title: Quiz
description: These questions are intended to assess your understanding of TiDB Cloud. You can re-submit your answers for multiple attempts.
allow_repeat_submission: true
evaluate_immediately: true
show_correct_answer: true

questions:
  - type: SingleChoice
    question: What happens when you try to connect to a TiDB Cloud Starter cluster with SSL disabled?
    options:
      - id: 1
        text: The connection succeeds but with a warning message.
      - id: 2
        text: The connection fails with an error because SSL is required for TiDB Cloud Starter clusters.
        correct: true
      - id: 3
        text: The connection automatically falls back to an unencrypted connection.
      - id: 4
        text: The connection succeeds without any issues.
    explanation: |
      TiDB Cloud Starter requires SSL connections for security. Attempting to connect with `--ssl-mode=DISABLED` will result in an error: "Connections using insecure transport are prohibited."
  - type: MultipleChoice
    question: Which of the following statements correctly describe TiDB Cloud Starter and TiDB Cloud Essential? (Select all that apply)
    options:
      - id: 1
        text: TiDB Cloud Starter starts from free plan.
        correct: true
      - id: 2
        text: TiDB Cloud Essential offers automatic scaling capabilities and predictable pricing based on actual usage.
        correct: true
      - id: 3
        text: TiDB Cloud Starter is intended for testing and non-critical development environments.
        correct: true
      - id: 4
        text: TiDB Cloud Starter provided 99.9% availability SLA, while TiDB Cloud Essential provided 99.99% availability SLA.
        correct: true
    explanation: |
      TiDB Cloud Starter starts from free plan. TiDB Cloud Essential offers automatic scaling capabilities and predictable pricing based on actual usage. TiDB Cloud Starter is intended for testing and non-critical development environments. TiDB Cloud Starter provided 99.9% availability SLA, while TiDB Cloud Essential provided 99.99% availability SLA.

      ![starter.jpg 85%](https://lab-static.pingcap.com/images/2025/11/13/0137686753f2ed2957e74888e1c12ed7b957357c.jpg)
  - type: SingleChoice
    question: Which command you can use to enable the real-time replication from row store to columnar store for table `companies`?
    options:
      - id: 1
        text: Command `ALTER TABLE companies ENABLE HTAP;`
      - id: 2
        text: Command `ALTER TABLE companies SET TIFLASH REPLICA 2;`
        correct: true
      - id: 3
        text: Command `ALTER TABLE companies BEGIN REPLICATION;`
      - id: 4
        text: Command `ALTER TABLE companies START REPLICATION;`
    explanation: Execute command `ALTER TABLE companies SET TIFLASH REPLICA <replica_count>;` to enable the real-time replication from row store to columnar store for table `companies`.
  - type: SingleChoice
    question: TiDB Cloud Starter can only store 5 GiB of data.
    options:
      - id: 1
        text: "True"
      - id: 2
        text: "False"
        correct: true
    explanation: TiDB Cloud Starter can store up to 5 GiB of data for free.
  - type: SingleChoice
    question: TiDB Cloud Starter cluster supports both public and private network connection types.
    options:
      - id: 1
        text: "True"
        correct: true
      - id: 2
        text: "False"
    explanation: |
      TiDB Cloud Starter cluster supports both public and private network connection types.

      ![starter-connect-methods.jpg 70%](https://lab-static.pingcap.com/images/2025/11/18/724569d619c6850877608947c662edff50462206.jpg)
  - type: SingleChoice
    question: Regarding Request Units (RU), which statements are accurate?
    options:
      - id: 1
        text: "Write operations do not consume any RU."
      - id: 2
        text: "Read operations do not consume any RU."
      - id: 3
        text: "TiDB Cloud Starter includes a monthly allocation of free RU."
        correct: true
      - id: 4
        text: "In TiDB Cloud Starter, users can set RU rate limits for specific SQL commands."
    explanation: |
      | RU Type    | Rough Definition                                                                     |
      | ---------- | :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
      | 1 Read RU  | `0.5 x # of batch PointGet + 0.125 x # of PointGet + # of 64K data + 0.3 x CPU (ms)` |
      | 1 Write RU | `(0.5 x # of batch PointGet + 0.5 x # of PointGet + # of 2K data ) x 3`              |
  - type: SingleChoice
    question: What is a "branch" in the context of TiDB Cloud?
    options:
      - id: 1
        text: "A schema change applied to the main cluster only."
      - id: 2
        text: "A separate cluster instance with its own read write copy of data diverged from the original cluster."
        correct: true
      - id: 3
        text: "A snapshot backup file stored in object storage."
      - id: 4
        text: "A separate cluster instance with its own read only copy of data diverged from the original cluster."
    explanation: |
      In TiDB Cloud, a branch is a separate cluster instance that contains its own read write copy of data diverged from the original cluster, enabling isolated testing and development without impacting the primary cluster.

  - type: SingleChoice
    question: What is the primary benefit of using branching for database development in TiDB Cloud?
    options:
      - id: 1
        text: "It enables point-in-time recovery after hardware failure."
      - id: 2
        text: "It allows parallel experimentation and safe testing without impacting production data."
        correct: true
      - id: 3
        text: "It decreases query latency on the main cluster."
      - id: 4
        text: "It increases the default storage quota."
    explanation: |
      Branching lets you experiment and test safely in isolated clusters without affecting the primary cluster, accelerating development and innovation while minimizing risks to production data.