Data Processing Data Storage and Retrieval 2

Question 1

What is RAID in the context of data storage?

Accepted Answer

Redundant Array of Independent Disks — a method of combining multiple drives for redundancy or performance

Answer

RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) combines multiple physical drives to improve data redundancy, fault tolerance, or read/write performance depending on the RAID level.

Question 2

What is the purpose of data archiving?

Accepted Answer

Moving infrequently accessed data to lower-cost storage for long-term retention

Answer

Data archiving moves historical or rarely accessed data from primary storage to cheaper long-term storage, reducing costs while preserving data for compliance or future reference.

Question 3

What is a B-tree index?

Accepted Answer

A balanced tree data structure used by databases to enable fast data lookups and range queries

Answer

A B-tree (balanced tree) index is the most common database index structure, maintaining sorted data in a self-balancing tree that enables O(log n) lookups and efficient range scans.

Question 4

What does 'data tiering' mean in storage management?

Accepted Answer

Automatically moving data between different storage classes based on access frequency and cost

Answer

Data tiering moves data across storage tiers — hot (fast/expensive SSD), warm (standard), and cold (cheap/slow) — based on how frequently it is accessed, optimizing cost and performance.

Question 5

What is a hash index in database storage?

Accepted Answer

An index that uses a hash function to map keys directly to storage locations for O(1) equality lookups

Answer

A hash index applies a hash function to key values to compute direct storage addresses, enabling extremely fast equality lookups but not supporting range queries.

Data Processing Practice Test

Data Processing Practice Test

Data Processing Data Storage and Retrieval 2