FC0-U71 Data and Database Fundamentals Practice Question
A database designer wants to reduce data redundancy and avoid update anomalies. Which process should be applied?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap is confusing normalization with denormalization — candidates who remember that denormalization 'improves performance' may pick it, forgetting that the question explicitly asks about reducing redundancy and avoiding update anomalies, which is the definition of normalization.
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
✓
Normalization
Normalization is the process of organizing database tables to minimize redundancy and eliminate update, insert, and delete anomalies by decomposing tables according to normal forms (1NF, 2NF, 3NF, BCNF). It systematically removes partial and transitive dependencies so that each fact is stored in exactly one place. This directly addresses the designer's goal of reducing redundancy and avoiding update anomalies.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Denormalization
Why it's wrong here
Denormalization deliberately reintroduces redundancy by merging tables to speed reads, which worsens update anomalies rather than removing them. It tempts in reporting or analytics workloads where read performance outweighs storage cost, but the stem explicitly demands reduced redundancy.
- ✓
Normalization
Why this is correct
Normalization restructures tables into progressively stricter normal forms, eliminating partial and transitive dependencies. This directly removes redundant data copies and the insert, update, and delete anomalies that stem from them, matching the designer's stated goal.
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Encryption
Why it's wrong here
Encryption obscures stored values so unauthorised readers cannot interpret them; it leaves duplicate rows and update anomalies untouched. Normalisation, by splitting relations and removing transitive and partial dependencies, is the process that eliminates redundancy. Encryption is tempting because it also operates on database columns, but its purpose is confidentiality, not structural data integrity.
- ✗
Indexing
Why it's wrong here
Indexing adds lookup structures that accelerate queries; it neither removes duplicate columns nor enforces the functional dependencies that prevent update anomalies. It tempts because indexes are the standard fix for slow queries, but the stem's goal is structural redundancy elimination, achieved through normalisation.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
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.