Which backup type is most commonly used to minimize restore time and is performed after a full backup?

• A. Incremental backups
• B. Full backups
• C. Differential backups
• D. Delta backups

Answer: (B)

After a full backup, the backup type used to minimize restore time is a differential backup. This approach records all changes made since the last full backup. When you need to restore, you simply restore the most recent full backup and then apply the latest differential backup. That single differential captures all changes since the full, so you avoid the need to replay a chain of backups.

Incremental backups, by contrast, save only changes since the last backup of any type, so restoring requires applying the full backup plus every incremental backup in sequence, which can take longer and be more error-prone. Delta backups are similar in purpose to differential in some systems but are less universally used in practice.