hardMultiple Choice
FC0-U71 Practice Question: A database administrator notices that a…
A database administrator notices that a transaction that updates two tables is failing halfway, leaving data inconsistent. Which property of ACID ensures that the database returns to its original state if the transaction fails?
⚠ Common exam trap
CompTIA often tests the distinction between Atomicity and Consistency, where candidates mistakenly think Consistency handles rollback, but Atomicity is the property that ensures the entire transaction is undone on failure.
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
✓
Atomicity
Atomicity (option D) ensures that a transaction is treated as a single, indivisible unit of work. If any part of the transaction fails (e.g., updating the second table), the entire transaction is rolled back, and the database returns to its original state before the transaction began. This prevents partial updates that would leave data inconsistent.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Consistency
Why it's wrong here
Consistency guarantees that any committed transaction moves the database from one valid state to another, enforcing constraints and relationships; it does not reverse partial changes. It is the property you would cite when a transaction completes but violates a rule, not when a half-finished update must be undone.
- ✗
Durability
Why it's wrong here
Durability guarantees that once a transaction commits, its changes survive crashes or power loss by persisting to non-volatile storage. It addresses committed data surviving failure, not rolling back an incomplete transaction, so it would be the answer if the concern were lost writes after a commit.
- ✗
Isolation
Why it's wrong here
Isolation controls how concurrent transactions see each other's uncommitted changes, preventing dirty reads and lost updates through locking or versioning. It addresses interference between simultaneous transactions, not reverting a single failed transaction, so it would apply if two scripts ran at once.
- ✓
Atomicity
Why this is correct
Atomicity treats a transaction as a single indivisible unit: either every statement commits or none does. When the two-table update fails midway, atomicity triggers rollback, restoring the database to its pre-transaction state and preventing partial, inconsistent writes.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 988 original FC0-U71 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This FC0-U71 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 FC0-U71 exam.