Which statement best describes the difference between hot backups and cold backups?

Which statement best describes the difference between hot backups and cold backups?

• A. A hot backup runs while systems are offline.
• B. A hot backup creates multiple backups at once.
• C. A hot backup copies data only from active memory, not disk.
• D. A hot backup runs while systems are online; a cold backup requires systems to be offline during the backup process.

Answer: (D)

The key idea is whether the system stays online during the backup. A hot backup is done while the systems are running and serving users, so there’s no required downtime. To keep data consistent despite ongoing changes, these backups use techniques like snapshots or transaction logs to capture a coherent state without shutting everything down. A cold backup, in contrast, is performed only after the systems are shut down, ensuring a straightforward, offline copy since no writes occur during the backup. So the best description is that a hot backup runs while systems are online, and a cold backup requires systems to be offline during the backup process. The other choices mix up the characteristics—hot backups aren’t defined by copying memory only, nor by making multiple backups at once, nor by ignoring disk data.

The key idea is whether the system stays online during the backup. A hot backup is done while the systems are running and serving users, so there’s no required downtime. To keep data consistent despite ongoing changes, these backups use techniques like snapshots or transaction logs to capture a coherent state without shutting everything down. A cold backup, in contrast, is performed only after the systems are shut down, ensuring a straightforward, offline copy since no writes occur during the backup.

So the best description is that a hot backup runs while systems are online, and a cold backup requires systems to be offline during the backup process. The other choices mix up the characteristics—hot backups aren’t defined by copying memory only, nor by making multiple backups at once, nor by ignoring disk data.