Chapter 1 of 6 · Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect
Designing and planning a cloud solution architecture
Business and technical requirements, compute, storage and network choices, migration plans and the four case studies.
- 8topics
- 31 minfast track
- 3diagrams and exhibits
- 25%of the exam
Topics in this chapter
Take them in order, or jump to the one you need.
- 1Business Requirements and Design Trade-offsTurning business goals into a cloud design: functional and non-functional requirements, cost, KPIs and ROI, build or buy…4 min
- 2Technical Requirements, Availability and RecoveryThe Well-Architected Framework pillars, high availability and failover, scalability, performance, backup and disaster recovery…Diagram4 min
- 3Choosing Compute and AI PlatformsMapping workloads to Compute Engine, GKE, Cloud Run and Cloud Run functions, choosing Spot or custom VMs, and picking Gemini…Diagram4 min
- 4Choosing Storage, Databases and Data ProcessingPicking object, file and database storage on Google Cloud: Cloud Storage, Filestore, Cloud SQL, AlloyDB, Spanner, Bigtable…3 min
- 5Cloud-Native and Hybrid Network DesignDesigning VPC networks, Shared VPC, peering, Private Service Connect, load balancers and container networking, and connecting…4 min
- 6Migration PlanningPlanning a move to Google Cloud: assess, plan, deploy and optimize, Migration Center, migration strategies and tools, network…Diagram4 min
- 7Future Improvements and Cloud-First DesignHow a design evolves: cloud-first principles, modernizing after a migration, adopting managed and AI services, and staying ready…4 min
- 8Working with the Case StudiesHow PCA case-study questions work: the four companies Google publishes, what each one needs, and a method for reading their…4 min
About this chapter
What this chapter covers
This is the largest section of the Professional Cloud Architect exam, worth about 25 percent. It asks you to turn a business problem into a Google Cloud design: read the requirements, choose compute, storage, data and network products, plan the migration and think about what comes next.
It covers business requirements (use cases, cost, success measures, build or buy), technical requirements (availability, scalability, performance, backup and the Well-Architected Framework), network, storage and compute choices, migration planning and future improvements. The case-study questions lean heavily on this chapter.
How the topics fit together
The exam rarely asks "what is product X". It describes a company and its constraints and asks which design meets all of them. Every topic here trains the same habit: find the deciding requirement first, then pick the product.
Underline the words that rule options out: "no operations staff", "must stay in the EU", "within one week", "cannot change the code", "lowest cost". The right answer is usually the only option that survives all of them.
How to use these pages
Each topic page has the same shape, so you can skim for what you need.
- What it is: the idea in plain words.
- How it works: the mechanism, with tables and examples.
- What to remember for the exam: the facts to memorise and how questions are phrased.
- Common mistakes: the classic traps.
- Check yourself: three questions to test your understanding.
Ready for more practice?
The full Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect question bank has 877 questions, with timed practice exams and an explanation for every answer.
This study guide is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Google Cloud. Vendor names, certification names and exam codes are trademarks of their respective owners and are used for identification only.