Cloud Spanner for global distribution in GCP - Cheat Sheet & Quick Revision

Recall & Review

beginner

What is Cloud Spanner?

Cloud Spanner is a fully managed, scalable, and globally distributed database service by Google Cloud. It combines the benefits of relational databases with non-relational horizontal scale.

intermediate

How does Cloud Spanner achieve global distribution?

Cloud Spanner replicates data across multiple regions automatically, ensuring low latency and high availability worldwide by synchronizing data with strong consistency.

beginner

What is the benefit of strong consistency in Cloud Spanner?

Strong consistency means all users see the same data at the same time, no matter where they are in the world, which helps avoid conflicts and errors in distributed applications.

intermediate

What is a common use case for Cloud Spanner's global distribution?

Applications that require high availability and low latency across multiple countries, such as global financial systems, gaming platforms, or retail services, benefit from Cloud Spanner's global distribution.

advanced

How does Cloud Spanner handle schema changes in a globally distributed setup?

Cloud Spanner supports online schema changes without downtime, allowing updates to tables and indexes while keeping the database available globally.

What type of database is Cloud Spanner?

A A globally distributed relational database

B A local file storage system

C A NoSQL document store

D A simple key-value cache

Cloud Spanner is a relational database designed for global distribution and strong consistency.

Which feature ensures Cloud Spanner data is consistent worldwide?

A Eventual consistency

B Strong consistency

C No replication

D Manual syncing

Cloud Spanner uses strong consistency to keep data synchronized globally.

What does Cloud Spanner automatically replicate?

A User interface settings

B Only backups

C Data across multiple regions

D Local logs

Cloud Spanner replicates data across regions to provide global availability.

Which is NOT a benefit of Cloud Spanner's global distribution?

A Low latency access worldwide

B High availability

C Strong data consistency

D Manual data replication

Cloud Spanner handles replication automatically, not manually.

How does Cloud Spanner handle schema changes?

A Online without downtime

B Requires database shutdown

C Not supported

D Only offline updates

Cloud Spanner supports online schema changes without interrupting service.

Explain how Cloud Spanner supports global distribution and why it matters for applications.

Think about how data stays the same everywhere and is fast to access.

Describe a scenario where using Cloud Spanner's global distribution would be beneficial.

Imagine an app used by people all over the world that needs up-to-date data.