Google Professional Cloud Architect Exam Survival Guide

Window: Global | 50–60 scenario Q / 120 min

Must-do topics

• Design pillars: reliability, security, performance, cost, operations
• Core services: GCE/GKE/Cloud Run/App Engine; GCS classes; VPCs, Load Balancers, Cloud NAT
• Data layer: Cloud SQL, Spanner, Bigtable, Firestore, BigQuery (partition/cluster, slots)
• Security: IAM least privilege, Org policies, CMEK, Secrets Manager, VPC-SC
• Networking: hybrid (Cloud VPN/Interconnect), peering, private service connect
• Ops: Cloud Logging/Monitoring, SLO/SLA/SLE, incident mgmt, DR patterns (RPO/RTO)

Top traps (avoid)

• Picking GCE when Cloud Run/App Engine suits elastic web workloads
• Confusing peering vs VPC-SC and where perimeter applies
• BigQuery cost: forgetting partition/cluster to control scans
• Spanner vs Cloud SQL choice (global consistency vs relational regional)

Time split

• ~2 min/Q; first pass = service fit, second pass = edge cases

Last-48h checklist

• Storage class matrix; DB decision tree; LB matrix (global/regional, L4/L7)
• IAM hierarchy (org/folder/project); custom roles vs primitive roles
• DR strategies with numeric RPO/RTO examples

Quick facts

• Spanner = globally consistent relational; Bigtable = wide-column, low-latency
• Global HTTP(S) Load Balancer is anycast; TCP/UDP proxy for L4 global
• CMEK ≠ CSEK; CMEK = customer-managed in KMS with rotation
• SLO error budget guides release cadence

Speed tactics

• Map requirement → pillar → service; eliminate ops-heavy custom builds
• Prefer managed + serverless unless constraints say otherwise
• Include encryption and identity considerations in every answer

Day-of mini-plan

• 10-min warm-up: DB & LB match game
• Sketch quick diagrams for hybrid questions; re-read constraints before submitting