easyMultiple Choice
FC0-U71 Practice Question: A small business wants to store customer contact…
A small business wants to store customer contact information and order history. The data is structured and relationships between customers and orders must be enforced. Which type of database is most appropriate?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap is that NoSQL is trendy and 'scalable,' so candidates pick it for a small business — but the question's keywords 'structured' and 'relationships must be enforced' point squarely to relational.
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
✓
Relational database
A relational database enforces structured schemas and relationships (via primary and foreign keys), which is exactly what is needed to link customers to their orders and maintain referential integrity. It supports SQL queries and transactions, making it ideal for structured business data with enforced relationships. This matches the requirement for structured data with enforced relationships.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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Flat-file database
Why it's wrong here
A flat-file database stores records in a single table with no relational engine, so foreign keys and enforced customer-to-order relationships cannot exist. It is tempting for its simplicity with small datasets, but it would be correct only where data is non-relational and relationship integrity is not required.
- ✓
Relational database
Why this is correct
A relational database stores structured data in tables with defined schemas and enforces relationships through primary and foreign keys, guaranteeing referential integrity between customers and orders. This satisfies the stated requirement that relationships be enforced, which a non-relational store would not guarantee natively.
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NoSQL database
Why it's wrong here
NoSQL databases store documents or key-value pairs without enforcing relational integrity, so customer-to-order foreign keys and joins cannot be guaranteed. It tempts because NoSQL suits flexible, rapidly evolving schemas at scale, and would be correct for unstructured or denormalised data where relationships are not enforced.
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Hierarchical database
Why it's wrong here
A hierarchical database models strict parent-child trees, so a customer with many orders and orders referencing other entities cannot be represented without duplication, and many-to-many relationships are unsupported. It is tempting for structured data, but it would be correct for genuinely tree-shaped data such as file systems.
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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.