Which statement correctly describes data backup strategies?

Which statement correctly describes data backup strategies?

• A. Full backups everything; incremental backups changes since last backup; differential backups changes since last full backup
• B. Full backs up only new files; incremental backups up everything; differential backups up nothing
• C. Full backups nothing; incremental backups changes since last backup; differential backups changes since last full backup
• D. Full backups only system files; incremental backups depend on time of day

Answer: (A)

Understanding how backup types work helps you balance storage use and how quickly you can recover data. A full backup captures all the selected data at a single point in time, giving you a complete copy. Incremental backups save only what has changed since the previous backup, whether that previous backup was full or incremental, which minimizes storage and time but means you must combine the full backup with all subsequent incrementals to restore. Differential backups save only what has changed since the last full backup, so restoring requires the full backup plus the latest differential, making restoration faster than with a long chain of incrementals but requiring more storage than incremental alone. The statement that matches these definitions is the one that says a full backup backs up everything, incremental backups capture changes since the last backup, and differential backups capture changes since the last full backup. The other statements disagree with how each backup type determines what gets saved, so they don’t fit the standard concepts of backup strategies.

Understanding how backup types work helps you balance storage use and how quickly you can recover data. A full backup captures all the selected data at a single point in time, giving you a complete copy. Incremental backups save only what has changed since the previous backup, whether that previous backup was full or incremental, which minimizes storage and time but means you must combine the full backup with all subsequent incrementals to restore. Differential backups save only what has changed since the last full backup, so restoring requires the full backup plus the latest differential, making restoration faster than with a long chain of incrementals but requiring more storage than incremental alone.

The statement that matches these definitions is the one that says a full backup backs up everything, incremental backups capture changes since the last backup, and differential backups capture changes since the last full backup. The other statements disagree with how each backup type determines what gets saved, so they don’t fit the standard concepts of backup strategies.