Memorystore Regional Outage Recovery Strategy

PCDBE By islever Editorial Last updated

Evaluate database high availability and disaster recovery options given the requirements. Apply concepts to implement scalable and highly available databases in Google Cloud.

Short answer

C Schedule exports of the Memorystore instance to a dual-region Cloud Storage bucket to ensure data persistence across regions during a regional outage.

Question

You are using Memorystore for Redis to cache frequently accessed data and improve your application’s performance. In the event of a complete regional outage, the application will failover to another region. You want to ensure that the Memorystore instance in the new region does not start from an empty cache after failover. What should you do?
  1. Use Memorystore Standard Tier. Disable read replicas.
  2. Use Memorystore Standard Tier. Configure at least one read replica.
  3. Schedule exports of the Memorystore instance. Specify a dual-region Cloud Storage bucket as the export destination. Correct Answer
  4. Enable Redis RDB snapshots for Memorystore.

Key Takeaways

Standard Tier read replicas do not provide cross-region resilience; dual-region Cloud Storage exports are required for regional disaster recovery.

Learn how to maintain Redis cache data during a complete regional outage by scheduling exports to a dual-region Cloud Storage bucket in Google Cloud.

Common mistake: Choosing Option D because RDB snapshots exist, but failing to realize that standard snapshots may not offer the necessary geographic redundancy unless explicitly exported to a dual-region bucket as described in Option C.

Expert Analysis

The scenario involves Memorystore for Redis in the Standard Tier, which provides high availability through automatic failover within a single region using read replicas. However, the question specifies a complete regional outage, requiring a failover to a different region.

In Memorystore Standard Tier, read replicas are synchronous copies located within the same region and cannot survive a regional failure. Therefore, relying on replicas (Option B) or disabling them (Option A) does not solve the cross-region persistence problem.

To ensure data survives a regional outage, you must use asynchronous replication across regions. Memorystore supports exporting snapshots to Cloud Storage. By configuring an export schedule that targets a dual-region Cloud Storage bucket, the data is replicated geographically outside the primary region. When a regional outage occurs, you can restore the instance from this dual-region backup in the new region, preventing it from starting with an empty cache.

While Option D mentions RDB snapshots, standard RDB snapshots in Memorystore Standard Tier are typically stored locally or in the same region for quick recovery from node failures, not necessarily providing the geographic redundancy required for a full regional disaster without explicit export configuration to a multi-region storage location. The comment supporting Option C correctly identifies that specifying a dual-region bucket is the mechanism for cross-region protection.

Official Reference

https://cloud.google.com/memorystore/docs/redis/about-rdb-snapshots

This link opens the official vendor documentation in a new tab.

Exam Strategy

When dealing with 'regional outage' scenarios in Google Cloud managed services, always distinguish between intra-region HA (like replicas) and inter-region DR (like backups or exports). If the service doesn't natively support active-active cross-region deployment, look for backup/export mechanisms that target multi-region storage buckets.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do read replicas protect against regional outages?

No, read replicas in Memorystore Standard Tier are confined to the same region. They protect against zone failures but not regional ones.

Can I restore from a local RDB snapshot in another region?

Local snapshots are not automatically available in other regions. You must explicitly schedule exports to a Cloud Storage bucket in the target region or a dual-region bucket.

More PCDBE FAQ →

Community Votes

C
67%
D
33%

67% of anonymous learners picked answer C. Votes are pick records left by other test-takers — they are not the verified answer.

Discussion 3 contributions

Compiled from public community threads and reader submissions, lightly edited for clarity. Handles and vote tallies are shown as recorded, and comments reflect the views of individual contributors.

From public community threads 3

  1. yokoyan 👍 4 Answered C
    C may be correct.
  2. iwork 👍 2 Answered D
    "We recommend using the Standard Tier as the primary mechanism for high availability. Additionally, enabling RDB snapshots on Standard Tier instances provides extra protection from failures that can cause cache flushes." https://cloud.google.com/memorystore/docs/redis/about-rdb-snapshots
  3. AwesomeGCP 👍 1 Answered C
    The correct answer is C. Schedule exports of the Memorystore instance. Specify a dual-region Cloud Storage bucket as the export destination.

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