Professional Data EngineerDesigning data processing systemsHard
A global e-commerce company needs to store product catalog data, which is frequently updated and accessed with low latency by customer-facing applications worldwide. The data model is semi-structured and requires flexible schema management. The solution must provide strong consistency and high availability across multiple regions. Which Google Cloud service should the company use?
- ABigQuery.
- BCloud Firestore.
- CCloud Spanner.
- DCloud SQL.
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: C. Cloud Spanner.
Cloud Spanner is a globally distributed, strongly consistent, and highly available relational database service that offers unlimited scale. Its ability to provide strong consistency and low-latency access across multiple regions, combined with a flexible schema for semi-structured data (via JSON columns or flexible table designs), makes it ideal for a global product catalog with frequent updates.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. BigQuery is a data warehouse for analytics, not an operational database for low-latency, transactional access from customer-facing applications.
- B. Cloud Firestore is a NoSQL document database suitable for mobile, web, and server development, offering good scalability and flexibility but typically for smaller-scale global consistency needs compared to Spanner's full relational capabilities and global consistency guarantees.
- D. Cloud SQL is a regional relational database service, not designed for global, multi-regional strong consistency and low-latency access required by a global e-commerce platform at this scale.
Global Relational Database
A globally distributed, strongly consistent, and highly available relational database with unlimited scale, suitable for critical operational workloads.
- Offers strong consistency across regions.
- Provides high availability and unlimited scalability.
- Supports SQL queries and relational schemas.
Memory trick: Spanner: Spanning the globe with Strong, Scalable, Speedy data.