GCP Professional Cloud Architect Cheat Sheet: Last-Minute Review

Short on time? Use this high-density cheat sheet to refresh your memory on the core "must-know" topics for the Professional Cloud Architect exam.

1. Database Selection (Quick Recall)

• Cloud SQL: Relational, MySQL/Postgres/SQL Server, single region.
• Cloud Spanner: Relational, global scale, 99.999% availability, massive throughput.
• BigQuery: Analytics, OLAP, data warehouse, serverless.
• Firestore: NoSQL, document, mobile/web sync.
• Bigtable: NoSQL, high-throughput, IoT, time-series, low latency.
• Cloud Storage: Unstructured data (images, backups, static files).

2. Networking Decision Tree

• Global Load Balancer: For HTTP(S), SSL Proxy, or TCP Proxy targeting multiple regions.
• Regional Load Balancer: For traffic restricted to a single region (internal or external).
• Hybrid Connectivity:
  • Cloud VPN: Fast setup, over internet, encrypted.
  • Dedicated Interconnect: Highest bandwidth, physical link to Google PoP.
  • Partner Interconnect: Connectivity via a third-party provider.

3. The Case Studies (Core Themes)

• EHR Healthcare: Compliance (HIPAA), security, legacy migration, hybrid cloud.
• Mountkirk Games: Global scaling, NoSQL (Spanner/Bigtable), real-time analytics, cost optimization.
• TerramEarth: IoT, predictive maintenance, Bigtable for ingestion, BigQuery for analytics.

4. Compute Comparison

• Compute Engine: Maximum control (VMs), OS-level access.
• GKE Standard: Managed Kubernetes, control over nodes.
• GKE Autopilot: Hands-off Kubernetes, pay-per-pod. (Manual vs Auto Comparison).
• Cloud Run: Serverless containers, pay-per-request, scales to zero.
• Cloud Functions: Event-driven code snippets.