AdvancedProfessional Cloud Architect
Google Professional Cloud Architect
Preparation for the PCA exam, including the case studies that carry a large share of the marks.
What you'll be able to do
- Design a GCP architecture against a stated business requirement
- Answer the case-study questions from knowledge of the scenario
- Choose between GKE, Cloud Run, App Engine and Compute Engine on merit
- Meet compliance and reliability targets without over-building
Modules
- 01Platform foundationsProjects, folders, org policy, IAM, service accounts, billing structure and quotas
- 02NetworkingVPC design, shared VPC, load balancing tiers, Cloud NAT, interconnect and peering
- 03Compute choicesCompute Engine, GKE, Cloud Run, App Engine — cost, operational burden and lock-in compared
- 04Storage and databasesCloud Storage classes, Cloud SQL, Spanner, Bigtable, Firestore, choosing on access pattern
- 05Data and messagingBigQuery, Pub/Sub, Dataflow, pipeline design and cost control at volume
- 06Security and complianceLeast privilege, VPC Service Controls, KMS, audit logging, regulated-workload patterns
- 07Reliability and operationsSRE practice, SLOs, Cloud Monitoring, DR patterns, capacity and cost review
- 08Case studies and exam techniqueThe published case studies worked through in full, then timed practice sets
Capstone
Produce a full architecture and migration plan for one of the published case studies, then defend it against the exam objectives.
Exam format — Professional Cloud Architect
2 hours, 50-60 questions. Several are tied to published case studies, so the businesses in them have to be read and understood before exam day rather than during it.