime.
4. Question 4Design innovative, scalable, and highly available cloud database solutions

   You are adding a Cloud SQL cross-region read replica in asia-south1 to a CMEK-protected primary that lives in us-east1. What does the replica require for its encryption?

   • AThe same single key from the primary region
   • BA CMEK key located in the replica's regionCorrect
   • CCMEK disabled automatically on the replica
   • DA single global key shared by all regions
   ✓ Correct answer: B

   Cloud SQL customer-managed keys are regional resources. A cross-region read replica must be protected by a key that resides in the replica's region, so you provision a separate CMEK key in asia-south1. A us-east1 key cannot protect an asia-south1 resource, and Cloud SQL does not use a global key.

   Why the other options are wrong

   • AA regional key from us-east1 cannot protect an asia-south1 replica.
   • CThe replica cannot silently drop its CMEK protection.
   • DCloud SQL CMEK uses regional keys, not one global key.
5. Question 5Manage a solution that can span multiple database technologies

   You want to move a Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL instance from major version 13 to 15 with the least operational effort and without exporting and reimporting the data. Which capability should you use?

   • ARun an in-place major version upgrade on the instanceCorrect
   • BExport a SQL dump and import it into a new version 15 instance
   • CCreate a version 15 read replica and promote it to primary
   • DSet a database flag to select the new major version
   ✓ Correct answer: A

   The managed in-place major version upgrade keeps the same instance and connection name while upgrading the engine, avoiding a full export/import cycle. It is the lowest-effort supported path between major versions.

   Why the other options are wrong

   • BExport and reimport is exactly the manual effort the question asks to avoid.
   • CRead replicas must match the primary's major version, so this does not upgrade it.
   • DMajor version is not selectable through a database flag.
6. Question 6Manage a solution that can span multiple database technologies

   A company must keep a Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL database serving writes even if its entire primary region becomes unavailable, accepting a small amount of data loss. Which architecture best meets this disaster-recovery requirement?

   • AA cross-region read replica promotable during a region outageCorrect
   • BSeveral same-zone read replicas behind a load balancer
   • CAutomated backups stored only in the primary region
   • DA larger machine tier within the primary region
   ✓ Correct answer: A

   Because the replica lives in a different region and replicates asynchronously, a regional outage leaves it intact; promoting it restores write capability with only the last few seconds of unreplicated data at risk.

   Why the other options are wrong

   • BSame-zone replicas fail together with the primary region.
   • CBackups confined to the primary region are lost with it.
   • DA bigger machine still dies when the region goes down.
7. Question 7Migrate data solutions

   A team is re-architecting a MySQL application onto Cloud Spanner and needs automated schema plus data migration with an interactive schema review step. Which tool is purpose-built for this?

   • AThe Spanner migration tool (HarbourBridge)Correct
   • BA Database Migration Service continuous job
   • CA Datastream stream that writes into Spanner
   • DCloud SQL import from a dump file
   ✓ Correct answer: A

   The Spanner migration tool, formerly HarbourBridge, is the open-source utility for moving MySQL or PostgreSQL schemas and data into Cloud Spanner. It generates a Spanner schema, lets you interactively review and adjust it, and then loads the data, which fits a refactor onto Spanner.

   Why the other options are wrong

   • BDatabase Migration Service does not support Cloud Spanner as a target.
   • CDatastream cannot stream into Spanner; its destinations are BigQuery and Cloud Storage.
   • DImporting a dump into Cloud SQL targets the wrong database service entirely.
8. Question 8Migrate data solutions

   A company runs a large Apache HBase deployment and wants to migrate to a fully managed Google Cloud store that keeps the HBase API so the application needs minimal changes, while scaling horizontally for wide-column, high-throughput access. Which target is the right fit?

   • ACloud BigtableCorrect
   • BCloud Spanner
   • CFirestore in Native mode
   • DAlloyDB for PostgreSQL
   ✓ Correct answer: A

   Bigtable is a managed, horizontally scalable wide-column database that provides an HBase-compatible client library, so an HBase application can migrate with minimal code changes. Spanner is relational, Firestore is a document database, and AlloyDB is relational PostgreSQL, none of which offer the HBase API or the same wide-column key/value model. That makes Bigtable the natural migration target.

   Why the other options are wrong

   • BCloud Spanner is a relational database and does not provide the HBase API or wide-column key/value model.
   • CFirestore is a document database with a different data model and no HBase API compatibility.
   • DAlloyDB is relational PostgreSQL, which does not match HBase's wide-column API or access pattern.
9. Question 9Deploy scalable and highly available databases in Google Cloud

   A growing Cloud SQL for MySQL database occasionally approaches its provisioned disk capacity, risking an outage. Which feature prevents the instance from running out of storage without manual intervention?

   • AAutomatic storage increase, which grows the disk when free space runs low up to a set limitCorrect
   • BPoint-in-time recovery, which reclaims disk space by automatically pruning the old write-ahead logs
   • CA maintenance window that compacts the disk during off-peak hours
   • DA cross-zone read replica that offloads storage from the primary
   ✓ Correct answer: A

   Cloud SQL automatic storage increase monitors free space and expands the disk when it runs low, up to a configured maximum, preventing out-of-storage outages without manual resizing. Note that it only grows storage; it cannot shrink it later.

   Why the other options are wrong

   • BPoint-in-time recovery is a restore feature and does not free or add storage.
   • CMaintenance windows schedule updates; they do not compact disks or add capacity.
   • DRead replicas do not offload the primary's storage; each maintains its own full copy.
10. Question 10Deploy scalable and highly available databases in Google Cloud

    A European fintech must keep its Firestore data within EU boundaries while maximizing availability across more than one region. Which location selection meets both the residency and the multi-region availability goals?

    • AThe nam5 multi-region location
    • BThe eur3 multi-region locationCorrect
    • CThe europe-west1 regional location
    • DThe us-central1 regional location
    ✓ Correct answer: B

    eur3 places replicas in multiple regions inside Europe, giving cross-region availability while keeping data within the EU. A single European region would satisfy residency but not multi-region availability, and a North American location would violate residency. eur3 is the only choice that meets both constraints at once.

    Why the other options are wrong

    • Anam5 is a North American multi-region and would place data outside the EU, breaking the residency requirement.
    • Ceurope-west1 keeps data in the EU but is a single region, so it does not provide multi-region availability.
    • Dus-central1 is a single US region, failing both the EU residency and the multi-region availability goals.

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