Which statement accurately differentiates full, incremental, and differential backups and describes restore order?

Which statement accurately differentiates full, incremental, and differential backups and describes restore order?

• A. Full copies all data; Incremental backs up changes since the last backup; Differential backs up changes since the last full backup. Restore typically uses the last full backup plus the most recent differential or a chain of incrementals.
• B. Full backups only once per month; Incremental backs up entire dataset; Differential backups back up nothing; Restore uses only the most recent full backup.
• C. Full backups copy data to remote site; Incremental backups store only metadata; Differential backups encrypt data; Restore uses cloud restore.
• D. Full backups copy only system files; Incremental backups copy all files; Differential backups copy hidden files; Restore uses random.

Answer: (A)

Understanding how backup types differ and how restoration works is the key idea. A full backup copies all the data in the chosen set in one pass. An incremental backup saves only the changes since the last backup, whether that last backup was full or incremental, which creates a chain of smaller backups that must be applied in order to reconstruct data. A differential backup, on the other hand, captures changes since the last full backup, so each differential reflects all changes since that last complete copy, regardless of any recent incrementals. When restoring, you typically restore the last full backup and then apply either the most recent differential or the sequence of incremental backups in order to bring the data up to date. That aligns with the described approach: full backup copies everything, incremental backs up changes since the previous backup, and differential backs up changes since the last full backup; restoration uses the last full backup plus the latest differential or a chain of incrementals. The other descriptions misstate what each type contains or how restoration works—for example, treating incremental backups as whole-data copies, or differential backups as backing up nothing, or suggesting restoration relies only on the latest full backup.

Understanding how backup types differ and how restoration works is the key idea. A full backup copies all the data in the chosen set in one pass. An incremental backup saves only the changes since the last backup, whether that last backup was full or incremental, which creates a chain of smaller backups that must be applied in order to reconstruct data. A differential backup, on the other hand, captures changes since the last full backup, so each differential reflects all changes since that last complete copy, regardless of any recent incrementals. When restoring, you typically restore the last full backup and then apply either the most recent differential or the sequence of incremental backups in order to bring the data up to date.

That aligns with the described approach: full backup copies everything, incremental backs up changes since the previous backup, and differential backs up changes since the last full backup; restoration uses the last full backup plus the latest differential or a chain of incrementals. The other descriptions misstate what each type contains or how restoration works—for example, treating incremental backups as whole-data copies, or differential backups as backing up nothing, or suggesting restoration relies only on the latest full backup.