SK0-005 server-administration Practice Question
A system administrator is configuring a backup schedule for a critical database server that must be available 24/7. The company's recovery point objective (RPO) is 1 hour and recovery time objective (RTO) is 4 hours. The database files change frequently, but the operating system and application binaries rarely change. Which of the following backup strategies would BEST meet these requirements while minimizing storage and backup window impact?
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
✓
Full backup daily, incremental backup every hour
Option D is correct because daily full backups provide a recent recovery base, and hourly incremental backups are small and fast, meeting the 1-hour RPO with minimal backup window. Restoration applies at most 24 incrementals to the latest full, which fits within the 4-hour RTO. Option A is wrong because weekly full backups with hourly incrementals may require restoring too many incrementals, risking the RTO. Option B is wrong because hourly differential backups grow in size throughout the day, increasing backup time and storage. Option C is wrong because weekly fulls with hourly differentials cause exponential growth in differential size over the week.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Full backup daily, differential backup every hour
Why it's wrong here
Hourly differential backups include all changes since the last full, growing larger each hour and extending backup windows.
- ✗
Full backup weekly, differential backup every hour
Why it's wrong here
Combining weekly fulls with hourly differentials results in increasingly large differentials that consume excessive storage and time.
- ✓
Full backup daily, incremental backup every hour
Why this is correct
Daily fulls ensure fast recovery, while small hourly incrementals meet the 1-hour RPO with minimal impact on the backup window and storage.
- ✗
Full backup weekly, incremental backup every hour
Why it's wrong here
A weekly full with hourly incrementals may force restoration of many incrementals, potentially exceeding the 4-hour RTO.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Operating System Installation and Configuration
Key term
RTO
Recovery Time Objective is the maximum acceptable time to restore a system or data after a disaster, defining how quickly normal operations must resume.
Key term
Recovery
Recovery is the process of restoring systems, data, and operations after a security incident, failure, or disaster to return to normal functioning.
About these practice questions
This SK0-005 question is part of Courseiva's 185-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed July 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
This SK0-005 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 SK0-005 exam.