Google Professional Cloud Database Engineer Question 140
Single answerGoogle Cloud PlatformYour organization uses a PostgreSQL database hosted on Cloud SQL for its critical customer-facing application. The database must meet a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of 1 hour and a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of 15 minutes. You need to design a backup strategy that meets these requirements while minimizing costs. Which solution should you recommend?
- A
Enable automated backups on Cloud SQL and configure a 1-hour binary log backup interval.
- B
Perform on-demand backups every hour and store them in a Cloud Storage bucket.
- C
Schedule automated backups daily and manually export the database to Cloud Storage every hour.
- D
Enable automated backups and set up point-in-time recovery (PITR) using binary logs.
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: D
Explanation
To meet the RPO of 1 hour and RTO of 15 minutes, a robust backup and recovery solution is required. Automated backups provide a reliable baseline, while point-in-time recovery using binary logs allows for restoring the database to any specific point within the backup retention period. This ensures data loss is minimized (meeting the RPO) and the recovery process is quick (meeting the RTO). Other options either lack the necessary automation, introduce operational complexity, or fail to meet the stated objectives.
- A. Incorrect.
This option is incorrect because enabling automated backups alone does not guarantee meeting the RPO and RTO requirements. While automated backups are a good baseline, a 1-hour binary log backup interval is not configurable and does not exist as a feature in Cloud SQL.
- B. Incorrect.
This option is incorrect because on-demand backups every hour would require manual intervention or custom automation, which increases operational overhead. Additionally, on-demand backups might not guarantee a 15-minute RTO.
- C. Incorrect.
This option is incorrect because daily automated backups combined with manual exports every hour would make the process error-prone and operationally inefficient. Manual exports also do not support point-in-time recovery, which is critical for meeting the RPO.
- D. Correct.
This option is correct because enabling automated backups ensures you have a baseline backup, and using point-in-time recovery (PITR) with binary logs allows you to restore the database to a specific point within the RPO of 1 hour. PITR also ensures that the RTO of 15 minutes can be met.