220-1102 Operational Procedures Practice Question
A technician performs a test restore of a critical database from a backup tape as part of the company's disaster recovery plan. The restore process completes without errors, but when the database is checked for integrity, several errors are found. What is the NEXT step the technician should take?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates assume a successful restore implies valid data, but the exam tests the distinction between a restore completing without errors and the restored data being logically consistent.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Restore from a different backup set
A successful restore that yields integrity errors indicates the backup data itself is corrupted. The next step is to restore from a different backup set (e.g., an earlier full backup or a different tape) to obtain clean data. This follows the principle of verifying backup integrity before relying on it for disaster recovery.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Reformat the tape and perform a new full backup immediately
Why it's wrong here
Reformatting the tape destroys the existing backup media, potentially erasing the only remaining copy of a valid recovery point. Creating a new full backup from the current, possibly corrupted database state would simply capture corrupted data and label it as 'current', which does not verify that any previous backup can be successfully restored. The technician must first locate and attempt a restore from a known-good backup set before considering any media manipulation.
- ✓
Restore from a different backup set
Why this is correct
Testing restoration from an alternate backup set—such as an earlier full backup or a separate tape from a previous generation—is the immediate way to determine whether a usable recovery point still exists. If the original backup set was corrupted, incomplete, or physically damaged, a different set may contain intact data and thereby validate the overall backup process. This approach also helps isolate whether the failure is limited to specific media or indicates a systemic problem in the backup software or hardware.
- ✗
Schedule a full backup immediately without further action
Why it's wrong here
Scheduling a full backup without further action assumes that the source database and the backup infrastructure are both healthy, but a failed test restore proves that the backup output or tape is suspect. A new backup does not confirm the recoverability of existing chains; if the backup software or storage device is faulty, the new backup will likely be just as unrestorable. The correct next step is to inspect the existing backup sets and verify that at least one can be restored, rather than generating additional untested data.
- ✗
Disable integrity checks to speed up recovery
Why it's wrong here
Disabling integrity checks suppresses the very error detection needed to identify why the restore failed, turning the test into a false positive. With checks off, the backup application may label the restore as successful even though files are corrupted, truncated, or missing, which would be catastrophic during an actual disaster. The technician must instead keep integrity checks enabled to pinpoint the corrupted component and replace or restore from a valid backup set.
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Key term
Disaster recovery
Disaster recovery is a set of policies, procedures, and tools that help an organization restore critical IT systems and data after a disruptive event.
Key term
Business Continuity Planning
Business Continuity Planning is the process of creating a strategy to keep an organization's essential functions running during and after a major disruption.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 220-1102 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 220-1102 exam.