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Difficulty: MediumPlanning Database Options and Persistent Disk Types

A company is deploying a self-managed relational database on a Compute Engine virtual machine to handle internal order processing. The database requires persistent block storage that retains data across instance restarts and supports point-in-time snapshots for disaster recovery. The workload requires baseline SSD performance for daily operations but does not need peak performance or extreme IOPS scaling. The engineering team wants to minimize storage costs while satisfying these operational requirements. Which storage configuration should you select?

  1. Balanced Persistent Disk (pd-balanced)Answer
  2. B
    Local SSD attached directly to the instance
  3. C
    Cloud Bigtable provisioned as the block storage volume
  4. D
    Standard Persistent Disk (pd-standard) configured with a Coldline storage lifecycle policy

Answer

Balanced Persistent Disk (pd-balanced)
Balanced Persistent Disk (pd-balanced) is a cost-effective SSD-backed block storage option in Google Cloud. It provides reliable SSD performance suitable for mainstream relational database workloads while maintaining full support for data persistence across instance restarts and scheduled snapshots.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze persistence and backup requirements
The storage must persist across VM restarts and support point-in-time snapshots.
Local SSDs are ephemeral block devices that reset data on instance stop/terminate and do not support GCP native snapshots.
2
Determine appropriate architecture type
A block storage disk volume is required for mounting on a Compute Engine virtual machine.
Cloud Bigtable is an independent managed NoSQL service and cannot act as a block storage volume for self-managed software on Compute Engine.
3
Select the optimal disk type for performance and cost
Balanced Persistent Disk (pd-balanced) delivers baseline SSD performance at a lower price point than SSD Persistent Disk (pd-ssd).
pd-balanced is Google Cloud's recommended choice for general-purpose workloads and databases that require SSD latency without paying for peak IOPS.

Key Concept

Selecting Compute Engine Persistent Disk types based on performance, persistence, snapshot support, and cost optimization
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Topics

Planning Database Options and Persistent Disk Types

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