Administering Microsoft SQL Server 2012/2014 Databases — Question 54

You administer a Microsoft SQL Server instance that contains a financial database hosted on a storage area network (SAN).
The financial database has the following characteristics:
✑ A data file of 2 terabytes is located on a dedicated LUN (drive D).
✑ A transaction log of 10 GB is located on a dedicated LUN (drive E).
✑ Drive D has 1 terabyte of free disk space.
✑ Drive E has 5 GB of free disk space.
The database is continually modified by users during business hours from Monday through Friday between 09:00 hours and 17:00 hours. Five percent of the existing data is modified each day.
The Finance department loads large CSV files into a number of tables each business day at 11:15 hours and 15:15 hours by using the BCP or BULK INSERT commands. Each data load adds 3 GB of data to the database.
These data load operations must occur in the minimum amount of time.
A full database backup is performed every Sunday at 10:00 hours. Backup operations will be performed every two hours (11:00, 13:00, 15:00, and 17:00) during business hours.
On Wednesday at 10:00 hours, the development team requests you to refresh the database on a development server by using the most recent version.
You need to perform a full database backup that will be restored on the development server.
Which backup option should you use?

Answer options

• A. NORECOVERY
• B. FULL
• C. NO_CHECKSUM
• D. CHECKSUM
• E. Differential
• F. 8ULK_LOGGED
• G. STANDBY
• H. RESTART
• I. SKIP
• J. Transaction log K. DBO ONLY L. COPY_ONLY M. SIMPLE N. CONTINUE AFTER ERROR

Correct answer: L

Explanation

The correct answer is L (COPY_ONLY) because it allows you to take a backup without affecting the backup chain, which is vital for ensuring that the most recent version is available for the development server. Other options like FULL and DIFFERENTIAL would alter the backup sequence, potentially complicating future restores. Therefore, COPY_ONLY is the most suitable choice for this scenario.