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FC0-U71 Practice Question: A database administrator notices that queries on…
A database administrator notices that queries on a large table are taking too long to execute. Which action would most likely improve performance?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse normalization with performance optimization, but normalization is designed to reduce redundancy and maintain data integrity, not to speed up queries on large tables.
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
✓
Create an index on frequently queried columns.
Creating an index on frequently queried columns allows the database to locate rows using a B-tree or hash structure, reducing the need for full table scans. This directly addresses slow query performance on large tables by minimizing disk I/O and CPU overhead during SELECT operations.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Add more columns to the table.
Why it's wrong here
Adding columns may increase I/O and slow queries.
- ✗
Denormalize the table.
Why it's wrong here
Denormalization may reduce joins but can increase data redundancy; indexing is typically the first step.
- ✗
Perform further normalization.
Why it's wrong here
Normalization can improve data integrity but may not directly speed up existing queries.
- ✓
Create an index on frequently queried columns.
Why this is correct
Indexes allow faster data access by reducing full table scans.
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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.