Western Governors University (WGU) ITEC2104 C175 Data Management - Foundations Practice Exam

ACID stands for Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, and Durability, which are key properties that ensure reliable processing of database transactions.

Atomicity guarantees that a transaction is treated as a single unit of work, meaning that either all parts of the transaction are executed successfully, or none at all, thereby preventing partial updates to the database. This ensures that the database always remains in a consistent state even in the event of a failure.

Consistency ensures that any transaction will bring the database from one valid state to another, maintaining all defined rules, including constraints and cascades. This means that if a transaction is executed correctly, it will not violate any integrity constraints.

Isolation maintains that transactions are executed in isolation from one another, which means that concurrent execution of transactions should not interfere with each other. This is vital for maintaining consistency and preventing issues like dirty reads, non-repeatable reads, or phantom reads.

Durability ensures that once a transaction has been committed, it remains in the system even in the event of a system failure. This is typically achieved through the use of reliable logging and recovery mechanisms.

Together, these properties help maintain the integrity and reliability of data in relational databases, making option A the correct choice.