In a distributed system, the CAP theorem states you can have any two of which three properties?

• A. Availability, Latency, Security
• B. Availability, Latency, Consistency
• C. Latency, Integrity, Consistency
• D. Consistency, Availability, Partition tolerance

Answer: (D)

The main idea being tested is the CAP triad in distributed systems. The CAP theorem says you can have at most two of three properties in the presence of a network partition: Consistency, Availability, and Partition tolerance. Partition tolerance is essential because network faults can split the system; you can’t run a distributed system without tolerating partitions. In that scenario, you must choose between being available (responding to requests even if some data may be stale) or being consistent (ensuring all reads reflect the same data, even if some parts of the system stop serving requests for a while).

That’s why the correct choice lists Consistency, Availability, and Partition tolerance—the three elements CAP defines. The other options mix in properties like Latency, Security, or Integrity, which aren’t part of the CAP decision, so they don’t form the three CAP properties.